What can advanced basketball stats teach us about software engineering?
In basketball, we often look at two interesting stats: Field Goal Percentage (FGP) and Points Per Possession (PPP).
FGP tells us how often a player makes a shot from a specific spot on the court. For example, good 3-point shooters make about half of their shots from beyond the arc, while poor shooters might only make 2 or 3 out of 10.
PPP is about the average value of a shot a player takes from a spot. It’s calculated by dividing the points scored by the number of shots attempted. So, great 3-point shooters might score 1.5 points per shot, while others might score way less than 1 point.
So, why do we care about these stats?
Well, in general, we want to focus on PPP to figure out the best shots for a player to take. This helps the team score the most points per possession during a game.
But, when it’s crunch time - like when there are only 10 seconds left and your team is down by 1 point - we care more about FGP. Why? Because we want the highest chance of making a shot, even if it’s just a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer.
Now, you might be thinking, “I’m not playing basketball, so why does this matter?”
It’s actually a useful lesson beyond basketball. It’s about knowing what’s important in different situations.
In software, when things are going smoothly, we might focus on making things easy to read, perform well, and collaborate effectively. But, when there’s a production bug to solve or working on something temporary, we might care about different things.
So, these stats teach us two important tactics: one for maximizing scoring efficiency (PPP) and another for making sure we hit the shot when it really counts (FGP).
Knowing when to use each can help us in many situations, not just on the basketball court.