Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Pace and Possessions by Phil Londen

From Basketball Free for All
By Phil Londen
Download source here: ' Pace and Possessions ' by Phil Londen

"... For being such critical statistics, pace and possessions are rarely referenced except in the most general sense. ..."

"... Pace is simply an estimation of the number of possessions a team has per-48 minutes (length of regulation game). ..."

"... What then, precisely, is a possession? A possession is a team’s uninterrupted control of the basketball and can only end in a variety of ways (a possession is different than a play; a possession can encompass multiple plays).

A possession can end with a made field goal, a defensive rebound, a turnover, or in a foul being called. ... "

"... In order to estimate the number of possessions, you simply pick one team and use their numbers from the box score to run the calculations.
It doesn’t matter which team you use, as the number of possessions are roughly the same (although one team could have a couple of possessions more than the other team).

Both the simpler and more accurate calculations provide similar numbers of 86.6 possessions and 85.0 possessions, respectively. ..."

"... In general terms, it is important to recognize that pace can distort statistics by judging teams based upon different numbers of attempts, for example.

It is important to recognize when to use pace-adjusted statistics (Offensive and Defensive Ratings for example) and when to use raw statistics (points per game or points allowed per game for example). ..."

"... Imagine the fastest paced team in the league and the slowest paced team played against each other. If the fastest team won the game and the game was played at a fast pace, you could point to the pace and say that the fastest team dictated the pace of them game to their advantage. ..."

Read more articles in Basketball Free for All.

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish, click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: ' Una Real Experiencia ' with Antonio Maceiras.

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