Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Decision Theory In Basketball - Why Russell Westbrook Should Pass More To Kevin Durant

From Science 2.0
By Dan Peterson
Download source here: ' Decision Theory In Basketball - Why Russell Westbrook Should Pass More To Kevin Durant ' by Dan Peterson

"... Then they compare this with a concept called “allocative efficiency”, or the benefit of equally distributing the ball to any of the five players on the court and also “dynamic efficiency”, or deciding whether to “use” the possession by taking a shot or “continuing” the possession by making a pass.

As the shot clock winds down, the marginal difficulty of a shot considered will need to rise or they risk getting no shot off before the 24 seconds expires, wasting the possession. ..."

"... They found that most NBA players are very efficient in their shot selection. Surprisingly, several elite players are actually not shooting enough, according to their model. Here is the list of all NBA players analyzed and their score, where a negative number (at the top of the list) represent overshooters. Joining Westbrook at the top of the list were well-known names like Lamar Odom and Tracy McGrady.

Even bigger names like LeBron James, Ray Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul and Joe Johnson actually show up at the bottom of the list and may hurt their team with their unselfishness. ..."

"... Just like a quarterback examining and identifying the defensive alignment as he breaks the huddle, the point guard in basketball has to visually process the scene in front of him.

From there, his brain, based on his vast memory of similar basketball experiences, begins to make a list of options. These can be spatial options, like move the ball left, ahead or right, or functional options like pass or shoot. ..."

"... However, each player will have their own library of choices stored in their memory and this magical sorting of best options can be influenced by several unique variables. One of these pre-determined factors is a personality preference known as action vs. state orientation. ..."

"... They found that those players who have more of an action orientation, according to a personality test given prior to the drill, were more likely to shoot first and more quickly. Clearly, Russell Westbrook must fall in this category. ..."

"... Certainly, this is the tip of the iceberg regarding the psyche of a player at any level. There are many more variables, some fact-based (I’ve missed my last 5 shots, so I’m going to pass) while some are more emotional, (I don’t want my teammate to get all the glory.) For now, Thunder fans can only hope that their point guard learns to share. ..."

Read more articles in Science 2.0.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' El tratamiento psicológico personalizado de las atletas de Baloncesto ' by Rafael Alum Carderin .

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Friday Video Clippings:
A conversation about "Sports Nedicine"

A conversation about "Sports Nedicine"

To watch today's 'Video Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' El Lobo Blanco ! ' by Pierre-Luc Granjon .

'Press and Video Clippings'
is a Series of Notes edited every Friday

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