title: Using convolutional neural networks to value game positions in professional basketball

authors: Gibb, Jacob

subjects: Statistics

abstract: Many professional sports are currently midway through their own “Data Revolutions”, with advances in analytics being driven by the intense competition for even the most minor advantages, although typically being focused on offensive actions within a game, rather than statistics or metrics pertaining to a player’s defensive abilities.
A significant portion of defensive duties is positioning one’s self to prevent opponent actions from occurring at all, and often defensive actions such as tackles or steals are indicative of defensive mistakes rather than an example of good defending.
In other areas, Deep Learning models have shown an uncanny ability to identify trends and perform tasks typically considered too complex for software, and better left to humans. Various Deep Learning models have been designed and developed to estimate the value of positions in multiple sports, and shown to be very promising.
This thesis attempts to contribute to this by investigating the use of Convolutional Neural Networks to estimate the value of basketball possessions. The model predicts both the terminal actions and the expected value of a possession, and achieves good results relative to the closest published literature in similar tests.
Finally, we show how such a model may be utilised to produce metrics describing a player’s positioning ability as a potential tool for player scouting or coaching.

text: Using convolutional neural networks to value game positions in professional basketball Many professional sports are currently midway through their own “Data Revolutions”, with advances in analytics being driven by the intense competition for even the most minor advantages, although typically being focused on offensive actions within a game, rather than statistics or metrics pertaining to a player’s defensive abilities.
A significant portion of defensive duties is positioning one’s self to prevent opponent actions from occurring at all, and often defensive actions such as tackles or steals are indicative of defensive mistakes rather than an example of good defending.
In other areas, Deep Learning models have shown an uncanny ability to identify trends and perform tasks typically considered too complex for software, and better left to humans. Various Deep Learning models have been designed and developed to estimate the value of positions in multiple sports, and shown to be very promising.
This thesis attempts to contribute to this by investigating the use of Convolutional Neural Networks to estimate the value of basketball possessions. The model predicts both the terminal actions and the expected value of a possession, and achieves good results relative to the closest published literature in similar tests.
Finally, we show how such a model may be utilised to produce metrics describing a player’s positioning ability as a potential tool for player scouting or coaching.

year: 2024

title: Context-awareness in the wild: An investigation into the existing uses of context in everyday life

authors: Pascoe, Jason

subjects: computer science

abstract: It is common for literature on context-awareness to focus on specific application domains or on the development of models and frameworks to facilitate context-awareness. In this study, however, we take a step back from such work in order to investigate how regular people may already be employing, or trying to employ, context-awareness in their everyday lives using existing mobile tools (such as mobile phones, paper notepads, etc.). We believe that an understanding of these existing real-world uses and needs of context-awareness will help to better inform and direct research efforts in this domain. Towards this aim we present the findings of a user study in which twelve randomly selected individuals recorded a diary on their use of mobile tools over the period of two days. The findings clearly demonstrate that people do indeed currently employ a wide variety of contexts and context-aware behaviours, albeit in a manner that is often imperfect and at a sub-conscious level.

text: Context-awareness in the wild: An investigation into the existing uses of context in everyday life It is common for literature on context-awareness to focus on specific application domains or on the development of models and frameworks to facilitate context-awareness. In this study, however, we take a step back from such work in order to investigate how regular people may already be employing, or trying to employ, context-awareness in their everyday lives using existing mobile tools (such as mobile phones, paper notepads, etc.). We believe that an understanding of these existing real-world uses and needs of context-awareness will help to better inform and direct research efforts in this domain. Towards this aim we present the findings of a user study in which twelve randomly selected individuals recorded a diary on their use of mobile tools over the period of two days. The findings clearly demonstrate that people do indeed currently employ a wide variety of contexts and context-aware behaviours, albeit in a manner that is often imperfect and at a sub-conscious level.

year: 2007

title: Can te ao Māori worldviews exist within a western institute’s online teaching and learning environment?

authors: Hudson, Petera Whaiao

subjects: whakawhanaungatanga

abstract: Tertiary institutions in Aotearoa (New Zealand) offer students online teaching and learning papers across a variety of disciplines. The purpose of this research was to examine whether online teaching and learning environments in a tertiary institute provide opportunities to create conditions that promote te ao Māori (a Māori world view) aspirations for Māori scholars. Following a critical review of selected literature on how technologies and its pedagogical implications can realise cultural, educational, political and social aspirations in an online environment (see Chapter 2), the ethical practices according to Kaupapa Māori theory methodology, whakawhanaungatanga and spiral discourse is outlined (see Chapter 3). These practices together with spiral discourse and conversation analysis, were used to analyse the factors that facilitated or hindered optimal conditions that promoted teacher and student aspirations in the online environment (see Chapter 4). That analysis, conducted in relation to a number of focus points, revealed that when Māori practices of tikanga and ako pedagogy were applied in this realm, Māori scholars experienced the fulfilment of personal aspirations. Participants also experienced positive outcomes when whanaungatanga, the creation of interrelationships relationships between Māori students and teachers, whānau, friends, colleagues, was a focus together with good support facilities and services, and quality resources. This research supports the conclusion that online teaching and learning environments in a tertiary institute can provide opportunities to create conditions that promote te ao Māori aspirations for Māori scholars. Further investigations are needed to unravel the types and nature of the interrelationships between ako Māori pedagogies and the student and teacher, and whanaungatanga between students and other students that facilitate conditions that promoted Māori aspirations in an online environment.

text: Can te ao Māori worldviews exist within a western institute’s online teaching and learning environment? Tertiary institutions in Aotearoa (New Zealand) offer students online teaching and learning papers across a variety of disciplines. The purpose of this research was to examine whether online teaching and learning environments in a tertiary institute provide opportunities to create conditions that promote te ao Māori (a Māori world view) aspirations for Māori scholars. Following a critical review of selected literature on how technologies and its pedagogical implications can realise cultural, educational, political and social aspirations in an online environment (see Chapter 2), the ethical practices according to Kaupapa Māori theory methodology, whakawhanaungatanga and spiral discourse is outlined (see Chapter 3). These practices together with spiral discourse and conversation analysis, were used to analyse the factors that facilitated or hindered optimal conditions that promoted teacher and student aspirations in the online environment (see Chapter 4). That analysis, conducted in relation to a number of focus points, revealed that when Māori practices of tikanga and ako pedagogy were applied in this realm, Māori scholars experienced the fulfilment of personal aspirations. Participants also experienced positive outcomes when whanaungatanga, the creation of interrelationships relationships between Māori students and teachers, whānau, friends, colleagues, was a focus together with good support facilities and services, and quality resources. This research supports the conclusion that online teaching and learning environments in a tertiary institute can provide opportunities to create conditions that promote te ao Māori aspirations for Māori scholars. Further investigations are needed to unravel the types and nature of the interrelationships between ako Māori pedagogies and the student and teacher, and whanaungatanga between students and other students that facilitate conditions that promoted Māori aspirations in an online environment.

year: 2020