3 on 3 Case Study

Background:

I watched 4 of my 7th grade team’s games and recorded stats for them. I focused on touches (handling the basketball-could be catching a pass, deflection, block, dribbling, etc.) and shots.

5 on 5 Example

Over 4 games of 5 on 5 basketball, I focused on the starting 5 and timed each player’s playing time for 20 minutes (I did this because not all kids were getting 20 minutes worth of playing time). I stopped the player’s play time clock when a particular player came out and started his play time clock back up when he came back in. Over the 4 games, each starting player averaged 4.34 shots in 20 minutes of game play and 18.81 touches per player over 20 minutes of game play.

3 on 3 Example

I then used my same players from my 7th grade team to try out the rules and get statistics for the 3DL 3 on 3 league. I calculated stats for 8 players (each team had 4 total players on their team) and the players rotated equally throughout the game. I timed each player’s playing time for 20 minutes and took shot and touch statistics during their 20 minutes. Over two 3 on 3 games, each player averaged 14.81 shots per player and 49.88 touches per player over 20 minutes of game play.

Raw Data:

5 on 5 (20 minutes of playing time)

Game 1: 5.6 shots/player, 24.6 touches/player

Game 2: 3.55 shots/player, 17.8 touches/player

Game 3: 4.8 shots/player, 19.2 touches/player

Game 4: 3.42 shots/player, 13.68 touches/player

Totals: 4.34 shots/player, 18.81 touches/player

3 on 3

Game 1: 14.75 shots/player, 51 touches/player

Game 2: 14.88 shots/player, 48.75 touches/player

Totals: 14.81 shots/player, 49.88 touches per player

Findings:

Playing 3 on 3 vs 5 on 5 for the same time frame (20 minutes) resulted in the same players averaging 14.81 shots (3 on 3) per 20 minutes compared to 4.34 shots (5 on 5) per 20 minutes and 49.88 touches (3 on 3) per 20 minutes compared to 18.81 touches (5 on 5) per 20 minutes.

Average Increase:

3DL League (3 on 3) showed a *241.24% increase in shots for players compared to 5 on 5.

3DL League (3 on 3) showed a **165.18% increase in touches for players compared to 5 on 5.

*Formula for shots average increase: (Final - Start) / Final x 100 is the formula used for percentage increase so (14.81 - 4.34) / 14.81 x 100 = 2.41244 or 241.24%

**Formula for touches average increase: (Final - Start) / Final x 100 is the formula used of percentage increase so (49.88 - 18.81) / 49.88 x 100 = 1.65178 or 165.18%