HSAC is a student-run organization at Harvard University dedicated to the quantitative analysis of sports strategy and management. This blog features the original contributions of Harvard undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and affiliates. HSAC does research for several sports-related publications and companies. Please contact us at harvardsportsanalysis@gmail.com if you have any questions or want more information.
A Different Measure of Diversity in Pro Sports
By Henry Johnson On June 24, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDE) released its evaluation of the NBA in terms of racial and gender hiring practices for executives, referees, announcers, coaches, and players. The league earned a grade of “A+” from TIDE, as 80.5% of players and 43.3% of coaches during the …Read More
NBA Finals: Is There a Heat-Refs Conspiracy?
Following in the footsteps of rigged lotteries and expelled superstars, the NBA conspiracy theory du jour holds that referees work their magic to help the Miami Heat win games. Paul George has griped about it and The Onion has spoofed it, but the theory’s doubters claim that the Heat deserve more calls because they attack …Read More
A Major League Commodity: Predicting Masahiro Tanaka’s success in the MLB
By: DJ Link As its franchises experience a heightened demand for talented players, Major League Baseball has opened its doors to many countries worldwide. One country in particular that is influenced by Major League Baseball is Japan, where domestic baseball players aspire to sign a contract with American teams. While it is true that Major …Read More
Mr. 105.4: The MLB Hall of Fame Case for Mr. 3000
By Theo Gerome and Henry Johnson Stan Ross, the egotistical title character of Mr. 3000, claims that he “deserves to be in the Hall of Fame with the immortals.” The baseball writers disagree. Hitting total aside, he is denied admission to Cooperstown, prompting excessive pouting and one obvious question: what do the numbers say? While …Read More
I Don’t Care If We Never Get Back
By Ben Blatt ’13 Over four years ago I walked into my first meeting of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. In most social settings I may be overly nerdy, overly analytical and overly obsessed with sports. At HSAC, I was only slightly above average in all of these categories. The premise of HSAC is simple: …Read More
What wins in the NBA: Offense or Defense?
By Julian Ryan What matters more for winning games in the NBA: offense or defense? This question vastly oversimplifies the game and is somewhat moot as of course they both matter. More interesting, for GMs building rosters on a limited budget, is the question of where is the most value available: on offense or on …Read More
Bringing Pythagorean Expectation to College Lacrosse
By Austin Tymins The Pythagorean expectation is a predictive win model originally developed for use in baseball that uses a formula similar to the Pythagorean theorem using runs scored and runs allowed to predict winning percentage. The calculated Pythagorean winning percentage can therefore be used to evaluate how lucky a team is at the end …Read More
NBA Basketball: The Spurs and Quantifying Movement
By Harrison Chase and and Carlos Peña-Lobel As the postseason begins, the Spurs once again are in the driver’s seat of the Western Conference. This a familiar sight – since the 1999-2000 season the Spurs have amassed fifteen consecutive 50+ win seasons (including this year), the most in league history, and four 60+ win seasons. …Read More
Fulham’s Defense: Historically Awful
By Julian Ryan For Fulham fans like myself, this has been a tough season to watch. The team’s typically solid defense which has long kept them out of the relegation battle and firmly entrenched in the relative comfort of the mid-table mish-mash has completely fallen away this season. As a result, the team is languishing …Read More
NBA Scoring Balance: The Benefit of Ball Hogs
By Henry Johnson Nobody likes a ball hog. Neglected pickup teammates mutter under their breath about the hero at the local gym. The sentiments extend to the collegiate and professional levels, where post-game analysts regularly chalk up victories to scoring balance. The basketball world seems to have reached a consensus long ago: there’s a special …Read More