Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Statistics in sports ~ Basketball, Baseball & Football

From Mike Kueber's Blog
By Mike Kueber
Download source here: ' Statistics in sports ~ Basketball, Baseball & Football ' by Mike Kueber

"... There are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies, and statistics. Although attributed to Mark Twain, it was actually British politician Benjamin Disraeli who coined that expression. I don’t think statistics in sports have reached that level of mendacity, but there are often misleading. ..."

"... Statistician Bill James has done more than anyone to make sports statistics meaningful. Starting in 1977, he self-published The Bill James Baseball Abstract, which contains his statistical analysis of baseball strategy, productivity, and effectiveness, and his influence in the baseball world has grown continually ever since.

James has developed countless statistics that reveal a player’s offensive and defensive effectiveness (e.g., runs created and range factor), and he has shown that certain time-honored managerial strategies are incorrect (e.g., when to hit-and-run or bunt).

In 2006, James was named by Time magazine as one of the hundred most influential people in the world (in the Thinking category). He has also been the subject of a profile on “60 Minutes”. ..."

"... As sabermetrics became generally accepted in baseball, it made gradual in-roads into other sports, too, like basketball and football. In fact, I was prompted to write about this subject by a recent Happy Hour with Kevin Brown during which he complained about some misleading basketball statistics.

He thinks scoring, rebounds, and assists should be modified to reflect so many per minute. (I think Kevin’s favorite player doesn’t play a lot of minutes, but generates a lot of numbers in those minutes.)

Kevin also complained that quarterback ratings in football should consider dropped passes and interceptions off of deflections. ..."

"... Whereas Kevin wants statistics to show points per minute, I want show points per possession consumed. You might think that the number of shots taken would fully reflect this, but it doesn’t because it fails count possessions that end in free throws. For example, Kobe Bryan may shoot 4 of 14 and score 14 points because he made 6 of 8 free throws.

According to my statistic, he scored 14 points out of 18 possessions (or 20 possessions if you count his two turnovers). I would be interested in comparing Kobe, LeBron, and Durant with this statistic. ... "

"... Interestingly, football and basketball numbers crunchers use the term sabermetics even though, technically, the term is based on the term, “Society of American Baseball Research.”

In my opinion, managerial hunches has been have been vastly overrated; not much more than an excuse for not doing the necessary study and thinking. With all of the money involved in professional sports, statistical analysis should be a part of Management 101. ..."

Read more articles in Mike Kueber's Blog.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' El juego de transición posicional en el baloncesto ' by Dianelis Ramirez Guanche.

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