The purpose of the master's thesis was to determine the utility of a simplified and reduced model of an expert system for assessing the potential of young male and female basketball players, establish norms for the applied test battery across different age categories and playing positions, and enable a relatively simple and economical way of evaluating potential for sports professionals in the selection process. The analysis included 661 young basketball players from all selections of the national teams of Slovenia, comprising 265 girls and 396 boys, categorized into three subsets based on their playing position (guard, forward, center). The sample of potential performance variables included two morphological tests and seven motor tests, each with its decision rules (weights and normalizers). The expert system model of potential performance was developed using the SMMS computer program. In the SPSS program, we calculated the correlation between potential performance ratings and playing performance using Pearson correlation coefficients. We found a low correlation between potential performance ratings and selection, playing time and playing efficiency in competitions. There is a stronger correlation between potential performance ratings, playing time and efficiency in younger boys compared to older ones, while in girls, the opposite is observed. The results suggest the usefulness of such an expert system as an instrument due to its prognostic value. The master's thesis provides insights into the complexity of connections between potential ratings, playing efficiency and playing time in basketball players of different age categories, offering a new perspective on understanding aspects of performance in younger age groups.
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