Advanced and Spatial Statistics in High School Basketball
Presentation Time: Mon, 08/09/2021 - 18:00
Keywords: Basketball, Statistics, Spatial Statistics, High School, Range, Spread, Ripley
Sports analytics in professional basketball leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), have transformed their respective leagues by introducing new statistical measures to quantify individual player and team performance. NBA organizations have teams of personnel and dedicated analytics departments dedicated to analysis. However, high schools generally do not. Thus, revolutionary statistical measures are not available to the programs serving as the foundation for professional leagues. Data from a five-game stretch of the 2020-2021 varsity boys’ basketball season was utilized to provide a high school with advanced statistical measures to evaluate individual player and team performance. A review and plotting of game-tape from the sample was performed, followed by the calculation of advanced and spatial statistics. The advanced statistics revealed that during the sample individual players and the team were less efficient than their professional counterparts in all areas. The relative inefficiency is attributed to a lack of 3-point shots, the result of 3-point shots when taken, and the prevalence of inefficient shot attempts. The result of 3-point shots when taken being less efficient was expected due to the disparity of individual player skill that exists between high school, collegiate and professional basketball players. Spatial statistics, though hindered by small sample size, revealed clustering of efficient field goal attempts near the basket and low clustering of corner 3-point field goal attempts, another efficient attempt. As a pilot study, the findings of this capstone can be used to illuminate patterns and trends, as well as efficiencies and inefficiencies to improve upon.
