Monthly Archives: February 2011

HSAC Co-President John Ezekowitz Featured in Today’s Boston Globe Magazine

Posted on February 27, 2011 by David Roher

Shira Springer has a great piece in today’s Boston Globe Magazine about John and the sports analytics industry. Check it out!

Posted in Papers | Leave a comment

Extend the NFL Season? 18 Weeks, Not 18 Games

Posted on February 25, 2011 by arirubin19

By Ari Rubin One of the key points of contention in NFL’s collective-bargaining has been the issue of an extended, 18-game season. While owners would like to see the increased revenue of two extra weeks, players worry about the increased … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, NFL Football | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

HSAC Featured in Yahoo’s ThePostGame

Posted on February 24, 2011 by David Roher

Today’s issue of Yahoo’s new online sports magazine, ThePostGame, features a story by Ben Cohen entitled “Moneyball 2.0: Students In Harvard Club Prep To Be Sports GMs.” Thanks to Ben for writing a great piece. We’re especially excited that it … Continue reading →

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Re-Examining the Four Factors: The Case for Free Throws Made Per 100 Possessions

Posted on February 21, 2011 by John Ezekowitz

By John Ezekowitz Effective Field Goal Percentage. Turnover Percentage. Offensive Rebounding Rate. Free Throw Rate. Ever since Dean Oliver posited these statistics as the most important for explaining how teams score and defend in basketball, these so-called Four Factors have … Continue reading →

Posted in NCAA Basketball | 18 Comments

A Transcript and Illustration of Kenny Smith’s Glorious Blake Griffin Car Dunk Speech

Posted on February 20, 2011 by David Roher

By David Roher Transcript, compiled by watching this Youtube video: KENNY: Well, we seen a lot of dunks over the dunk…over the great dunk contest, look at this panel, this esteemed panel, that was sitting here, and we’ve seen them … Continue reading →

Posted in NBA Basketball | Tagged | 1 Comment

The NBA H-O-R-S-E Competition Was Mathematically Doomed

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Ben Blatt

by Ben Blatt Perhaps the NBA was hoping for something out of a Larry Bird versus Michael Jordan McDonalds commercial when it debuted the NBA H-O-R-S-E competition two years ago. Instead, they got an excruciatingly slow paced game in which … Continue reading →

Posted in NBA Basketball | 5 Comments

Reverse-Engineering Our New Computer Overlords: Watson, Jeopardy, and Sports Decision Making

Posted on February 17, 2011 by David Roher

By David Roher Watson closed the pod bay door on Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter last night, bringing the IBM robot’s 2-game Jeopardy total to over $77,000.  Humans are still the kings of awful robot-pop-culture references (QED), but our monopoly … Continue reading →

Posted in Other Sports | 5 Comments

Ohio Basketball Streaks: Which Was More Improbable?

Posted on February 16, 2011 by dadler3

By Arjun Modi and Daniel Adler Going into this past weekend, two Ohio basketball teams were streaking, but within just 24 hours, both streaks were over.  On Friday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 26 game losing streak mercifully ended when they … Continue reading →

Posted in NBA Basketball, NCAA Basketball | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A History of Pro Sports Divisional Parity

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Daniel Granoff

By Daniel Granoff Two thirds of the way into the NHL season, the Los Angeles Kings are in last place in their division, on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They were darlings of the preseason rankings and … Continue reading →

Posted in MLB Baseball, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey | Leave a comment

The McDonald’s All-American Game and the Road to Success

Posted on February 10, 2011 by akoenig14

By Alex Koenig Ever since 1977, fast-food giant McDonald’s has annually held a game highlighting the top seniors, nationwide, in high school basketball. The 791 players who have played in this game hold in their ranks such basketball legends as … Continue reading →

Posted in NBA Basketball, NCAA Basketball | 5 Comments