Lax.com takes Win Probability Global
The mission of this site has always been to make lacrosse more fun to play, watch, and coach. And today is a big step in that direction because, at least to me, the numbers of lacrosse are as much fun to follow as the action on the field. With the Lax.com announcement, fun lacrosse numbers will be available to far more lacrosse fans than ever before. Specifically, my in-game win probability charts will be live and updating in real-time for every Division I game on the Lax.com game pages. If you are unfamiliar, here’s one of my favorite ones from last year’s NCAA Tournament. (Look away, Northwestern fans.)
More than just a pretty chart
(If you’ve been walking the lacrosse analytics path with me, then you know everything that is to come. I won’t be offended if you hop off here.)
But if you’ve come here to see what all the fuss is about, LacrosseReference is more than just win probability charts. As KenPom has done for basketball, we’ve been in the vanguard of the lacrosse analytics community, developing new statistics and models to understand the game, and who plays it best.
Want to know who’s favored to win any given game? You can do worse than relying on LaxElo, which is my prediction/team-strength rating system.
Curious about which player is having the best season? The Statistical Tewaaraton rankings put every player’s contributions, positive and negative, into a single score.
Even something as simple as offensive and defensive efficiencies; you can find it all here. And if you ever come across a stat or a term that you aren’t familiar with, I’ve got a handy glossary all ready to go.
For years, lacrosse fans have gotten a raw deal. And I count myself among them. This site got it’s start because I was googling around for the win probability for a game I was watching; it didn’t exist, and LacrosseReference was born. Why should basketball, baseball, football all have win probability charts but not us?
That’s actually been a guiding principle for much of this site’s history. If something makes other sports more fun to follow, and we don’t have it in lacrosse, then I’ll build it. As a result, now thousands of lacrosse fans have been able to enjoy the thrill of competing in the spring-time rite that is the Bracket Challenge.
My inbox is always open
And maybe most importantly, my inbox is always open. The best part of running this site is interacting with the lacrosse community to chat stats, answer questions, and even come up with new and interesting stats. So keep in touch. My inbox is always open.
Thanks to all the folks over at Lax.com for making this happen. It’s going to be a great year of figuring out how to marry up our two sites. Let’s make lacrosse even more fun to play, watch, and coach!
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