## 4 Discussion
In addition, [11] detected similar results, finding higher associations between vertical jumps and sprint distances greater than 10 m, especially for squat jump height, relative force peak, and power peak. A hypothetical justification for this is that vertically oriented exercises (e.g., vertical jumps) have greater transferability to top-speed phases, likely due to the enhanced influence of vertical peak forces at higher running velocities [10]. Moreover, concentric maximum RFD in ABKJ has shown large correlations with 10 and 20 m, which could show that RFD is a crucial factor in basketball performance, particularly in movements requiring rapid force production, such as jumping and sprinting. A higher RFD allows athletes to generate explosive power in a shorter time frame, which is essential for actions like rebounding, shot-blocking, and dunking [42]. Studies have shown that elite basketball players tend to exhibit greater RFD values, which contribute to higher jump performance and overall explosiveness on the court [43]. Moreover, RFD is associated with neuromuscular efficiency, indicating that well-trained athletes can rapidly recruit motor units to generate force more effectively [44]. The regression model (Figure 1) shows that some vertical jump metrics (height or concentric peak velocity) could consistently predict sprint performance for all sprint distances. Studies performed with young male elite sprinters showed that linear regression analysis between squat jump height and relative squat strength explained 75% of the variance in the 60 m sprint. Furthermore, previous studies found that jump height during squat jump and CMJ, in addition to the drop-jump height and reactive strength index, explained 63% (r = 0.840) of velocities for different sprint phases [45]. The height achieved during a CMJ or ABKJ is a measure that is able to express a mechanical value already corrected by the subjects' body mass [46]. Consequently, we found significant differences between backcourts and frontcourts in body mass. Backcourts showed lower values in all sprint distances and higher values in CMJ height. The differences in body mass probably explain these differences between positions. In addition to body composition differences, the physiological factors that may affect RFD during explosive tasks include the intrinsic contractile properties of muscle, the stiffness of the muscle-tendon unit, and the neural drive to the involved musculature. The intrinsic contractile properties can be assessed by measuring RFD in response to evoked contractions and may reflect differences in morphology (e.g., fiber type distribution) [47]. In our sample, concentric peak velocity and rate of force development (RFD) showed particularly strong correlations with sprint times. This is consistent with the findings of [PERSON] et al. (2020) [48], who emphasized that RFD plays a critical role in basketball-specific actions, such as rebounding, cutting, and sprinting. A higher RFD enables athletes to generate explosive force more quickly, facilitating effective high-velocity movements. Moreover, neuromuscular efficiency--defined by the rapid recruitment of motor units--is likely to underlie both vertical and horizontal acceleration capacities [49]. While we reported differences in body mass between positions, anthropometric variables were not included as covariates in our regression models. Recent studies [50; 51; 52] propose alternative models that consider the complexity of neuromuscular performance, incorporating contextual variables such as fatigue, hormonal fluctuations (e.g., menstrual cycle), and intra-individual variability, which may affect jump and sprint outputs. These variables, while acknowledged, were not statistically controlled in our analysis and represent a limitation.