Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="malpearl31, post: 2973641, member: 6520"]
It's as simple as you probably think it is.  Assume your team wins the tip.  That's your first possession.  The possession ends when you either score (most likely a 2-pt or 3-pt field goal) or turn the ball over, or don't collect an offensive rebound.  (But note, you could secure multiple offensive rebounds on any given possession - but it's still counted as that same one possession.)  How many points did you score on that possession?  If you hit a 3-pointer, your offensive PPP is now 3.0.  If your next possession ends in a missed shot or a turnover, now your offensive PPP stands at 1.5 for the game.

At the end of the day, points-per-possession is what it's all about - you want your offense to have a high one, and you want your defensive PPP to be low.  And there are many different ways to get to a low PPP on defense.  There's been a bunch of chatter on these boards about 3-pt shooting percentage over the past couple of days... and it's an important stat, for sure, but one thing I think a lot of people miss about Boeheim's zone is that we historically turn our opponents over at a pretty high rate.  (We were 11th best in the nation in that category this year - we forced turnovers by our opponents on 23.1% of their possessions.)  Theoretically, you could allow a team to shoot 75% from the floor against you - but if you force that team to turn it over on 50% of their total possessions, you're probably gonna win that game.
[/QUOTE]

Verification

What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?