The Importance of Team Synergy
By Jack Van Deventer • September 2, 2021
Synergy Described
How can we measure that collective impact of 5 individual players? Box Score stats are commonly assumed to be additive. If 5 individuals all averaged 10 points/game then I might presume that those 5, if they played together, might average 50 points/game. But those 5 players together might have a synergy such that their impact is multiplicative. They might average 80 points/game. Or they might average 30 points/game.
We’ve all seen examples of 5 players that just “clicked” where their combined impact was enormous. They seem collectively unstoppable. And we’ve seen the opposite, too, where 5-players struggle to even complete a pass amongst themselves. The wheels just seem to fall off.
Here’s my definition of synergy:
Synergy: The interaction or cooperation of 2 or more players to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of the players’ individual effect.
The most effective way to capture team synergy is to look at the Score Difference (Plus-Minus) in terms of player combinations, with an emphasis on (but not limited to) 5-player combinations.
Best Synergy: What’s Your Best 5-Player Combination?
Here’s a quick example of a successful D-II college women’s Team. In a 32-game season this team went 25-7 and used 191 team combinations. That is, there were 191 unique combinations of 5 players. Which combination was the best? First, let’s do some filtering and I’ll remove the combinations that played less than 30 minutes together. There were 10 5-player combinations with 30 minutes or more. Here are the results:
As always, CONTEXT MATTERS in every statistical assessment, but for simplicity let’s assume here that all the player combinations were competitive games (no blow-outs). It is vitally important to monitor Offense and Defense in terms of scoring rate, within the context of minutes played.
That is, (84 / 34.4) * 40 = 97.6.
Next, let’s look at the most efficient 5-player team for defense (red chart). That team allowed opponents a mere 53 points in 54.1 minutes, such that opponents scored 39.2 points per 40 minutes.
Lastly, we’ll look at the difference between Offensive production and Defensive efficiency, the 5-Player Plus-Minus per 40 Minutes (green chart). The top team (highlighted in yellow) scored 64 points and yielded 32 points in 30.4 minutes, so the PM per 40 = (64 – 32) / 30.4 * 40 = 42.1. That is, based on past performance, this team would (in theory) outscore opposing teams by 42 or so points in a 40-minute game. Note that this same 5-player team’s performance on offense and defense is also highlighted in yellow.
Revealing the Synergy in for All Possible Player Combinations
Obviously, there’s much to be discussed here and many qualifications that should be made, but this is a method of measuring synergy on offense, synergy on defense, and overall synergy. It is a basis for exploring new and possibly improved groupings of players to enhance team performance.
The synergy between all player combinations from 2-player pairs to 5-player groups is key. As a coach you want to know which players are “enablers” to the success of others. BasketballScience.Net’s interactive technologies will reveal all such combinations: what works and what doesn’t. The results will surprise even the most veteran coaches.
