Exercise intensity and the ratio of 2-point to 3-point shots influence scoring streaks
Recent research published by HRI affiliated researcher, Miss Jodie Palmer, has found that maintaining high levels of exercise intensity in professional and semi-professional basketball matches assists in reducing the chance that an opposing team will engage in a scoring streak (when a team scores three times in a row). To maximise the probability of a scoring streak themselves, the findings suggest that a team should aim to shoot more 2-point shots, at a 3:1 2-point to 3-point ratio.
Partnership with the Bendigo Basketball Association
This research formed part of Miss Palmer’s PhD which was supervised by HRI Director Professor Michael Kingsley and HRI Stream Leads Dr Rodrigo Bini and Dr Daniel Wundersitz. The research was made possible due to the collaborative partnership between the Bendigo Basketball Association and La Trobe University, whereby Miss Palmer was embedded within the Bendigo Braves and Bendigo Spirit teams as the High Performance Manager throughout her studies. This enabled Miss Palmer to both offer High Performance services to the Bendigo Braves and Bendigo Spirit teams and collect the data required to fulfil the requirements of her degree.
Using novel methods to identify activity intensity
Miss Palmers research was unique in that it utilised a novel method of identifying activity intensity during basketball game-play. The method known as accelerometry-derived net force or AvFNet was previously validated by Dr Craig Staunton, a former PhD Candidate for the HRI. Additionally, although previous research has investigated individual-based scoring streaks or so called ‘hot hand’, Miss Palmers research was the first to determine the technical and physical activity factors that contribute to team-based scoring streaks in semi-professional and professional basketball.
You can access the full article here. If you find Miss Palmers research particularly interesting, be sure to subscribe to the HRI newsletter to receive the new 8-part blog series celebrating the success of our past HRI graduates, including Miss Palmer.
