Basketball Statistics Blog

Basketball Books April eBADVICE:


Outside the Limelight: Basketball in the Ivy League
By Kathy Orton
with Forewords by John Feinstein

Outside the Limelight is the first book to look inside Ivy League basketball and at the boundless enthusiasm that defines it.
With painstaking reportage, Kathy Orton weaves together the stories of coaches and players as they move from fall practice through an entire season and ahead to the NCAA tournament.

Vividly capturing the internal fervor of the personalities who champion their game—all the triumphs and disappointments of an Ivy hoop season.

Kathy Orton has covered college basketball for the Washington Post for more than a decade. She was also the newspaper's beat writer on the NFL's Baltimore Ravens for two seasons, including their Super Bowl season in 2000.

Table of Contents

Foreword Preface
1 Origins of a League

Part I Great Expectations
2 A Mom-and-Pop Store
3 Great Scott
4 Multicultural Quakers
5 Getting Under Way
6 Roll Crimson Pride
7 Backdoor Cuts
8 A Tradition Tarnished
9 Bright Lights, Big Stages

Part II The Heart of the Season
10 Harvardization
11 Conference Calls
12 We Interrupt This Season . . .
13 The Road Is the Thing
14 Everyone Onto the Court
15 Brothers in Arms
16 A Rivalry Like No Other
17 Topsy-Turvy Weekend
18 Dreams Deferred
19 And the Winner Is . . .

Part III Tournament Hoopiness
20 The Wait of Expectations Epilogue

 • Author: Kathy Orton with Forewords by John Feinstein
 • Binding: Hardcover
 • Number of Pages: 240 pages
 • Publisher: Rutgers University Press
 • Publishing Date: September 11, 2009
 • Language: English

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tags:  basketball  ~  books review   ~  Kathy Orton  ~  Outside the Limelight
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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
The Scouters & Statisticians Communities

"For the past recent years, the scouting and statistics communities have feuded like members of rival families. Basketball scouters who evaluate players with their eyes are treated with contempt and the numbers-oriented people are cast as cold, computer-wielding propellerheads with no appreciation for scouting intangibles. Not surprisingly, the camps have grown so polarized that they have retreated to their respective bunkers rather than engage in open and intelligent debate. Instead of gathering longtime scouts and statistics experts to discuss all the great issues in this arena."

"It is correct that we have coaches that "are not stat guys", that only trust what they see, and they think they don't need a bunch of numbers to get in the way. Others, use stats in various ways and are many which can speak about a tendex type formula.
Most of us, being in the basketball statistics analysis theme, and specially the analysis area, begin to understand that basketball is a difficult game to quantify, in some degree because of the way the game changes through time, and partially because of the powerful impact of teamwork, with the constant moving interaction of 12 players and the ball.

We are the same people which understand that at some level, we use the available information to better understand the game: no one stat can explain everything, so the combination of the numbers and the plays appreciation, eBA statistics analysis basis, is by this time the correct way."

"Basketball rates player's defense very badly meanwhile baseball, relatively, has multiple manners in this area. A basketball player may get a lot of blocks and simultaneously be a bad defender. On the other hand, another player may be an excellent man-to-man defender and at the same time don't get a lot of steals. A broad set of statistical methods can say us that the player A is better than the player B on offense, but they can't give us definitive elements about those players defensively. Only a good game analyst scouting professional can perform it.

Now, we know that 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 Analysis System, are not accounted in the traditional statistical methods, specially those made at live game time.

Gathering and analyzing those categories of data will give us a sort of information, for example, about how many unguarded shots - no fastbreaks plays - were taken by the opponents, and how many were allowed to us. This kind of info is the correct way in evaluating defense."

"Don't you think that basketball players have been dehumanized too much by this stats tend ? Ignoring the human side is an adjustment for breakage. Statisticians and scouter must work together: to evaluate a player for purposes of building a team implies a lot more than whether that player can play. Numbers can help with analyzing what a player does on the court, but to build a team not only means numbers...."

Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE, search "basketball statistics" in this blog and consult the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System.

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

NL0609

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  scouters & statisticians
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The Best Show in the World !
NBA Games Top 10 Plays from this 28th. Week ~ Playoffs !

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tags:  basketball  ~  coach's digest   ~  basketball games  ~  NBA Top 10  ~  NBA
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Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
About Goaltending on Final Free-throw Attempt

"... B1 commits goaltending on A2's final free-throw attempt. Which is the statistical register for B1 ? Unforced Turnover ? Or we only register a free throw made for A2 ?

What is the statistics registration according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System ? ..."

The free-throw counts as good and the official calls a technical foul against B1.

eBA Basketball Statistical Registration=

- Score the free throw for A2;

- Charge B1 with Unforced Turnover Technical Foul;

Team A shoot two free throws for the technical foul.

Photograph from SB Nation

A new possession begins for team A when the play is resumed with a throw-in at the division line opposite the scorer's table.

See in our forum the 'free throws' topics and the exposition "Basketball Personal Fouls Statistical Analysis" at eBA ONLINE.

All the terms in this answer are explained widely at The Global Basketball Encyclopedia and in eBA ONLINE.

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

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball statistics analysis  ~  goaltending
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Basketball Books Review:


Coaching Youth Basketball:
The Guide for Coaches & Parents
by John Mccarthy Jr.

A Practical Guide To Coaching Youth Basketball The Guide for a Fun and Successful Basketball Season !
Do you need some guidance before you start coaching this basketball season ? Coaching Youth Basketball, 3rd edition gives you everything you need to make this season a success.

It covers all of basketballs fundamentals and gives coaching tips for every aspect of the game including:

 • dribbling and passing skills;
 • proper shooting technique for all types of shots;
 • offensive concepts and plays for beginner and intermediate players;
 • defensive tactics for getting the ball back;
 • the responsibilities of centers, forwards, and guards;
 • how to work together as a team.

Table of Contents
Foreword and Preface
Chapter 1 ~ The Game of Hoops
Chapter 2 ~ The Players
Chapter 3 ~ Shooting
Chapter 4 ~ Dribbling
Chapter 5 ~ Passing
Chapter 6 ~ Offense
Chapter 7 ~ Defense and Rebounding
Chapter 8 ~ Running a Practice
Chapter 9 ~ The Psychology of Coaching
Chapter 10 ~ Your Players' Health
Chapter 11 ~ Coaches' and Parents' Checklists
Glossary and Index

 • Author: John Mccarthy Jr.
 • Format: Paperback, 208 pages
 • Publisher: Betterway Books (September 12, 2006)
 • Edition: 3rd.
 • Language: English

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tags:  basketball  ~  books review   ~  Coaching Youth Basketball  ~  coaching
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Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
About the Number of FTA and Personal Fouls in a Game

Applying the information available from boxscores, with the crew of 3 officials included, using 18 years quality of data, we found nothing at the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System Archives.

No individual official, as a factor in the crew of 3 model, had an important effect on the number of FTA and Personal Fouls in a game.

Some other numbers seem to link fouls called to single officials, rather than the crew of 3 officials we had to use in our model.

Concentrating on single officals would make bigger the power of any analysis, for sure, but I still consider unlikely that the results would be statistically significant.

Fouls called by year at the NBA:
2009 finals, 54.6 fouls a game - Playoffs, 51 - Regular Season, 48.5
2008 finals, 51.5 fouls a game - Playoffs 48 - Regular season. 45.5.
2007 finals, 45.5 fouls - 2006, 41.5 - 2005, 49 ..... 2002, 46 - 2001, 46 - 2000, 48.
Finals foul average for preceding 7 years: 47.8.

Photograph from The Pensblog

1- Therefore last year it was the highest PF call rate but not a significant difference with the two recent seasons.
2 - 3.6 more fouls called than in playoffs series is no significant.
3 - It looks like the refs were more rigorous in general, not just in this series.
4 - Playoff games have more fouls called per period, about two per game for home teams and three for away teams. The relative importance of these consequences is very small.
5 - Standard deviation of PF/possession is about 0.05. That means about 5 PF per game.
6 - If a team averages 25 PF per game: one in six games they'll have 30 or more PFs, and two games per season they'll have 35 PFs.
7 - There is really some tendency for a ref to call too many fouls on a team that fouls too much.

A selected excerpt from the discussions at the eBA Annual Analysis System Clinic Chat about this topic "Basketball Personal Fouls".

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

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tags:  basketball  ~ basketball statistics ~  basketball analysis  ~  basketball personal fouls
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eBA 2010 Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' Where MAGIC Happens ' by NBA

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball video clips  ~  basketball clips  ~  NBA
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Friday Press Clippings:
How Often Does the Nation’s Best Team Win the National Championship?

From Sports Reference
By Neil Paine
Download source here: ' How Often Does the Nation’s Best Team Win the National Championship? ' by Neil Paine

"... In a variation on a running theme (one that’s especially pertinent given the early departures of Syracuse, Kansas, & Kentucky from this year’s tourney), I wanted to know how often the “best” (i.e., most talented, most dominant over the entire season, etc.) team wins the NCAA Tournament. ... "

"... But rather than just make a guess, I once again set up a Monte Carlo simulator and ran a series of “test seasons”. To do this, I used the 2009-10 D-I basketball schedule, excluding postseason & conference tournament games, as well as games involving non-D-I schools.

For each school, I assigned them a random “strength rating” from a normal distribution based on the average SRS scores of their conference members since 1980:... "

"... Do this for every team in the country, and estimate the chances of one team beating another at home using this equation:... "

"... Now we have all the components in place to put together the field for a simulated NCAA Tournament. The selections go like this: the 32 conference regular-season champions get automatic bids (ties are broken by RPI); the remaining 32 at-large slots are filled by the 32 best non-conference champs by RPI. Overall seedings are then made, ranking all tourney selections by RPI, and the regions are seeded according to an S-curve. ..."

"... As you can see, I tracked the global “talent ranking” of the eventual champion for each simulated season; in this case, it was Kentucky, who ranked 9th in team talent (in case you’re wondering, NC State was #1, but they were toppled by Arkansas in the Round of 32). Repeat this process 1,000 times, and how often does a team of each talent ranking win it all? ..."

Read more articles in Sports Reference.

To read Today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' Encuentros en la segunda fase. Baloncesto de formación ' por Gabriel Alemany Sánchez-Moscoso .

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  Neil Paine
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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
Statistics Affecting Winning Percentage & the Basketball Statistics Analysis

Traditional statistics in real time team-works, use excessively the option "Team Player"; because of lack of time to determine which player caused the opponent TO, or because of lack of knowledge about the game.

Traveling or a bad control outside ball of an opponent, are immediately registered as a TO by the stats men during a game. But the Steal of our player causing directly the walking or the outside ball by executing, for example, a good double team defense or a quick footwork, not always is registered...

After years of trying to find out how certain basketball statistics ( Field Goals; Free Throws; Personal Fouls; Turnovers; 3 Pointers; Blocks and Steals ) affect winning percentage for a basketball team, our conclusion is that while a rise in each stat have some affect in the rise or fall of winning percentage, we could not determine a single stat that had a direct affect on the dependent variable: the Winning Percentage.

So our results are more effective when we run the system on how the combination of all stats affected winning percentage, however this would be obvious given the nature of our study: the eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis System.

Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE, search "basketball statistics" in this blog and consult the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System.

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

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  winning percentage
visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics

The Best Show in the World !
NBA Top 10 Plays of The 2009-2010 Season

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visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics

Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
About the Player Consistency Measure

"... Between game analysts I hear a lot of talk about a player's consistency being important. But I think that it may almost be as important to know what you'll get from a player night in and night out as to actually get production.

Don't you think that it would be better to have a player who gets a solid 12 pts 7 rebounds every night, than to have someone who you never know if he'll get 17-11 or 7-3 each night, simply because you can count on that production, and plan around it ?

Is there a statistic in the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System that measures consistency of players? ... ..."

My answer is a question.... consistency at doing what ?

In general anything that makes the game more random benefits the weaker team and anything that makes the contest less subject to random factors benefits the stronger team.

We said just this week at the eBA Basketball Statistics Annual Clinic's live chat that this is why, all else being equal, a slower pace benefits the weaker team and fewer possessions increases the impact of random events.

To measure the player's consistency you can use a linear weights rating system per 48 minutes game-by-game. And then apply standard deviation for the stat categories of interest which would probably be the source of interesting results.

See in our forum the 'possessions' topics and the exposition "Basketball Possessions Statistical Analysis" at eBA ONLINE.

All the terms in this answer are explained widely at The Global Basketball Encyclopedia and in eBA ONLINE.

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

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball statistics analysis  ~  player consistency
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Monday's Basketball DVD Review:


Roy Williams: Offensive Philosophy
By Roy Williams

Roy Allen Williams (born August 1, 1950) is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina.

After averaging about an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003.

He is second all-time for most wins at Kansas behind Phog Allen and at North Carolina behind his mentor Dean Smith. Additionally, he is third all-time in the NCAA for winning percentage.

Williams has taken his teams to seven Final Fours in his careers at Kansas and North Carolina (fourth all-time in NCAA history).

Williams has also won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament for 20 consecutive years (all-time record) and has led his teams at Kansas and North Carolina to 20 consecutive NCAA Tournaments (second all-time).....

 • Actors: Roy Williams
 • Region: All Regions
 • Format: Color, Director's Cut, Full Screen
 • Language: English
 • Number of discs: 1
 • Studio: Championship Productions
 • Run Time: 75 minutes

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Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
About 'Points-in-the-paint' and 'Winning Games'

"... Talking about positions, let's talk about the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis research to establish a correlation between the statistical category 'points-in-the-paint' and 'winning games' in basketball.

Surely, you keep listening game analysts talk about how certain teams protect the paint better than others or how another team has a weak inside presence.

Is it acceptable to say that your team have to be tops offensively and defensively to be considered a championship aspirant.
Close shots are the highest FG% shots so it is important, and 3pt shooting is the next best type shot.

Photograph from Swervechurch's Blog

Being tops offensively and defensively helped a lot of champions, but maybe "inside points" differential would be better measure for teams in general than the two parts individually, as your team could be above average but not spectacular on offense and above average on defense in addition.

Therefore, in an ideal manner your team would need inside/outside attack combo and as strong as possible differentials on each. ..."

A selected excerpt from the discussions at the eBA Annual Analysis System Clinic Chat about this topic "Basketball Players Positions".

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

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tags:  basketball  ~ basketball statistics ~  basketball analysis  ~  basketball points-in-the-paint
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eBA 2010 Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' Hard Work... BE ONE ' by Michael Jordan with Dame Taylor

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tags:  basketball  ~  basketball video clips  ~  basketball clips  ~  Michael Jordan
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Friday Press Clippings:
An Introduction to Advanced Basketball Statistics

From The Empty Bench
By Zachariah Blott
Download source here: ' An Introduction to Advanced Basketball Statistics ' by Zachariah Blott

"... Advanced statistics is one area that baseball is lightyears ahead of basketball. Bill James was a baseball fan who popularized sabermetrics, the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, back in the 80’s through his tome-like Historical Abstracts.

Sabermetrics is named after SABR, the Society for American Baseball
Research. ... "

"... Similar to ORating, DRating tells us how good a team’s defense is regardless of pace. Pacers’ opponents score 101.7 PPG, whereas the Pistons’ opponents only manage 94.9.
However, because Indiana keeps things moving quickly and Detroit barely moves, guess who has a 104.5 DRating and who’s at 107.5.

If you can’t follow what I’m getting at, it’s actually harder to score against the Pacers on a given possession. ..."

"... eFG% is like shooting percentage, but it provides a bump for points scored from behind the arc. For example, Morrow’s real shooting percentage is .536, but he is such a prolific 3-pt shooter, his eFG% gets quite a boost (players who play close to the hoop, like Dwight Howard, will always have very similar FG% and eFG%).

A team’s ability to hit its shots, and its ability to prohibit opponents from hitting theirs on the other end, is the single most important factor in winning and losing games. This makes sense because hitting shots is what scoring points is all about. ..."

"... Getting to the free throw line gives a team a chance to earn points without the opposing team’s defense being a factor, and it eliminates the possibility of turning the ball over. The shooter also has to make them for it to be an effective trip, however, that’s why the formula only includes made free throws.

Teams like the Nuggets who play aggressively and love contact will gladly crash into defenders while getting to the hoop, that’s why they do so well in this area (by the way, Denver is ahead of everyone by a mile in FT/FGA). ..."

Read more articles in The Empty Bench.

To read Today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' Victorias baratas y ataques fluidos ' por Julián Felipo .

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~   Zachariah Blott
visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics

Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
The Statistical Classification of Deflections & the Basketball Statistics Analysis

( The 1st. Part of this article was edited two days ago. )
"... Deflections or dives to a loose ball is a good defense's barometer. It's mean the defenders are active, flying around and doing good things on the defensive end. When this numbers are down, it's usually tells us about passivity.
Deflections and loose ball, like offensive and defensive percentages, are charted by the eBA analyst during a game, and 30/35 may be a good team goal per game.

About defensive and offensive rebounding effort, about what we'll refer in another topic, players are rated individually – at both ends of the floor – on how well they respond every time the ball goes up, and this analysis is determined only by means of video analysis of the game.

After each game, the eBA Basketball Analysis System Formulas hand out evaluation reports to the team coach and to each individual player who participated. Evaluation reports are based on the ratio of positive points – awarded for such things as big baskets, rebounds, steals, first and second assists, blocks and recovered 'loose balls' and those outstanding plays that can turn a game around – to the negative points assigned to turnovers, missed free throws and other general deficiencies.

Deflections, dives for loose balls and points per possession mean a very important feedback about those not-so-simple numbers every head coach needs to know. ..."

Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE, search "basketball statisticians" in this blog and consult the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System.

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

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  basketball deflections
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The Best Show in the World !
NBA Games Highlights of the 2009-2010 Season ~ Week 26 !

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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
The Statistical Classification of Loose Balls & the Basketball Statistics Analysis

"... This is not a question about simply the loose ball statistics, but about the basketball creative statistics analysis !

We, at the eBA want to know more than number of points... number of rebounds... number of assists... number of turnovers... Much more.

But we must be careful of most statistics given just raw numbers because they depend so much on the pace of the game. We are more interested in percentages.
We always relate the most important numbers to offensive and defensive efficiency, principally based on points per possession for both our team and the opponents.

At halftime report and after the game the huge emphasis are based on points-per-possession analysis. As much as points and field-goal percentages can tell you, they can get a good distortion with a lot of free throws and so on. But points-per-possession gives you a much better estimation and measuring of where your team is at, both offensively and defensively.

Photograph from mLive.com

Another number that does not show up in the box score, but is a fixed category a eBA Analysis are the deflections, to which few also puts plenty of weight. This number, is based on how many times both our defender and the opponents at defense, gets a hand, foot or any other body part on the basketball, not resulting in a personal possession. The number of deflections gives a good idea of his team's intensity level.

Being blocked shot or diving on a loose ball are both actions that disrupts the other team's offense. Offense, basically, is rhythm. And anything you can do to upset rhythm is not good for an offense. ..." ( To be continued on next Thursday )

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  statistics
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OPINIONS ENCOUNTERED... at the Web

About the Rebounding Factor
"... We looked at rebounding differential as an indicator of a team's success and found that, on average, teams had .345 winning percentage last season when their starters were outrebounded. ... is there a similar correlation to a team's winning and its rebounding ability? ..."

"... To answer that question, we take a look at the top and bottom rebounding teams by differential so far this season.

Differential is the key here because of the different paces teams play at – some teams can't grab as many rebounds because they play the game like it's still the early 1900s and there just aren't as many opportunities to get them.

On the other end, there are those with that seven-second shot clock rule and shoot twice in a blink of an eye.

So how are these teams doing based on their rebounding differential?

It's not a surprise that four of the league's top five rebounding teams have winning records and find themselves contending for playoff spots. ..."

"... People are always going to argue the merits of statistical analysis – there's always a human element to these games. But when you see that three of the bottom five teams are way out of the playoff race and four of the five top teams are in the thick of things, some trends can be seen.

If any lesson is reinforced, though, it's that rebounding is just as much an integral part of the game as a team's offense or defense – like the Special Teams of basketball. ..." (Preetom Bhattacharya - hoopsworld.com )

tags:  basketball  ~  coach's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  statistics
visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics

Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
Basketball Starting Centers Merit More Minutes

Dennis Hans says in this article "Starting centers merit more minutes" that the modern center’s constant struggle to avoid foul trouble has little to do with the modern game of basketball and proposes four common sense changes:

1) Make non-brutal illegal screens a loss-of-possession violation, like traveling. ...

2) Quit treating intentional fouls as if they were non-intentional. ...

3) Give each team one “foul coupon.” ...

4) Make it a loss-of-possession violation (not a foul) for a low-post player to back, buttwhack or low-shoulder his way into the lane. ...

Photograph from The Sports Truth

And I think that in order to recognize the importance of the tall men´s work we must reach the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis and read the chapter of the opponents errors forced by our tall men and the block shots which ends in our baskets on the other side of the court.

Tall men are not as spectacular as the guards, but remember my post with the 'Seven Feet Theory', which is supported by recognized NBA scouters: to win actually a championship you must have a 7 feet ( 2,13 m ) player in the middle of the paint area.

Teams with small players are more spectacular and quick, play funny basketball and may reach the top... but the winners are teams with tall men.

A selected excerpt from the discussions at the eBA Annual Analysis System Clinic Chat about this topic "Basketball Time Played".

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

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tags:  basketball  ~ basketball statistics ~  basketball analysis  ~  basketball time played
visit:  eBA Portal  ~  eBA Forums  ~  eBA Encyclopedia  ~  eBA Clinics

Basketball Statistician's Digest:
March 2010 Basketball Statistics Case Study Conclusion

Different Basketball Pass Situations ... Case Study

"... A1 passes the ball to A3.

• case a) B5 cuts in front of A3 and intercepts the pass,
• case b) the pass is overthrown and goes right to B5,
• case c) B5 is running beside A3 step-for-step and the ball goes right to B5,
• case d) the pass is juggled slightly by A3 and B5 reaches in and takes the ball away from A3, or
• case e) the pass is too high for A3 and he barely touches it as it goes over A3’ head to B5.

What is the statistical registration according to the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System in each one of the given situations, including the type of the registration ( forced, unforced, neutral, etc...) ... ?"

Conclusion:
eBA System Statistics Fundamentals:
To earn a forced steal, the defensive player should be the initiator of the action causing the turnover, not just the benefactor. The forced steal should be a take-away or an offensive player forced error not just a recovery or unforced steal.

Photograph from Courier Press

eBA Basketball Statistical Registration:

• In (a) charge A1 with a FORCED TURNOVER
and register a FORCED STEAL for B5;
• in (b) charge A1 with and UNFORCED TURNOVER,
register a TEAM B STEAL & record B5 action in the play-by-play report;
• in (c) charge A1 with a FORCED TURNOVER
and register a FORCED STEAL for B5;
• in (d) charge A3 with a FORCED TURNOVER
and register a FORCED STEAL for B5;
• in (e) charge A1 with and UNFORCED TURNOVER,
register a TEAM B STEAL & record B5 action in the play-by-play report;

This Case Study was presented as every 10th. day of each month, on March 10th, 2010 in our eBA Portal: were sent 347 answers, 298 partial answers and 41 totally correct, that's means including all the options, registrations and qualifications.

Find another basketball statistics case studies from the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System at the eBA Encyclopedia > Case Studies

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Friday Press Clippings:
Statistical Analysis of the Statistical Material of a Basketball Tournament

From International Statistical Institute (ISI)
By Beata Pluta and Wiesaw Wagner
Download source here: ' Statistical Analysis of the Basketball Tournament Sydney’ 2000 ' by Beata Pluta and Wiesaw Wagner

"... The statistical analysis of the statistical material of the basketball matches was performed considering the analysis of both groups, between groups and sports achievements of the basketball teams competing in the tournament. Besides formal statistical methods relating to the description of the sample also statistical inference was used with the application of F-Fisher’s and t-Student’s test and analysis of variance. ... "

"... Basketball games in groups were played using “everyone with everyone” system. Together, in each group took place 15 games, so in the qualifying round me = 2 × 15 = 30 matches were played. The fragment of prepered data base for the leading team USA is given in table 1. ..."

"... The statistical analysis in the elimination round is realized in three variants: a) analisis of game results in group A, b) analisis of game results in group B, and c) comparison of results between groups A and B. ..."

"... A useful method of presentation of multi-stage activities in a developed form is a graph. For the purpose of the description of the states of transition in the number of won matche s graphs called trees can be used. On the edges of the graph there are names of countries which played for positions 1-4. On the path from knot 0 to the final knot 8 there is only USA team which means the team won all its matches. Each set of knots expresses a number of won games in which levels 1 to 5 express matches of the qualification round, and levels 6-8 knockout gamesecond in the tournament, is interesting. ..."

Read more articles in International Statistical Institute (ISI).

To read Today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' El uso de indicadores de desempeño normalizados para la valoración de jugadores ' .

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Tiger Woods Officially Returned to Golf Yesterday with a New Commercial

The 30-second ad features a mute Woods listening to his dead father's voice chastising him from beyond the grave. Earl Woods, who died in 2006, tells Woods, "Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive. I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to find out what your feelings are."

Later, he ask him, "and did you learn anything," as Woods is seen on the verge of tears. The ad concludes with the Nike sign.

Nike was one of the few sponsors who stayed with Woods after his sex scandal that began last year during Thanksgiving weekend. Woods lost $35 million worth of endorsements after he was linked to more than a dozen different women and forced to publicly apologize for his affairs.

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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
The Basketball Team Statistician & the Basketball Statistics Analysis

"... The Basketball Team Statistician must have ability to add, subtract, divide in his head ( no time for no calculators ! ) and capacity to write very legible numbers and letters - everyone in the coaching team will be reading his work.

The Basketball Team Statistician must have the skills to control, verify and examine once again his work all the time, in order to avoid mistakes. He must confront all his work against the play-by-play, being vitally necessary a team work.

Because no one person can register stats strictly correctly, the Statistician and the rest of the staff must be constantly talking to each other, and, as we believe, they must wait for the post game video analysis for the accurate stats.

The Basketball Team Statistician must be capable to read and understand a technical statisticians guide and make deep analysis having the ability to make sound decisions during the game.

In an advanced stage the Basketball Team Statistician must attend math & computer courses; statistics courses and basketball specific courses - as the current one - and writing courses.

Good first steps in enrolling a basketball team as a statistician is to begin as a volunteer or part-time worker for the team and start getting experience while you are still at the youth basketball department or teams. Volunteer to keep stats for any team at your basketball institution. The coach and players will be grateful for your help. ..."

Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE, search "basketball statisticians" in this blog and consult the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System.

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

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The Best Show in the World !
NBA Games Highlights of the 2009-2010 Season ~ Week 25 !

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Basketball Registering Stats Referred Questions:
About a Basketball Individual Charge Statistical Registration

"... Can we state that each individual charge taken is equal to a steal ?
It seems to me that it is equal value to that of a steal because in both instances, you take away a possession from your opponent. ... ..."

You wrote that each individual charge taken is equal to a steal. Although in both cases we have a steal I don't agree with this: the value of both actions is not the same.

Photograph: USA TODAY

A fair amount of the value of a steal is not just ending the opposition's possession but the fast-break opportunity it provides. We'll go on with this discussion, but an important quantity of some data about the offensive value of a steal is well developed in the exposition about this topic in the eBA Basketball Statistics Register Clinic. Meanwhile use the option "search" of the eBA Forum to look for "steal" and the other messages about this topic.

See in our forum the 'steal' topics and the exposition "Basketball Steals Statistical Analysis" at eBA ONLINE.

All the terms in this answer are explained widely at The Global Basketball Encyclopedia and in eBA ONLINE.

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

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Books Review:

The Sports Book
By: DK Publishing

The astroturf-clad coffee table book is more than just a conversation piece. It's the sports buff's bible, with rules and game-winning strategies for more than 200 sports, including 35 Summer Olympics events. -- Men's Fitness

"The Today Show"
"Any sports fanatic will love this."

Book Description
Featuring the largest and most diverse range of sports of any comparable book-more than 200 in all-from basketball to bobsledding, karate to korfball, synchronized swimming to ski-jumping, this up-to-date and authoritative guide presents information sourced from leading experts and sports governing bodies around the world to give you the most comprehensive book on sports to ever hit the market.

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: DK Publishing
Language: English

Read more about eBA Best Sellers in English and Spanish
in the Books & DVD Sections of the ...

eBA Portal, the eBA Blogs, the eBA Store, and at the eBA Library

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Sunday's Reflexions on Basketball Statistics:
About the Basketball Possessions Concept

When using possessions to rate offenses and defenses, an excellent exercise in getting to know basketball, the benefits of this definition become clear:

"Possession for a team, it is the period of play between when one team gains control of the ball and when the other team gains control of the ball. For an individual, a possession or part of a possession is credited when that individual causes to end his/her team's possession."

We'll analyze the following 2 situations:

1) A player brings the ball up court, takes a 20 foot jump shot and makes it.

2) A player brings the ball upcourt, takes a 20 foot jump shot and misses, but a teammate rebounds, misses the putback, then get his own rebound and finally puts in a layup.

The first situation involves one scoring possession and one total possession regardless of which definition is used.

The second situation has one scoring and one total possession using above definition. Using the other meaning, the second situation involves one scoring possession and three total possessions.

Now, which situation represented the better offense ?

A selected excerpt from the discussions at the eBA Annual Analysis System Clinic Chat about this topic "Basketball Rebounds".

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

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eBA 2010 Best Basketball Clip Candidate

' May Be ! ' with Michael Jordan

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Friday Press Clippings:
For Openers ~ The Significance of Game 1 by David Friedman

From 20 Second Timeout
By David Friedman
Download source here: ' For Openers: The Significance of Game 1 '
by David Friedman

"... The relative importance of winning game one has held constant for quite some time. From 1983-84 to 2001-02, the NBA used the five game format in the first round and the seven game format in the next three rounds, meaning that each of those seasons included seven series that employed the seven game format (just to be clear: this does not mean that all of these series lasted seven games, merely that they were best out of seven as opposed to best out of five). ... "

"... It should be added that the team that enjoyed home court advantage has won 274 (75.5%) of the 363 NBA playoff series in the seven game format.

That indicates that most of the teams that win game ones are home teams. Why is home court advantage so pronounced in the NBA? ..."

"... The overall success of game one winners through NBA playoff history brings to mind Damon Runyon’s famous quip: "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong—but that is the way to bet."

In the NBA playoffs, a seven game series is not decided after one game, but that is the way to bet. ..."

Read more articles in 20 Second Timeout.

To read Today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' El Scouting ' by Miquel Ballester Ferrer.

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Basketball Statistics Analysis Referred Concepts:
About the Basketball Bonus Possessions & the OR Differential Statistics

"... The most significant source of bonus possessions in basketball is offensive rebounding. Consequently, when the game ends, the difference in the total possessions generally indicates the difference in the offensive rebound from both teams.

Every offensive rebound produces a bonus possession, and the team that assures the most offensive rebounds in a game can manage the net bonus possessions to overwhelm some of the effects of unsatisfactory shooting or common turnovers.

In like manner, the team with fewer offensive rebounds in a game must give a performance in a more efficient manner than their opponent to have any opportunity to win the basketball game.

A team that systematically gets 4 more offensive rebounds than its opponents will have benefit from an average of 4 bonus possessions per game. If a team scores 0.9 to 1.1 ppp (points per possession), four bonus possessions in a game supplies a 4 point advantage when every other categories are equal. ..."

"... The eBA Basketball Statistics Creative Analysis classifies possessions looking at the efficiency of the team in its first shot attempts and its second [or any other number] chance points. The eBA game collecting and evaluating data system give us the total second [or any other] chance points related to the number of offensive rebounds.

The point production may be significantly higher for second chance possessions than first chance possessions. But it is clear that no team will always have this higher efficiency output. Therefore, some teams defend against second chance possessions better than others. From this fact, the second chance efficiency is an important factor required to fix the value of the offensive rebounding bonus possessions. ..."

Read More at eBA CLINICS ONLINE, search "basketball possessions" in this blog and consult the eBA Basketball Statistics Analysis System.

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

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