Women's Basketball (and non-gender specific)

01/09/05 Now that I'm in the Show
Things I am learning to help me survive a full NBA season as a statistical consultant.
12/09/04 Gone to the Show
After 17 years of research, 6 years of scouting and coaching, and 8 years on this site, I landed myself a job in the NBA. I've been working with the Seattle Supersonics since before 2004 Training Camp. The science has been incorporated and, along with numerous other factors, it has helped us win this year.
06/01/04 Roboscout and the Four Factors of Basketball Success
Roboscout suggests the strengths and weaknesses that are exploitable in a team. Some teams are good at one area of the game and consistently good -- there is nothing you can do about them. But other teams may be good at one area of the game, but they show weaknesses every so often. That's what this tool picks up. By looking at the Four Factors of basketball success that are highlighted in Basketball on Paper, it really presents a great tool for beating an opponent and building your own team into a more successful one.
03/09/99 Review of Playing in a New League
With the demise of the ABL, there should be a time capsule containing items to remember it by. One item that can go into that time capsule is this book by Sara Gogol.
09/10/98 Misconceptions and Truths of Women's Basketball, Part II
A look at the domination of the Columbus Quest and the Houston Comets. Does this imply that it is easier to dominate a smaller league like the two women's leagues than it is for the Bulls to dominate the NBA?
09/09/98 Misconceptions and Truths of Women's Basketball, Part I
Evaluating talent in the women's pro leagues has not been perfected yet. A lot of evaluations are being made on reputation, not real ability. Here are a couple of examples.
09/18/97 In Defense The Scheme's The Thing
All our methods for evaluating the defensive abilities of basketball players are flawed. Here, I talk about what they do well, what they don't do well, and what they never will account for. I also show what positions are important for defense and how much a coach is responsible for.
08/13/97 Oops, I Thought I Saw Michael Jordan
The WNBA packaged the players they thought were their best. They were wrong and a number of underpublicized players are stealing the league's accolades and maybe stealing off to pay raises.
07/12/97 Those Different Leagues
I have received numerous contributions from people around the world. This is where I spotlight international basketball and look at the possible WNBA players of the future...
07/05/97 The First Diaper Rash
The WNBA has been publicizing everything from its first dive into the crowd to the first player ever introduced. They went a bit too far with this... Also includes a look at the best teams and players so far.
06/22/97 Is it About Basketball or About Women?
My policy on dealing with the WNBA. Includes a look at the surprises and disappointments of the very first WNBA regular season game.
02/26/97 Learning the Game
With so little publicity of the ABL, you probably don't know that the league is headed to the Finals. You probably don't know what teams made it. With so little media coverage, let's try to piece together a little about the Columbus Quest, the Chicago Bulls of the women's league.
01/22/97 Basketball's Glass Ceiling
I've watched women's basketball for six years. Now I'm watching it go pro. It's a great opportunity for women to succeed and an even better opportunity for me to stick my foot in my mouth.
1/20/97 Of Point Spreads and Predictions, Using a Kalman Filter
Predicting games and point spreads is not one of the goals of this journal. However, this simple tool that does just that can also be used to analyze players' overall games and may prove to be one of the best tools available for evaluating individual defense. If that doesn't convince you to read this, I should also mention that this "Kalman Filter" is also used in many engineering disciplines, in finance, in law, and, though they don't talk about it on ER, even in medicine.
11/02/96 The Effect of Bad Referees
Finally I've figured out how to do it. Now I know how to strike back at the refs, to let them know how they can change the odds of winning or losing if they are doing a bad job. I finally figured out what it means for a ref to do a bad job.
05/29/96 So You Think You're A Star? Errors and Misconceptions in Evaluating Exceptional Talent
It is very difficult to tell whether a player is going to be one-in-a-million like Lisa Leslie or just another good player. This article gives some of the statistical reason for this difficulty and some basic guidelines for helping to determine how good a prospect is.
04/30/96 Playoff Home Court Advantage
The playoffs give teams a day of rest between games and extra preparation time to stand up to that brutal home court advantage. That's the traditional logic, at least. This article examines whether there really is an effect of the playoff format upon the home court advantage.
03/25/96 What Strategies Are Risky?
What exactly are risky strategies in basketball and how do they help an underdog or hurt a favorite?
03/17/96 The Fundamentals for Analyzing Basketball
is an overview of the basic methods used in JoBS. Read this if you are a new reader.
02/16/96 The Effect of Controlling Tempo
Theoretical statistics to show how slowing the game helps an underdog's chances. Also, a brief discussion of how the pace of the NBA has changed in the past 20 years.
01/08/96 Basketball Rah-Rah
Scientific reasons why the game is exciting, as though we needed them.
12/01/95 Basketball's Bell Curve
This is a new and important issue about how points aren't the only important factor in evaluating players and teams. Consistency is also important. Contains new applets to show point distributions and how those distributions affect winning percentage.
--/--/90 The Floor Percentage Paradox
. How can one player outdo another in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and assist-to-turnover ratio, but still be less efficient offensively? This article answers this question.