Basketball Statistics Blog

Books Review: March 2009 eBA Best Seller

Basketball Card Guide 2008-09


Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide, 2008-09

By: James, III, Dr. Beckett

If You're A Basketball Card Collector, This Is The Book For You !
The Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide is the most comprehensive basketball card price guide available!

Are you a superstar or team card collector? If you are, then Dr. James Beckett and his staff have produced this book just for you! You get extensive lists and prices for all important, popular basketball card sets since 1933.
Most card series listed picture a front and back shot of a representative card.

Includes values for every individual card and complete set listing in three condition grades. Checklist-like listing of every card in the set.
Complete description includes card features and composition of set.

"... This is a great source for the basketball collector. It is the most recent of the annual beckett price guides and provides listings for card sets that can't be found such as classic, scoreboard, chivas de guadalajara, and 5-sport sets. No card is left out has been left out.

This updated book now gives you updated values for some of Kobe Bryant's rarest cards like the Scoreboard Die-Cut and the Chivas de Guadalajara team set Kobe RC edition. This book is recommended to all collectors. ..."

"... Look, we all know that monthly price guides cannot possibly keep up with the explosion of basketball cards produced by all the companies putting out cards today. All they can do is focus on the name cards on the stars. But if you are trying to put together a set of 1957-58 Topps, 1986-87 Fleer or 1992-93 Hoops, then you need to know ALL the cards so you are prepared for dealers whether they organize their cards by number or team or player's name.

With the "Beckett Basketball Card Price Guide" you have your best chance to find out exactly what is out there. True, in practical terms the prices quoted have a chance of being obsolete by the time you track down the cards you want, but the key thing about all of these Price Guides is that they list all the cards, including all the extras, bonsues, special sets and the like.

Whether you are looking for a card of this year's MVP, Allen Iverson or Ernie Calverley (he was on the first basketball card put out by Bowman in 1948), this is the book you want to use to put together your want lists when I head out to the card shows. ..."

Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Beckett Media; 16 edition (December 2008)

Language: English

  more info


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Basketball Players: Happy Birthday Jerry Lucas !

Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) was a basketball player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. He was named to Sports Illustrated's five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.

"... In 1960, Lucas was also named to the U.S. Olympic team for the Rome Games that year. The team, which also listed Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Walt Bellamy, and Terry Dischinger among its members, is generally considered the greatest amateur team of all time. The team's youngest player at age 20, Lucas was its leader and star at center. The U.S. team roared through the international tournament to easily win the gold medal. Lucas was the team's co-leading scorer and leading rebounder. He made a shocking 84% of his shots in nine Olympic games, which included a much-watched win over the Soviet Union. Lucas also was noteworthy as he had memorized paragraphs of Japanese, Italian and Russian, and would briefly converse with players speaking those languages during the Games. U.S. coach Pete Newell called Lucas "the greatest player I ever coached." ..."

Photograph: LIFE

"... By this point, Lucas rated as one of the most accurate shooters and top rebounders in league history. He had plenty of individual honors as well. What he sought was a championship opportunity. The Warriors, needing a small scoring forward, dealt Lucas to the New York Knickerbockers, who needed a big man who would work behind both Willis Reed and Dave DeBusschere. Lucas had long rated ahead of both as an NBA player, but easily agreed as New York was a serious championship contender. Early in the 1971-72 season, the injury-prone Reed went down for the season. Lucas, not a starting center since college was pressed into service. Lucas bedeviled opposing teams with outside shooting and deft passing. ..."

"... Lucas was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 along with Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

Read Mahmoud Jerry Lucas's full story and statistics in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball photographs  ~  basketball legends  ~  Jerry Lucas
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Basketball Statistician Sunday's Digest: What really DOES a blocked shot do ?

"... if each basketball shot carries with it an inherent statistical possibility of being a basket, a block is not necessarily 2 points prevented, since there is no guarantee that the shot that was blocked was going to be a basket, right ?
In the some way, steals avoid a shot opportunity for the opponent team , ok ?

Now, the question is, how the different defensive stops can be quantified ?

Photograph: al.com

Basically, a block is not 2 points made impossible from the moment you have no surety that the shot you blocked was going to be a basket. According to the eBA Basketball Clinics, in most cases, the blocked shot was going to miss 49% of the time.

Nevertheless, really DOES a blocked shot do, is to take that 40-50% probability of converting a basket and transform it 0%. When a defender player blocks a shot, gaining the possession, it is not possible for the other team to score in that possession.

Now, let me analyze the steals: they similarly take off a shot possibility for the other team. Stealing a ball, your team take that possession and make it a 0% probability of opponent scoring, instead of the implicit 40% probability of scoring each possession contains potentially.

As a result of this analysis, I think that this can be quantified finding out the value of a shot attempt, being fully aware WHAT a block and a steal is preventing relatively exactly ( individual player shooting percentages, of course, have weight ) with relation to the full basketball statistics game analysis. ..."

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
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Euroleague FINAL FOUR games LIVE transmission at the PORTAL eBA Stats:

Quarterfinal Playoffs - GAME 3

Tuesday 31, March 2009 ~
19:30 GMT ~ Tau Ceramica vs. Regal Barcelona ( 1 / 1 )
19:45 GMT ~ Real Madrid vs. Olympiacos ( 0 / 2 )
19:45 GMT ~ Montepaschi vs. Panathinaikos ( 1 / 1 )
19:45 GMT ~ Partizan vs. CSKA Moscow ( 0 / 2 )

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day at eBA Stats on Facebook > Events.

GMT:Melbourne +11; Tokyo +9; Europe +1; Argentine -3;Mexico -6;New York -5;Los Angeles -8

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tags:  basketball  ~  coach's digest   ~  basketball live games  ~  2009 Euroleague
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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The Battle ' with Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and Gary Payton ...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
The State of the Art: Evaluating APBRMetrics

From Basketball Prospectus By Kevin Pelton
Download source here: ' The State of the Art: Evaluating APBRMetrics '

"... Ultimately, the discussion seems to center largely on the two questions that were the focal point of my columns five years ago:

 • Can we boil a basketball player's value down to a single number?
 • What better describes a player's value: his individual statistics or plus-minus data describing his impact on the team? ..."

"... With the benefit of hindsight, the way baseball teams ignored the sabermetric revolution for years and years turned out to be a blessing in disguise, allowing a growing community to freely advance on each other's work. By the time a large number of teams got wise to the value of statistical analysis, sabermetrics was entrenched to the point where it could easily survive teams poaching some of the best talent. ..."

"... Everyone involved agrees that it would be ideal to use a dynamic method of player valuation that takes into account a player's teammates and his role. Figuring out how to turn this into reality has proven much more challenging, and this remains an area with the potential for huge advances in our understanding. ..."

"... Each system has its merits and its supporters, and certainly I think that my own WARP system is useful. However, the discussion tends to be charged and subjective when frankly I'm not sure the differences are all that noteworthy. Past a certain threshold of reasonableness, each method is probably about equally useful. The danger lies in the true believers who take any one of them to be gospel and ignore its shortcomings and blind spots. These systems are one tool to rate players, not an evaluation in and of themselves. ..."

"... Ultimately, I feel like there are areas of the game that are simply too subtle to be quantified at the individual level, like a player's positioning. If being at the right place at the right time forces an opponent to pass the ball out for a more difficult contested shot, that's virtually impossible to track. Where it does show up is at the team level, which is why I feel that even with more detailed statistics at our disposal there will still be value to looking at plus-minus numbers. ..."

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  statistics  ~  Kevin Pelton
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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
To foul or not to foul ? A Neutral Foul that Changes to Good

"... A team lead by three with ten seconds or so remaining. The opponent team is with ball control. And here we have the dilemma created for the coaches with the three-point shot: to foul or not to foul before the opponents can attempt a three... but it is a question of other coaching forums... The question is, if the coach send a player to foul an opponent to put them on the free throw line to shoot just two FT, for the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System, assuming this is not a 'BAD' foul, is an example of a 'GOOD' or a 'NEUTRAL' foul ?

Photograph: Day Life.com/

Basically we have here a neutral foul ( as stated, never a bad foul in this case ) that will be converted in 'good' if the opponent shooter miss at least one of the throws, that's means fulfill the objective of the committed foul. For the explanation of these concepts you must go to this thread at eBA Forums ( among much others, use the search option with 'good bad neutral foul' ): About Shot Attempts & Fouls; and for the application consult at eBA Clinics ..."

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
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NBA 2009 Top Plays from Week 20

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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Free Throws and Turnover

"... A1 is shooting a free throw. At approximately the time the ball goes through the basket, B2 contacts A2. What is the statistical registration according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ? ..."

Photograph: Day Life.com/

Game Rule: The ball becomes dead when the throw is made. The contact shall be ignored if it is after the free throw unless it is flagrant or intentional.

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration:
If a common foul is called, then the contact was before the free throw was made. If a flagrant or intentional foul is called after the free throw was made, then charge B2 with a forced turnover and credit A2 with a forced steal.

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Basketball DVD Review:

Duke on DVD by Coach K
By Coach Mike Krzyzewski

Duke University men’s basketball program has been the model for success in Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s tenure at the helm. Under his direction, the Blue Devils have been perennial contenders for conference and national titles. Now you can harness Coach K’s strategies for team defense, the transition game, and successful practices to make your team better than ever—all on one action-packed DVD.

The Duke Basketball Video Series DVD offers special insight into the key components that made all of those Duke wins, championships, and awards possible. The program transports you right to Cameron Indoor Stadium to see and hear what takes place during Duke practice sessions.

Each segment features Coach K and the Duke team explaining and demonstrating

• key teaching and coaching points,
• individual skill instruction,
• team tactics and execution, and
• practice drills.

Action footage shows how lessons learned on the practice floor are transferred successfully to games. You will find the content captivating and directly applicable to your own improvement or to that of your players.

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball fundamentals  ~  Mike Krzyzewski ~ basketball DVD
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Euroleague FINAL FOUR games LIVE transmission at the PORTAL eBA Stats:

Quarterfinal Playoffs - GAME 1

Tuesday 24, March 2009 ~
17:15 GMT ~ CSKA Moscow vs. Partizan
18:45 GMT ~ Olympiacos vs. Real Madrid, or
18:45 GMT ~ Panathinaikos vs. Montepaschi
19:45 GMT ~ Regal Barcelona vs. Tau Ceramica

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day at eBA Stats on Facebook > Events.

GMT:Melbourne +11; Tokyo +9; Europe +1; Argentine -3;Mexico -6;New York -5;Los Angeles -8

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tags:  basketball  ~  coach's digest   ~  basketball live games  ~  2009 Euroleague
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Basketball Statistician Sunday's Digest: When is it an Assist ?

About a discussion from today at our eBA Statistics Forum "... A5 is dribbling around outside, he drops the ball into A7 in the post. A7 dribbles a bit (dribble of a center), tries to shake his defender, succeeds and scores. Does A5 get an assist ? ..."

Some reflections:
... according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System, an assist has to be "a major part of the play", which either finds the player already with a "positional advantage", or helps him or her get one ...

... if A7 is well covered and gets himself open, then no assist ...

... is time a factor? Time is not a factor - action is ...

... if A7 spends that entire 5 seconds preparing his position for his shot, then there is no assist ...

... if A7 grabs the ball without purpose to shoot ( looks around for a pass, etc, and then decides to shoot ), there is no assist ...

... to register an assist, the pass needs to lead to directly to the "act of shooting", but the eBA System is more flexible ...

Photograph: Glenn James/NBAE at Boston.com

... is the quality of the pass a factor? Yes, if the receiver of the pass has to try so hard as to change direction or action to catch the pass, may be an assist is not registered ..."

... if A7 receive the pass and then has to make a subsequent move to evade the defense and score, no assist is awarded; but if he pass along the defender as result of a great pass, an assist is registered ...

... if the receiver catches the ball with no intent to shoot (i.e., is flat-footed, in a holding or passing position) and then decides to shoot, then typically no assist is awarded; but you, as that player statistician, who knows his movements and can establish that those actions are habitual, may be an assist is awarded ...

... in layup situations, any pass that put the shooter into that "act of shooting" is an assist, just as the "continuation" calls on fouls ...

... live time statisticians consider it an assist when a player finds another player open and that player makes one basketball move or less before putting up a shot: if that player dribbles more than once to gain position or sits on the ball (whether he's dribbling or not), they don't consider it an assist ...

... the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System is capable to register an assist after some dribbles and also a double assist: look for the previous messages in this blog performing the 'Search' with keyword: 'assist' ...

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
at the eBA Encyclopedia > The Articles

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Basketball Clips: ' No Excuses ' with Matt Scott

2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' No Excuses ' with Matt Scott ...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
The Formula That Killed Wall Street: A Cautionary Tale

From 20 Second Timeout By David Friedman
Download source here: ' "The Formula That Killed Wall Street": A Cautionary Tale for Anyone Who Places Too Much Value on Basketball Statistical Analysis '

"... Basketball statistical analysis and new video technology have already made for a good marriage in terms of helping teams to more easily produce accurate scouting reports depicting the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of players and teams. It is now possible to quickly break down game film (or, to be precise, game DVD) and catalog what happened on every pick and roll play, every out of bounds play, every postup and so forth. Most if not all teams are already applying some form of statistical analysis to the tendencies that emerge from game footage and this obviously represents a quantum leap forward in terms of game planning. ..."

"... The problem is when some people invent certain formulas in which they add up some numbers, multiply other numbers by certain factors, subtract some other numbers and then produce a final number that supposedly "rates" a player's overall performance. ..."

"... This is very analogous to the current situation with basketball statistical analysis; too many of its practitioners "see only the numbers before them and forget about the concrete reality the figures are supposed to represent." They do not have the wisdom or humility to admit that their simple, pretty formulas represent just one, limited interpretation of raw data. ..."

"... Basketball statistical analysts do not yet have all of the necessary data to completely "model" the sport, nor do they fully understand how to use the data that they have. Trying to produce such a model is certainly a worthy task--but I just wish that the people who are working toward this goal would stop declaring "Mission Accomplished!" when the reality is that they are in the beginning or intermediate stages of that mission. ..."

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  statistics  ~  Michael Lewis
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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Double Assist for the First Pass of Two

"... I have often wondered about the awarding of assists in basketball.
In hockey, it's pretty much direct and preserved.
But after watching European basketball for over 10 years, I'm still
not sure what actually qualifies as an assist in a basketball game.
And, quite frankly, I don't think those responsible for keeping live-time stats during Euroleague games know for sure, either.

Then, what about a fast break basket where the pass is moved up the floor to a wide open player that catches (at just inside the half) and takes 3-4 dribbles before laying it in ? I say assist but some of the definitions say no assist.

In fact, awarding assists in basketball might be the most controversial stat kept. ..."

In my opinion, and in this manner works the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System, we must be able to give two assists - like in hockey - on one play. As said in the last post, "many times, a point guard gives a great pass, and another player makes a pass that leads to the basket". The first pass should get some credit , because it can be more important than the second pass.
On the other hand, a great pass that leads to the shooter being fouled is not generally credited as an assist, and it should be, or no?

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
at the eBA Encyclopedia > The Articles

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NBA 2009 Top 10 Plays from Week 19

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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Alternating Possession ~ Inbounding ball

"... With reference to inbounding after a tie up that goes to team A because the alternating possession rule:
If the inbounder A1 fails to get the ball inbounds successfully to a teammate, does the alternating possession arrow stay with team A?
Under which of the following circumstances would team A keep the alternating possession arrow in its favor according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ?:

1. A1 cannot inbound in five seconds.
2. A1 throws ball directly out of bounds without touching either team.
3. A1 throws ball off A2 or B1 then it goes out of bounds without possession established on the court.
4. A1 throws the ball directly inbounds to B1. ..."

Photograph: The Community News

Game Rule: Does B get possession and the arrow in its favor ?

Circumstance 1 = A1 cannot inbound in five seconds: YES
Circumstance 2 = A1 throws ball directly out of bounds without touching either team: YES
Circumstance 3a= A1 throws ball off A2: YES
Circumstance 3b= B1 then it goes out of bounds without possession established on the court: A's ball, B arrow
Circumstance 4 = A1 throws the ball directly inbounds to B1: YES

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration:

Circumstance 1 = B get possession and the arrow ~ A Team Turnover;
Circumstance 2 = B get possession and the arrow ~ A1 Personal Turnover;
Circumstance 3a= B get possession and the arrow ~ A1 Personal Turnover;
Circumstance 3b= A's ball, B arrow, Nothing for the Statistician;
Circumstance 4 = B get possession and the arrow ~ A1 Personal Turnover.

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' Look Me in the Eyes ' with Michael Jordan...!

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball clips  ~  Michael Jordan
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Basketball Statistician Sunday's Digest: Total Number of Team Possessions

"... This possessions formula ( Field Goals Made + Opp Def. Rebounds + Turnovers + Up to the Line for 2/3 free-throws series ), with the "up to the line" coefficient, was basically created by the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System, because we felt it was a better evaluation of offensive and defensive efficiency than to count stats like total rebounds, or total points scored or allowed or divide the free throws attempts by estimates number of "2" or multiply by "0.4".

About the rebounds formulas, you hear talk about "win the rebound war, win the game" what is in general true, but not always. The addition of the 3 point shot to the game of basketball causes to re-estimate the value the formula as well. If in short a team has the opportunity to score at least 3 points on every possession, instead of two, so we have added an additional variable into the equation.

Photograph: Daylife.com

An additional way of thoughts is that by using FGA as a loss of possession, a possession is lost every time a ball is shot. As a result a new possession starts with an offensive rebound. This works against a good offensive rebounding team because it punishes their Points / Possession evaluation.

To resume this question, as said above, from the moment there is discrepancy between the number of free throws attempted per game so that the FTA/2 or FTA*0.4 is not always an evaluation according to the rules, since on any given night the number of 1, 2, or 3 free throw attempts for each fouled possession will vary. The eBA System uses the exact number of possession ended "up to the line" for 2 or 3 throws as a better measure regardless of the total number of attempts. ..."

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
at the eBA Encyclopedia > The Articles

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eBA Stats Group: Here we are ! We also join Facebook !

Here we are ! We also join Facebook !

Why ? In order to improve our interaction with the precise audience we want, giving better scope for the promotion of our courses, forums, encyclopedia, articles, notes, photographs and the whole eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System for Professional Basketball Games...!
You know... if Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria... and there we are !

The default framework of our Facebook new corner provides some basic pages e.g. Home page, Newsroom, Photos, Wall, Discussion Forum, Invitations page and About page, everything with free entrance for both full-registered and non full-registered eBA members... you must only log in Facebook first !

'eBA Stats on Facebook' does not replaces our fives sites, just complement them only announcing the future events !

Enjoy it now ! Find us on Facebook !
And remember to become our 'fan' on our new page... See you on Facebook !

Read more at eBA Facebook ...

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
Geeks get in the game at Sports Analytics Conference

From Ars Technica By Brad Stenger
Download source here: ' Geeks get in the game at Sports Analytics Conference '

"... Without giving away the guts of the system, Cuban explained that it values a player's performance more during close games and also looks at overall consistency. 'Scoring when up by 30 is worth nothing,' Cuban wrote. 'The lower the variance, the more consistent the player on offense or defense.' ..."

"... "The trick of it is to make a case that's not 'I've got this magic black box over here. I can't explain it to you, but it's telling me that you're doing things wrong,'" said Mike Zarren, a Boston Celtics analyst, at the event. "Coaches are pretty competitive people and they want an edge. If you can give them an edge and convince them it really is an edge, they'll be pretty receptive. And the same thing goes for the players." ..."

"... Mark Cuban was the most direct. He described something that stands to become common practice as basketball analysis becomes universal. "We'll track [our players'] best shooting spot on the court and we'll tell them, 'You shoot that 3-pointer over there and you're an idiot because you're 1 for 99,'" he said. "'Move over ten feet and you're shooting 43 percent.' We want you to take that shot as often as possible." ..."

"... Despite the increased attention from pro basketball and from the media, sports analytics remains a discipline with big unsolved problems. ESPN's Hollinger brought up how poorly defense is accounted for in game result data. Steals, blocks, and sometimes deflections are counted, but they hardly give a comprehensive picture of defensive success or failure. Better ways of capturing and recording data may help, but there's still an art to the whole process unlikely to ever go away, so long as coaches attempt to capture something as complex as a game in numerical form. ..."

"... Stats geeks have always been attracted to sports, with its myriad statistics and box scores and hundred-year data sets, but there's generally been a sharp divide between the statheads and the players generating all those numbers. With the advent of sports analytics, though, players and coaches are willing like never before to take guidance from the number geeks. ..."

Read more in Ars Technica

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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Avoiding Out of Bounds Ball & Shooting

"... During a game the ball was going out-of-bounds on the sideline near the baseline on the A Team end of the court. An A Team player tried to save the ball by throwing it forcefully into the legs of a B Team defender so it would bounce out off of him. The B Team defender dodged the ball, which bounced high and:
1) The ball goes in;
2) Almost went into the basket (it hit the rim) and finally goes out;

The A team player was behind the 3 point line when he threw the ball.

Analyzing this game situation: how to score the case 1) ?
What the Statistics Rule in the case 2) according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ? ..."

eBA System Statistics Fundamentals: See the eBA Basketball Statistics Case Studies

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration:
Case 1: Two points
Case 2: It's not a try, and any "throw" from beyond the arc ends when the ball hits the ring.

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The The Half Million Dollar Shot ' with Amir...!

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball clips  ~  Vince Carter
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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Over & Back Violation

"... About the rules in the USA: A player must come transversely the mid-court line with both feet and the ball previous to going back over the line, in order to perpetrate a back-court violation ?
How must I register this play according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ? Turnover ? Forced or Unforced ? ..."

Photograph: Full Court Fantasy

eBA System Statistics Fundamentals: If a dribbler is progressing across the centre line ( it is not called the mid-court line which is something different ) from the back-court, then the player is still considered to be in the back-court until all three "points" are over ( i.e. the ball and both feet ).

Game Rule: Now, where the ball is being held or passed similar principles apply: if a player is in the back-court, stops near the centre line and then pivots, with the pivot foot in the back-court, then the player will not gain front-court status. If the payer use a foot in the front-court as a pivot, that creates a back-court violation.

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration: UNFORCED turnover.

For international games the rule is different, but you asked about USA Rules and I'll refer to that rule in a next message.

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Basketball Players: Happy Birthday Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf !

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (born Chris Wayne Jackson on March 9, 1969 in Gulfport, Mississippi) is an former American professional basketball player.

"... Abdul-Rauf changed his name in 1991 upon his conversion to Islam. After a record-setting college career at Louisiana State University, he was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He played with Denver until 1995, and was a key player on that team, winning the Most Improved Player award in 1993. Abdul-Rauf later went on to play for the Sacramento Kings and later the Vancouver Grizzlies. He led the league in free throw percentage in 1994 and 1996, narrowly missing (by one missed free throw) the NBA all-time record for free-throw percentage in a single season in 1993-94 (he went 219-229 from the line for a 95.6 percentage as opposed to Calvin Murphy's 95.8% (206-215) all-time record dating back to 1980-81). ..."

Photographs: Vedia PhotoStream

"... National anthem controversy ~ Abdul-Rauf is perhaps best known for the controversy created when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games, stating that the flag was a "symbol of oppression" and that the United States had a long "history of tyranny". He said that standing to the national anthem would therefore conflict with his Islamic beliefs.
On March 12, 1996, the NBA suspended Abdul-Rauf for his refusal to stand, but the suspension lasted only one game. Two days later, the league was able to work out a compromise with him, whereby he would stand during the playing of the national anthem but could close his eyes and look downward. He usually silently recited a Muslim prayer during this time.

In an apparent publicity stunt gone wrong linked to this controversy, four employees of Denver's KBPI were charged with misdemeanor offenses related to entering a Colorado mosque and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" on a bugle and trumpet, in a provocative response to Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the national anthem. ..."

Read Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's full story and statistics in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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Basketball Statistician Sunday's Digest:
eBA System Non-conventional Statistics

"... What follows are some of the non-conventional statistics I include in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System in order to establish which have the strongest effect on basketball games success.

• Deflections, deflections for turnovers;
• Defensive penetrations permitted, defensive penetrations stopped (did we stop our man from penetrating in the paint before he shot or gave up his dribble);
• Assists in paint, assists outside of paint, assists leading to jump shots, assists leading to layups, assists leading to foul shots, and at all these categories, if are they part of fast break or not.
• Rebounds in traffic, rebounds from free throws; rebounds disputed; rebounds Undisputed;
• Shot percentages - location zone of shot, and whether guarded or open;

Photograph: Xanga.com

• Turnovers - forced, unforced, rule violation turnovers by type (traveling, 3 seconds, illegal lane invasion, goaltending, palming, etc.);
• Touches - what frequency, where, duration in seconds, conclusion (pass, assist, shot, turnover as a percentage of total touches);
• Charges made and taken, blocks made and given;
• Blocks above head, blocks that were steals, fouls on block attempts by each category;
• Steals occurred causing an opponent turnover, forced by defense ( i.e., causing an opponent 5 seconds out-of-bounds violation, preventing our man from crossing 8 sec line, or guarding our opponents leading to a 24 seconds clock violation ) ..."

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System
at the eBA Encyclopedia > The Articles

NL310510

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xxWednesday, March 11 ~ 19:00 GMT: Panathinaikos GRE vs. Unicaja SPAIN or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ~ 19.00 GMT: Roma ITALY vs. Partizan SERBIA

xxThursday, March 12 xx ~ 19:15 GMT: Tau SPAIN vs. Olympiacos GREECE or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x~ 19.15 GMT: Maccabi TLV vs. Barcelona SPAIN

Daily, NBA LIVE GAMES and NCAA March Madness at USA evening hours ! You can see the games and hours in the Live Scores Table, in our eBA Stats PORTAL, below the video screen.


This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day in this eBA Blog and at our eBA Stats PORTAL.

GMT: Melbourne +10; Tokyo +9; Europe +2; Argentine -3; México -5; New York -4; Los Angeles -7

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2009 eBA Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' The Funk ' with Vince Carter...!

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Basketball Statistician's Digest:
For Free Throws, 50 Years of Practice Is No Help

From New York Times By John Branch
Download source here: ' For Free Throws, 50 Years of Practice Is No Help '

"... Since the mid-1960s, college men’s players have made about 69 percent of free throws, the unguarded 15-foot, 1-point shot awarded after a foul. In 1965, the rate was 69 percent. This season, as teams scramble for bids to the N.C.A.A. tournament, it was 68.8. It has dropped as low as 67.1 but never topped 70. ..."

"... The consistency of free-throw percentages stands out when contrasted with field-goal shooting over all. In men’s college basketball, field-goal percentage was below 40 percent until 1960, then climbed steadily to 48.1 in 1984, still the highest on record. The long-range 3-point shot was introduced in 1986, and the overall shooting percentage has settled in at about 44 percent. ..."

"... There has not been a serious innovation in the way free throws have been shot for 50 years. The few still using a one-hand set shot from the chest, or even an underhand style, generally gave way to a flat-footed version of the burgeoning over-the-head jump shot. And although international players have helped the free-throw rate ... it cannot fully explain why the league is threatening the record high of 77.1, set in 1974. ..."

"... “A lot of coaches don’t want to spend time on it in practice,” said Blake Ahearn, a former Missouri State player who is the N.C.A.A.’s leader in career free-throw percentage (94.6) and now leads the N.B.A. Development League as a guard for the Dakota Wizards. “They want to work on defenses and offenses and schemes.” ..."

"... But even practice has never made perfect. The general rule is that players, in games, shoot 10 percentage points below their practice average. The difference is pressure and fatigue, hard to replicate in an empty arena. ..."

Read more in New York Times

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Basketball Statistician's Digest: Can we Register Double Assist ?

"... Player A1 lifts to shoot a jump ball, at the last moment decides to pass a alley-oop pass to A2 who in the air returns the ball to A1 who finally dunks the ball into the hoop... How many assists we have to register in this play according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System ? ..."

eBA System Statistics Fundamentals: See the eBA Basketball Statistics Case Studies

eBA Basketball Statistics Registration:
According to our and all the systems, we register only ONE assist in favour of A2. What our eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System renews is the 2nd. Assist and the Potential Assist, but A1 is the same player who begins the play and receives the ball again, therefore it doesn't applies in this case.

Conclusion of the Case Study #13 from the month of February. Go to Basketball Case Study #14 !

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NBA 2009 Basketball Best Highlights from Week 17

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Basketball News: FIBA and ESPN reach three-year multimedia pact

The International Basketball Federation and ESPN have reached a comprehensive three-year agreement (2009-2011) making ESPN the exclusive English-language distributor of FIBA live games in the United States.


The agreement includes the following premier FIBA men's tournaments, highlighted by extensive coverage of the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.


2009 FIBA Americas Championship (19th to 30th August 2009, in Mexico)
2009 FIBA EuroBasket Championship (7th to 20th September 2009, in Poland)
2010 FIBA World Championship (28th August to 12th September 2010, in Turkey)
2011 FIBA Americas Championship (July-August 2011, in location to be determined)

2011 FIBA EuroBasket Championship (August-September 2011, in Lithuania)
ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise all United States National Team games, plus additional championship round coverage (outlined below) for each event.
The deal will collectively include up to 268 games (many exclusively) available live on ESPN360.com, ESPN's broadband sports network and provide broad multimedia rights to FIBA content across ESPN platforms.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will provide the following coverage for each championship:
2009 and 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Men,
2009 and 2011 FIBA EuroBasket for Men and
2010 FIBA World Championship for Men.

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Basketball Statistician Weekly Digest:
About the Correct Way in Evaluating Defense

What kind of information needed in order to evaluate defense in the right manner ?
Basketball has a lot of difficult areas of quantitative information when we translate a game into statistics. For example, categories as "allowed points - from 2, 3 and PF bonus"; "offensive rebounds allowed"; "turnovers - that aren't steals" and "good and bad personal fouls" - see our complete list of statistical analysis categories here, which are included in the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System, are not accounted in the traditional statistical methods, specially those made at live game time.

Photograph: Sec Sports Fan

For example, analyzing wing players we put aside blocked shots, because for a wing player, getting a block doesn't necessarily make him a good defensive player. On a wing steals are more important and give the coach evidences about who is working hard and anticipating. Blocks shots shows the coach that the player is tall and quick and playing hard, but those factors isolated from others don't make a good defensive player. Switching, anticipating, filling lanes, and making steals are events that do.

Gathering and analyzing those categories of data will give us a sort of information, for example, about how many unguarded shots - no fast breaks plays - were taken by the opponents, and how many were allowed to us.

This topic is resumed in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System at the eBA Encyclopedia > The Articles

( ...this a post from the series regularly edited on Sundays ...)

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xxWednesday, March 04 ~ 19:00 GMT: Barcelona SPAIN vs. Real Madrid SPAIN or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ~ 19.45 GMT: Unicaja MALAGA vs. Roma ITALIA

xxThursday, March 05 xx ~ 19:30 GMT: Alba Berlin GER vs. Maccabi TLV or
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x~ 19.45 GMT: Partizan SER vs. Panathinaikos GRE

This schedule is subject to change without notice. For last-minute additions and changes, please check the complete schedule signs posted in the game day in this eBA Blog and at our PORTAL eBA Stats.

GMT: Melbourne +10; Tokyo +9; Europe +2; Argentine -3; México -5; New York -4; Los Angeles -7

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March Cover ~ Basketball Beautiful Faces:
Dance Groups from the NCAA

Photograph: chinadaily.com

Our Basketball Beautiful Faces of March 2009 Cover
NCAA dancers warming up before the March Madness !

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