Basketball Statistics Blog

The eBA DVD of the Month:
"Steve Nash MVP Basketball: Fundamentals of Basketball"

By Steve Nash

2 Disc Set ~ 2 Hours Long ~ Studio: Varsity Films

DISC 1: Individual Fundamentals Steve Nash, NBA's 2005 MVP, teaches the fundamentals of basketball in his step-by-step program designed to give every basketball player a competitive edge on the court. You'll learn first-hand from Steve the training secrets needed to become a complete basketball player. This instructional video includes the drills Steve personally used to become a great shooter, passer, ball handler, defender and the game's best all-around point guard.

DISC 2: Team Play and Practice Organization Steve Nash has designed a complete basketball instructional program centered around team play and practice organization. Steve enlists the help veteran AAU Coach Roch Weilbacher, whose AAU teams have won 9 National Championships. Their unique presentation teaches every parent/coach dozens of tried and proven basketball team drills that they have successfully utilized throughout their careers. You'll learn step-by-step from proven winners how to run an effective and efficient basketball practice that will improve any team's skills, from youth to adult, and give it a competitive edge. Also included as a bonus is a printable MVP Basketball Guide which will help you customize your own workouts and practices.

"...This DVD is the best basketball instructional DVD on the market. Disc one covers the most basic fundamentals from ball handling, shooting, passing, and defense. This DVD has improved my game dramatically.

It has help me with my shot, especially my release, he offers secret ways to help perfect that soft touch shooting release that has made him so successful.
He shares his very own ball handling practice drills consisting from crossovers, spins, behind the back dribble, and between the legs. I am 6ft6 and handle almost like a point guard because of this DVD.

While Steve primarily works with kids, aging from 8 to 13 years old, this DVD will help anyone's game. The DVD is very professional with use of certain camera angles while drill routines are being performed.

Disc two is more focused on team play and practice organization, Steve, along with a fellow coach, demonstrate drills of fast breaks, defensive stops, offense, and much more. This could be helpful for any young aspiring coach.
You can insert this disc into your PC DVD-ROM drive and download the entire team play and practice organization guide.

Overall I would recommend this DVD to any aspiring basketball player and / or coach. ..."
R. Schuster's Review

...more info...

tags: basketball fundamentals ~ Steve Nash ~ basketball DVD

For Players: Getting Scouts Attention
Be honest:
Try to base the recruiting process on honesty - both yours and the recruiters. Always be up front with recruiters. Let them know where they stand with you and what concerns you have regarding their schools / teams.
Likewise, you should expect honesty on the part of the recruiter, and, if you suspect something is not quite right, you should seriously reconsider your interest in THAT school / team. ...."

You can read this article
in "The Documents"
at the "User member Menu"
as a Registered Member
from Homepage.

tags: player resources ~ scouting ~ recruiting

The Four Factors

"... Essentially, the four factors are the building blocks to the efficiency formula.
Efficiency data gives you an idea of the quality of a team’s offense or defense, but the four factors tell you why a team is good or bad when they have or don’t have the ball. Here’s a breakdown of how each statistic on this concept is calculated…

Effective field goal percentage is like regular field goal percentage except that it gives 50% more credit for made three-pointers.

eFG%  = (.5*3FGM + FGM) / FGA

Turnover percentage is a pace-independent measure of ball security.

TO% = TO / Possessions

Offensive rebounding percentage is a measure of the possible rebounds that are gathered by the offense.

OR% = OR / (OR + DRopp)

Keep in mind that rebounding percentage is computed from box score data which does not contain team rebounds. Therefore, the figures shown here may differ slightly from calculations made on the rebounding totals provided by a team.

Finally, free throw rate captures a team’s ability to score from the line.

FTRateoff = FTM / FGA 
FTRatedef = FTA / FGA

Defensive FTRate uses FTA in the numerator since the defense has little control on the percentage of free throw attempts made by the opposition.

The four factors concept is based on Dean Oliver’s research and you can read Dean’s more detailed explanation of the four factors in the last exposition by Prof. Roberto Azar from eBA-Stats about "Basketball Formulas Revision" in eBA ONLINE CLINICS....."

tags: statistics ~ formulas ~ Dean Oliver

About the Game and the Numbers:
"We don't care if you never score a point, If you make plays and help your team win, you don't have to score..." says Wayne Winston, a professor in the Operations and Decisions Technology Department at Indiana University.
"Use the mathematical tools of quantitative analysis to go beyond the box score and discover the hidden factors that contribute to victory..."
"You couldn't run a team completely on statistics, but anybody from the old school who doesn't pay attention to them is probably in the wrong. Everyone's looking for an edge. And this kind of information can give you one..."

"The game moves so fast that unless you have somebody tabulating this and analyzing it properly, you're just not going to know. A lot of coaches think they know more than they do....."

"Basketball's a team sport, and lots of things aren't tracked," Winston says. "Like taking the charge, going through a screen, tipping a ball to your teammate, saving a ball from going out of bounds....."

"The information is a good reference point, but unlike in baseball where there are definable variables that enable a team to select players wisely, there are no such variables identified yet in Basketball. Personally, I think it's because we don't collect the right data..."


tags: basketball comments ~ Wayne Winston ~ statistics

tags: coach corner ~ methods ~ you-tube

Blocked or Altered Shot ?
By definition (see our Global Basketball Encyclopedia ) a blocked shot occurs when a defensive player successfully and legally deflects a shot from an offensive player by touching and rejecting the ball on its way to the basket, and before it has reached its highest point, in order to prevent from a field goal.

In order to be a legal action, the block must occur while the shot is traveling upward. It is heading downward when the defender hits it, it is ruled a goaltending and counts as a made basket.

We have an altered shot when a blocker changes the shooter shot causing the shooter to miss the basket.
At our eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System we register a Block Shot when the ball doesn't leave the shooter's hand: Turnover for the player in possession, Steal for the blocker; and we have an Altered Shot when the ball leaves the shooter's hand, so we register a missed shot for the shooter & a steal - block for the defender.
Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE

tags: statistics register ~ eBA Clinics ~ statistics

About Statistics and Officials
"Total fouls called are down vs.  last year, with an average of 46.47 in total fouls being called per game ( compared to 48.17 last year ).
The average number of calls by the 3 veteran officials who call the most total fouls is about 51, with the high being his crews calling 52.07 fouls per game. On the low side,  the average of veteran officials who call the least fouls is about 42.5 for their crews.
Suggesting a variance in foul calls between certain veteran officials can run approximately 18 pct from game to game.

The average number of travels called this year is 2.49. This compares to 2.1 at the end of last year. The variance between high and low, is 4.17 for one veteran officials crews and 1.44 for another veteran officials crew. Meaning that the highest officials’ crews will call traveling almost 3x as often as the official whose crews call it the least.

Defensive 3 seconds is called on average .89 times per game this year, vs. .59 times per game this time last year. The average number of calls by the 3 veteran officials who call def 3 the most is 1.7x per game. The least, 0.55x per game, or a factor of about 3.

Offensive fouls are called on average 4.6 times per game, compared to 5.16 times per game last year. The average number of calls by the 3 vet officials crews who call it the most is about  6 per game. The average for the 3 officials’ crews that call it the least is 3.3. 
Last year for offensive fouls, the average number of calls by the 3 veteran officials who call offensive fouls the most is 7 per game. The least, 3.6 per game.

There are .609 techs called per game this year compared to .724 per game last year.  The top and bottom averages are about 1.1 per game vs. .25 per game.

Last by not least, is offensive 3 seconds. There are .70 called per game  vs. .794 called per game last year and .552 the year before. This year the top and bottom averages are about 1.25 per game vs. 0.25 game, or about a 500 pct variance.

As you can see, different officials use their professional judgment differently, which is exactly what you would expect."
the mark cuban weblog

tags: statistics comments ~ Mark Cuban ~ statistics

Photograph: Vedia PhotoStream
Wilton Norman Chamberlain - Philadelphia 76ers 1966-67
(Wilt, Wilt the Stilt, the Big Dipper)

Position: C
Height: 7'1" Weight: 275 lbs.

Born: August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, PA - USA
Died: October 12, 1999

High School: Overbrook in Philadelphia, PA - USA
College: University of Kansas - USA

Inducted into Hall of Fame as Player in 1979

1966/67 Stats with the Philadelphia 76ers - PHI NBA (30 years old): 81 GP ~ 3682 MP ~
785 FG ~ 1150 FGA ~ 386 FT ~ 875 FTA ~ 1957 Rebs ~ 630 AST ~ 143 PF ~ 1956 Points

14 Seasons 1959/73 Stats (23/36 years old): 1045 GP ~ 47859 MP ~ 12681 FG ~ 23497 FGA ~ 6057 FT ~ 11862 FTA ~ 23924 Rebs ~ 4643 AST ~ 2075 PF ~ 31419 Points

tags: photographs ~ Wilt Chamberlain ~ legends

Points per Shot Attempt" (PSA)
In order to measure  how strictly correctly a player or team is shooting we need statistics, and if possible a creative analysis of those Basketball statistics.

Statisticians most often use the field goal percentage ( FG% ) to do it, but  the added bonus of the three-point shot, for instance, isn't reflected in field goal percentage, and the ability to get to the free-throw line (where the points come much easier) is ignored as well.

"Points per Shot Attempt" (PSA):   It's a stat designed to reflect the basics of good shooting: getting the greatest number of points from the fewest number of attempts. Points per shot attempt is simply points divided by shot attempts . Figuring shot attempts is like this: Add field goal attempts plus "Up to the Line" (for 2 or 3 free-throws). In case of an analysis of another team and if you can't know how many times the player or the team reached the line, use (0.4 * FTA) instead.

PSA = Points / (Up to the Line + FGA)

Last year NBA league PSA average was 1.039 points per shot attempt, so by averaging, by example, 1.133 points per attempt, an average team  gains a full point  with every ten shots.

PSA is just as handy for rating individual players as it is for teams. Occasionally a player will break into the top ten who shoots nothing but dunks, but mostly it's the long shooters who are at the top of an individual PSA list.

This formula, with another fields formulas, are integrated in my exposition at the Basketball Statistics eBA Course: "Statistics Formulas Revision" at eBA ONLINE CLINICS.

Other proposals and formulas your can find at the excellent Basketball Statistics Formulas Revision by Deborah Telmes, in the section Formulas of our site.

tags: statistics formulas ~ eBA Clinics ~ statistics

About Coaching Youth Basketball

"Youth Basketball coach must understand that coaching youth Basketball is not like coaching adults. They need more instruction and more supervision, so patience is certainly a virtue. When you’re coaching youth Basketball, you don’t necessarily have to win in order to succeed. Letting everyone play must be the objective. What you’ll want to do is prompt each child to do their very best.
This means that in the course of coaching youth Basketball, you will want to give everyone a opportunity to play. If you only play the best players, then children will feel excluded. In younger ages, this can lead to disturb children and parents as well. Let everyone have a opportunity when you’re coaching youth Basketball. You never know what talents you might find.

Photograph: from 'Basketball Notes by Alex'

You’ll want to adjust adult drills when coaching youth Basketball, but in a way that children can know and comprehend. Try to make everything a game, rather than a practice so that children stay concerned. With shorter attention units, you may want to make short drills or keep practices to a minimum.
This isn’t to say that coaching youth Basketball is a work of a baby sitter, but it is about teaching children to try their the supreme effort one can make and be filled with satisfaction when they do. ..." ( from the eBA Forum )

tags: coaching ~ youth basketball ~ eBA Forums

Photograph: Vedia PhotoStream

Slavko Kotnik, born 1962 in Slovenija playing in Estudiantes de Madrid, Spain 1994: GP:18 ~ Pts. 8,70 ~ Reb 5,70 ~ Ass 0,20 ~ MP 23,5.

tags: photographs ~ Slavko Kotnik ~ legends

About efficiency in Basketball: "But is it even possible to say what constitutes efficiency in Basketball? More points in fewer minutes seems the most transparent analogy, but it’s not a terribly useful thing to know. Obviously, efficiency relates to a player’s production, but a player can “produce” hundred of different things in five minutes of Basketball and we only keep track of that which is easy to count. And if we combine all of those measurements into one index, we have to make ridiculous assumptions like: four rebounds are worth three assists. What would it mean to compile a team of extremely efficient players? From what I can tell, it describes a team full of players who are particularly precious at accumulating more “numbers” in fewer possessions above all else. Less obvious strengths, like defensive presence, passing ability, and energy are deemed less important, making for what could be a homogeneous and uninteresting team.

Photograph: from 'Basketball Notes by Alex'

But this post is not meant to be an attack on John Hollinger, top of ESPN’s NBA writing staff, or 82games.com (who claim not to have discovered the definitive way to evaluate players). The idea that everything can and should be quantified has led to using efficiency (of the sell and produce more at less cost variety) as the measuring stick for effectiveness. This idea began in the business world and has bled into other areas, including sports and education. Among entirely too many important people, efficiency is equated with value and utility. An efficient company or organization creates a cheaper and better product, benefiting company and society simultaneously. Everyone wins, at least from that perspective....."


Read the complete post at freedarko.blogspot.com

tags: basketball efficiency ~ formulas ~ statistics

Model in dress and heels beats Ricky Watters in Basketball !


This our selection of this month's Best Basketball Video Clip !

tags: video clips ~ best basketball video ~ you-tube

We are adding today a donation feature because eBA Stats.com is very expensive to operate and we want to add the features and functionality that we know you want and need as a Basketball Professional Coach.
If you like what we are doing for your projects; if you like what we are doing at the eBA Clinics, at the eBA Forums, at the eBA Blogs and at the eBA WIKI Encyclopedia, now you can make a donation and help us out.

How will my contribution be recognized ?

o Free Participation in the eBA Basketball Statistics Clinics, with full rights of interaction with the eBA Stats Team Live Chat.

o Editor Member at the eBA Global Wiki Encyclopedia: submit & edit terms; read, submit & edit comments.

o Full Member at the eBA Forums, including the reserved forums: read, edit and post to the forums, including the "eBA System" Reserved Forum.

o Read & Post Comments and Opinions in the eBA Blogs; this option is reserved only for logged members.

o Submit & Read Articles at the eBA Stats Portal Reserved Area.

Free Registered Member is someone who has registered on the eBA portal, forums, clinics, blogs or wiki encyclopedia, sent the application and wait for approval: meanwhile he/she is a Guest (see below).
A Editor or Publisher Full Member is someone which application was approved and received the passwords to enter the sites.
Everyone else is a Guest, someone who can only read the public areas of the five sites of the eBA Stats.com Group.

In a concise manner you get for your contribution special attention at all the reserved areas of the five sites of the eBA-stats.com Group.

For another questions as Why donate?; What does my donation do?; eBA-Stats.com® Group uses a secure payment system ?; How do I donate money to the eBA Stats.com Group ?; Why are you asking for donations ? The web should be free !.... go to Support Us ! Thank You !

tags: eBA Stats Group ~ sign up eBA ~ support us

" ... Because of all this presentation and discussion, eBA saw in the early 1988 the necessity of developing a more valid method to evaluate the efficiency of the player at Basketball games. Consequently, with the eBA System it was possible to reach to the consistent formulas which are used to evaluate the professional Basketball games from our affiliated teams.
This the first exposition of a serial of three parts, beginning with this revision made for this eBA113 - Game Stats Register Course.
The application of each formula will be exposed at the eBA114 - Creative Analysis Seminar, meanwhile the discussion is part of the program of the eBA115 - eBA Analysis System Clinic

Photograph: Basketball Notes by Alex

This first exposition is a revision of some of the more known proposals used all around the Basketball world and their correlated synthetic conceptions. New stats are continually appearing in immeasurable quantities. Therefore, the list doesn't pretends to be complete, and it will be permanently updated during the courses and clinics. So, it represents, only an incomplete anthology of the Basketball analysis formulas and ratios. The fact of the great amount of new formulas and methods being issued day-to-day is associated with the necessity of fitting the current systems and statistics to the different coach's “game philosophies”.
In a parallel way the methods and analysis means became more sophisticated. Just in this Basketball period the eBA-Stats Team presents its Basketball Analysis System about which we'll speak with full particulars in the eBA115 - eBA Analysis System Clinic. ..."

Excerpt of the module edited this week at the eBA 113 - Game Stats Register about "Statistical Formulas Revision" by Prof. Roberto Azar.

The Future of NBA Statistics: Conventional wisdom says linear weights are the best way to predict team performance, but is it? Hoopsworld.com writer Kevin Pelton takes a hard look at the problems with linear weights and its dismal correlation coefficient (0.577) and rounds up some suspects for logical flaws in the method in his piece on The Future of NBA Statistics: Part One.
"Maybe every thing we track is equally important, and the weight for each statistic is one. Bam, you've got Manley Credits, or the NBA's Efficiency Rating System.

TENDEX’s relative success begat a number of different rating systems, with different values, or weights, on each major statistical category, but all of the same general form:

a*PTS + b*REB + c*AST + d*STL + e*BLK - f*TO - g*(FGA-FGM) - h*(FTA-FTM) - i*PF

Maybe an offensive rebound is worth more than a defensive rebound, because defensive rebounds are relatively so much easier to get. Maybe a blocked shot is worth 1/3 as much as a point scored, maybe a half, maybe 2/3. Far too much ink - and, in this modern era, too many electrons - have been wasted arguing about these linear weights, when in the end the value that is used makes little if any difference."

Read More...

The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul

By: Phil Jackson, with Michael Arkush

If you were one of the many who believed that when the Lakers put 4 future Hall of Fame players on the court they would certainly win a championship, then this book goes a long to describing why a team of Basketball players with less talent beat them decisively.
Phil opens up on the behind the scenes squabbles, pettiness and egos so large they simply defy explanation. In one example, Kobe Bryant is offered the use of a plane by the Lakers to make his trips back to a Colorado courtroom for his alleged rape trial, and instead of being grateful for the support his team is giving him financially, is mad because he thought he deserved a bigger plane.

The book is full of the insights into the battles between Kobe and Shaq. Imagine two first graders with 100 million dollars each and you start to get close to the level of professionalism and emotional maturity. It is often funny, often sad, and usually just shocking.
The book is written very well, a breeze to read through, and a fascinating tale of psychological narcissism gone wild. I recommend highly for fans of the NBA, or just anyone who is interested in team dynamics. It will also explain why the Lakers got beat so easily by a team with far less talent. A lesson to leaders in organizations everywhere.
Reviewer: Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA) .....


More in the Global Basketball Directory    moreinfo

Trying to analyze the post below from 05/09/07 about "Race Relations in the NBA", I remembered the words of Phil Jackson when he said "you can almost make statistics prove what you want to prove. If you’re looking for it, of course you’re going to find it!”
After reading the 43 pages paper, I reached my own conclusions from the point of view of the statistics and numbers.
The NBA study includes only a fraction of the number of games (and fouls) in the original study. It fails to control for the countless variables included (position and size of players, all-star status, etc.).
The study is relied on publicly available “box scores” that show, among other statistics, the number of fouls each player received in the game. The race of the referees was categorized for each game in terms of the racial composition of the three-person crew, since from the "box scores" there is no way of knowing which of the three referees called fouls on which of the players. Consequently, a crew was either categorized as all-white, all-black, 2/3 white or 1/3 white.
Therefore, without being able to distinguish with exactitude which referee called a foul on which player, the controversy based on experimental data, not on a theory, from the authors of that post "Race Relations in the NBA" about racial influence in an unfair way is hold in suspicion when we apply standard statistics analysis.

Photograph: Vedia PhotoStream

Jordan finger-roll over Olajuwon - 1991
Michael Jordan glides down the lane and scoops in the underhanded finger roll while hanging in midair.

"Per minute stats are a good manner to compare players within a team, seeing how a player off the bench might fare compared to the player in front of him in the rotation, but we must be careful about players who scarcely play - Jackie Butler may have averaged 96 points per 48 in the 5 minutes he played for the Knicks last year, but very doubtful he could have achieved it.

Also, we must be careful comparing players from one team to another. For example, last season Steve Nash average 16.1 assists per 48 while Tony Parker averaged just 8.6 - a large part of the reason for that is the pace and style Phoenix plays gives Nash more opportunities than Parker.

Per-48 Stats is not meant to be a projection of what a player would average if he played 48 minutes per game. Keep in mind that it is simply an expression of per-minute stats.

They are expressed as per-48 so that the resulting averages are easy to deal with: "23 points per 48 minutes" is easier to read and understand than " 0,479 points per minute"....."

Excerpt of the module edited at the eBA Clinics - Game Stats Register about "Basketball Per-Minute Statistics" by Prof. Roberto Azar.

College Basketball & Pro Baseball Historical Newspaper Articles Search
If you are a Basketball or baseball fan, you will love two new searchable archives. The first is at College Basketball Newspaper Archive and the second is at Pro Baseball Newspaper Archive.
They both provide a searchable archive of historical newspapers related to College Basketball and Pro Baseball, respectively.

Both archives have an advanced search feature as well as a cool historical timeline of events. Enjoy it !

Why Basketball is a 5 on 5 sport ? Why we never play just 4 on 4 game or 6 on 6 ? Why it's an impair sport ?
Actually, the first game wasn't 5 on 5. When Dr. Naismith invented the game, the entire court was filled. There are stories of games with as many as 60 people playing at the same time. The dribble did not exist.

Basketball is a game that slowly evolved into its present form. In the beginning, it more closely resembled indoor soccer - except that it was played by passing with the hands instead of feet.

Photograph: Vedia PhotoStream
...a 1948 Basketball Game...!
Women originally played 6 on 6 with the floor divided in three parts. There were two guards, two forwards and two centers. Guards never shot in the game, and the forwards, could dribble only twice. However, the defense couldn't swipe at the ball unless it was in the lane. You can see how the position names we use today are based on that early configuration.

Crazy rules, but it produced some outstanding Basketball. For more, go to http://www.grannyBasketball.com/ where this style is still played today.
Dr. Naismith did not like the eventual 5 on 5 format - he felt it was too much sprinting for individuals and worried that the physical strain was more than a player could handle without serious physical repercussions.

NBA: Fair or Foul?: Two recent studies paint contrasting pictures of race relations in the National Basketball Association. Last week, the New York Times released data from a study conducted over the course of 13 NBA seasons, which found that white referees called more fouls against Black players than against white players. This study came out in the same week that Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson got tossed out of their playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks for clapping (no, not cussing, fouling or fighting, but clapping). This study affirms allegations of racism from several critics of the NBA, who point to the NBA’s age limit, dress code and other policies, as unfair and biased against Black players.

This week, MSNBC reported a study which reached a very different conclusion: “When it comes to handling race in sports, nobody does it better than the NBA”
This study, released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida, has found that the NBA has the highest percentages of VPs and office personnel of color in professional men’s sports history. The NBA also has the only Black CEOs and presidents, and with 12 Black head coaches, leads pro sports in diversity. How do these statistics weigh against the previous study in regards to claims of progressive vs. prejudiced NBA policy? How can Black owners and coaches lobby for equal treatment of Black players (or should they)?

Posted by Pierce in blackademics where you can read more and leave a reply.

At NAYSI.com, one of our eBA recommended Sites we can read this ABC's of Coaching and Parenting Kids Through Sports, by Jack Hutslar :

Opportunities for adults to have a positive influence on children may consume only a few hours per week in a coaching environment. This is not much in comparison to the time that parents and teachers have to influence their children to do all of the right things. Yet, coaches are among the more influential people in the lives of children.
These ABC’s identify some of the more important traits or principles that guide us in shaping our children into proper adults through sport. Review these selections that follow. Help your children, your students, and your players develop a better understanding of the big picture.
T is for Teach. Coaches and parents can teach the fundamental skills and strategies of any sport to their offspring. In most cases, youngsters are able to learn what they are taught. This applies to sport, homework, manners, chores and responsibility. Yelling and screaming at their mistakes contributes little to their acquisition of skills. Mistakes offer teachable opportunities. Determine what they need to know and teach it to them. Break it down into smaller bites, explain it or show them what to do. Then pat them on the back when they get it and when they show good effort.
Time. The best thing to spend on your child is time. This very simple concept is at the heart of teaching and learning, not to mention good relationships between parents, children and other significant adults. The time that coaches and teachers spend with your child is a reason why that these non-family members are so well thought of by young players. ... Read more...

Go to our eBA Links Section for more updated Basketball websites.

It's Impossible to Lose a Game with this Fans...!!!

Panathinaikos 2007 Europe's Champions !
Panathinaikos 93 - CSKA 91

One-on-One with CSKA Moscow’s Oscar Torres "I know I'll make history today in Athens as the only Venezuelan to ever appear in a Euroleague Final Four. No one from my country had played in the Euroleague."

“Athens is trembling today before the Final Four. It’s very special for me. This is my first time in a Final Four, I’m with a great team in CSKA Moscow and I’m very excited about the game.”

“It’s incredible for me. I was playing before CSKA with a different team, BC Khimki. They played in the first year in the EuroCup, then this season in the ULEB Cup and since the middle of this season, I’ve been in the Euroleague. I thought it would be something else and it has been great.”

“When you play for a club like CSKA, the level of the competition is very different. CSKA is like a real, professional team – like an NBA team. I think it’s more professional than my last team.”

“Luis Scola (Argentinian power forward from Tau Ceramica) and Tiago Splitter (Brazilian center from Tau, too) are now playing in their third straight, but for me, this is very special, coming from a country like Venezuela. Not many players have this opportunity to play in the Final Four, or even in the Euroleague. I hope in the future, more people from my country will get to play in this event.”

“I'll be available to help Venezuela qualify for the Olympics in Beijing. I will be with Venezuela in America, in Las Vegas. We have a preparation schedule, in Spain, China – good preparation for the FIBA Americas Championship.”

“In Caracas, Venezuela, a lot of people are interested in this event. Tonight at every place they'll see the Final. They’re excited.”
Oscar Torres (Photograph: Venezuela Baloncesto)

A new term with comments and attachments was added today to our new eBA WIKI ENCYCLOPEDIA:

"Rub Off", about a movement off a screen.

Tip: Check daily on the left menu of the WIKI, the "Last Changes" option to know which terms & articles were added everyday !

Some Thoughts About the Fundamentals:

* Logic of this method is straightforward: teams should perform better when their good players are playing versus when they are not.

* The pure "unadjusted" plus / minus rating do not measure the value of the player per se; they measure the value of the player relative to the players that substitute in for him.

* There are differences in the quality of players that players play with and against.

* A weak starter on a team with exceptionally good starters ( relative to bench players ) will generally get a very good unadjusted plus / minus rating - regardless of his actual contribution to the team.

* Star players play a lot of minutes per game and will generally have a plus / minus rating that mirror the team's number as a whole.

* When the team gets beaten by a solid margin, the team as a whole will probably have very few players with a positive rating.

Oscar Robertson Last Game on the bench

* A situation when a player have a NEGATIVE rating ON court and a POSITIVE while on bench, MUST NOT be lightly analyzed as this player should have been played MORE minutes.

* Players on poor teams have a hard time getting good plus numbers, due to the fact that their teams are usually behind.

* We must use the plus / minus statistical formula as just ANOTHER of many tools available at eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System that will help the coach to evaluate the team, not as a exclusive one.

* A good aspect of tracking plus/minus rating is that the players will be aware that the coach is grading the team's performance for every second a particular player is on the floor.

* Also gives role players or player's who aren't necessarily big scorers or into compiling big personal statistics, another way to evaluate and feel good about what he is doing on the court.

From my exposition of this week in the Basketball Statistics Register eBA Clinic - Prof. Roberto Azar.

EUROLEAGUE FINAL FOUR ATHENS 2007: Today Begin !

An excellent Video with a very good edition job !.



CSKA vs. UNICAJA MALAGA - 17:30 CET
PANATHINAIKOS vs. TAU VITORIA - 20:30 cet

Two new terms with comments and attachments were added today to our new eBA WIKI ENCYCLOPEDIA:

"Step-back move", about the "traditional" one, that Larry Bird made famous, and the Iverson step-back. The concept, the techniques and the comments.

Blocker / Mover offense, the main ideas and concepts taken from former Wisconsin Coach Dick Bennett.

Tip: Check daily on the left menu of the WIKI, the "Last Changes" option to know which terms & articles were added everyday !

Photograph: Zmajcice.si


Dragon Ladies - The Cheerleaders of Union Olimpija Slovenia
the Basketball Beautiful Faces

tags: beautiful faces ~ cheerleaders ~ Slovenia

Our improved and excellent Global Basketball Directory, used as didactic material in training clinics from USA, México, Argentine and Spain, may yet be consulted in the html original version.

In a collaborative project between the eBA Stats Team and the Editors and Publishers Registered Members, we begin today the transferring task of all the contents to the WIKI format in this new space of eBAwords.com, giving place to the GLOBAL BASKETBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

New data may be added, and the existing terms may be corrected and / or commented. New links to any site or consulting material referred to the concept may be added, corrected or republished...
A real collaborative work based on the wiki technology and the eBA Group's experience !

If you want to consult any term or concept, go to the Global Basketball Directory. But if you want to consult the development of the works, consult "eBAwords" on the menu on your left:

"eBAwords": the all-basketball-concepts encyclopedia collaborative project !

"eBA System": the "eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System", an e-book by Prof. Roberto Azar.

"Case Studies": the eBA Basketball Statistics Register "Case Studies".

Accessing the edition area, posting and reading comments, and the access to the "eBA System" and the "Case Studies", are reserved to the eBA 2007 Registered Members as Editors or Publishers.

Best wishes for success in this new project of the eBA Stats.com Group !