basketball teams as strategic networks篮球队作为战略网络.pdfVIP

Basketball Teams as Strategic Networks 1,3 2,3 2 2 1 Jennifer H. Fewell *, Dieter Armbruster , John Ingraham , Alexander Petersen , James S. Waters 1 School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America, 2 School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America, 3 Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America Abstract We asked how team dynamics can be captured in relation to function by considering games in the first round of the NBA 2010 play-offs as networks. Defining players as nodes and ball movements as links, we analyzed the network properties of degree centrality, clustering, entropy and flow centrality across teams and positions, to characterize the game from a network perspective and to determine whether we can assess differences in team offensive strategy by their network properties. The compiled network structure across teams reflected a fundamental attribute of basketball strategy. They primarily showed a centralized ball distribution pattern with the point guard in a leadership role. However, individual play- off teams showed variation in their relative involvement of other players/positions in ball distribution, reflected quantitatively by differences in clustering and degree centrality. We also characterized two potential alternate offensive strategies by associated variation in network structure: (1) whether teams consistently moved the ball towards their shooting specialists, measured as ‘‘uphill/downhill’’ flux, and (2) whether they di