Challenge: Choose an NBA team. Think about the team’s strengths and weaknesses during the 2011-12 season. What needs do you think the team should be addressing in free agency?
- If the team has already signed a free agent, how would you evaluate the fit of the signed free agent with the team’s needs? If you agree with the signing, why do you think it was a good move? If you disagree with the signing, which player should the team have signed instead?
- If your team has not yet signed any free agents of note, who should they be chasing?
- Please support your response with an analysis of the team’s strengths and weaknesses and how the particular player fits in with those strengths and weaknesses. Feel free to focus on players acquired through trades as well.
Notes: Due to the complexity of the salary cap and the CBA, it is not necessary to take into account salary considerations. However, if you choose to do so, feel free to include the salary cap and CBA implications of your team’s transactions in your analysis.
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Below this poll you’ll find hints to help you get started with the challenge and guidelines for submitting your work. Before you get started, please take the time to let us know what you think.
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Hints for Challenge #2:
The hints below are a sequence of questions and resources to help you think about the challenge and find a direction for your answer. Looking at the hints is optional, you may choose to view them or not.
- List of Free Agents – List of restricted and unrestricted free agents eligible for consideration
- Data Resources - Links to statistical websites that may help in answering Challenge #2
- Unpacking the Challenge – Questions to help you begin thinking about Challenge #2
- Getting Started with the Challenge – A guide for beginning to locate statistics, helping you choose and support an answer for Challenge #2
- Digging Deeper with the Challenge – Some more complex variables to consider in selecting your answer, and providing supporting evidence
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Submissions:
The prize for the second challenge is a $50 Gift Card to the NBA Store. This project is a challenge, not a competition, so from all completed entries, one will be drawn at random to win the gift card.
Please submit your answer by July 20th. Submissions could range from a few sentences to a few paragraphs, whatever it takes to make your case. Your submission can be made by email to AnalyticChallenge@gmail.com. Your work can be in a word processing document or in the email text. All submissions should include the following elements (copy and paste headings into your word processing document):
- First Name
- Last Name*
- Age
- Grade Level (Grade you are entering this fall)
- School*
- City
- State
- Thesis Statement (Stating your answer to the challenge)
- Narrative Response (Make the case for your answer, feel free to include charts, graphs, etc.)
- Amount of adult help received* (Describe the the assistance you received in working on this submission)
- Hints used* (for each hint, tell us if you used it, if it was helpful and why)
- Feedback* (On the project, the challenge, the hints, etc.)
*information will be kept confidential
Standard Guidelines:
- Challenges target students in grades K-12. Students must be at least 13 years old to submit a response to the challenge. Students under 13 must ask their parent, guardian or teacher to submit a response on their behalf.
- Students are free to seek help from parents, teachers and other outside resources. However, we ask that the quantity and nature of adult support be clearly documented in the student’s submission.
- We would like to post submissions here on the K-12 Analytic Challenge homepage. If you would prefer that your work not be displayed to the public please let us know.
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