Challenge #1: Who was the best offensive player in the NBA during the 2011-2012 regular season?
How my Stat works.
Shooting Efficiency:
First things first. Let’s have a look at the Shooting Efficiency Stat (SHEff). Its formula is:
SHEff = ([(3PT%*3)*PCT1]+[(2PT%*2)*PCT2]+[(FT%*1)*PCT3])*100
*PCT1, PCT2, PCT3 are a percentage assigned to each position depending on how I think it is important for each player in that position to perform (check chart number 4 in the spreadsheet at the bottom of the page)
The result is a number out of 210 for PGs, SGs and SFs; 198 for PFs and 195 for Cs. Moreover, I have calculated the points that we can expect a player from each position to obtain. The “Points Expected” for a PG are 89.5; SG, 92.5; SF, 92; PF, 90.14; C, 98.1.
The final aim of this formula is to provide a number that gives an approximate idea about the efficiency that a player has when shooting the basketball.
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General Formula:
Having had a look at the SHEff, we can go to the general formula that I have created to know who the best offensive player in the NBA was last year.
To create the general formula I have considered some different stats related to offensive production. These stats are the Points per Game (PPG), the Assists per Game (APG), the Offensive Rebounds per Game (OFFR), the Shooting Efficiency Formula (SHEff) and the Turnovers per Game (TOPG). The TOPG handicaps the final result, as they are negative for a player’s overall production. All the stats used are rounded off to 36 Minutes per Game played; by doing this, a player with more minutes played per game doesn’t have any advantage over a player with fewer minutes played per game. Furthermore, to qualify for the General Formula, players must have played at least 31 MPG and 40 games.
The General Formula is a rule that results from the subtraction of the percentage of the TOPG from some punctuation obtained before, called the Subtotal Points. The Subtotal Points provide a number out of 100.
How are the Subtotal Points obtained? They are obtained using the stats I mentioned before (PPG, APG, OFFR, SHEff and TOPG). I have given different punctuation to each stat for each position, depending on what I think a player in that position should focus on doing when on court. In the PG’s case, I have given the PPG a 42% of importance; the APG, a 35%; the OFFR, a 2% and the SHEff, a 21%. As I have mentioned above, the percentages differs from one position to the other (check chart number 1 in the Excel document attached to the e-mail).
Additionally, I have searched the best historic stats for active players (for each of the five positions). I have done this to get a number by cross-multiplication, using the percentage I gave to, for example, the PPG; the PPG of a player and the maximum a player in the player’s position has achieved during a season. So:
To explain the General Formula in more detail I will use an example: Luol Deng (just because he is the first player in my list, as he was the player with the higher Minutes per Game played).
Deng scored 14 points per game (per 36 minutes). I have decided to give 59% of the General Formula points to the PPG made by an SF. The active SF (like Deng) that has obtained the most PPG during a season (per 36 minutes) is LeBron James, who made 31.4 PPG. Using the cross-multiplication I explained before, I get that Deng, out of the 59 possible points, gets 26.31:
I have repeated this for every stat and player in the NBA who has averaged more than 31 MPG and has played more than 40 games.
Using the General Formula, the final classification is (the five players with the highest points):
- Kevin Love, PF, 69.04
- LeBron James, SF, 65.61
- Chris Paul, PG, 63.69
- Blake Griffin, PF, 62.68
- LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, 61. 59
So, according to the General Formula, the best offensive player in the NBA during the 2011-12 season was Kevin Love, from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The table below shows all of David’s raw calculations -
