The aim of the present study was to identify the game‐related statistics that discriminate between season‐long successful and unsuccessful basketball teams participating in the Spanish Basketball League (LEB1). The sample included all 145 average records per season from the 870 games played between the 2000–2001 and the 2005–2006 regular seasons. The following game‐related statistics were gathered from the official box scores of the Spanish Basketball Federation: 2‐ and 3‐point field‐goal attempts (both successful and unsuccessful), free‐throws (both successful and unsuccessful), defensive and offensive rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers, blocks (both made and received), and fouls (both committed and received). To control for season variability, all results were normalized to minutes played each season and then converted to z‐scores. The results allowed discrimination between best and worst teams’ performances through the following game‐related statistics: assists (SC=0.47), steals (SC=0.34), and blocks (SC=0.30). The function obtained correctly classified 82.4% of the cases. In conclusion, season‐long performance may be supported by players’ and teams’ passing skills and defensive preparation.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) represents a promising approach for cancer treatment. However, the oxygen dependency of PDT to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) hampers its therapeutic efficacy, especially against hypoxic solid tumors. In addition, some photosensitizers (PSs) have dark toxicity and are only activatable with short wavelengths such as blue or UV-light, which suffer from poor tissue penetration. Herein, we developed a novel hypoxia-active PS with operability in the near-infrared (NIR) region based on the conjugation of a cyclometalated Ru(II) polypyridyl complex of the type [Ru(C^N)(N^N)₂] to a NIR-emitting COUPY dye. The novel Ru(II)-coumarin conjugate exhibits water-solubility, dark stability in biological media and high photostability along with advantageous luminescent properties that facilitate both bioimaging and phototherapy. Spectroscopic and photobiological studies revealed that this conjugate efficiently generates singlet oxygen and superoxide radical anions, thereby achieving high photoactivity toward cancer cells upon highly-penetrating 740 nm light irradiation even under hypoxic environments (2% O₂). The induction of ROS-mediated cancer cell death upon low-energy wavelength irradiation along with the low dark toxicity exerted by this Ru(II)-coumarin conjugate could circumvent tissue penetration issues while alleviating the hypoxia limitation of PDT. As such, this strategy could pave the way to the development of novel NIR- and hypoxia-active Ru(II)-based theragnostic PSs fuelled by the conjugation of tunable, low molecular-weight COUPY fluorophores.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of goalkeepers’ defence interventions in parallel with the type of opponent attack, the area of the last pass of attack, the shooting zone most often used, the body part most often used for the last pass or for shooting, and the technical and physical actions most often used for carrying out defensive technical skills. The sample consisted of 34 goalkeepers from the national teams that participated in 54 matches of the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. The matches were analysed by systematic observation. A reliability kappa index of 0.95 was established between observers. The variables studied were: type of opponent attack, area of last pass of attack, field zone from which shot was taken, body part with which last part of attack or shot was made, zone of goalkeeper intervention, defensive technical and physical actions of goalkeeper intervention. Results related to opposing team's attacks showed that teams most often used positional attacks and the last pass came from the far zones. The foot was the body part most often used to finish the attack. Upon analysing the shots taken, we found that in relation to shooting angle, the central zones are the ones that are most utilized, and in relation to shooting distance, similar percentages were found in the zone outside the penalty area and the zone situated between the penalty area line and the goal area line. Results related to goalkeepers’ defence showed that the penalty area was the zone most often used, and the defensive actions most frequently used were the save, followed by foot control, and then the clear out. Our data provide reference values to adapt the training of goalkeepers to the characteristics of the competition.

The aim of the present study was to identify game-related statistics that differentiate winning and losing teams according to game location. The sample included 306 games of the 2004–2005 regular season of the Spanish professional men's league (ACB League). The independent variables were game location (home or away) and game result (win or loss). The game-related statistics registered were free throws (successful and unsuccessful), 2- and 3-point field goals (successful and unsuccessful), offensive and defensive rebounds, blocks, assists, fouls, steals, and turnovers. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done (one-way analysis of variance and discriminate analysis). The multivariate analysis showed that winning teams differ from losing teams in defensive rebounds ( SC = .42) and in assists ( SC = .38). Similarly, winning teams differ from losing teams when they play at home in defensive rebounds ( SC = .40) and in assists ( SC = .41). On the other hand, winning teams differ from losing teams when they play away in defensive rebounds ( SC = .44), assists ( SC = .30), successful 2-point field goals ( SC = .31), and unsuccessful 3-point field goals ( SC = –.35). Defensive rebounds and assists were the only game-related statistics common to all three analyses.