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EDIT: For anyone interesting in viewing the talks (including the esports one), they are now uploaded here: http://www.sloansportsconference.com/?page_id=481&sort_cate=2012.
As a big sports fan and perhaps now an even bigger e-sports fan, being able to attend an event like the Sloan Analytics Conference (SAC) was a complete, cliched, dream come true. Not only would I be able to listen to the brightest minds in sports talk about the role of analytics in their respective games, but I would also actually get to meet them face-to-face and tell them how much I appreciated their work.
Perhaps the one drawback of the conference was having to wake up at 6am each day to get to the conference for breakfast. I definitely struggled to stay awake during the first talk where representatives from each league, including Scott Boras for the MLB, talked about sports labor and business stuff. Below, I will have a summary for some of the more interesting talks/things that I experienced during the two-day conference. So choose to read what you're interested in. I paraphrased the quotes below. Also, I attended a bunch more of the talks, but these were, imo, the more interesting ones.
(NBA) Positional Chemistry research paper: A recent college grad did a research paper on how having players that fit specific roles would allow those players to outperform their expected value. The presenter split up NBA players into 14 categories using statistical clustering, such as dynamic 2-guards/3s (Wade, Grant Hill) or 3-pt shooting bigs (Rasheed Wallace, Antwan Jamison). There were some obvious combinations of players that worked extremely well together, such as a well-rounded big + distributing PG + a SF that can both distribute and score. The example the presenter gave was the Magic team which recently made the finals, with a core of Jameer Nelson, Hedo, and Howard. Those 3 might not be the best "big 3", but together, they outperformed what any of them would do indepentally in another system.
Some of the conclusions that the presenter came up with were that 1) the players that complemented the rest of the team the most were "Multi-faceted, high scoring wings, with high assists for their position and are great 3 point shooters", like Paul Pierce or Joe Johnson, 2) having two high-scoring SGs with a good center is a very powerful combination but 3) having two high-scoring SGs with a high-scoring PG with a high turnover rate may lower the value of those players. It is possible that having Westbrook, Durant, and Harden on the floor at the same time could be detrimental to all of those players' value.
If you're interested, you can read the whole paper here.
Day9: As I was just walking around in the hallways, I saw Day9 walking past me, so I yelled out "SEAN!". He seemed pretty surprised that anyone there even recognized him, so we had a couple minute conversation about what we thought of the conference. He told me he was lost and looking for where they were talking about "MMA," and it took me a few seconds to realize he was talking about mixed-martial arts and not the Slayers player. I pointed him out in the right direction, but unforunately I had a scheduled talk with the TrailBlazers I had to get to so I told him that I couldn't show him to the MMA room. I attempted to give him a regular handshake, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a handshake like this one. I couldn't believe I actually just talked to Day9...
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oFy4E.jpg)
Baseball Analytics: This was probably the most statistics-heavy talk of the weekend, since stats and sports really emerged in the field of baseball and has only recently been applied to other traditional sports. It was thought-provoking, but not the most entertaining talk.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7aAU1.jpg)
Basketball Analytics: This was probably the most entertaining talk of the weekend. The moderator, Jackie Macmullan, did a good job of getting everyone to give insight, and Jeff van Gundy is hilarious in person. Jeff, when asked how he used statistics when coaching, said that he used stats if they helped his cause, and he made up stats if the real ones didnt. He hinted that the players weren't smart enough to question the stats that he gave them. He also said that some of Jeremy Lin's success thusfar has been because of the shortened season and that opposing teams haven't had a chance to watch tape. Van Gundy stated that he thinks Lin will struggle once team's catch on, since Lin is turnover prone and that can be easily manipulated. The real challenge will be for Lin to adjust to the other teams' adjustments, and that we won't really know how good Lin is until the end of the 2012-2013 season.
eSports: The panel of Alex Garfield (CEO of EG), Mike Morhaime (CEO of Blizzard), Day9, and Sundance (CEO of MLG) did their best to explain eSports to the audience. I felt like it was a difficult task to do, so I don't blame them for not doing a perfect job, but people in the crowd who weren't of the 18-25 male demographic seemed pretty uninterested after the first 10 minutes of the talk (which was around an hour long). Sundance did a good job of relating esports things to traditional sports, using analogies like comparing seeing NBA players duking it out at a live game to seeing Huk and Idra play one another at an MLG. Alex, Day9, and Sundance spent a lot of time complimenting Mike on making SC2 so spectator-friendly, and Alex pointed out that was why esports has taken off. Games like Counterstrike and WoW are very difficult to follow. The panel also contributed the growth of eSports to the growth of live streaming.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/nXcCk.jpg)
As the session ended, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets NBA team, walked up on stage, thanked the panel, and said that he believed one day, esports would overtake traditional sports as the most popular international competition. He then continued to take off his suit, reveal a "release the gracken" t-shirt, and ask everyone on the panel to sign it. People from the crowd rushed up to talk to the panelists, and I took the opportunity to talk to Daryl Morey first, since everyone was trying to talk to Day9 or Mike. I asked Daryl if he thought that the popularity of live streaming ladder games and the player-fan interaction of a site like Twitch.tv could be applied to something like streaming a few "open to the public" NBA practices and having players and coaches interact more closely with the fans. Daryl seemed to like the idea and he said he always felt that technology had so much room to grow in relation to sports. He was a little pessimistic though, saying that the sports world was very reluctant to use technology, and that was one of the reasons why he helps organize the Sloan Conference each year: to promote growth and innovation of thought in the sports community. Even he didn't have enough pull in his own organization to build something like what I mentioned.
Now that people had started leaving, I talked to Alex Garfield about applying analytics to eSports. He said that since eSports was a fairly new world, there wasn't the time and money yet to explore statistics. He told me that he definitely appreciated the value of statistics. He stated that he always knew that Idra had a bad temper and wasn't the most mentally strong player, but not until he saw the statistic that Idra was something like 0-20 after losing the first set of a match did he decide to sit down with Idra and have a man-to-man talk to him.
Finally, I got to say hi to Day9 again, and he spontaneously started giving me a shoulder rub.
The photo I got looked really awkward for both of us. Day9 asked if I wanted a retake but I said that I loved the awkwardness of the photo, and that I wouldn't have it any other way. He even remembered me as "the Trail Blazers guy". I also got to see Day9's mom who came out to support him.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QhVCb.jpg)
Celebs: I've mentioned that I had a chance to talk to Day9 (twice!), Alex Garfield, and the GM of the Rockets. I also got to talk to Matthew Berry who was extremely friendly, John Hollinger who was extremely awkward and has a really flat head, and Bill Barnwell a writer for Grantland.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4D7Hr.jpg)
BS Report with Bill Simmons and Mark Cuban: This was an extremely entertaining one-hour interview with Mark Cuban. Some highlights included:
* Cuban said that the phrase most said to him after winning the NBA championship last season wasn't "Congrats" or "Good job", but "Thank you [for beating the Heat]"
* Cuban liked to bring the championship trophy anywhere he was asked. "Anyone have a kindergarten classroom I haven't visited yet?"
* Simmons said that if he had his own arena, there would be free wifi. Bill Simmons: I’d have such great wifi service in my stadium. MC: Because you’d have a team no one would want to watch.
* Cuban: I hate the wave. I'd rather have 60 minutes of kisscam. Simmons: I love the kisscam. Cuban: That's cuz you love to get caught kissing your boyfriend. The crowd roars with laughter, and after realizing that the comment was a little homophobic, Cuban adds on "or girlfriend. That was a gender independent joke."
* Cuban thinks the next big move in technology is having TVs that can multitask. Or color-customizable shoelaces.
* Simmons asks Cuban what advice Cuban has for the 2200 people in the crowd looking for a job with a sports team. (sidenote, a lot of the attendees are sports management majors) Cuban: Don't do it. There are thousands of people competing for each position and each pays terrible. If you want a job in sports, bring something new and innovative to the table. Sports Management is a useless path in school. Major in something else. Simmons: Well the crowd just got pretty quiet. Cuban: I'm just trying to be realistic. [pause] What I meant to say is 'you're all special in your own unique way, and you'll all get a job in sports and live happily-ever after.' But seriously, I had some people offering to pay ME for a full-time job.
 
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Lol DAY9 and mma. He kicks ass in starcraft and now he kicks ass in real life. lololol
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lol @ the advice for all the sports management majors.
so the rockets gm is a sc2 fan? sc2 and nba are so intertwined...
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As the session ended, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets NBA team, walked up on stage, thanked the panel, and said that he believed one day, esports would overtake traditional sports as the most popular international competition. He then continued to take off his suit, reveal a "release the gracken" t-shirt, and ask everyone on the panel to sign it.
holy crap that is so good. so jelly you got to this. will you be at the princeton panel next week?
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will you be at the princeton panel next week?
No, I had to fly over from Chicago to attend this conference, so I can't warrant spending money for another round trip plane ticket 
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Cool story, thanks for sharing.
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Wtf! Morey, an SC2 fan! As a Rockets fan, I follow Morey-the-stat-head's investment in the numbers game. But I never expected this.
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On March 06 2012 03:46 TylerThaCreator wrote:
lol @ the advice for all the sports management majors.
so the rockets gm is a sc2 fan? sc2 and nba are so intertwined...
He spear headed the conference. -_-
People falling asleep ten minutes in isn't good. I would love to see a video to see how exactly they tried to engage the audience.
If I were there I would have grilled Mike with regards to the features again. They have a long way to go yet they were still kissing asses.
Hiring the X-Box Live guy was a mistake and not being familiar with how the community interacted. Observer tools peachy; what about the rest?
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Is there a video of this?
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As the session ended, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets NBA team, walked up on stage, thanked the panel, and said that he believed one day, esports would overtake traditional sports as the most popular international competition. He then continued to take off his suit, reveal a "release the gracken" t-shirt, and ask everyone on the panel to sign it.
That. Is. Amazing.
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This just makes me so happy. I've got shivers man.
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Israel2209 Posts
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Cool story! thanks for writing it all up 
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How do I upvote this? <3 cool stuff
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On March 06 2012 04:30 skatbone wrote:
Wtf! Morey, an SC2 fan! As a Rockets fan, I follow Morey-the-stat-head's investment in the numbers game. But I never expected this.
Me too! I was pumped to hear Morey tweet his interested in eSports, but to have a "Release the Gracken" shirt?! Awesome! It has reinvigorated my man crush on him! (Rockets fan, too, obviously)
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Awesome write up. Wish I could be there, right up my alley. Have fun!
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Belgium9947 Posts
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Thanks for the article! Those suggestions for practice streaming I think are fantastic
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Great read! :D UIUC hwaiting
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On March 07 2012 03:29 ggahSoO wrote:
Great read! :D UIUC hwaiting
You UIUC?
I just graduated last spring haha
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great write up. Daryl Morey is a boss of a man and GM
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The problem with streaming practice is that it gives other teams a look on what you're working on, your adjustments.
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On March 07 2012 04:46 YMCApylons wrote:
The problem with streaming practice is that it gives other teams a look on what you're working on, your adjustments.
Can't the same be said for sc2? The teams could stream specific practices where they aren't working on set plays, but stream scrimmages instead.
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i always thought stats in the NBA were way behind. at least the stats they use in the press; i'm not sure what coaches and teams actually use.
i'm still annoyed at how points against is used as the basis for determining the strength of a defense. why they don't use baskets per possession is beyond me. i remember being laughed at for using that stat during the d'Antoni Suns days, when i was trying to say they actually had good defense because they allowed less points per possession then most teams; they just had more possessions in the game by 10-20.
and it's not like this is something new either, i read dean smith's coaching book and he writes about that same thing.
when i think about the positional chemistry paper, it really makes me wonder how far behind the press is in terms of statistical analysis.
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Huge analytics, Trail Blazers, and SC2 fan. I want to be best friends with cma1681.
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United States5162 Posts
5/5 This should be spotlighted imo!
Anyways, as a Magic fan, the positional chemistry paper reinforces something I felt for a while - despite adding arguably better players, they actually made us worse. And I can totally see Van Gundy saying something like that.
The GM of the Rockets being an esports fan is incredibly awesome, too. I never thought someone like him would be into esports.
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Thanks for the kind words everyone!
It's funny, I originally wrote this for a few friends on our college SC2 team who were curious about the conference, and one suggested I post it to TL. I never thought so many people read the blog sections. Wow!
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And here I was thinking Daryl Morey couldn't get more awesome than he already is. Turns out I was wrong.
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On March 07 2012 07:37 kainzero wrote:
i always thought stats in the NBA were way behind. at least the stats they use in the press; i'm not sure what coaches and teams actually use.
i'm still annoyed at how points against is used as the basis for determining the strength of a defense. why they don't use baskets per possession is beyond me. i remember being laughed at for using that stat during the d'Antoni Suns days, when i was trying to say they actually had good defense because they allowed less points per possession then most teams; they just had more possessions in the game by 10-20.
and it's not like this is something new either, i read dean smith's coaching book and he writes about that same thing.
when i think about the positional chemistry paper, it really makes me wonder how far behind the press is in terms of statistical analysis.
That's why defensive stats like Defensive Efficiency and Opponents True Shooting Percentage are being used more and more by basketball analysts. The same goes for Player Efficiency Ratings on offense. APBRmetrics (Basketball's equivalent of Sabermetrics) are being used by more and more people like Daryl Morey and it's very interesting to see the long term results.
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There are a lot of statisticians in the world of sports. It's actually kind of scary.
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That's why defensive stats like Defensive Efficiency and Opponents True Shooting Percentage are being used more and more by basketball analysts. The same goes for Player Efficiency Ratings on offense. APBRmetrics (Basketball's equivalent of Sabermetrics) are being used by more and more people like Daryl Morey and it's very interesting to see the long term results.
Dean Oliver mentioned that currently, the go-to "good" NBA stat is plus-minus, because its easy for commonfolk to understand and can be put in a newspaper box score. It's such a flawed stat since you can bet Joel Anthony has a kick-ass +/- from playing with the Heat big 3, but it's what we got.
Someone else mentioned that they have live cameras in many of the stadiums, which can track 3-dimensional coordinates of the ball, and of each player. Only very recently have teams started to analyze those, but it's difficult since SO MUCH data is collected in the course of a game.
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sick write up
sidenote. can you punch john hollinger in the nuts, his shit on ESPN is so terrible
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On March 07 2012 12:17 holy_war wrote:
That's why defensive stats like Defensive Efficiency and Opponents True Shooting Percentage are being used more and more by basketball analysts. The same goes for Player Efficiency Ratings on offense. APBRmetrics (Basketball's equivalent of Sabermetrics) are being used by more and more people like Daryl Morey and it's very interesting to see the long term results.
perhaps, but why aren't these stats really publicized?
after moneyball, OBP became a big stat, i don't see why better and more accurate defensive stats should be used during the broadcast.
i think rebounding is a bogus stat too, when i used to play nba live/nba2k i'd get like 6 rebounds because i made 80% of my shots.
after sunday's game, when i think of joel anthony and +/- all i can think of is his forehead.
man, twitter was brutal to him during the game, lol.
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OBP is fairly easy to understand. I can watch a game and say "Pujols' OBP during this game was X". But I cant say "Kobe's Def. Efficiency during this game was Y"
The majority of sports viewers are still having a tough time with more complicated stats. As terrible as rebounds are as a defensive stat, more rebounds usually still means better. Just like a higher BA means the player is better. Sometimes.
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pinball777
United States134 Posts
Loved the write up, glad I could hear about it. UIUC fighting!!
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I really enjoyed this blog as a sports fan, stats fan, and esports fan. Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
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Sport Nerd Heaven, wish I can attend one one day!
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Hong Kong9154 Posts
On March 06 2012 03:33 cma1681 wrote:
As the session ended, Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets NBA team, walked up on stage, thanked the panel, and said that he believed one day, esports would overtake traditional sports as the most popular international competition. He then continued to take off his suit, reveal a "release the gracken" t-shirt, and ask everyone on the panel to sign it.
I was very pleasantly surprised to read that line. Looks like ESPORTS has more reach than we think.
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Great read, I envy you for the opportunity to go there
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Thanks man! this was awesome.!
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Thanks for the article, esports panel sounds like a success to me, love the Daryl Morey part! Any chance Mark Cuban had anything to say about esports?
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On March 08 2012 02:30 imZcK wrote:
Thanks for the article, esports panel sounds like a success to me, love the Daryl Morey part! Any chance Mark Cuban had anything to say about esports?
Glad you enjoyed it.
Cuban didn't say anything about esports. Esports was not the main focus of the conference, it just had a 1 hour panel during a total of maybe 40 hrs of total content (packed into a 16 hour time frame).
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Thanks for the read! That Day9 photo is great too haha
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Pretty awesome event. Streaming practice sessions of your team is an innovative idea. Imagine following how your players look even when there's no games on. Hope the right people can make that pitch to NBA coaches/managers.
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Stats and technology take a long time to be integrated into sports because sports are one of the most tradition oriented businesses. This is partly because they are generally run and controlled by former players / coaches.
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O.o
totally didn't hear about this event prior to this date
thanks for coverage! very jealous 
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On March 06 2012 19:33 HotS wrote:
Is there a video of this?
I want to echo this. Is there a video of this at all? Haven't found anything with quick google searches.
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On March 08 2012 09:32 Aldehyde wrote:I want to echo this. Is there a video of this at all? Haven't found anything with quick google searches.
As far as I can tell the videos for this year's conference are not posted yet, this is their website. http://www.sloansportsconference.com
and all the videos are from 2011 and back, so I'm guessing they will be posted in the future.
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+1 for the Houston Rockets GM.
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Awesome blog!
- thanks for the link on nba positional chemistry too :D
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Thanks for your blog, i really hope the esports panel video will be up anytime soon now i'm really interested in it
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United States10328 Posts
nice! too bad I was asleep for the whole thing (thank you crypto pset allnighter)
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United States354 Posts
You met Dork Elvis!
I listened to all the BS Reports from the event, it was really good stuff. Thanks for the post.
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Thanks for the post. Daryl Morey is one of my favorite GMs in the league and he sounds like a total boss.
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Thanks for the article! Cuban's kisscam joke interestingly got editted out of the BS Report podcast.
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On March 06 2012 19:33 HotS wrote:
Is there a video of this?
I'd also like to see a video..no matter how long it is.
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On March 10 2012 02:23 spectral_ wrote:
Thanks for the article! Cuban's kisscam joke interestingly got editted out of the BS Report podcast.
LOL that's hilarious. Also, Cuban made a remark about it being ok in Massachusetts but I couldn't remember the wording.
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OMFG you saw DAy9'S MOM HOLY SHIT BOW DOWN AND OFFER GIFTS OF GOLD! >.<. Day9 daily #100 still burned into my soul.
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Great Article thank you
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It really seams like you had a great time over there! Day9 is out there representing aswell! Esports is really growing!
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Fun/interesting read, thanks!
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United States5162 Posts
Thanks for bumping with the videos. I turned on the one with van gundy to kill 15 mins before IPL, and ended up watching the entire thing.
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interesting stuff, jelly that you got to meet matthew berry, bill simons, mark cuban and stuff; and day9 is a good guy i hear =D lol
gogo trailblazers guy!
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EPT
