Opponent quality associated with attacking type distribution among successful scoring possessions in collegiate basketball

Journal of Applied Sports Sciences 10(2): 16-27, doi: 10.37393/JASS.2026.10.02.2

Taiki Miyazawa^‡, Taiga Kato^‡, Mirai Mizutani^‡, Daisuke Ichikawa^§

‡ Shigakkan University, Obu, Japan§ Toyo University, Kawagoe, Japan

Corresponding author: Taiki Miyazawa ( miyazawa@sgk.ac.jp )

Academic editor: Mariana Borukova

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), which permits to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes, and the original author and source are credited. Adapted content must be distributed under the same license

Citation: Miyazawa T, Kato T, Mizutani M, Ichikawa D (2026) Opponent quality associated with attacking type distribution among successful scoring possessions in collegiate basketball. Journal of Applied Sports Sciences 10(2): 16-27. https://doi.org/10.37393/JASS.2026.10.02.2

Abstract

This study examined the association between opponent quality and the distribution and structural characteristics of attacking types among successful scoring possessions in collegiate basketball. A total of 4,309 made ﬁeld goals from 97 games in the 2022 Kansai Intercollegiate Basketball League Division 1 were analyzed. Scoring possessions were classiﬁed into four attacking types: immediate attacks (<3 s), primary fast breaks (PFB), secondary fast breaks (SFB), and set offenses (SO), according to tactical characteristics, possession duration, and numerical situations. Opponent quality was deﬁned relative to each team’s ﬁnal league standing. Chi-square tests of goodness of ﬁ t and independence were conducted, and attacking time, number of attacking players, and number of completed passes were compared between opponent groups.

SO accounted for the largest proportion of successful scoring possessions. At-tacking type distribution was signiﬁcantly associated with opponent quality (χ²(3) = 84.51, p < .001, Cramer’s V = 0.14), with PFB more frequent among successful scoring possessions against lower-ranked opponents and SO more frequent against higher-ranked opponents. Possession duration during SO was longer against higher-ranked opponents (p < .01, d = 0.26), whereas completed passes during SFB were greater against lower-ranked opponents (p < .05, d = 0.31).

These ﬁndings suggest that the distribution and structural characteristics of successful scoring possessions are associated with opponent quality.

Keywords

Opponent Quality, Fast Break, Set Offense, Tempo Control, Performance Analysis