Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
The Effect Touches, Post Touches, and Dribbles
Have on Offense for Men’s Division I Basketball

From Brigham Young University
By Kim T. Jackson
Download source here: ' The Effect Touches, Post Touches, and Dribbles Have on
Offense for Men’s Division I Basketball ' by Kim T. Jackson

"... A common way coaches have traditionally prepared their team for upcoming opponents is through the use of video. Coaches will watch game film of their own team, trying to look for deficiencies they can improve on during practice. They also watch game film on their opponents, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies so that they can prepare a game plan that will give their team the best opportunity to win.

With modern technologies such as video editing programs, DVD burners, and internet exchange systems, watching film has never been easier or more efficient. However, because basketball schedules typically require teams to play two to four games per week there is a limited amount of time a coach can devote to watching game film.

This has left coaches looking for additional tools to evaluate their team and opponents in a quick and efficient manner. ..."

"... Nixon repeatedly marveled at how simple and basic the practice was but I think that this deceptive simplicity is actually the touchstone of Jackson's coaching genius (as it was for John Wooden, Red Auerbach and Vince Lombardi); coaching is not about making things complex and it is not about the vaunted "in game adjustments" with which some media members are so obsessed: coaching is about preparing players in practice to deal with the most likely scenarios that will happen during games and coaching is about making sure that players are well schooled in the fundamentals. ..."

"... basketball statistics at the end of a game can be greatly influenced by the pace of play. In baseball, a game could take two hours or four hours to complete and it does not impact the statistical aspect of the game because there are equal outs for each team in every game and thus equal opportunities at success or failure (Oliver, 2004). In basketball this is not the case.

For example, Team A might allow on average 75 points per game and Team B might allow 80 points per game. The normal observer might assume from the following information that Team A is a better defensive team than Team B because they allow five fewer points a game. However, when you look at a team’s pace of play one might come to a different conclusion.

In this same example Team A plays a slow-paced game and only averages 75 defensive possessions per game, while Team B plays a high-paced game and averages 100 defensive possessions per game.

With this information you would conclude that Team B is the better defensive team because even though they allow more points per game than Team A, they do so on much more opportunities. Similar to points allowed per game, pace of play will impact all statistics found in box scores making it difficult to compare the information from game to game and team to team. ... "

"... Efficiency analysis can be done on all aspects of the game both offensively and defensively. This information can then be used by coaches to compare their team against all other teams in the league. Knowing how one’s team compares to the rest of the league can reveal strengths and weaknesses and be valuable information when planning practices or setting team goals. ..."

"... While parameters have been established to ensure that the data collected is reliable and accurate, there are some levels of subjectivity required by the researcher, namely determining when a player is within scoring position, determining when a player is in the post area, and determining when an assist should be credited.

To ensure that the data were recorded accurately there will be a categorical audit performed on the three areas in question.
The auditor will first be trained on what to look for when dealing with the three subjective areas. This will be accomplished by showing the auditor 10 examples each of what is inacceptable scoring position, post position, and what constitutes an assist.

The auditor will also be shown 10 examples each of what is not in acceptable scoring position or post position, and what would not be constituted as an assist. Lastly, the auditor will be shown 10 examples for each of the three categories that represent a grey area where the auditor would have to use subjectivity to determine what to record. ..."

Read more articles in Brigham Young University.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' Estudio de la Ventaja de Jugar en Casa en Baloncesto Masculino mediante el Análisis de las Estadísticas de Juego ' by M.A. Gómez Ruano .

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tags:  basketball  ~  statistician's digest   ~  basketball analysis  ~  Kim T. Jackson
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