Stat 436 shiny project
Dataset 1, traditional: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/szymonjwiak/nba-traditional
Dataset 2, advanced: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/szymonjwiak/nba-advanced-boxscores-1997-2023.
Link to shiny web app: https://sid-valecha.shinyapps.io/project/
Most sports teams already use statistical data to support their game plans going into big games to pinpoint areas of strengths and weaknesses. They also use data analytics to scout their opponents to prepare the team for whatever is about to come their way. The main problem, though, is how this data is visualized for coaches and players. Management, coaches, and players don’t have the time and energy to listen to random statistical methods and numbers but would rather have the information laid out in front of them so they know the bottom line of what they need to do. This is especially important in the NBA where there is an immense amount of data available from each player, for each stat, for each season, and from each team. By focusing on presenting the information in a digestible format, the players and coaches can focus on the task at hand - winning their games. Our focus is on the Milwaukee Bucks, and our goal is to help them develop strategies and pinpoint areas of interest to focus on in the future. Our solution to this data visualization problem is to focus on a select few important statistics to give the team a starting point in their game planning. Our main goals were to:
- Identify which players are overperforming or underperforming on the Bucks
- Identify trends in offensive and defensive performances of opponents
- Highlight areas for improvement
Focusing on these goals will allow our team to both prepare for upcoming games as well as get insight into their own game. Since there are so many statistics in basketball, as well as large rosters, there is a challenge in how to make these visualizations concise and understandable to everyone. With these goals in mind, we narrowed down the areas of focus on our datasets to Offensive/Defensive Rating and Individual player shooting and efficiency statistics. Our job is to simplify complex data so that it is understandable and easy to act on. By doing this, we can help the Bucks improve their game plans and perform better on the court.