The Soapbox: Introducing the Four Factors
In his absolutely excellent book Basketball on Paper, Dean Oliver (who now works for the Kings, incidentally) lays out his “Four Factors of Basketball Success” which are shooting, turnovers, rebounding and free throws. While good on their own, what I love about the Four Factors is that they can apply to a team’s offense and defense to convey a more full picture.
- Shooting: Effective Field Goal Percentage builds off of normal FG% but acknowledges that three point shots are worth more than twos, a useful distinction in any shooting measure that also greatly benefits the Warriors.
- Turnovers: Turnover Percentage works out to the amount of turnovers a team commits every 100 plays (that scale makes it simple to convert to a percentage).
- Rebounding: Offensive Rebounding Percentage. Like turnovers, ORB% measures how well a player or team does at bringing in the available rebounds. A Total Rebounding Percentage stat also exists but I like looking at them separately (remember that opponent ORB% is how well a team does on the defensive boards) because they tell different stories.
- Free Throws: Free Throw Attempt Rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt) because while making free throws is important benefits like getting opponents in foul trouble warrant consideration.