Duke 86, Georgetown 84: Ray Floriani's Intro To Effectiveness Factor

New York City -­ Georgetown and Duke meeting at the Garden affords an appropriate time for a new metric. Actually, this one has been around and utilized by yours truly for a number of years. The introduction here, though, is new.

In 1998, (last century, I know) Arthur Litton wrote a tidy little softback book, ‘How to Grade and Rank Every Basketball Player In History.’ Litton, an engineer by profession and basketball fanatic by avocation, searched for that formula, able to measure performance mostly in players, though it could be employed with teams.

Litton reasoned points, more of them that is, win games. If the actions contributing or hindering points can be measured, we will have a measure of performance. “Each player can be ranked according to the rate at which he or she accumulates points,” he wrote. “Evaluated points allow players to be evaluated on an equal basis regardless of their game positions.” In other words, point guards may accumulate steals and assists while interior players contribute more in rebounds and blocked shots. The basic formula, perfect according to Litton, for coaches (and writers) during game action is as follows:

EF (effectiveness factor) = (Pts + Rebs + Assists + Steals + blocked shots) - ­TO

To take it a bit farther, one can divide EF by minutes to get another numbers. Those breakdowns, per Litton:

.000 -­ .599 = average

.600­ - .799 = good

.800­ - .899 = very good

.900­ - .999 = stars


1.000 or above = exceptional to outstanding

Let us look at the Georgetown­-Duke numbers from the 2K Classic final, a thrilling 86­-84 victory for the Blue Devils. The concentration, for now, will be on double-figure scorers:

Duke:
Grayson Allen (Effectiveness factor 41, EF per minute 1.08)
Derryck Thornton (EF 15, EF per minute .441)
Matt Jones (EF 19, EF per minute .500)

Georgetown:
Isaac Copeland (EF 29, EF per minute .744)
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (EF 21, EF per minute .617)
Kaleb Johnson (EF 19, EF per minute .837)
L.J. Peak (EF 17, EF per minute .739)

Grayson Allen of Duke, with a 32-point game-high and four assists against two turnovers, turned in an outstanding performance, one earning him tournament MVP honors. Johnson of Georgetown, a 6-6 freshman swingman, turned in an outing of 14 points and four rebounds to earn a high effectiveness rate for the Hoyas.

Final Thoughts
“There was a stretch where they made their run, but we had good luck and the ball didn’t go in. The whole game, both teams had an answer. There was one stretch (late) we didn’t answer. We got stagnant and stopped moving.” - Georgetown coach John Thompson III

“The (Duke) 1­-3-­1 slowed us down a bit, but we still got chances.” ­ - Thompson

“Just a war. A game befitting a championship game. They (Georgetown) are a program like we are a program, they know how to win like we know or think we know how to win. The first 12 minutes we were disorganized, but Grayson (Allen) kept us in. The best thing for us was they way we started the second half (a 17-­7 run over four minutes).” - ­Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski

“Grayson had a spectacular game. To score 32 points on 12 shots is just incredible.” - Krzyzewski

“Three hellacious games in six days on the road is a heck of a thing. To win a championship is great.” - Krzyzewski

“We practice it (1­-3-­1) and I think it helped us. It kept them (Georgetown) from driving too easy on us.” ­- Krzyzewski