System of the Performance Evaluation Criteria Weighted per Positions in the Basketball Game

Based upon the expertise performed by ten basketball professionals relative importance coefficients with regard to positions in the game were determined for nineteen performance evaluation criteria. High degree of interobservers agreement was obtained concerning all positions (from 0.91 to 0.98). In concordance with the obtained results the particular play positions were explicitly described, as well as similarities and differences between them were determined from the aspect of the single criteria importance. The following criteria had an above average importance for the: Position 1 – level of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, the ball control, passing skills, dribble penetration, outside shots, and transition offence efficiency; Position 2 – level of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offence without the ball, and transition offence efficiency; Position 3 – transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offense without the ball, free throws, and transition offence efficiency; Position 4 – defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, and free throws; Position 5 – defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, drawing fouls and three-point plays, and free throws. The research results could be usefully applied by the basketball practitioners to selecting and following-up players, the teching-learning process directing and improving, the training process programming and the transformational effects controlling

DIFFERENCES IN KINEMATIC PARAMETERS OF ATHLETES OF DIFFERENT RUNNING QUALITY

The aim of the study was to determine the differences among subjects of different sprinting quality in the variables of running dynamics in the 100 m sprint event and in the variables of kinematic indicators (stride frequency, stride length, foot-ground contact duration, airborne phase duration). The research was conducted on a sample of 133 physical education teacher male students, aged 19 to 24 years (age 21.7 ± 1.08 yrs; body height 180.8 ± 6.98 cm; body mass 76.6 ± 7.62 kg), first year students at the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, who regularly attended their athletics classes. Basic descriptive statistical parameters were computed. Cluster analysis was used to determine sprinting-quality-based homogeneous groups of subjects. The qualitative differences among the subjects pertaining to the defined groups were established by canonical discriminant analysis. One significant discriminant function was obtained differentiating the group of students who performed well from all the other groups of students with poorer sprint performance. The best performance group demonstrated running technique characterised by the shortest foot-ground contact time in the phases of starting acceleration and maximum speed running, and a larger stride length in the phase of maximum speed running

Empirical Verification of the Weighted System of Criteria for the Elite Basketball Players Quality Evaluation

This article is a continuation of research aimed at formation of a system of criteria for the expert evaluation of the basketball players’ actual quality. So far, the external standards for assessing players’ performance have been defined and described and the relative importance coefficients of each criterion for the performance evaluation per positions in the game have been established as well. The purpose of this research was to test empirically the latter – the weighted system of criteria for evaluating the actual quality of basketball players proposed by Trnini} and Dizdar (2000). Based on the determined descriptive indicators and the coefficients of importance of criteria, and on the degree of the objectivity level (interobservers’ agreement) of the expert evaluations, it can be concluded that the measuring attributes (objectivity and sensitivity) for most of the criteria are in accordance with their relative importance coefficients for a particular position in the game. Consequently, the structure of the relevant criteria for each play position in the basketball is proposed

Expert Model of Decision-Making System for Efficient Orientation of Basketball Players to Positions and Roles in the Game – Empirical Verification

The purpose of the research was to empirically verify the expert model system designed for more efficient orientation of basketball players to particular positions and/or roles in the game (specialization). Participants were 60 randomly chosen male basketball players (12 players per each position) from the 12 Croatian 1st league teams in season1998/99. Data were gathered from 10 basketball coaches who estimated overall performance (actual quality) of players on defense (7 variables) and on offense (12 variables). Variables were established by Trnini}, Perica and Dizdar1. A measure of body height was added to the aforementioned group of variables. The results obtained suggest that the proposed decision-making system can be used as an auxiliary instrument in orienting players to the positions and roles in the game. It has been established that the players have attained the highest grades of overall performance exactly at their primary playing positions in the game. The largest differences were determined between point guards (position 1) and centers (position 5). The greatest difficulties have occurred in determining optimal position for small forwards (position 3), then for shooting guards (position 2) and, last, for power forwards (position 4), because all these basketball players are the most versatile ones. Therefore, reliability of the system is the lowest when it is applied for selecting and orientating players to these positions. Convenient body height significantly contributes to aptitude of these players to play multiple positions and to assume multiple roles in the game. This research has reinforced the thesis that body height is a variable with the greatest influence on orientation of players to particular positions and roles in the game

System of the Performance Evaluation Criteria Weighted per Positions in the Basketball Game

Based upon the expertise performed by ten basketball professionals relative importance coefficients with regard to positions in the game were determined for nineteen performance evaluation criteria. High degree of interobservers agreement was obtained concerning all positions (from 0.91 to 0.98). In concordance with the obtained results the particular play positions were explicitly described, as well as similarities and differences between them were determined from the aspect of the single criteria importance. The following criteria had an above average importance for the: Position 1 – level of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, the ball control, passing skills, dribble penetration, outside shots, and transition offence efficiency; Position 2 – level of defensive pressure, transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offence without the ball, and transition offence efficiency; Position 3 – transition defense efficiency, outside shots, dribble penetration, offense without the ball, free throws, and transition offence efficiency; Position 4 – defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, and free throws; Position 5 – defensive and offensive rebounding efficiency, inside shots, dribble penetration, efficiency of screening, drawing fouls and three-point plays, and free throws. The research results could be usefully applied by the basketball practitioners to selecting and following-up players, the teching-learning process directing and improving, the training process programming and the transformational effects controlling

The Siča/Lučica late Bronze age hoard

U radu se objavljuje kasnobrončanodobna ostava Siča/Lučica pronađena na Korduna, nedaleko od Karlovca. Veći dio ostave pronađen je na sekundarnome mjestu, kamo je dospio iskopavanjem zemlje. S obzirom na to da je nalaz ostave zabilježen izvan konteksta naselja ili groblja, otvaraju se pitanja o svrsi takva načina deponiranja predmeta te uopće o fenomenu ostava i njihovim mogućim značenjima. Prema količinskome sastavu (287 predmeta) i tipološkim karakteristikama predmeta ostava se može pripisati velikim ostavama mješovitoga sastava iz II. faze ostava sjeverne Hrvatske, odnosno pripada vremenu Br D/Ha A.This work is a publication of the Siča/Lučica hoard found in the Kordun region, close to the city of Karlovac. Most of the hoard was discovered at a secondary site – the result of its movement during excavation of soil. Since the hoard’s discovery was recorded outside of the context of a settlement or cemetery, there is some question as to the purpose for this manner of deposition of items and the phenomenon of hoards in general and their possible significance. Based on the quantity of its contents (287 items) and their typological characteristics, the hoard can be classified among the mixed-content hoards dated to the second phase of the northern Croatian hoards, i.e. the Br D/Ha A

Late Bronze Age Metal Finds in the Požega Valley

Požeška kotlina izdvojena je zemljopisna cjelina u središnjem dijelu sjeverne Hrvatske. Strateški položaj između važnih riječnih tokova Save i Drave davao je tom kraju značaj izuzetno važnog komunikacijskog područja što se očituje u brojnim arheološkim nalazima od prapovijesti do srednjega vijeka. Stoga ni značajni nalazi iz vremena kasnoga brončanog doba ne predstavljaju iznenađenje. Kako se u to vrijeme sve više razvija metalurgija bronce, u Požeškoj su kotlini veoma brojni nalazi metala. Najčešće se pojavljuju kao ostave ili pojedinačni nalazi, a rjeđe su pronađeni u kontekstu naselja ili grobova. Skupina metalnih nalaza kasnoga brončanog doba s prostora Požeštine sastoji se od oružja, oruđa i nakita koji su u jednom trenutku dospjeli pod zemlju pojedinačno ili skupno kao ostave, a mogu se datirati u razdoblje od Ha A do Ha B.The Požega Valley is a distinct geographic unit in the central portion of northern Croatia. Its strategic location between the vital courses of the Sava and Drava rivers accords this region with exceptional importance as a communications zone, which is confirmed by the numerous archaeological finds dating from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Therefore, the important finds dating to the Late Bronze Age are not surprising. Since bronze metallurgy expanded considerably during that era, metal finds are very numerous in the Požega Valley. Most often they appear as hoards or individual finds, while more rarely they are found within the context of settlements or graves. The category of Late Bronze Age metal finds from the Požega Valley consists of weapons, tools and jewelry which at some point were buried either individually or jointly as hoards, and they can be dated to periods from Ha A to Ha B

Pragmatic Validity of the Combined Model of Expert System for Assessment and Analysis of the Actual Quality Overall Structure of Basketball Players

The authors presumed that it was possible to replace certain criteria of the expert system aimed at evaluating actual quality of basketball players, proposed by Trnini} et al.1, with the corresponding indicators of situation-related efficiency (official statistics of the game). Hence, the aim of this study is to verify the potential of establishing such a combined model of expert system that would consist of both the evaluation criteria and certain number of objectively measurable aspects of actual quality (player\u27s partial performance or playing efficiency) and to determine its pragmatic validity. To achieve the aim the sample comprised of 60 basketball players that were competing in the Croatian First Division League in the 1998/99 season was tested. The sample and their quality of play was described by the two different types of data: 1) the 13 situation-related efficiency data (FIBA statistics of the game) utilized to objectively assess performance or playing effectiveness of players, collected at 132 games played by 12 teams, and 2) the evaluation data, subjectively assessing actual quality of players, i.e. their perceived overall performance, collected at the end of the season from the 10 basketball trainers. On the basis of relatively high correlations within the 7 pairs of mutually equivalent variables (from 0.63 to 0.84) and the extremely high correlation (0.97) obtained between the perceived overall performance (actual quality), subjectively assessed with respect to the 19 criteria of the original expert evaluation system, and the overall performance (actual quality) assessed by the combined model (where the 8 evaluation criteria had been replaced by the 7 corresponding indicators of playing efficiency), it is feasible to consider the combined model of expert system as an acceptable tool for more objective and economical assessment of actual quality of basketball players

Differences Between Winning and Defeated Top Quality Basketball Teams in Final Tournaments of European Club Championship

The goal of this research was to identify parameters among the 12 indicators of situation- related efficiency that differentiated between the winning and defeated top quality teams which played in final tournaments of the European club championships from 1992 to 2000. The differences were confirmed by discriminant analysis, although the canonical correlation was here somewhat lower than in the previous similar research studies done on the so-called regular season games. The probable reason for the smaller differences obtained in the present study may be found in almost equal (high) quality of the teams competing in Final Fours. The highest discriminative power was obtained in the variable defensive rebounds, then in the variables field goal percentage and free throw percentage, whereas the variable assist had evidently smaller impact with regard to the referent studies. The obtained results suggested that the winning teams showed more of tactical discipline and responsibility in controlling inside positions for defensive rebounds, as well as in controlling play on offense and the ball until the required open shot chance, which considerably reduced game risks and resulted in a lower number of turnovers and in a higher shooting percentage. Such a type of decision-making in play require a high degree of reciprocal help of players on both defense and offense and a higher level of concentration and self-confidence when shooting field goals and free throws. The common denominator of the winning teams was a lower number of imbalanced states in their play (the organized style of play on defense and offense implied) and a higher level of collective outplaying the opponents with the controlled system of play, which enabled entire potential of the victorious teams to be expressed

Effective dynamics using conditional expectations

The question of coarse-graining is ubiquitous in molecular dynamics. In this article, we are interested in deriving effective properties for the dynamics of a coarse-grained variable $\xi(x)$, where $x$ describes the configuration of the system in a high-dimensional space $\R^n$, and $\xi$ is a smooth function with value in $\R$ (typically a reaction coordinate). It is well known that, given a Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution on $x \in \R^n$, the equilibrium properties on $\xi(x)$ are completely determined by the free energy. On the other hand, the question of the effective dynamics on $\xi(x)$ is much more difficult to address. Starting from an overdamped Langevin equation on $x \in \R^n$, we propose an effective dynamics for $\xi(x) \in \R$ using conditional expectations. Using entropy methods, we give sufficient conditions for the time marginals of the effective dynamics to be close to the original ones. We check numerically on some toy examples that these sufficient conditions yield an effective dynamics which accurately reproduces the residence times in the potential energy wells. We also discuss the accuracy of the effective dynamics in a pathwise sense, and the relevance of the free energy to build a coarse-grained dynamics