EPTAs 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.
