Factors associated with basketball field goals made in the 2014 NBA finals

Abstract

-Aims:The main objective of this study was to analyze the factors that preceded field goals made in the 2014 NBA finals considering the number of passes per offense, shooting conditions, and offense type variables. Methods: We assessed field goals attempted by 27 professional players that participated in the 2014 NBA finals. Data were collected by three researchers through an adapted version of the Technical-Tactical Performance Evaluation Tool in Basketball to systematically analyze all five games of those finals. Descriptive analysis consisted in absolute and relative frequency and inferential statistics were applied through Chi-Square test, Cohen's D for effect size, and binary logistic regression test. Significance levels were set at 5% and all statistics were applied through SPSS 23.0. Results: Shooting efficacy was not associated with the number of passes made per offense. Regression statistics showed that shooting efficacy was highly associated with shooting condition rather than the offense type performed. However, fast breaks seem to lead to better shooting conditions (passively guarded and wide open) when compared to set and regained offenses. Conclusion: Evidence pointed to the importance of shooting condition as a determining factor in increasing the probability of field goals made throughout the games analyzed.

Regional Differences in Women’s Basketball: A Comparison among Continental Championships

“…Since the methodology is purely quantitative in nature, qualitative elements of the game, such as types of offense [33,34] and defense [35,36], remain unrevealed. Future studies on qualitative elements of the game would compensate for this limitation and provide further understanding of regional differences in women’s basketball.…”

Are regional differences in basketball already established in under-18 games?

“…This study is not without limitations. Since all the data were obtained from box scores, specific elements of the game such as types of offense 32,33 , screens 34,35 and timeouts 36,37 were not analyzed in this study. In addition, future studies should also be conducted on women's games.…”

Basketball Game-Related Statistics that Discriminate among Continental Championships for Under-18 Women

“…These performance profiles have similarly been observed in African championships for men [3], women [4], and junior men [5]. Field goals are determined not only by players’ shooting skills but also by defensive pressure [29,30]. On the other hand, although psychological factors on free throws [20] cannot be ignored, shooting skills would be a major determinant of free throws, because players can shoot free throws without defensive pressure.…”

“…This study used the same method as in previous studies on continental championships for men [3], women [4], and U18 men [5]. Therefore, this study inevitably has the same limitations as the previous studies: we could not analyze detailed elements of the game, such as offensive [29,31] and defensive [32,33] strategies, shot types [34,35], and scoring dynamics [11,36], because the data were obtained only from box scores. However, using the same method has the advantage that we could easily compare the results among age and sex categories.…”