NBA Fans Can Compare Player Stats Through Student-Created Software

NBA coaches and basketball fans alike have a new and simple way of viewing shot comparisons and other statistics thanks to software created by Georgia Tech Ph.D. student.

HoopInSight uses data visualization to allow users to compare one player's stats to any other player in the NBA and shows in what areas one player is better than another.

Yu Fu, a former journalist who covered the NBA for a China-based media company, merged his passion for basketball and data visualization when he created HoopInsight. NBA data for every shot taken by every player for the past five years powers HoopInSight.

Fu said that data visualization and analytics in basketball began with the shot map, which tracks where a player takes a shot and how many shots the player takes, revealing their “hot zones.” NBA coaches and staff use the data to create game plans allowing their players to get into their “hot zones.” Opposing teams use the data to prevent those players from getting into those positions.

Since the shot map was introduced, visualization tools have not incorporated an in-depth comparison feature of data and information. That’s what Fu brings to HoopInSight.