In a previous article, I showed how one could use data in combination with advanced probability techniques to determine the optimal shot / court positions for LeBron James. I decided to use this algorithm on the Knicks’ starting 5, and obtained the following joint probability density contour plots: One sees that the Knicks offensive strategy […]
Category: Sports
In this article, I will use Data Science / Machine Learning methodologies to break down the real factors separating the playoff from non-playoff teams. In particular, I used the data from Basketball-Reference.com to associate 44 predictor variables which each team: “FG” “FGA” “FG.” “X3P” “X3PA” “X3P.” “X2P” “X2PA” “X2P.” “FT” “FTA” “FT.” “ORB” “DRB” “TRB” […]
I was thinking about how one can use the NBA’s new SportVU system to figure out optimal positions for players on the court. One of the interesting things about the SportVU system is that it tracks player coordinates on the court. Presumably, it also keeps track of whether or not a player located at makes […]
Everyone by now knows about this paper I wrote a few months ago: http://arxiv.org/abs/1604.05266 Using data science / machine learning methodologies, it basically showed that the most important factors in characterizing a team’s playoff eligibility are the opponent field goal percentage and the opponent points per game. This seems to suggest that defensive factors as […]
As I write this, Cleveland just won the series 4-3. What was behind each team’s wins and losses in this series? First, Golden State: A correlation plot of their per game predictor variables versus the binary win/loss outcome is as follows: The key information is in the last column of this matrix: Evidently, the most […]
As usual, here is the post-game breakdown of Game 2 of the NBA Finals between Cleveland and Golden State. Using my live-tracking app to track the relevant factors (as explained in previous posts) here are the live-captured time series: Computing the correlations between each time series above and the Golden State Warriors point difference, we […]
Here is the collection of time series of relevant predictor variables captured live during Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals between The Oklahoma City Thunder and The Golden State Warriors: Another video animation: https://twitter.com/dr_ikjyotsinghk/status/737694089437716480 Many commentators are making a point to mention how many three point shots The Warriors made, suggesting that that was […]
Continuing with the live metrics employed yesterday, here is an analysis of the second half of the Warriors-Thunder Game 6. Here is a plot of the various time series of relevant statistical variables: One can see from this plot for example, the exact point in time when OKC loses control of the game. Further, here […]
Yesterday for the first time, I took the playoff game between Cleveland and Toronto as an opportunity to test out a script I wrote in R that keeps track of key statistics during a game in real time (well, every 30 seconds). Based on previous work, it is evident that championship-calibre teams are the ones […]
I’ve been ranting a lot about the so-called “value” of the three-point shot in “modern-day” basketball. I know! But, here is yet one more entry. The common consensus is that teams are shooting more three point shots as discussed in the articles below: http://www.businessinsider.com/nba-three-point-shooting-2016-3 http://www.nba.com/2014/news/features/john_schuhmann/11/07/history-of-the-three-point-shot/ http://nyloncalculus.com/2016/03/08/three-pointers-and-skill-displacement/ There are several more where these have come from. […]
Relativity Digest 