Hey folks,
I’ll be incorporating Kenpom.com stats a ton into coverage this year. I know most readers here are already familiar with Kenpom and the explanations of the numbers, but for those who aren't as knowledgable or for anyone who just needs a good review, I’m going to lay these out before the season kicks off Friday night.
Part 1: Kenpom Basics
What is Kenpom.com? Kenpom is a website that uses play-by-play data to rate programs in offensive and defensive efficiency. You can quickly go to a team's home page and a bevy of information is at your hands in a snapshot, including how well a team plays offensively and defensively, and their strengths and weaknesses.
Brad Stevens (when he coached college) and Mike Krzyzewski are among those who are fans. Notre Dame and Mike Brey used the site extensively last year.
Kenpom goes beyond basic stats like points per game, which can be inaccurate when you're trying to judge the quality of a team.
What's wrong with points per game? Any per game stats - including points, rebounds, turnovers, etc. - can be misleading because they don't account for tempo.
The Citadel ranked No. 2 in the NCAA last year with 86.0 points per game. But obviously, that doesn't mean they had the second-best offense in the country this year, or they likely would have finished better than 10-22 overall (and 3-15 in the Southern Conference).
We learn from Kenpom that The Citadel averaged 80.6 possessions per game, which was the most in the NCAA. Their average possession length on offense was just 14.0 seconds, the second fastest in the country.
Basically, The Citadel just scored a bunch of points per game because they play ridiculously fast. That doesn't make their offense actually good.
In Kenpom's adjusted offensive efficiency rating, they ranked 201st nationally with 1.02 points per possession. Big difference between No. 2 in the country to No. 201.
A football equivalent would be points per drive, which you can see in the OPD column here (link).
Where did Indiana rank last year? Here's a look at Indiana’s efficiency rankings last year compared to its per game rankings.
Offense:
Raw Efficiency Ranking: 1.19 points per possession, ranked 1st nationally.
Adjusted Efficiency Ranking: 1.20 points per possession, ranked 6th nationally.
Per Game Ranking: 82.6 points per game, ranked 11th nationally.
Defense:
Raw Efficiency Ranking: Allowed 1.01 points per possession, ranked 105th nationally.
Adjusted Efficiency Ranking: 0.98 points per possession, ranked 59th nationally.
Per Game Ranking: Allowed 69.9 points per game, ranked 122nd nationally.
The rankings on both sides of the ball for Indiana aren’t too far apart. Indiana’s average tempo of 69 possessions per game last year ranked right about in the middle of the pack nationally at No. 164.
However, Kenpom does offer an adjusted efficiency ranking that incorporates quality of opposing defenses, the location of each game and when the game was played (awarding more weight to more recent games.) This adjusted standard is the one more commonly referenced than the raw numbers.
Interestingly, Indiana’s defense is ranked a pretty good amount higher in the adjusted category than in the raw categories. That would indicate the Hoosiers played a good number of quality offenses last year, maybe some of those on the road, etc.
What is good and bad? One of the reasons I think people prefer to stick with points per game stats is because it’s what they are used to. They have general tiers memorized of what’s good and bad, etc.
So to note, here's a few tiers for offensive rankings, defensive rankings and tempo.
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: Points Per Possession
No. 1 nationally: 1.23
No. 25: 1.15
No. 100: 1.07
No. 234: 1.00
No. 351 (Worst in D1): 0.85
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: Points Per Possession Allowed
No. 1 nationally: 0.88
No. 25: 0.94
No. 100: 1.00
No. 234: 1.07
No. 351 (Worst in D1): 1.18
Adjusted Tempo: Possessions Per Game (From Fastest To Slowest)
No. 1 nationally: 80.0
No. 25: 73.0
No. 100: 70.4
No. 234: 68.0
No. 351 (Slowest in D1): 62.3
What's next? So in conclusion, that's the basics of efficiency stats. What they are, why they're important, and what ranks as good play vs. poor.
Next, we'll start breaking down individual stats, like effective field goal percentage (eFG%) - which is a more accurate version of field goal percentage (FG%) that we all know so well.
I’ll be incorporating Kenpom.com stats a ton into coverage this year. I know most readers here are already familiar with Kenpom and the explanations of the numbers, but for those who aren't as knowledgable or for anyone who just needs a good review, I’m going to lay these out before the season kicks off Friday night.
Part 1: Kenpom Basics
What is Kenpom.com? Kenpom is a website that uses play-by-play data to rate programs in offensive and defensive efficiency. You can quickly go to a team's home page and a bevy of information is at your hands in a snapshot, including how well a team plays offensively and defensively, and their strengths and weaknesses.
Brad Stevens (when he coached college) and Mike Krzyzewski are among those who are fans. Notre Dame and Mike Brey used the site extensively last year.
Kenpom goes beyond basic stats like points per game, which can be inaccurate when you're trying to judge the quality of a team.
What's wrong with points per game? Any per game stats - including points, rebounds, turnovers, etc. - can be misleading because they don't account for tempo.
The Citadel ranked No. 2 in the NCAA last year with 86.0 points per game. But obviously, that doesn't mean they had the second-best offense in the country this year, or they likely would have finished better than 10-22 overall (and 3-15 in the Southern Conference).
We learn from Kenpom that The Citadel averaged 80.6 possessions per game, which was the most in the NCAA. Their average possession length on offense was just 14.0 seconds, the second fastest in the country.
Basically, The Citadel just scored a bunch of points per game because they play ridiculously fast. That doesn't make their offense actually good.
In Kenpom's adjusted offensive efficiency rating, they ranked 201st nationally with 1.02 points per possession. Big difference between No. 2 in the country to No. 201.
A football equivalent would be points per drive, which you can see in the OPD column here (link).
Where did Indiana rank last year? Here's a look at Indiana’s efficiency rankings last year compared to its per game rankings.
Offense:
Raw Efficiency Ranking: 1.19 points per possession, ranked 1st nationally.
Adjusted Efficiency Ranking: 1.20 points per possession, ranked 6th nationally.
Per Game Ranking: 82.6 points per game, ranked 11th nationally.
Defense:
Raw Efficiency Ranking: Allowed 1.01 points per possession, ranked 105th nationally.
Adjusted Efficiency Ranking: 0.98 points per possession, ranked 59th nationally.
Per Game Ranking: Allowed 69.9 points per game, ranked 122nd nationally.
The rankings on both sides of the ball for Indiana aren’t too far apart. Indiana’s average tempo of 69 possessions per game last year ranked right about in the middle of the pack nationally at No. 164.
However, Kenpom does offer an adjusted efficiency ranking that incorporates quality of opposing defenses, the location of each game and when the game was played (awarding more weight to more recent games.) This adjusted standard is the one more commonly referenced than the raw numbers.
Interestingly, Indiana’s defense is ranked a pretty good amount higher in the adjusted category than in the raw categories. That would indicate the Hoosiers played a good number of quality offenses last year, maybe some of those on the road, etc.
What is good and bad? One of the reasons I think people prefer to stick with points per game stats is because it’s what they are used to. They have general tiers memorized of what’s good and bad, etc.
So to note, here's a few tiers for offensive rankings, defensive rankings and tempo.
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: Points Per Possession
No. 1 nationally: 1.23
No. 25: 1.15
No. 100: 1.07
No. 234: 1.00
No. 351 (Worst in D1): 0.85
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: Points Per Possession Allowed
No. 1 nationally: 0.88
No. 25: 0.94
No. 100: 1.00
No. 234: 1.07
No. 351 (Worst in D1): 1.18
Adjusted Tempo: Possessions Per Game (From Fastest To Slowest)
No. 1 nationally: 80.0
No. 25: 73.0
No. 100: 70.4
No. 234: 68.0
No. 351 (Slowest in D1): 62.3
What's next? So in conclusion, that's the basics of efficiency stats. What they are, why they're important, and what ranks as good play vs. poor.
Next, we'll start breaking down individual stats, like effective field goal percentage (eFG%) - which is a more accurate version of field goal percentage (FG%) that we all know so well.
