RLOEB PPT — SportVU

Reading Between the Lines: How SportVU Cameras are Revolutionizing the NBA

By Robbie Loeb

What is SportVU?

SportVU is a player tracking system developed by

the sports analytics company STATS LLC that uses mounted cameras equipped with Israeli missile-tracking technology to record and track the position of everything on the field or court – the players, the ball, even the referees. The data is then compiled in a variety of ways, delivering reports on speed, distance, spacing and possession, as well as how those change with regard to lineups, opponents, time, or just about anything else a team may want to measure.

Cameras

• 6 cameras located along catwalk

• 3 cameras per half

• Complex algorithms record X/Y/Z position data of players, ball, referees in real time

• Data collected 25x per second

Data Concepts

Player Team Ball

Speed/Distance- Avg, max, instant speed- Total, possession distance

Speed/Distance- Avg, max, instant speed- Total, possession distance- True pace of play

Speed/Distance- Avg, max, instant speed- Shots, passes, block

Shooting- FG% by location- Distance on shots- Location tendencies- TOP – shot vs. pass- Shot logs- Catch and shoot

Shooting- FG% by location- Distance on shots- Location tendencies- TOP – shot vs. pass- Shot logs- Catch and shoot

Shooting- Player arc comparison on makes vs. misses- Goaltending accuracy

Passing- % of passes led to assists- Total, avg # of passes- FG% based on passer- Pass distance

Passing- % of passes led to assists- Total, avg # of passes- FG% based on passer- Pass distance

Movement- Automated pass, dribble, shot counter- Connect # of passes, dribbles with play results- FG% on shots off dribble

Data Concepts (cont’d)

Player Team Ball

Defense- FG% based on defenderdistance/location- Exact defensive spacing- Response to exact player tendencies

Defense- Tendencies/exact position and results- Exact defensive spacing- Closest defender

Defense- TOP breakdown by play and total game- Connect TOP to results

Rebounding- Contested rebounds- Rebound vicinity- Rebound %

Rebounding- Contested rebounds- Rebound vicinity- Rebound %

Touch Type- Elbow- Wing- Paint- Post- Drives

Touch Type- Elbow- Wing- Paint- Post- Drives

Highlighted Content: Ball and Player Information

• Using XYZ coordinate information, the tracking software automatically calculates player touches, dribbles and passing data.

• The SportVU tracking data is combined with traditional game statistics to provide a full view of the game as well as many creative evaluative metrics.

Highlighted Content: Player Movement

• SportVU tracks player and ball movement on both offense and defense, recording each player’s speed (avg, current, top) and distance traveled.

• Analysis of this data allows hustle, energy fatigue and pace to be quantified.

Highlighted Content: Possession

• Possession information includes individual touches, time of possession, passes made/received, dribbles, location tendencies and defensive coverage.

• Analyzing a player’s possession data allows for coaches to better understand a player’s efficiency and impact on a game.

Highlighted Content: Touch Location

• SportVU tracks whether a player’s first touch is at the elbow, on the wing, in the paint or on a drive.

• Analysis of how players operate at different spots on the court allows coaches to see at which spots players are most efficient.

League Leaders:Speed and Distance

PlayerDistance Traveled

(total miles)Average speed

(mph)Distance Traveled

per Game

1. Nicolas Batum 216.04 4.40 2.6

2. Monta Ellis 208.33 4.10 2.5

3. Damian Lillard 207.49 4.20 2.5

4. Paul George 203.89 4.20 2.5

5. Kevin Durant 202.62 3.90 2.5

Speed and Distance measures average speed and distance traveled for all movements (sprinting, jogging, standing, walking) by a player on the court.

League Leaders:Touches/Possession

PlayerTouches per

GamePoints per Touch Total Touches

1. John Wall 95.0 0.20 7696

2. Kemba Walker 100.3 0.18 7219

3. Kyle Lowry 90.0 0.20 7022

4. Ricky Rubio 85.1 0.11 6979

5. Damian Lillard 84.0 0.25 6888

Touches/Possession measures how many times a player touches or possesses the ball during a game.

League Leaders:Passing

PlayerPasses per

GamePoints by Assist

per GameTotal Assists

1. John Wall 70.1 21.3 717

2. Ricky Rubio 69.4 20.2 703

3. Chris Paul 71.5 24.5 663

4. Stephen Curry 53.0 19.2 656

5. Brandon Jennings 59.9 17.0 609

Passing measures the total number of passes made by a player, as well as the outcome of that pass (basket, free throw, assist, etc.)

League Leaders:Defensive Impact

Player Opp FG% at RimOpp FGM at Rim

per GameTotal Blocks

1. Serge Ibaka 43.9% 4.2 219

2. DeAndre Jordan 49.4% 5.1 203

3. Anthony Davis 48.9% 3.2 189

4. Roy Hibbert 41.4% 4.1 182

5. Tim Duncan 47.6% 4.4 139

Defensive Impact measures defensive statistics based on the defender’s proximity to the basket and the shooter (within 5 feet of both).

League Leaders:Rebounding Opportunities

PlayerREB Chances

per Game% of Available REB Grabbed

Total REB

1. DeAndre Jordan 19.0 71.6% 1114

2. Andre Drummond 18.8 70.3% 1071

3. Kevin Love 18.9 66.1% 963

4. Joakim Noah 18.0 62.5% 900

5. Dwight Howard 17.8 68.5% 866

Rebounding Opportunities measure how many rebounds a player collects given the number of opportunities within 3.5 feet.

League Leaders:Drives

Player PPG on DrivesTeam PPG on

DrivesTotal Player PTS

on Drives

1. Monta Ellis 7.3 12.5 596

2. Kevin Durant 6.2 8.4 504

3. Tyreke Evans 6.7 11.8 480

4. LeBron James 6.0 9.4 463

5. Damian Lillard 5.6 8.6 461

Drives measure how many times a player touches the ball at least 20 feet from the hoop and dribbles to within 10 feet (excluding fast breaks).

League Leaders:Catch and Shoot

PlayerCatch and Shoot

PPGCatch and Shoot 3FGM per Game

Total Catch and Shoot PTS

1. Klay Thompson 9.1 2.4 728

2. Dirk Nowitzki 8.5 1.5 680

3. Kyle Korver 8.4 2.4 591

4. Channing Frye 6.9 1.9 562

5. Wes Matthews 6.8 2.1 554

Catch and Shoot relates to all jump shots outside 10 feet in which the shooter does not dribble and holds the ball for two seconds or less.

League Leaders:Pull-up Shots

PlayerPull-up Shots

per GamePull-up 3FGM

per GameTotal Pull-up PTS

1. Stephen Curry 11.0 2.0 848

2. Kevin Durant 8.1 1.1 658

3. Carmelo Anthony 7.4 0.6 570

4. Kyrie Irving 7.9 1.0 558

5. John Wall 6.6 0.5 534

Pull-up shots relate to jumpshots outside 10 feet in which the shooter takes one or more dribbles prior to shooting.

Practical Uses of SportVU Data in Basketball

• Player and team evaluation

• Opponent scouting

• Player development

• Evaluating draft candidates

• Contract negotiations

• Referee evaluation

• Broadcast enhancement presentation/analysis

• Web & mobile gamecasts

• Brand and sponsorship activation

Research & Development

• SportVU is already featured in many soccer stadiums worldwide and all 29 NBA arenas, as well as a few NCAA arenas (Duke, Louisville and Marquette).

• There are plans to expand to include the NHL, NFL and cricket, with in-game tests already underway.

Works Cited

Ecker, Danny. "How New Sports Stats Produce Better Financials." STATS. STATS LLC, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.stats.com/pdfs/SportVU_CrainsChicagoBusiness.pdf>.

• This article lent insight into how the SportVU statistics can be compiled and branded for additional revenue, as well as all the revenue-generating

capability of the new technology.

Ellington, Trey, and Eric Jenvey. "SportVU: The Revolution of Analytics in Basketball." CapTech Consulting. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.captechconsulting.com/blog/trey-ellington/sportvu-the-revolution-analytics-basketball>.

• This article talked about some of the ways SportVU will impact coaches, players, fans and referees.

Grantland. "How SportVU Cameras Are Changing The NBA | Zach Lowe and Brian Kopp." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugQ5MQX0HU>.

• This interview between Grantland.com writer Zach Lowe and STATS LLC vice president Brian Kopp provided me with excellent background

information on SportVU and all its statistical capabilities, as well as some major things to highlight from the technology.

McCann, Zach. "Player Tracking Transforming NBA Analytics." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 18 May 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

<http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/492/492>.

• This article gave me a lot of the basis of my paper, talking about first what SportVU is and what it does, more more importantly it discusses the

things it will do in the future and how that will change the way the league operates.

Annotated Bibliography (cont’d)

"Player Tracking." NBA Stats – Player Tracking. NBA.com, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking.html>.

• This source provided me with the league leaders for some advanced stats based on SportVU data. Additionally, I used some images from this

source in my presentation.

"Rebounding Report." NBA: Inside the Numbers. STATS LLC, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

<http://www.stats.com/pdfs/NBA_InsidetheNumbers_ReboundingAnalysis.pdf>.

• This report helped me to see and understand the kinds of reports and analysis that can be done based on the SportVU data.

STATS LLC. "SportVU NBA." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOQEl_tkEwE>.

• This video is an example of how a basketball game is tracked using SportVU. I used it in my presentation to aid in the explanation of what

SportVU is and does.

STATS. STATS LLC, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.stats.com/sportvu/sportvu.asp>.

• This source provided me with most of my information on the types of data and the capabilities of the technology of the SportVU system.

Witz, Billy. "College Basketball Data Aplenty for Those Who Can Afford It." The New York Times. The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Apr.

2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/sports/ncaabasketball/sportvu-offers-college-basketball-data-for-those-who-can-afford-

it.html?_r=0>.

• This article talked about how SportVU has and will continue to impact NCAA basketball. It discusses how only the teams (or conferences) with

large enough operating budgets will be able to afford to install the technology.