Basketball Analytics – Who Are Your Best Players (Part 2)

Basketball Player On/Off Analytics

Using team stats for when a player is on the floor is a good way to get insight into who deserves more playing time. Our previous article shows how to use Player Impact ON the floor to get a good idea of who your best performers are. But what about the absence of a player […] →Read more

Coaching Stats & Player Impact on Plays and Sets

As a coach, I’m always trying to determine which plays and sets are working, and how to place my players in sets and actions that are best suited for their skills. Many coaches rely on the “eye test”, or assumptions about a player’s ability, but having analytics to back up or challenge your perceptions of […] →Read more

Why You Can’t Always Trust Plus/Minus

Our team is now 15 games into the season, and with that many games played it is a great opportunity to evaluate playing time and lineup combos. As I was noodling around, I discovered some lineup combinations with a great plus/minus, and a mediocre net points-per-possession (Net PPP). Here’s the example: When we substitute, there’s […] →Read more

Visualizing Player Performance

A couple of years ago, I had a fairly talented team, with one player who was a really accurate three-point shooter in practice. Ryan even won a three-point shooting contest at a Christmas tournament. However, her main sport was golf, and I was concerned about her stamina. So over the course of the season, I […] →Read more

St. John’s Men’s Basketball is not a True “3 and Key” Type of Offensive Juggernaut – But They Should Be

Some teams like Alabama are strict “3 and Key” programs, with shots only coming from beyond the arc and in the paint. St’ John’s exhibits some of those tendencies, but not to the extreme. The shot chart above shows where St. John’s shots are coming from through the early part of the season. Through nine […] →Read more

Joel Soriano Putting Up Player of the Year Numbers

St. John’s University Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall, @stjohnsbball) center Joel Soriano (@joelsoriano22) is off to a roaring start to the 2023-24 season, posting a team-high of 17.4 points in 27:23 minutes per game through the first nine games of the year. Soriano is an outstanding +67 for the season, and his Value Points System of 2.60 […] →Read more

Minimizing Fouling in Bonus Situations with Analytics

basketball analytics for fouling frequency

It’s almost always a bad idea to foul in a basketball game, but now with the new foul shooting rules from NFHS for high schools in the USA, it’s even more important to minimize fouling at the end part of quarters. Specifically, teams will shoot two free throws after the fifth foul has been committed […] →Read more

Live Ball Turnovers vs. Dead Ball Turnovers

Live vs Dead ball turnovers - NBA

As much as we basketball coaches hate giving up turnovers, and love forcing them, not all turnovers are created equal. Dead ball turnovers (like throwing the ball out-of-bounds) result in an inbounds play, while live ball turnovers (like a steal) keep action going. Defensively, a live ball turnover is more likely to end in a […] →Read more

Stats for ABA Basketball (and other unique leagues)

ABA Stats

Basketball rules can vary from league to league, and some innovative leagues like the ABA have introduced new scoring incentives to increase the entertainment value of each game. In the ABA, when there is a turnover in the backcourt, and the opposing team scores, an extra bonus point is awarded to the scoring team. This […] →Read more

Why I Was Late to the Analytics Game

As a high school and college player in the 80’s, ESPN had just been invented. Basketball film study was limited and done with VHS tape and incredible amounts of snail mail from coach to coach. Player visibility and much of recruiting was largely limited to in-person visits. Not only that, in the late 70’s, the […] →Read more