Steven Treacy, a junior Computer Science major, worked in collaboration with Dr. Reneta Barneva of the Department of Applied Professional Studies on a project for using the language R for basketball results.
R is a modern language for statistical analysis which was introduced to students in Dr. Berneva’s Programming Languages class. The purpose of the research was to determine if there was a relationship between the time period in which basketball players started their careers (former versus new basketball players) and the total points scored at the proportion of shots landed. The figures were then used to quantify player skill.
Based off of the data analyzed, Mr. Treacy identified a trend in which the newer basketball players are performing better than former basketball players. This was seen in the proportion of field goals landed, three pointers landed, tow pointers landed and the total points scored by the players. He also identified a trend in which the average amount of points is increasing every decade since the 1970s.
Treacy’s results were presented at the UP-STAT Conference-Data Science, Statistical Practice, and Education which was hosted by Canisius College.
