Columbus native, Ohio State grad Neil Johnson has Houston Rockets back in NBA playoffs

Competing against a team with Steph Curry, even at age 37, requires maximizing every potential edge.Wednesday night, No.

2 seed Houston will try to pull back even with seventh-seeded Golden State in the second game of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The Rockets are back in the postseason for the first time in five years with their eyes set on a deep playoff run, and one of the best shot-blockers in Dublin Jerome history has had a hand in their success.With an Ohio State degree, a background in the sport and stops at places such as ESPN and the NBAs Washington Wizards, Neil Johnson has spent the last three years in Houstons front office and putting his extensive sports analytics background to the clubs use.Its a long way from life as a two-sport athlete at Jerome, where Johnson overcame a diagnosis of pectus excavatum (sunken chest) to play baseball and basketball.Playing in sports wasnt in the cards, but I always wanted to be involved in sports, Johnson said.After graduating from Ohio State with a computer science and engineering degree in 2013, Johnson was working his first job was at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) when he saw shot charts created by Curt Goldsberry.

The Texas graduate and former strategic-research executive with the San Antonio Spurs made a name for himself by charting where players were shooting their shots, and Johnson said it got him thinking about trying to get a job using analytics in basketball.He attended an MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference shortly thereafter, spent more time digging into analytics and passed on an entry-level job with the Cleveland Cavaliers to begin at ESPN where he wrote for the website and worked within the stats and information group as part of an analytics team.

Much of the work was behind the scenes, although Johnson said part of his work entailed working on the Basketball Power Index (BPI) that would run on the networks Bottom Line.When people asked me what I did at ESPN, thats what I always pointed to, he said.

That was us.

We did BPI.

We primarily did basketball and football stuff.In 2020, Johnson gave a presentation at the Sloan conference.

When his time at ESPN ended, he took a job with the Wizards, spent a year there and eventually started with the Rockets on the first day of 2023.

The day to day revolves around analyzing player tracking data and writing code to help the Rockets analyze their performance.Johnsons official title: director of quantitative research and development.

Its a job with a high emphasis on player tracking data, and Houstons organizational structure allows Johnson to have a say in the teams decisions.

Much of the specifics are company secrets Johnson cant divulge publicly.I get the chance to voice my opinions in the draft room, he said.

If I have something to say, I can say it.

If I say something stupid, itll be shot down real fast.

Well allow you to say something, but well hold you accountable.

Its been a lot of fun.

A lot of the analytics stuff is stuff on the margins to give you a little bit more juice to maybe win a game or something.Johnson said it was his urging that led the Rockets to sign undrafted former Oregon center NFaly Dante last summer.

As a rookie, Dante averaged 6.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in four games while on a two-way contract.In addition to his full-time job, Johnson has been involved with Ohio States Sports Analytics Association, where he has been a conference speaker and helped recruit others with similar backgrounds to speak to students.There is also a desire to bring his skills to a collegiate game Johnson said is in need of innovation.At some point, I had the realization that I would be the best possible hire for a college basketball coaching staff, bar none, but that will never happen because I havent come up through the college basketball ranks, he said.

Its so insulated.

Thats part of the problem is they all come from the same background and have the same mindset so they never really innovate other than just copying the NBA.The ultimate goal would be to become an NBA coach or general manager, Johnson said, and at 34 years of age theres still plenty of time to get there.

If those dream jobs dont materialize, and Johnsons career path eventually takes him to life outside of sports, the Ohio State grad said theres a silver lining in that possibility too.Sometimes people become coaches and GMs a lot later, he said.

If Im a career NBA guy for another decade and then some other opportunity arises, thats fine, too.

Im also fine with not working in sports for the right opportunities.

I have tech interests there, too.

I cant talk about basketball publicly and that kind of sucks, so that would be a benefit in that respect.First, though, theres Golden State and a hopeful push deep into the postseason.Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at [email protected], on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts.oembed-frame {width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;border:0;}This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Houston Rockets' path to NBA playoffs aided by Columbus' Neil Johnson.

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