Professional Basketball Player Evaluation

[DPG21920]

There are all kinds of applications to go along with limitations. There will always be two ends of the spectrum: those who use their instincts and those who rely solely on data.

The best bet is probably somewhere in the middle. You saw the Rockets have a thick packet of data on Kobe for Battier to study. It broke down into countless categories: Kobe off the dribble, off a pull up, going to his left, his right, which spots on the floor...

I remember seeing something in football that a statistical analysis showed that going for it on 4th down (or calculating the odds of achieving a 1st down if you have 4 plays to get it) is much higher than you would expect. So it was concluded that more teams, based on statistics should be going for it on fourth down. It had it broken down by position on the field and yardage needed. Yet many teams do not go for it.

There are times to play the odds and times to use your instinct.

[barbacoataco]

That point about going for it on 4th down is a good example of where coaches do not do what the stats show. According to the numbers if you're past your own 30-40 yard line it is better to go for it on most 4th down situations. But fans would call you crazy.

I think one of the things they are using stats for in basketball is analyzing tendencies of offensive players.

I can't stand it when fans compare two players and say something like, "they both are 20 ppg 8 reb players so therefore they are more or less equal. Leaving out FG%, TO's, defense, offensive rebounding, clutchness and everything else.

I have thought for many years a good stat in basketball is Points per Shot. This shows the overall efficiency of a player including FT's, 3 ptr, FG%. It answers the most basic question of offense.