APBRmetrics

THANKS! I appreciate all the help.

Last question--would you include assists in the formula? There seems to be debate about this.

i probably would but knowing both usage and assist rate works ok.

What should my final numbers look like?

I am getting numbers like 215.3432

If my team played 29 games would the TM MP be 5800? or 1160?

Once I get the USAGE number is that the number I use to figure out individual ORB%, DRB%, TO% etc????

OOPS--I wasn't using team totals--now my numbers are in the 24.009098 type.

But still--now that I have usage--what are the best things to do with it?

The best things to do with usage include comparing usage with eFG%, TS% and offensive efficiency and looking at how certain lineups perform with or without a high or low usage player or with high or low sums of average usages for the 5 man lineup.

On the surface you'd like your high usage players to have a decent to good eFG%, TS% and offensive efficiency but it also matters how the overall lineup performs with them out there compared to without. You could forgive modest efficiency for a high usage player if he helps create space for the other players to get shots they can and do hit and allows them to stay with the usage range that they seem capable of handling well and the team is relatively efficient overall. However, you should compare that to when he is not out there and potentially you could also compare results when he shoots a lot to moderate to lower for him and try to identify what shot distributions seem to work better than others.

Too low a sum of average usages for the 5 man lineup is often an indicator that the offense will have trouble being efficient. But it ultimately comes down to what usages players are capable of handling well (rather than what usage they have taken or been given (by the coaches or the rest of the players out there with them) and in some cases they may not have been given a large opportunity to fully demonstrate their ability and capacity to handle more usage. You can look at game to game data for clues and perhaps performance in previous settings (high school, AAU, practice, etc.)

A high sum of average usages for the 5 man lineup might work on offense if the guys are able and willing to move and share the ball effectively. Or it could foster too much competition for shots and fall apart. You have to know your guys' behaviors as well as numbers.

Generally you want adequate average usage in your starting lineup and your rotation of lineups that follow until the starters are all out there again. If you want to maintain a certain level of average usage or usage capability on the court, you may have to carefully sequence the way you make substitutions to make it happen. Maybe pair up high and low usage players in lineups and pair up the substitutions and their timing as well.

You could accept being low average usage briefly, or even longer if they are a good defensive unit and make up for offensive weakness with defensive strength.

I could say more but that should give you some favor of what you can do with usage data.

Thanks,

Can you clarify "average usage" a little. Do you mean over a certain number of games?

I mean average usage across all lineups for a player for the season.