It feels like we're on the brink of a huge leap forward in basketball analytics. The sport has always been a challenge to break-down like baseball, simply because it's so hard to isolate events. The classic tendency is to use counting stats like PPG, RPG, and APG. These parallel the BA, RBI, and R measures in baseball. Not useless, but also not as predictive or co-related with winning as we'd like.
Of course the key is to capture more discrete data. SportVU is obviously the most advanced system in development, but it seems like folks are keeping better track of basic things too (i.e. where were shots taken from & who was guarding who).
I've gotten a good boost in my basketball education here this season. Here are a handful of the references that I've been exposed to...
Sources of Data/Advanced Analytics
Basketball Reference
http://www.basketball-reference.com/
Fast & easy to find accurate main stream data. Streak finder is handy. Advanced metrics are limited but include Win Shares, eFG%, usage, and a Points/Possession ratings.
Hollinger NBA Player Statistics
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics
PER is among the more popular all-in-one metrics. Hollinger invented the formula and fiddled with it until it looked reasonable. Tends to reflect what an average fan would think of a player.
NBA Stats
http://stats.nba.com/
Remarkably good for a league tool. They provide a robust front-end into their data set. It can be tricky to find all of the great features, but it's worth the digging.
NBA Stats - SportVU
http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking.html
Want a peak into that mountain of data? Here it is.
82 Games (Credit: javaisfun)
http://www.82games.com/
Helpful for individual player research. Nice to see performance by position played and rotation mix. They've developed an all-in-one metric called "simple rating", but they've indicated that they have something better on the way.
God is My Judge (Credit: bowiac)
http://godismyjudgeok.com/DStats/
Advance +/- ratings that seem to address many of the weaknesses of other methods. This amateur will probably be working for an NBA team shortly.
PopcornMachine
http://popcornmachine.net/
Gameflows. Takes a little while to learn how to read these, but they compliment box scores very nicely. Very helpful if you're trying to understand player rotations and matchups.
Discussion/Articles
APBRmetrics (Credit: ishmael)
http://apbr.org/metrics/viewforum.php?f=2
An entire forum dedicated to basketball analytics. Careful, it's easy to get sucked in. High quality stuff.
I'd love to add to this collection. Please continue to share.
Of course the key is to capture more discrete data. SportVU is obviously the most advanced system in development, but it seems like folks are keeping better track of basic things too (i.e. where were shots taken from & who was guarding who).
I've gotten a good boost in my basketball education here this season. Here are a handful of the references that I've been exposed to...
Sources of Data/Advanced Analytics
Basketball Reference
http://www.basketball-reference.com/
Fast & easy to find accurate main stream data. Streak finder is handy. Advanced metrics are limited but include Win Shares, eFG%, usage, and a Points/Possession ratings.
Hollinger NBA Player Statistics
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics
PER is among the more popular all-in-one metrics. Hollinger invented the formula and fiddled with it until it looked reasonable. Tends to reflect what an average fan would think of a player.
NBA Stats
http://stats.nba.com/
Remarkably good for a league tool. They provide a robust front-end into their data set. It can be tricky to find all of the great features, but it's worth the digging.
NBA Stats - SportVU
http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking.html
Want a peak into that mountain of data? Here it is.
82 Games (Credit: javaisfun)
http://www.82games.com/
Helpful for individual player research. Nice to see performance by position played and rotation mix. They've developed an all-in-one metric called "simple rating", but they've indicated that they have something better on the way.
God is My Judge (Credit: bowiac)
http://godismyjudgeok.com/DStats/
Advance +/- ratings that seem to address many of the weaknesses of other methods. This amateur will probably be working for an NBA team shortly.
PopcornMachine
http://popcornmachine.net/
Gameflows. Takes a little while to learn how to read these, but they compliment box scores very nicely. Very helpful if you're trying to understand player rotations and matchups.
Discussion/Articles
APBRmetrics (Credit: ishmael)
http://apbr.org/metrics/viewforum.php?f=2
An entire forum dedicated to basketball analytics. Careful, it's easy to get sucked in. High quality stuff.
I'd love to add to this collection. Please continue to share.