Evaluation of Hierarchical Clustering Methodologies for Identifying Patterns in Timeout Requests in EuroLeague Basketball

José Miguel Contreras (), Elena Molina Portillo and Juan Manuel Fernández Luna
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José Miguel Contreras: Department of Didactics of Mathematics, Faculty of Education, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Elena Molina Portillo: Department of Didactics of Mathematics, Faculty of Education, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Juan Manuel Fernández Luna: Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, School of Computer and Telecommunication Engineering, CITIC-UGR, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Mathematics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-34

Abstract: This study evaluates hierarchical clustering methodologies to identify patterns associated with timeout requests for EuroLeague basketball games. Using play-by-play data from 3743 games spanning the 2008–2023 seasons (over 1.9 million instances), we applied Principal Component Analysis to reduce dimensionality and tested multiple agglomerative and divisive clustering techniques (e.g., Ward and DIANA) with different distance metrics (Euclidean, Manhattan, and Minkowski). Clustering quality was assessed using internal validation indices such as Silhouette, Dunn, Calinski–Harabasz, Davies–Bouldin, and Gap statistics. The results show that Ward.D and Ward.D2 methods using Euclidean distance generate well-balanced and clearly defined clusters. Two clusters offer the best overall quality, while four clusters allow for meaningful segmentation of game situations. The analysis revealed that teams that did not request timeouts often exhibited better scoring efficiency, particularly in the advanced game phases. These findings offer data-driven insights into timeout dynamics and contribute to strategic decision-making in professional basketball.

Keywords: hierarchical clustering; timeout; basketball; EuroLeague; data science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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