Measuring players’ importance in team sports to help coaches and staff with the aim of winning the game is gaining relevance, mainly because of the advent of new data and advanced technologies. In ...this paper we evaluate each player’s importance - for the first time in basketball - as his/her average marginal contribution to the utility of an ordered subset of players, through a generalized version of the Shapley value, where the value assumed by the generalized characteristic function of the generalized coalitional game is expressed in terms of the probability a certain lineup has to win the game. In turn, such probability is estimated by applying a logistic regression model in which the response is represented by the game outcome and the Dean’s factors are used as explanatory features. Then, we estimate the generalized Shapley values of the players, with associated bootstrap confidence intervals. A novelty, allowed by explicitly considering single lineups, is represented by the possibility of forming best lineups based on players’ estimated generalized Shapley values conditional on specific constraints, such as an injury or an “a-priori” coach’s decision. A comparison of our proposed approach with industry-standard counterparts shows a strong linear relation. We show the application of our proposed method to seventeen full NBA seasons (from 2004/2005 to 2020/21). We eventually estimate generalized Shapley values for Utah Jazz players and we show how our method is allowed to be used to form best lineups.
Abstract
Introduction
Previous investigations in professional basketball, football, and other sports have shown meaningful effects of factors like rest and length of a team’s road trip on overall ...performance, with detriments being attributed to travel. However, prior research in the context of college basketball has been relatively scant. Thus, the current study extends the literature by performing a case study on the impact of such travel factors on a women’s college basketball team.
Methods
Data from a total of 110 road games played over the last 10 seasons from 2010 to 2020 by a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) women’s college basketball team were collected from the college’s athletics site. We examined the influence of consecutive games played away, days in between games, back-to-back games, and miles traveled by the team on game outcomes and team performance. Specifically, we inspected box-score statistics, such as points scored, points allowed, shooting percentages (i.e., field-goal, free-throw, and three-point), rebounds, blocks, steals, assists, personal fouls, and turnovers. We performed a series of generalized regressions controlling for the team and opponent winning percentages entering each game, along with the opponent’s home time zone. Although neutral site games were excluded from our analyses, such events were still considered in determining the number of consecutive games played away from home.
Results
Our analyses revealed that the team scored significantly more points (p = .03), and won more games (p = .04) when traveling fewer miles away from their home city. We also found that fewer consecutive games played away were related to significantly more blocks of opponent shots (p = .02). Ultimately, the team shot significantly higher from the field when there were more days in between games (p = .03).
Conclusion
Findings from the present study reveal that certain aspects of team performance on the road appear to be influenced by miles traveled from the college’s home city, consecutive games played away, and days in between games. Results could be applied beyond the current context, whereby college basketball teams could utilize such findings to mitigate the impact of travel on athletes.
Support (if any)
None
Abstract
Introduction
Previous research in professional basketball and baseball has shown that traveling up to three hours westward can hamper performance due to circadian disadvantages. However, ...findings in the context of collegiate football are conflicting, as some prior studies have reported negative effects on scoring during either eastward or westward travel. The current study extends the literature by investigating the impact of travel on both offensive and defensive team performance within National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college football.
Methods
Following the NCAA’s introduction of the College Football Playoff in 2014, data from 1,909 away games from 64 “Power Five” conference teams played during the 2014 to 2019 regular seasons were collected from the publicly available sports database, Sports-Reference. For the purposes of our analyses, we excluded all games played at neutral sites. We examined the effects of the direction of travel away from the college’s home city and time of game day on visiting team performance, specifically game outcomes, points scored, points allowed, completion percentages, penalties, fumbles, interceptions, and total turnovers forced and committed, controlling for both visiting and home team conference, day of game, and team rankings.
Results
Teams playing in the afternoon allowed significantly more points (OR = 1.05, p < .001) and forced more opponent turnovers than those playing in the evening (OR = 1.14, p = .05). Teams traveling eastward threw significantly more interceptions than those traveling in the same time zone (OR = 1.48, p = .004). A significant interaction between direction of travel and time of day was detected for points allowed (χ2 = 12.30, p = .02), and a marginal interaction was present for points scored (χ2 = 8.42, p = .08). Several other marginal differences were also identified for points scored, interceptions, and team turnovers (OR > 1.03, p < .10).
Conclusion
Findings from our study offer evidence for the influence of circadian factors on team points allowed, interceptions, and opponent turnovers forced. Specifically, travel in varying directions and the time of day when a game is played can impact team performance during away games within college football.
Support (if any)
None
Numbers Don't Lie gives readers a multilayered understanding of basketball analytics on its own terms, describes the historical and contemporary conditions in basketball culture, science, and society ...that have facilitated the rise of basketball analytics, and shows the varying impact of basketball analytics.
This study aimed to analyse the effects of two factors (number of players and training regimes) on players' physiological and technical demands in basketball ball-drills. Twenty-one young basketball ...players performed four different ball-drills (two levels for each factor). The number of players involved was 2vs2 and 4vs4, while ball-drill regimes were continuous and intermittent. Physiological demand was assessed using the percentage of maximal heart rate (%HR
max
), Edwards' training load and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Furthermore, the following technical actions were collected: dribbles, steals, rebounds, turnovers, passes (total, correct, wrong and % of correct pass) and shots (total, scored, missed and % of made shot). A 2 × 2 (number of players × regime) two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was applied for physiological parameters and technical actions. The 2vs2 condition showed higher %HR
max
(P < 0.001), Edwards' training load (P < 0.001), RPE (P < 0.001), number of dribbles (P < 0.001), rebounds (P < 0.001), passes total (P = 0.005) and correct (P = 0.005) and shots total (P < 0.001) scored (P < 0.001) and missed (P < 0.001) than 4vs4. Moreover, the continuous regime revealed higher %HR
max
(P < 0.001), Edwards' training load (P < 0.001), RPE (P = 0.006) and dribbles (P < 0.001) than the intermittent regime. This study showed that both number of players and regime are useful variables able to modify basketball ball-drills workload.
What is it about basketball that makes it "the black man's game"? And what about pickup basketball in particular: can it tell us something about the state of blackness in the United States? ...Reflecting on these questions, Rafik Mohamed presents pickup games as a text of the political, social, and economic struggles of African American men. In the process, he tells a story about race in its peculiarly American context, and about how the politics of race--and resistance--are mediated through sports.
Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell ...began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. InKing of the Court, Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell's leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game's texture. His teams provided models of racial integration in the 1950s and 1960s, and, in 1966, he became the first black coach of any major professional team sport. Yet, like no athlete before him, Russell challenged the politics of sport. Instead of displaying appreciative deference, he decried racist institutions, embraced his African roots, and challenged the nonviolent tenets of the civil rights movement. This beautifully written book-sophisticated, nuanced, and insightful-reveals a singular individual who expressed the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. while echoing the warnings of Malcolm X.
ABSTRACTMangine, GT, Hoffman, JR, Wells, AJ, Gonzalez, AM, Rogowski, JP, Townsend, JR, Jajtner, AR, Beyer, KS, Bohner, JD, Pruna, GJ, Fragala, MS, and Stout, JR. Visual tracking speed is related to ...basketball-specific measures of performance in NBA players. J Strength Cond Res 28(9)2406–2414, 2014—The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between visual tracking speed (VTS) and reaction time (RT) on basketball-specific measures of performance. Twelve professional basketball players were tested before the 2012–13 season. Visual tracking speed was obtained from 1 core session (20 trials) of the multiple object tracking test, whereas RT was measured by fixed- and variable-region choice reaction tests, using a light-based testing device. Performance in VTS and RT was compared with basketball-specific measures of performance (assists AST; turnovers TO; assist-to-turnover ratio AST/TO; steals STL) during the regular basketball season. All performance measures were reported per 100 minutes played. Performance differences between backcourt (guards; n = 5) and frontcourt (forward/centers; n = 7) positions were also examined. Relationships were most likely present between VTS and AST (r = 0.78; p < 0.003), STL (r = 0.77; p < 0.003), and AST/TO (r = 0.78; p < 0.003), whereas a likely relationship was also observed with TO (r = 0.49; p < 0.109). Reaction time was not related to any of the basketball-specific performance measures. Backcourt players were most likely to outperform frontcourt players in AST and very likely to do so for VTS, TO, and AST/TO. In conclusion, VTS seems to be related to a basketball playerʼs ability to see and respond to various stimuli on the basketball court that results in more positive plays as reflected by greater number of AST and STL and lower turnovers.
El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar la opinión de los entrenadores y expertos sobre la modificación del reglamento en la categoría preinfantil (under-13) en baloncesto. Se administró un ...cuestionario online de modificaciones reglamentarias sobre esta categoría a un total de 418 entrenadores y a 35 expertos. Los resultados más significativos señalan que los entrenadores y expertos consideran importante: a) la participación de todos jugadores; b) sancionar 3 segundos defensivos; c) prohibir la defensa en zona; sin embargo, demuestran discrepancia sobre: d) la distancia de la línea de 3 puntos; e) el tamaño del balón deberá ser el nº6 para ambos sexos. Todos estos datos deberán servir de una profunda reflexión por parte de entrenadores, expertos y federaciones deportivas sobre el estado actual del reglamento en la competición preinfantil con la finalidad de adaptarlo al desarrollo madurativo y cognitivo de los jugadores.
The study aims to identify the differences in the psychological skills of the male and female Indonesian basketball teams in the Asian Games XVIII. The sample that had been involved in the study was ...24 athletes, comprised of 12 males and 12 females. The instrument that had been implemented within the conduct of the study was The Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (PSIS-R-5) (Mahoney et al., 1987). The data were analyzed, using the SPSS 12 software. The results of the study show that the psychological skills of the male athletes belonged to the "High" category with a mean score of 145.25 and, those of the female athletes also belonged to the "High" category with a mean score of 134.25. It might be concluded that There were significant differences between the male and the female athletes (p< 05). The results of this study are expected to contribute references or evaluations for the coaches, the managers, and all of the stakeholders who have been involved in the Indonesian basketball affairs to improve the achievements of the basketball athletes through the psychological skills on the aspects of team significance for the male Indonesian basketball athletes and the aspects of mental preparation for the female Indonesian basketball athletes. The improvement on the achievements through the psychological skills on these aspects are important to pursue to support the Indonesian basketball athletes for dealing with the Asian competition and the global competition.
