Basketball Statistics Blog

Friday Press Clippings:
Points per Possession Discussion

From HoopCoach.org
By Coach Drew
Download source here: ' Points per Possession Discussion ' by Coach Drew

"... I've been reading up on advance stats a lot the last few weeks and found that apparently I have been tracking points per possession a bit different then the common approach. My method was very simple:

(Points scored * 100) / Possessions

A slightly more advanced approach for finding total possessions:

POSSt = FGAt + 0.44 × FTAt – OREBt + TO

I'm not sure it affected my team a whole lot as I think we got about four offensive rebounds the entire season. Regardless, is anyone else tracking this? What is your formula? ..."

"... The .44 is the factor in the total possessions formula that helps to pretty accurately measure how many possessions were used during the total of FT attempts.

Often a player will get 2 FTAs. Sometimes just 1, sometimes 3. Sometimes it will be a technical foul and not be the end of a possession.

Sometimes a missed FTA won't end the possession because of an offensive rebound or a foul of the offensive rebounder. The historical average for possessions used up is 0.44 × FTAt. ..."

"... It is good to ask about details that don't make obvious sense. Sometimes the answer can be found re-reading a passage (as it could this time) but it is true that sometimes advanced statisticians don't explain all their shorthand and it can get difficult.

There are times I can't follow it all clearly myself and it not always possible to contact the author directly.

Often times though if you step back and ask what is happening in the big picture, what is the main conclusion? you can get something out of an article even if some of the detail is too complicated to follow step by step. ..."

"... We use the points per possession method that Dean Smith spells out in his book. It uses FGA, TO, and Trips to the free throw line (instead of FTA).
This covers all possible outcomes on any given possession.

I don't understand why ORB would be used for anything because that would already be accounted for as a FGA. I suggest looking in Dean Smiths book to get the best picture. ..."

"... I don't see why Offensive Rebounds would be subtracted in any formula trying to calcualte total possessions. Unless the shot doesn't hit the rim, an Offensive Rebound re-starts the shot clock (clearly a new possession). ..."

Read more articles in HoopCoach.org

To read today's 'Press Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here:
' Entrenamiento de Variables Psicológicas para los Tiros Libres ' by Eneko Larumbe Zabala.

Friday Video Clippings:
The lost thing

"The lost thing" Oscar Winner at the 83rd Academy Awards® in 2011 for the Best Live Action Short Film directed by Shaun Tan.

To watch today's 'Video Clippings' in Spanish,
click this week above on the 'Español' tab or afterwards click here: 'La Cosa Perdida' de Shaun Tan.

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tags:  basketball ~ statistics ~ basketball advanced statistics ~ advanced statistics ~ Shaun Tan ~ Coach Drew ~ points per possession discussion
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