Although basketball has been around for almost 125 years, it is a sport that continues to grow when it comes to analytics. In recent years, more and more information is being sent to players and coaches in the form of advanced statistics. One of my favorites is the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) developed by John Hollinger a few years ago.
In general, this rating is designed to reduce all of a player’s contributions to one number. Using a detailed formula, Hollinger developed a system that rates each player’s statistical performance.
The average rating for National Basketball Association players is 15.0. NBA superstars frequently have a rating in the top 20. College and high school grades will be significantly lower than NBA grades, but more on that in a bit.
The formula Hollinger uses is complex, but I think it’s a very accurate view of how a player is performing while on the court. Because of this, during my days as an assistant coach at the college level, I wanted to see if I could find a way to assess a player’s performance a little faster than using the formula that Hollinger uses.
Fortunately, I was able to find a much easier way to rate players. While this method was easier to calculate, I found it to be very effective and accurate when it came to determining player playing time and predicting who would receive year-end honors. The version of PER you used frequently determined which players were most effective in certain lineups, against certain teams, and their overall positive contribution to your team.
If you are a coach, you may know that you receive a box score between quarters or at half time. This was a time when I diligently scribbled notes to determine the player’s PER.
Let me explain.
Instead of using Hollinger’s formula. I simplified it by looking at the positive contributions a player makes, like points, rebounds, steals, assists, and blocks, and adding those things up. Each positive contribution counts as one point towards the rating. So if a player has 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block, that would add up to a total of 27.…until now.
Subtract the number of negative things that happen in a game. Therefore, turnovers (TO), missed field goals (FG), missed three-pointers (3 points), and missed free throws (FT) count as -1.. I don’t count fouls as negative points, because fouls can be good or bad, depending on the situation. So let’s say the same player above shot 3-10 on FG, 3-5 on FT, 2-4 on 3pts and also had 3 TO, this would equate to a total of negative 14 (-7 for FG, -2 for FTs, -2 for 3pts, -3 for TOs = 14).
Now, remember, this same player had scored 27 positive points. But due to missed shots and turnovers, we have to take away 14 of those points, leaving this player with an adjusted PER of 13. Players who are inefficient will certainly suffer in this ranking.
I found this quick version of the PER extremely useful because I could do the calculations for each player while in the locker room or on the bench. If you do this rating consistently for at least one season, you can determine what the average PER would be for your player types. You can also determine who is likely to be nominated for an award at the end of the season. You can also determine who deserves more game time.
That’s where I found this most useful. If a player only played a few minutes per game, but had a high PER, he would advocate for more playing time for that player.
You might think that a PER is always obvious. It’s not, friend. Sometimes you will see that based on PER some players are helping you much more than they are hurting you or vice versa.
This quick PER was so useful to me during my time as an assistant coach that I asked my assistants to use it when I became head coach. We didn’t have a lot of advanced metrics available to us during my coaching days, but this PER allowed our team to win a divisional championship.
As with any stat, it must be taken in the context of the game. That’s not saying it all, just as a score box isn’t always an accurate reflection of the game. But, this qualification can certainly be useful.
My hope is that it is useful for you too. Good luck, Coach!