Frank Silva is the technical lead for the SAS for Sports Analytics team. He specializes in the visualization and analytical modeling suite of SAS solutions. Silva has worked with numerous MLS, NFL, NBA, and NHL teams during his time at SAS.
I previously blogged about the impact drafting offensive linemen has on winning and making the playoffs. Since I wrote that, we have new data points to add to the analysis and an exciting finale to this NFL season. In this blog post, I’ll explore a few more arguments both in
In football, five out of the 11 players on offense are on the field to accomplish one goal: keep the defenders as far away from the ball as possible. Sometimes it’s more than five. Teams will bring extra linemen on short-play packages. Tight ends and full backs might check in
Critics of sports analytics (and there are some entertaining ones) love to point out that analytics isn’t capable of capturing the things that don’t show up on a box score. A player who dives on the floor to save a loose ball, a quarterback strategically misleading a defender to free
These are incredibly tough times, and fortunately, everyone I know is still healthy, safe and doing everything they can to stay that way. I know I'm lucky -- the worst I've suffered so far under coronavirus stay-at-home orders is sports withdrawal. I'm trying to fill that void in my life
What can data tell us about the easiest hole at your favorite golf course? Or which hole contributes the most to mastering the course? A golf instructor once told me golf is not my sport, and that my swing is hopeless, but that didn’t stop me from analyzing golf data!
If you consume NBA content through social media, then you know just how active that online community is. Basketball arguments and ‘hot takes’ on the Internet are about as commonplace as Michael Jordan playing golf instead of running a functional NBA front office. I wondered if NBA fans happened to
I was born in a country (Brazil) where voting is mandatory. Most of my family still lives there, and now that I live in the US, they ask me about American politics all the time. One thing that often catches them by surprise is that not only is voting not
American readers may know that the ongoing 2018 international soccer/football tournament is a big deal in other countries. But it's hard to grasp just how ubiquitous and important it is when there's no other event like it in the United States. The best way I can describe it is if the
