Providence Numbers Recap

In our Providence Preview, we said to watch for Offensive Rebounding Percentage, the Turnover Rate that Providence was able to force, and how well Marquette did on eFG% because Providence was weak in that aspect. Marquette ended up with a decisive advantage in every category, which led to the dominant performance.

Offensive Rebounding Percentage (OR%)
As a reminder, OR% is the percent of total available offensive rebounds that a team is able to grab. The equation is Team OR / (Team OR + Opponent's DR). In other words, every defensive rebound by an opponent is a potential offensive rebound too.

Both Providence and Marquette were amongst the top 15 schools in the nation at OR% (40.9% and 42.2%, respectively). For the game, Marquette managed 48.1% (well above season average) and Providence was held to 27.9%. Advantage Marquette.

Turnover Rate
Providence was averaging a forced turnover about one in every four possesions (24.3%). However, for the game, Marquette only had a turnover rate of 19.4%, which is also below the team's season average of 20%. Advantage Marquette.

Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%)
Finally, we said to watch for Providence's eFG% defense, which was in the bottom third of all D1 schools, primarily because opponents were shooting very well from three (38. 4%). Marquette is very strong at eFG%, and managed to show it against PC with an eFG% of 61.7. A good chunk of this high result came from shooting 43.5% from downtown. Advantage Marquette.

Finally, we said to look for the performance of 6'11" C Randall Hanke. He played 10 minutes and finished with 2 points. Can't win them all...

On the individual player side of things, Cracked Sidewalks is unveiling a new feature for the rest of the season.

Individual Results on a Per-Game Basis


Just a quick explanation of the various columns.

Possessions are the view of the amount of time that the player involved ended the action on the floor. A turnover is a possession, a Field Goal Attempt is a possession, and an Offensive Rebound cancels a possession. The actual equation is FGA + TO - OR + (0.475*FTA).

The next four columns are statistics from Dean Oliver's Basketball on Paper. Offensive Rating is similar as is found on Pomeroy's site for Marquette, except we are showing it on a per-game basis. Higher Offensive Ratings are better. The Individual points produced is "the number of points a player produces through scoring possessions, accounting for three point shots and how well he does at the foul line" (Oliver, 152). Basically, since basketball is a team game, it's a view of how many points can be attributed to that player.

The Defensive Rating is taken from the team's Defensive Efficiency (93.3 against Providence), and then accounts for each player's role in the offense (through blocks, steals, Defensive Rebounds, Fouls). Lower Defensive Ratings are better. Finally, Net Points Added are a view of whether or not the player had a net positive or net negative contribution to the game.

This information is literally only available here at Cracked Sidewalks.

How to read the table

Dominic James had ~14 possessions in the offense and delivered an Offensive Rating (ORtg) of 181, which was well above the team Offensive Rating of 128. He contributed 19.8 points on an individual basis. His defensive rating (DRtg) was 97.3, slightly worse than the team's defensive efficiency. However, James' net impact on the game was 9.4 points of margin, so almost half of Dominic James' points contributed positively. Dominic James had an outstanding game.

On the other hand, McNeal had a net neutral impact on the game. McNeal accounted for 8 possessions and had an ORtg of 109.0 (below the team's rating). McNeal contributed 9.5 individual points, despite the box score showing him ending up with four points, mostly because he had 9 assists that resulted in scores for other players. McNeal's DRtg of 90.4 was better than team's Defensive Efficiency of 93.3. However, at the end of the day, his net impact of 0.8 was about neutral (albiet slightly positive). Of course, McNeal is still dealing with the flu.

We hope that you enjoy this additional information going forward. On to West Virginia, where we have been given a 49% chance of winning the game.

edit: Corrected mis-leading language associated with Defensive Rating. McNeal's defensive rating of 90.4 was better than the team's average of 93.3.