Sometimes, it helps to look at things in different ways. Whether it's looking a new statistics, browsing through game tape or simply opening your mind to a new perspective, what you're really doing is accepting new data. But there can be so much data, it blurs together and makes it even more difficult to address whatever hypothesis we are working with. Charts help us visualize this data, making it easier to process and use thoughtfully in whatever discussion we may be having, or may be planning to have.
In this case, we took data from SynergySports -- which uses video to log every possession a player or team has used this season, and how those possessions were used -- to take another look, via Radar Charts, at how each player on the Miami HEAT utilizes their time on the offensive side of the court.
But first, a few disclaimers. The sample sizes vary to extreme degrees from player to player, and as such, the scale of each chart is different. So the information for LeBron James, for example, is much more accurate than that of Mike Bibby, who has only used -- by used we mean they ended a possession with a field goal attempt, a turnover, or a free throw -- 57 possessions with the HEAT. To add to that, each player's data is distributed so differently among the different actions, the charts are scaled differently so you can still get a good idea of what each chart looks like. Mario Chalmers' chart, for example, has a maximum value of 50 percent (of possessions used) because he has such a high value in spot-up shooting, while James' chart has a maximum value of 30 percent, due to his data being so spread out.
So don't focus on comparing each player, and don't compare the spacial dimensions of each chart. This is not for scientific use, rather its simply meant to offer a new, easy way to look at the offensive data of the HEAT.