# The Performance Evolution of Match Play Styles in the Spanish Professional Basketball League
## 1 Introduction  
Statistical modelling in team sports has been an important analytical tool to predict match outcome and the evolution of team's performance [1; 2; 3; 4]. In particular, examination of match-related performance indicators in basketball has enabled modelling to identify winning and losing teams [5], best and worst teams [6], the influence of contextual-related variables [7], the effect of consecutive games [8] or the impact of rule changes [9; 10; 11] on team's performances. Typically, these analyses have been conducted over a season [5; 7], however, analysing team performances over many seasons may identify the evolution and impact of changes on a team's style of play [11]. Specifically, the analysis of an entirecompetition and its most successful teams may reveal the key indicators to winning, including team adaptations for success [6]. Several studies have identified 2-point field goals made and/or defensive rebounds and/or assists as the most prominent team indicators that result in winning basketball matches [5; 12; 13; 14]. However, the style of basketball match play has likely evolved due to changes in rules (i.e., an increase in the 3-point line distance), match pace (i.e., greater number of ball possessions per match), and team focus on particular match indicators such as turnovers, 3-point field goals attempted or fouls [10; 11; 15]. A greater understanding of how basketball performances have evolved, particularly those teams that have adapted behaviours to win consistently over many seasons [16], would assist teams for greater and long-term success.  
To our knowledge, only one study has examined the evolution of basketball performances, albeit during one season [17]. This study examined all National Basketball Association teams during the 2016-2017 season and via non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) identified that: (i) team playing profiles were similar at the beginning and end of the season; (ii) each team displayed a unique evolution of performance throughout the season; (iii) there was an increased number of 3-point field goals made by all teams as the season progressed. This unique analysis was limited to one season only with examination of longer-term trends and team's performances needed to elucidate the evolution of basketball match play and the importance of team's playing styles [16; 17].  
Prior studies have employed multivariate modelling such as nMDS to investigate match play differences across seasons and/or competitions in various sports such as Netball [18], Rugby League [19] and Australian Football [16]. This non-linear approach has clearly shown the idiosyncrasy of teams' performances and provided a unique examination and visualization of sporting evolution [16; 18; 19]. Further, it has identified team adaptations employed by successful teams that could be utilised by others to enhance future success [18; 19]. However, no such long-term examination has been conducted in professional basketball. Clarification of the profiling of team performances over an extended period would support coaches and organisations to develop future playing styles for success. Therefore, the aims of this study were to: 1) analyse the evolution of elite basketball team's performances over time within the Spanish professional basketball league; 2) identify the unique profiles of the most successful (i.e., playoff contenders) elite basketball teams. To address aim 1, game-related statistics of all teams were examined over six seasons to identify the evolution of performances. To address aim 2, the playing patterns of teams that most frequently reached the play-off series were studied by non-metric multidimensional scaling model.