Sports and statistics converged at UNC this weekend in the third annual SPEIA Basketball Analytics Summit, hosted at the Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Here are the five things to know from the event, which took place on Friday and Saturday.
Dean Oliver's fingerprints were everywhere.
Though he was not prominently involved in this year's event, analytics pioneer Dean Oliver left his mark on the weekend's action.
Oliver, a UNC graduate who spoke at the first Basketball Analytics Summit two years ago, was mentioned as a primary inspiration for many of the speakers — including college basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy, who prominently uses Oliver's concept of the "Four Factors" in his own model.
The San Antonio Spurs are the NBA champions of analytics.
Despite the recent attention paid to the analytical approach of the Golden State Warriors — who won a record-setting 73 games this season — it was San Antonio that drew most of the praise at the summit.
Many lauded the Spurs for their sustained excellence on the court, which San Antonio Director of Basketball Analytics Gabe Farkas attributed to the organization's continued commitment to analytics.
Analytics affect the entire industry.