## 4 Discussion
### Accelerations  
Of the total game actions, only 3.34% were performed at high and very high acceleration intensities, suggesting that players require substantial recovery time following high-intensity efforts. This is supported by the fact that 96.64% of actions occurred at moderate and low intensities. Similarly, only 5.75% of total actions involved very high or maximum decelerations, reinforcing the notion that players tend to recover through lower-intensity movements, as evidenced by the 94.25% of actions performed at moderate and low deceleration intensities. These findings indicate that young players engage in a game model that includes moments of high and maximum intensity, followed by extended periods of recovery. Notably, 49.5% of all deceleration actions occur within the low-intensity range (0 to \(-\)0.270 m/s\({}^{2}\)), further emphasizing the predominance of submaximal efforts. It is important to note that the data observed in this study may differ from those reported in other investigations on  
Figure 7: Graphical interpretation of results from five-k means cluster of the variable HI. acceleration and deceleration, which are often specific to different basketball contexts, such as competitive level [6; 8; 21; 28], age group [50; 51], or gender [5; 14]. A comparative analysis of average acceleration across five teams per age group yielded the following results: U12 = 3.9 \(\pm\) 1.2 m/s\({}^{2}\), 60-m sprint speed (SD) = 9.3 \(\pm\) 2.0 m/s; U14 = 3.5 \(\pm\) 1.0 m/s\({}^{2}\), SD = 9.3 \(\pm\) 2.2 m/s; U16 = 3.8 \(\pm\) 1.0 m/s\({}^{2}\), SD = 10.2 \(\pm\) 1.8 m/s; U18 = 3.8 \(\pm\) 1.1 m/s\({}^{2}\), SD = 9.2 \(\pm\) 2.1 m/s; and Senior = 3.6 \(\pm\) 0.9 m/s\({}^{2}\), SD = 9.2 \(\pm\) 1.8 m/s [52]. In contrast, our analysis of 74 million game actions at the U14 level revealed that 94% of accelerations were below 1.5451 m/s\({}^{2}\)--substantially lower than the reported average of 3.5 \(\pm\) 1.0 m/s\({}^{2}\). Despite the different study context, the interpretation of our findings aligns with previous research conducted on senior basketball players, where the intensity of accelerations during competition was similarly analyzed. In those studies, acceleration was classified into three zones: low (1.0-2.5 m/s\({}^{2}\)), elevated (2.5-4.0 m/s\({}^{2}\)), and sprint (>4.0 m/s\({}^{2}\)); while deceleration was categorized as low (\(-\)1.0 to \(-\)2.5 m/s\({}^{2}\)), high (\(-\)2.5 to \(-\)4.0 m/s\({}^{2}\)), and sprint (<\(-\)4.0 m/s\({}^{2}\)) [14]. According to that classification, senior athletes demonstrated high average acceleration intensities across game quarters: Q1 = 2.54 m/s\({}^{2}\), Q2 = 2.51 m/s\({}^{2}\), Q3 = 2.34 m/s\({}^{2}\), and Q4 = 2.41 m/s\({}^{2}\), which would fall within the high acceleration zone as defined in the present study. These high-intensity accelerations are typically associated with rapid directional changes, explosive movements, and speed variations--such as backdoor cuts and destabilizing actions aimed at outmaneuvering opponents [14]. Context-specific studies are essential for ensuring methodological rigor, supporting athlete development, and safeguarding physical integrity [36]. In this study, five acceleration intervals were defined for male U14 players: <0.37, 0.37-0.81, 0.81-1.54, 1.54-3.49, and >3.49 m/s\({}^{2}\). Analysis revealed that 94.25% of in-game actions occurred within low to moderate acceleration ranges (0-1.545 m/s\({}^{2}\)), while only 5.75% involved high-intensity accelerations (>1.546 m/s\({}^{2}\)). In comparison, previous research on senior players identified five distinct acceleration intervals: <0.50, 0.50-1.60, 1.61-2.87, 2.88-4.25, and 4.26-6.71 m/s\({}^{2}\)[5], indicating a clear difference in performance profiles between age groups. Previous research on U18 basketball players reported peak in-game accelerations of up to 3.6 m/s\({}^{2}\) and recommended a threshold of 3.0 m/s\({}^{2}\) to define high-intensity accelerations [50].