I understand what you are saying and think it's total bullshit.
you can't even say what the hot hand is
Hot hand, the obscenity of basketball.
If you have to ask, you don't understand. Everything can't be described by numbers. There is no human factor in your world in games played by humans.
My bad, those who haven't played or coached can't understand this. But they can read numbers.
well how can we argue if something does or doesn't exist if you can't even say what it is?
you can never be wrong if you don't have a definition on the record
What's the difference between a hot hand and clustering?
I’d say a good start for a definition of “hot hand” would be any streak of four or more jump shots by one player in a single game (and likely within a specific time period within a single game) in which the shooting percentage is above ~ 70% throughout.
It’s probably easier to describe the difference between a cold hand and clustering.
If a 40% shooter shoots often enough, he’s going to have several clusters of 1 for 10, purely due to chance.
He’s also going to have nights where there is a specific, identifiable problem with his shot (mental or physical).
The line between the two can be blurry, and most people may suck at making the distinction, but the difference is real.