Defensive Rebounds Discriminate Winners from Losers in European but not in Asian Women’s Basketball Championships

Abstract

Background: Asian national teams have not performed well compared to American and European teams at international competitions in basketball, possibly due in part to anthropometric disadvantages such as shorter height and wingspan. However, although anthropometric disadvantages exist in women as well as in men, Asian women have shown better performances in international competitions than Asian men. Therefore, Asian women might have developed unique strategy and tactics which would be reflected in game-related statistics. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether game-related statistics which discriminate winners from losers in women’s basketball differ between Asian and European competitions. Methods: A total of 108 games from the 2011, 2013 and 2015 FIBA Asia Women’s Championships were analyzed for Asian competitions, and a total of 178 games from the 2011, 2013 and 2015 FIBA EuroBasket Women were analyzed for European competitions. All games were classified into three types (balanced, unbalanced and very unbalanced) according to point differential by a k-means cluster analysis. A discriminant analysis was performed to identify game-related statistics which discriminate winners from losers in each game type. An absolute value of a structural coefficient (SC) equal to or above 0.30 was considered relevant for the discrimination. Results: Successful 2-point field goals discriminated winners from losers independent of the region or game type. Assists discriminated winners from losers except balanced games in Europe. Defensive rebounds discriminated winners from losers only in Europe. Conclusions: The most notable difference between Asian and European women’s basketball was that defensive rebounds discriminated winners from losers in European but not in Asian competitions. It was suggested that losers in Asian games tended to lose ball possession before attempting field goals, and thus reducing opportunities for winners to get defensive rebounds.