This year’s Student Research Conference at the Davis Center, once again showcased the best of UVM's undergraduate and graduate research. The following snapshots provide a glimpse of the Grossman School of Business student research at the event. Read on for research examples, accomplished with the guidance of faculty advisers from across the disciplines.

Anton Odqvist
Advisor(s): Michael Tomas III

ABSTRACT:

Performance and Compensation: Do advanced statistics explain NBA point guard contracts? 

This study will examine the relationship between the statistical contribution of NBA point guards, and the contracts they are rewarded with by general managers. In examining closely the point guard position, the hope is to not only examine what defines value creation at one of the most competitive positions, but also how that production corresponds with the salary compensation awarded by the general managers. The correlation between the statistics point guards have put up in the last years of their contracts, when they are eligible for extensions, and the salary they receive the following season should provide some insight on the trust general managers put on these statistics.

Since statistics hold the most meaning when applied within context, we focus on those statistics that are the most indicative of point guard behavior, and those that capture a holistic picture of a player’s performance, including: 1.) true shooting percentage, 2.) assist percentage, 3.) usage rate, 4.) turnover percentage, 5.) offensive rating, 6.) defensive rating, , 7.) three-point shooting percentage, and 8.) steal percentage. These 8 categories will be tested against a holistic metric called value over replacement player (VORP) in order to decipher which categories have the most impact in calculating a point guard’s value over his competition.

According to Daniel Myers, creator of Box Plus/Minus statistic, VORP should theoretically have a linear relationship with salary, since a player with a VORP rating twice as high as his competitor should have a market value twice as high (until the limits of the salary cap take effect). We should be able to address this theory by regressing VORP against salary to assess the relationship. Any results short of a linear relationship would bring question to the idea that general managers use statistics as a sole measure of value, and would prompt exploration into other factors that may influence their decisions.

Jackson Dayton
Advisor(s): Joanne Pencak

Jackson Dayton presentied his work with “Cloud Farm” in Middlebury last summer.  He was able to work with Cloud Farm as a result of a public impact research grant he received from the university.  Jackson is an engineering and business student.