The points distribution page illustrates where a team’s (and their opponents’) offense in coming from. The numbers in each column indicate the percentage of points scored (or allowed) by each type of shot. Keep in mind that the numbers on this page do not say anything about the quality of a team’s offense or defense. […]

The offensive and defensive summary pages are based on Dean Oliver’s four factors concept. You can read Dean’s more detailed explanation of the four factors here. Essentially, the four factors are the building blocks to the efficiency formula. Efficiency data gives you an idea of the quality of a team’s offense or defense, but the […]

The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is the formula used by the NCAA to rate men’s and women’s college basketball teams. The formula is described below. The RPI is calculated by adding three parts. Part I (25% of the formula): Team winning percentage. For the 2005 season, the NCAA added a bonus/penalty system, where each home […]

The college basketball game file posted on my site is freely available for anyone to use with three requests on my part. (1) Give me some sort of acknowledgment on your site. (2) Let me know you are using the data and why you are using it. I am always curious. (3) While I do […]

– Schedule Strength is computed by averaging the rating of each opponent, factoring in home court advantage as appropriate. For schedule strength purposes only, unrated opponents are given a rating of the worst rated team. – Data in the ‘LAST 5 GAMES’ column reflects a team’s performance in its last 5 games against rated teams, […]

Let’s start with the most basic stats to measure the ability of a team’s offense and defense. Offensive efficiency Points scored per 100 offensive possessions. Defensive efficiency Points allowed per 100 defensive possessions. In order to compute efficiency, we need to know how to compute possessions. Possessions We can estimate possessions very well from box […]

The Basketball Shrink finds teams most similar to the team you selected, based on the stats on the page you are looking at. On the summary page, teams are compared by adjusted tempo, adjusted offensive efficiency, and adjusted defensive efficiency. On the other stats pages teams are compared by all the stats listed on the […]

The last post about home court advantage by conference generated quite a bit of e-mail traffic. It was actually only three people that responded, but that represents half of my readership at this time of year. The point raised in the e-mails was that [major conference] was at a disadvantage because dominant teams at the […]

There’s nothing like an unsubstantiated assertion to motivate me to post. The principal difference between the ACC and the Big East is the level of home-court advantage. Sure, there are a few dominant courts in the Big East, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a weak one anywhere in the ACC. Even traditional bottom-feeders, such […]

After John Thompson said goodbye to Patrick Ewing and before he said hello to Alonzo Mourning, he had a void at the center position. In light of the quality of the aforementioned players, it was a huge void. In 1987, Thompson brought seven-footer Ben Gillery to Georgetown from the junior college ranks. Gillery, in a […]