Quick study break...
The tables in this article, found in True Hoop, have me thinking about efficiency in sports. In professional sports, it's very common that big name players receive more accolades than they deserve while the guys who get the little things done don't get much shine. These errors and omissions, however, are often exposed when people look at the details surrounding how efficient a player is.
I generally think of efficiency as synonymous with reliability; how many times do you screw up per chance that you have? That's a pessimistic way to view it, but really, an efficient player isn't the one who makes big plays, but rather is the one who is dependable.
Here's a quick list of what I think would be really interesting individual stats to see in ultimate. Bear in mind, they're offensively-focused.
- turnovers per team possession (this could also be stated as completed pas per posession)
- turnovers per individual possession
- scores thrown per team possession
- scores thrown per individual posession
- Ds achieved per other players' turnovers
- Ds achieved per individual's turnovers
Back to work.
Disclaimer: I am not a Red Sox fan.
4 comments:
See and this is where you get into quarter back efficency stats which take into account touches and such, but anyhow when I was first starting off at washington we had a guy who drew up a palm pilot program that would allow you to track stats with the touch of the stylus. I've got a friend now on my coed team who is going to write an easy app for the iPod Touch that will allow us to select from a roster of players who is playing that point and then individual stats during the point itself. I've done analysis on previous team stats and the high efficient handlers on your team in a single tournament weekend will touch the discuss in excess of 170 times and complete 95% of those touches. This leads into a huge shift of thought that we practice as a team just getting 10-20 completions in a drill but have you ever challenged your team to ocmplete 100 throws in a row? We used to on MoHo and I did it with the YCC boys when I coached. Even with no defense the pressure to continue to run hard causes your team to tire and it's really hard to accomplish.
PS - I have a jersey set if you want it.
We kept pretty detailed stats on Dartmouth a few years ago, but that practice has waned in recent years.
It's definitely useful to have some reference, but there are a couple pitfalls with stats, namely the temptation to "play to the stats" (i.e., trying to minimize risk in your throws to avoid turnovers--if a player makes the big throws for your team and suddenly stops for stats' sake, where does that leave your offense?), and similarly the fact that the stats don't tell the whole story, esp. with the limited amount of info we can chart as the game is happening (things like average throw distance, throws or catches made under pressure, and point-changing throws that are NOT the big huck (ie, a quick break), as well as solid defense that doesn't lead to D's or good team defense that sets up one person for a D when everybody contributed).
They're still a useful metric. But I'd recommend keeping the view of them limited to the team leadership, and to take everything with a grain of salt and use your better judgment as well as the stats.
I've definitely always gotten the sense that stats can be limiting if they're seen as an end all, be all, and your point about a big thrower changing his game in order to "play to the stats" is definitely a good one. Plainly put, I think that players who tend to produce a lot of offense have some license to play a little bit more loosely, provided that their overall play is still helping the offense succeed.
In general, I think that stats can help individuals more because of the concepts they illustrate rather than the actual numbers. For me, just remembering that my performance is better when I touch the disc a lot but turn it rarely (duhhhh) is something that helps me make an efficient contribution.
For sure.
Another thing to keep in mind with stats is who you're playing against. I can rack up lots of touches and few turns against local state's B-team, but if you count those the same as the role player who gets fewer touches and throws a turn but plays a more crucial role vs. regional rival, you're going to be misled. (I know this argument came up on the team more than once (good-naturedly) when team stats would show certain players to be more valuable or more consistent than others).
Anyway. Yeah. Used wisely and in conjunction, stats are a useful tool.
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