# Positional contrasts in key techniques between men's and women's basketball at the Olympic level

## TL;DR

This study compares key basketball techniques used by male and female players at different positions during the 2024 Olympics to identify performance differences and suggest training strategies.

## Contribution

The study identifies position-specific key techniques and contrasts them between men's and women's Olympic basketball.

## Key findings

- Men's guards prioritize 2PM, 3PM, AST, One-hand Pass, and BLK, while women's guards focus on Two-hand Pass, AST, 2PM, 3PM, and ORB.
- Women's forwards emphasize DRB and dribble penetration, whereas men's forwards focus on 2PM, FTM, and 3PM.
- Women's centers rely on Two-hand Pass and BLK, while men's centers emphasize DRB and 3PM.

## Abstract

This study aims to indentify the key techniques of role players at each position in the Olympic basketball games, contrast the differences in key technique performance between men’s and women’s basketball players at the different positions, and explore the factors that lead to the differences in technique performance. Comprehensive offensive and defensive technique data were systematically recorded across 52 games during the 2024 Olympic Games. CatBoost algorithm was subsequently implemented to identify key techniques through feature importance analysis. Results showed that the key techniques for men guards were 2PM, 3PM, AST, One-hand Pass, and BLK. The key techniques for women guards were Two-hand Pass, AST, 2PM, 3PM, and ORB. The key techniques for men forwards were Two-hand Pass, 2PM, FTM, 3PM and One-hand Pass. The key techniques for women forwards were 2PM, DRB, Dribble penetration, Two-hand Pass, and One-hand Pass. The key techniques for men’s centers were defensive rebounds DRB, 2PM, One-Hand Pass, AST, and 3PM. The key techniques for women centers were Two-hand Pass, One-hand Pass, FTM, BLK, and DRB. This study suggests that basketball coaches should design different training methods and competition strategies for players in different positions.