Investigating the performance indicators differentiating winning and losing in basketball through the social network analysis

Kheirkhiz, Mohammad Mehdi; Abdoli, Behrouz; Laporta, Lorenzo; Farsi, Alireza

doi:10.22089/mbj.2023.14645.2096

Investigating the performance indicators differentiating winning and losing in basketball through the social network analysis

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Cognitive and Behavioral science and Technology in sport, Shahid Beheshti University

² 1. Department of Cognitive and Behavioral science and Technology in sport, Shahid Beheshti University

³ Centro de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Santa Maria, Brazil).

⁴ Department of Cognitive and Behavioral science and Technology in sport, Shahid Beheshti University,

https://doi.org/10.22089/mbj.2023.14645.2096

Abstract

The communication between teammates in team sports has characteristics that can be investigated with social network analysis (SNA). The aim of the present study was to investigate performance indicators that distinguish win and lose through social network analysis at two levels: micro (degree of centrality, closeness, betweenness, eigenvector) and macro (team density). Twenty-four official Chemidoor Club competitions competing in the 2020 men's Iranian Basketball Premier League were selected by available sampling. The team consisted of 12 players (age 24 + - 5 years) identified based on their shirt numbers. The results obtained in the weeks leading to winning or losing showed a significant difference between the degree of centrality indices ((5, 66) = 12.95, P = 0.000) and the Eigenvector (P = 0.025, 77 2= (5, 66) (F showed (p<0.05). In the analysis of the density of successful and unsuccessful networks, no significant difference was observed between different team networks (p>0.05). Also, regarding the distinctive role of successful and unsuccessful performance and its effect on the overall team network, the results show a significant difference only in the degree of centrality (F = 197.13, P = 0.000). Our results showed that in basketball, the degree of centrality contributes to the success of team performance because players pass the ball to the team's best player, and then that player decides which player to direct the ball to in the best way.

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