SportVU software tracks player movement and delivers results.
With the new NBA season under-way, there have been various talking points ranging from genuine contenders who can dethrone the Miami Heat, to the highly-anticipated return of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose.
However, the new year also marked the introduction of the NBA’s Player Tracking system, which has opened up an entirely new world of statistics that will offer in-depth analysis of the league’s elite players.
Over the summer, the NBA installed STATS LLC’s revolutionary new SportVU cameras in all arenas, which track player movement and deliver data which provides an insight into a plethora of new areas.
Amongst which are how fast a player moves, how many touches of the ball he had, how many passes he made and how many rebounding chances he had.
The NBA have allowed this to be openly viewed on their statistical website as well as other media outlets, although it is expected that the real results will begin to appear the deeper we are in the season.
Nevertheless, as discussed by experts and former coaches, it offers a new insight into the game for fans who are able to view information that delves beyond the usual statistic-lines in each game.
In addition, it will likely resolve debates over the quickest players in the league, how the veterans cope in terms of distance and which point guards and centers have the biggest impact in terms of efficiency on the court.
After around four games played of the new season for each team, the results are beginning to be formulated and patterns are starting to emerge.
Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul is widely regarded as the best point guard in the NBA, and initial statistics show that not only does he get the most touches per game than any other player in the league, he also makes the most passes.
However, the depth of the information then shows that for each touch of the ball he has, the Clippers score 0.25 points. In addition, for every assist he has made his team has scored 30.3 points per game.
While Chandler Parsons currently leads the way in distance travelled and average speed, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert has had the biggest defensive impact while Dwight Howard is the most efficient player on rebounds, although that is where the results are slightly skewed as D12 pulled in 26 rebounds against a less dominate Charlotte Bobcats team.
The wealth of knowledge will undoubtedly prove to be fundamental moving forward, and arguably the best part of it is that the NBA are sharing it with all of us.
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