Fantasy Basketball Project

What time is it? Game Time! It's Basketball Season again which means Fantasy Basketball is hotter than ever. Basketball players are incredible athletes, and their statistics are filled with many mathematical concepts. As a class we are going to decide, based on 2008-2009 statistics, which Point guard, Shooting guard, Small forward, Power forward and Center we want on our fantasy Basketball team!

Task In order to beat the other 8th grade classes, we need to choose our players wisely. Our selections must be based on factual information that we find using resources on the Web.You will search for statistics from the 2008-2009 NBA season on five different Point guards, Shooting guards, Small forwards, Power forwards and Centers. The class will be divided into four different groups. Each group will have a different set of statistics to look up and will create three graphical representations of the statistics they find. Groups will present their work to the class. As a class we must work together to decide which players we want to draft on our fantasy Basketball team.

Process The purpose of this assignment is to learn a little about making predictions and have some fun while doing it. We will do this by dividing the class into groups. Each group will research a different set of statistics of fifteen well known NBA players. Your group will use these statistics and convert them into fractions, decimals, and percents. Three graphical representations must be created displaying your statistics. As a class, we will compare each group’s graphs, and predict which players would most likely score us the most points on a Fantasy Basketball Team. Each group will research the following twenty- five players:

Point guard

Shooting guard

Chris Paul Tony Parker Chauncey Billups Derrick Rose Deron Williams

Kobe Bryant Kevin Martin Ben Gordon O.J. Mayo Ray Allen

Small forward

Power forward

Lebron James Carmelo Anthony Richard Jefferson Shane Battier Trevor Ariza

Kevin Garnett Dirk Nowitzki David West Kenton Martin Pau Gasol

Center

Yao Ming Shaquille O’Neal Dwight Howard Andrew Bynum Jermaine O’Neal

Group #1:

You have been asked to find the average number of 2 point field goals per game, 3 point field goals per game, and field goal percentage for each of the players in the above positions. You will use the following URL’s to find statistical information on these players from the 2008-2009 NBA season. After you have determined the these values you must be sure to represent this average as a fraction, decimal, and percent of teams points. You will create a graphical representation of the statistics you found from each position (That’s a total of three graphs). The three graphs you should use are as follows: circle graph, histogram, and line graph. Remember, your group will present these graphs to the class. **Hint: You need to know how many games are played in the regular season**

Group #2:

You have been asked to find the average number of assists per game, turnovers per game, their ratio of assist to turnovers, the percentage of their team’s points that they scored over the season in the above positions. You will use the following URL’s to find statistical information on these players from the 2008-2009 NBA season. After you have determined these values you must be sure to represent this average as a fraction, decimal, and percent. You will create a graphical representation of the statistics you found from each position (That’s a total of three graphs). The three graphs you should use are as follows: circle graph, histogram, and line graph. Remember, your group will present these graphs to the class. **Hint: You need to know how many games are played in the regular season**

Group # 3:

You have been asked to find the average number of turnovers forced (steals and blocked shots combined) per game, average number of free throws made per game, and free throw percentage by each of the above positions. . You will use the following URL’s to find statistical information on these players from the 2008-2009 NBA season. After you have determined these values you must be sure to represent this average as a fraction, decimal, and percent. You will create a graphical representation of the statistics you found from each position (That’s a total of three graphs). The three graphs you should use are as follows: circle graph, histogram, and line graph. Remember, your group will present these graphs to the class. **Hint: You need to know how many games are played in the regular season**

Group #4:

You have been asked to find the average offensive rebounds per game, defensive rebounds per game, their ratio of defensive rebounds to offensive rebounds, minutes played per game, fouls per game by each of the above positions. You will use the following URL’s to find statistical information on these players from the 2008-2009 NBA season. After you have determined these you must be sure to represent this average as a fraction, decimal, and percent. You will create a graphical representation of the statistics you found from each position (That’s a total of three graphs). The three graphs you should use are as follows: circle graph, histogram, and line graph. Remember, your group will present these graphs to the class. **Hint: You need to know how many games are played in the regular season**

Websites with basketball stats

http://www.nba.com/statistics/ http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats http://prosportsdaily.sportsdirectinc.com/basketball/nba-statistics.aspx?page=/data/nba/statistics/20082009/statistics_playoffs.html

Averages and Converting between fractions, decimals, and percents: http://regentsprep.org/Regents/math/percent/Lpercent.htm http://www.purplemath.com/modules/percents.htm http://www.learningwave.com/chapters/decimal13/basics/convert.html http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/Converter/

Evaluation Beginning 1 Graphical Representations

Oral Presentation

Accuracy of Work

Teamwork

Title doesn't match topic. No key or legend. Scales are inappropriate. Data is not plotted accurately and graph is hard to interpret. Presentation lacks a sense of organization. Members speak softly and cannot be understood. Eye contact is minimal or non existant. There were many inaccuracies in data collection and computation. Student did not partipate or respect other group members.

Developing 2 Title matches topic. Key (legend) is incomplete. The graph is presentable but lacks neatness. Data is not plotted completely accurately.

Accomplished 3

Exemplary 4

The title matches the topic. Good key (legend). Graph is neat and presentable.

The title matches the topic well. Correct and complete key (legend). Scales are appropriate. Graph is easy to interpret, neat and presentable.

Score

Presentation is Presentation shows adequately organized. thoughtful planning Presentation is clearly Every member and organization. Each organized. Each member speaks, and eye member contributes speaks clearly, and contact is used some and maintains proper maintain eye contact. of the time. demeanor. Some of the data collected was accurate and some of the computations were accurate. Student was respectful and particpated some of the time.

Most data collected was accurate and most computations were accurate.

All data collected was accurate and computations involved no errors.

Student respected most group members and participated often.

Student respected other group members and participated all of the time.

Conclusion You've reached the end of your WebQuest, we're almost done! I hope you have enjoyed learning about mathematics found in the real world. Through this WebQuest you've calculated averages, converted between fractions, decimals, and percents, and put your data into three different graphical representations. It's now time for each group to present their graphs. Together, as a class, we must make a prediction of which players we should draft for our Fantasy Basketball Team. Keep in mind, we want players that will score us the most points, because we want to beat the other 8th grade classes. Based upon the data you found, who will we draft? Did you like this activity?