Recruiting Posts

Just as an FYI on my recruiting posts, I will basically just be gathering all the information I can find on a player. Unless I get adventurous in the fall, all information on a recruit I write myself will be second-hand unless a game is televised. The sources I trust the most at this point in time on the message board would be UWOle and builtbadgers. If anyone thinks of others that are trustworthy enough for me to take info from them for my recruiting compliations, feel free to send me a PM on the BadgerNation board.

Explanation of Statistics and Terms

For starters, I must give proper respect and sourcing for the statistical analysis I will use in this blog, because I didn't come up with any of them, rather just subscribe to their ability to explain things. The statistics were formulated by Ken Pomeroy, John Hollinger, and Dean Oliver, and brought to my attention by John Gasaway, the artist formerly known as Big Ten Wonk, and turomon and badgermaniac on the BadgerNation message boards.

The following statistics and terms will be used extensively in this blog...

Offensive Efficiency/Points Per Possession: offense's points / # of possessions... tempo or pace-free stat to show an offense's ability to score

Defensive Efficiency/Points Per Possession: points allowed / # of possessions... tempo or pace-free stat to show a defense's ability to stop the opponent from scoring

Offensive Rebounding Rate: offensive rebounds/ (offensive rebounds + defensive rebounds)... meant to show how well an offense is at creating second chance opportunities

Defensive Rebounding Rate: defensive rebounds/ (offensive rebounds + defensive rebounds)... meant to show how well a defense is at preventing second chance opportunities

Free Throw Rate: free throw attempts / field goal attempts... meant to show how often a team gives to the free throw line

Turnover Rate: turnovers / possessions... meant to show how turnover-prone a team is

Steal Rate: steals / possessions... meant to show how often a team forces a turnover via a steal or how often an offense gets their pockets picked

Block Rate: blocks / 2 point field goals attempted... meant to show how often a team blocks shots or gets their shots blocked

Effective Field Goal Percentage: (field goals made + 0.5 x 3-point field goals made) / field goals attempted... meant to give 3-pointers their proper weight in a shooting percentage

Points Per Weighted Shot: points / (field goals attempted + (0.475 x free throw attempts))... meant to show how efficient a player is at shooting

Offensive Rating: points / possessions ended by certain player... offensive efficiency for an individual player

Usage Rate: possessions ended by certain player / possessions during their time on the court... meant to show how much of a focal point a player is on the offense while they are on the court