A grade 10 student asked me about the NBA and statistics. Thanks to the student's Personal Project Supervisor and PP Coordinator for this chance to connect with a fan of the NBA from one of our students.
Yes, I am an NBA fan. I miss the Spurs not playing in this year’s playoffs and the Splash Brothers’ entertaining game. As a fan I look at statistics as science and story.
As a science, a player’s statistic is one way to determine his or her progress and potential, areas for growth, aspects that need improvement on like shooting ranges in areas that are too difficult to make one in the first place. Apart from what you said, the coaching staff can use a team’s statistic to identify more plays that will work for them and mix-match combination of players. Steve Kerr is very good at this. This way, a coach is also able to predict winning or losing a game.
These are things we know as fans from watching and following the NBA games. We can look at sports science particularly on basketball, the NBA and how coaches approach the game so that they win games. Credible game analysts can also be referred too.
The science of the stats is interesting but the story of the stat and how athletes, coaches and fans respond to it is fascinating. The Warriors are a third quarter team as the stats show. They pull in points and plays at the third quarter. Why is that? Is this good for a championship team? This is where we see athletes and coaches going beyond what they can do, defying physical and mental limits and succeeding or failing in the end. As fans, we are in this journey with them.
Klay Thompson’s Game 6 performances in the past 3 championships are filled with mind blowing stats! How can he score 20 or more points in one quarter and pull the team from the pit of loss? That is heroic and the stats prove it. It makes for a good storytelling at dinner time when we miss watching the Warriors in this season’s playoff. Now, Klay Thompson is recovering from an injury. Will he be the same player we know him to be? We will have to watch and his stats will show the science and the story.
This is how I view stats. Predicting who will win or lose is the end to itself. But sports engages us because there is a far more interesting science in the game and an amazing story of individual athletes and the collective effort of a team.
So, as for your question on what platform to use, Google has accessible tools. Spread sheet, yes. Present the highlights and cumulative data in a Google Site. You can also visualize the data using visualisation tools. For this, research on which tool is the most accessible and easy to learn. From one NBA fan to another, I hope you will be able to see the beauty of the science in basketball by looking at stats and be inspired by the marvelous feats of such athletes. Derive inspiration from their stories in victory and in loss. What awaits you is an insight, a universal truth or a significant discovery about the human spirit and humanity’s capability to survive and thrive in adversity.
Let me know if you need specific resources. Good luck on your PP!
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