Comparison of efficiency ratings of Turkish and international basketball players playing in the Turkish basketball league according to their positions

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the players in the Turkish National Basketball League by using an efficiency rating that compared the total number of successful and unsuccessful movement and, in doing so, to identify the differences in efficiency rating between Turkish and International players and between positions. Statistical data from 721 male players competing in the 2005-2006, 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 regular seasons of the Turkish Basketball league were used in this study. The basketball players were separated into two groups -Turkish (n=489) and International players (n=232) - which were further divided into three position subgroups - guard, forward and center. Using these data, a player efficiency rating was calculated for each player. The efficiency ratings of players were compared using a 2×3 (groupxposition) mixed design, two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with minutes played as covariate. Significant effects were further analyzed using the Bonferroni adjusted level of significance for the Post Hoc. The statistical treatment of the data obtained showed no significant interaction between the factors group and position in the efficiency ratings of the basketball players (p>0.05). Then the effect of each factor on efficiency rating was separately investigated. The efficiency rating of international players was higher than that of Turkish players (p<0.001). Also, a significant difference was found between the player efficiency ratings according to their positions (p<0.001). The data obtained from the comparative analysis of the players' positions showed that the efficiency rating of guard players had less value than those of forward and center players. By performing better than Turkish players, International players might increase the average quality of performance in the league. © IDOSI Publications, 2011.