Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Why Statistics Work So Much Better In Baseball Than In Basketball

From Not Qualified to Comment
By Stormin
Download source here: ' Why Statistics Work So Much Better In Baseball Than In Basketball ' by NQTC

"... I am a fierce believer in sabremetrics, which is the study of statistics in baseball to determine a player’s value in terms of wins, among other things. In baseball, a game can be distilled down to a certain number of one-on-one at-bats.

These are unique battles between pitchers and hitters that can be analyzed statistically. Since there are limited variables involved in each at-bat, those statistics can be relied upon to a great extent to determine a player’s individual value. ..."

"... Which brings me to basketball. In the last few years, John Hollinger has spurred a mainstream effort to utilize statistics in basketball in a similar way to how they have been used in baseball. The problem is basketball is a game of variables above all else.

As any statistician knows, the more variables there are, the harder it is to control for all of them in a statistical analysis.

Where baseball is limited to a one-on-one at-bat, every single play in basketball is affected by the other players around, the offensive philosophy, the defense, the pace, and many other factors. ..."

"... In my mind, basketball lends itself to the perfect blend of objectivity and subjectivity. Statistics help only so much; we still have to interpret what we see. Take Jason Kidd.

Why has he suddenly become a deadly three-point shooter at his advanced age? Because he isn’t carrying an offense or taking contested shots with the shot clock winding down like he had to in Jersey, that’s why. In Dallas, all he has to do is distribute the ball and shoot … when he’s open.

Now look at poor Dwyane Wade. He misses 70% of his threes — the only blemish on his MVP résumé — because his teammates stink, which means he has to hoist one or two contested, beat-the-clock bombs each game. ... "

"... The point here is that as much as I have utilized statistics to illustrate players values and how good teams are in my coverage of the Bulls and the NBA (using stats ranging from points per game and fg% to +/- and PER), I never truly believed those statistics could be used exclusive of other types of analysis to determine a player’s value. ..."

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To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' Sucedió en Turquía ' by Juanma Rubio .

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