He told the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons that he and his staff use numbers in their work with players.
It’s the “our own stats” part that worries fans and rankles pundits.
“As a coach, you’re a salesman. You’re selling a program that you believe in and some people are easier to sell than others. Some people are difficult, some people just say I’m doing it my way, some buy everything. You have to make everyone understand that in the best interests of the team, you have to do this to succeed.
“I don’t foresee any problems dealing with our (analytics department).”
Carlyle also said this:
Toronto was 14th in the league last season with 2.71 goals per game.
Carlyle said a lot of other interesting things about his team in his two-part interview with Simmons (see here and here). It’s worth a read.
