Basketball Analytics: Optimizing the Official Basketball Box-Score (Play-by-Play)

What if basketball analytics could formulate an “end-all” value that could justly evaluate team and/or player performance? Those immersed in the world of basketball analytics are challenged with this mission: to translate a game of interdependent factors into simple measures of player and team performance. The Official Basketball BoxScore (Play-by-Play), for example, significantly serves as an invaluable guide in understanding the analysis of the game on a fundamental level. With an unbiased precision, the Official Basketball Box-Score (Play-by-Play) displays descriptive measurements used to inform how well or how poorly a player and/or team have performed. With the usage of advanced statistical software tools, I have extended the Official Box-Score and established a never-ending framework that can measure the offensive and defensive prowess for a basketball team, by lineup (overall and per game). Relative to these measurements of frequency, efficiency, and precision, I will discuss its methodology and display examples of output for the evaluation of player and/or team lineup performance. Though basketball analytics comes with its limitations and imperfections, the pursuit of the advancement of knowledge of the game further incites ongoing analyses and a penchant for better statistics! INTRODUCTION In the game of basketball, analytics are challenged with the mission to translate a game of interdependent factors into simple measures of player and/or team performance. The “four factors” established by Dean Oliver’s Basketball on Paper, have long played a role in the understanding and evaluation of team success: 1. Shooting 2. Turnovers 3. Rebounding 4. Free Throws Simply put: If you’re better at your opponent at making field goals, creating turnovers, grabbing rebounds, and getting to the foul line, then you’re going to win many more games than you will lose. By utilizing the collection of information provided by the Official Basketball Box Score (Play-by-Play) ”PEP-BALL” (Performance Evaluation of Player(s)), developed by CADE Analytics, LLC, is a method powered by BASE SAS® used to evaluate player and/or team performance. By statistically identifying the qualities shared by players and opponents, PEP-BALL looks at various combination of players on the court and shows which combinations work the best-the most effective two-player, three-player and even five-player combinations for each game, and more importantly, each game situation. Official Basketball Box Score (Play-by-Play) The Official Basketball Box-Score (OBBS) serves as an invaluable guide in understanding the analysis of the game on a fundamental level. With an unbiased precision, the composition of the OBBS is two-fold. First, it presents descriptive measurements used to inform how well or how poorly a player and/or team have performed (Figure 1).