Game Theory Behind the Defensive and Offensive Strategies in Basketball
Basketball is one of the most followed and celebrated sports in the world. Its competitiveness derives from individual players’ skill levels and high intensity. All 5 players need to work together as a team to out-skill or out-strategy the opposing 5 players to score the most points and thus win the game. Since the game of basketball involves a winner and a loser, it is considered a zero-sum game. In other words, “one team’s victory means the other team’s failure” (Ruminski). Throughout the course of the game, there are many decisions that players and coaches make that hopefully will benefit their team. These decisions from the players include whether to take a three-pointer or drive to the basket, whether to contest a shot or back off, or decide whether to pass the ball firmly or lob it. Coaches mainly decide what type of offensive to be deployed on specific defenses, and vice versa. These decisions can be easily analyzed using game theory.
The article discussed the aggregate data of teams in the NBA that utilize man-to-man defense or a zone defense, where each player is designated to cover a specific area on their home side of the court. This decision making process of choosing which defense to play, is dependent on what strategy the opposing team is using for their offense. Therefore, this decision making process can be analyzed using the concept of Nash Equilibrium with a 2 x 2 payoff matrix. It is important to note that the defensive strategy is dependent on the other team’s offensive strategy. For sake of the 2 x 2 payoff matrix, Team Offense has 2 decisions, either aggressive or passive, and Team Defense has 2 decisions, either man-to-man or zone. Given that there is a correct decision of the defense given the offensive strategy the individual payoff is the result of the offensive and defensive strategies.