By the Numbers: The Halfway Point

Posted on by Jake Wilson in Brown, By the Numbers, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Ivy League, Penn, Princeton, Yale

We’re done with the first trip through the league, and all eight Ivy teams have played one another at least once. Here’s a look at how they stack up statistically at the midway point of league play. Instead of the usual analysis below the numbers, Mid-Term Report Cards for each individual team will follow.

Offense      
Possessions per 40 minutes
1. Harvard 69.3
2. Penn 64.4
3. Brown 63.8
4. Dartmouth 63.7
5. Yale 63.5
6. Columbia 60.8
7. Cornell 60.6
8. Princeton 52.3
Points per 40 minutes
1. Harvard 68.8
2. Yale 68.8
3. Penn 68.0
4. Brown 63.6
5. Columbia 62.8
6. Dartmouth 59.7
7. Cornell 59.4
8. Princeton 45.1
Points per possession
1. Yale 1.08
2. Penn 1.06
3. Columbia 1.03
4. Brown 1.00
5. Harvard 0.99
6. Cornell 0.98
7. Dartmouth 0.94
8. Princeton 0.86
Effective FG percentage
1. Yale .554
2. Brown .541
3. Penn .515
4. Cornell .507
5. Columbia .500
6. Harvard .471
7. Dartmouth .469
8. Princeton .446
       
Two-point percentage
1. Yale .550
2. Brown .546
3. Cornell .508
4. Harvard .500
5. Dartmouth .491
6. Penn .491
7. Princeton .442
8. Columbia .434
Three-point percentage
1. Columbia .426
2. Penn .383
3. Yale .376
4. Brown .357
5. Cornell .336
6. Princeton .300
7. Dartmouth .265
8. Harvard .257
Three-point frequency
1. Princeton .536
2. Brown .447
3. Cornell .330
4. Columbia .322
5. Yale .309
6. Penn .285
7. Harvard .251
8. Dartmouth .233
Possessions per FT attempt
1. Yale 2.63
2. Harvard 2.99
3. Brown 3.09
4. Penn 3.52
5. Cornell 3.56
6. Columbia 3.58
7. Dartmouth 4.79
8. Princeton 5.42
       
Free throw percentage
1. Brown .782
2. Harvard .778
3. Columbia .743
4. Penn .695
5. Dartmouth .685
6. Yale .674
7. Cornell .669
8. Princeton .629
Assist percentage
1. Penn .636
2. Brown .611
3. Princeton .586
4. Cornell .538
5. Columbia .520
6. Dartmouth .500
7. Yale .473
8. Harvard .439
Turnover percentage
1. Penn .184
2. Dartmouth .197
3. Columbia .212
4. Princeton .214
5. Yale .219
6. Brown .239
7. Harvard .240
8. Cornell .262
Offensive rebounding
1. Harvard .375
2. Cornell .374
3. Yale .330
4. Columbia .325
5. Penn .304
6. Dartmouth .280
7. Princeton .243
8. Brown .195
       
Defense      
Points per 40 minutes
1. Princeton 53.2
2. Penn 54.0
3. Cornell 56.1
4. Yale 61.8
5. Columbia 63.5
6. Dartmouth 64.6
7. Brown 67.3
8. Harvard 74.3
Points per possession
1. Penn 0.84
2. Cornell 0.93
3. Yale 0.97
4. Dartmouth 1.00
5. Princeton 1.01
6. Columbia 1.04
7. Brown 1.07
8. Harvard 1.08
Effective FG percentage
1. Penn .429
2. Cornell .456
3. Dartmouth .468
4. Harvard .516
5. Yale .516
6. Brown .526
7. Columbia .539
8. Princeton .561
Two-point percentage
1. Penn .406
2. Dartmouth .465
3. Cornell .472
4. Brown .490
5. Columbia .521
6. Princeton .528
7. Yale .532
8. Harvard .566
       
Three-point percentage
1. Cornell .270
2. Penn .281
3. Princeton .300
4. Yale .340
5. Dartmouth .346
6. Harvard .351
7. Columbia .375
8. Brown .399
Three-point frequency
1. Princeton .243
2. Penn .262
3. Dartmouth .274
4. Cornell .322
5. Brown .360
6. Yale .368
7. Harvard .375
8. Columbia .401
Possessions per FT attempt
1. Cornell 5.26
2. Yale 4.09
3. Penn 3.93
4. Brown 3.74
5. Harvard 3.73
6. Princeton 3.05
7. Columbia 2.95
8. Dartmouth 2.39
Assist percentage
1. Penn .376
2. Dartmouth .432
3. Columbia .491
4. Cornell .497
5. Yale .500
6. Princeton .629
7. Harvard .662
8. Brown .710
       
Turnover percentage
1. Princeton .245
2. Dartmouth .235
3. Penn .234
4. Columbia .228
5. Yale .215
6. Brown .214
7. Cornell .207
8. Harvard .205
Steal percentage
1. Penn .134
2. Princeton .125
3. Dartmouth .107
4. Yale .098
5. Harvard .097
6. Brown .091
7. Columbia .084
8. Cornell .072
Defensive rebounding
1. Yale .766
2. Columbia .710
3. Cornell .689
4. Penn .684
5. Harvard .681
6. Brown .676
7. Dartmouth .668
8. Princeton .659
 

 

A stats primer

Statistic Formula What it measures
Possessions per 40 minutes 40 x ((FGA + FTA – (0.475 x FTA) – OR) / MIN) Pace of play: The number of possessions a team averages over a 40-minute regulation game. An average tempo is around 67.0 possessions per 40 minutes.
Points per 40 minutes 40 x (PTS / MIN) Raw scoring average, adjusted only for games that go longer than regulation.
Points per possession PTS / POS Sometimes called offensive or defensive efficiency, this is the absolute best statistical measurement of offensive and defensive performance around. With pace of play taken out of the equation, this puts all teams on a level playing field. It is a reflection of how efficiently a team — or its opponent — uses an an average possession. It’s not actually 1.00 exactly, but think of an even point per possession as average.
Effective field goal percentage (FGM x (0.5 x 3PM))/FGA A smarter field goal percentage, effective field goal shooting takes into account the extra point value of a three-pointer, and adjusts for this. You can use 50.0 percent as an average value.
Two-point percentage (FGM – 3PM) / (FGA – 3PA) Simply the shooting percentage inside the three-point arc. Think of 48.0 percent as a good middle point.
Three-point percentage 3PM / 3PA This one is simple, obvious, and ubiquitous. Between 34.0 and 35.0 percent is normal.
Three-point frequency 3PA / FGA Otherwise known as three-point reliance, this measures the percentage of shots that come from three-point range. Most teams take around one-third of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Possessions per free throw attempt POS / FTA Also called free throw frequency or free throw rate, this stat shows how adept a team is at getting to the free throw line on offense or keeeping opponents off the line defensively. 3.50 possessions per attempt is an average frequency.
Free throw percentage FTM / FTA One of the more basic statistics around — though many people don’t realize 68.0 to 69.0 percent is middle-of-the-road free throw shooting.
Assist percentage AST / FGM Occasionally known as assist rate, it’s the percentage of shots on which an assist is recorded. Offensively, this is often a measurement of whether a team is getting its points out of offensive sets (high) or one-on-one play (low), while defensively it can be read as a reflection on team defense, with a high percentage calling into question a team’s off-ball defense and a lower one indicating on-ball defense is suspect. A normal rate is between 54.0 and 55.0 percent.
Turnover percentage TO / POS Simply a measurement of turnover frequency, normalized for pace of play. A turnover percentage of around 22.0 percent is considered average.
Steal percentage STL / POS The percentage of possessions in which a steal is recorded. Use an even 10.0 percent as the 50th percentile here.
Rebounding percentage OR / (OR + DR) Rather than just using raw rebounding numbers that are distorted by the field goal and free throw misses, rebounding percentage gives a bias-free look at how a team does given the number of rebounding opportunities. Generally, the offensive team will grab the rebound of its own miss one-third of the time, so a 33.3-66.7 ratio is the norm.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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