Dean Oliver box scores

last updated: Jan 22, 2025

https://espnanalytics.com/nba-daily-summary

via an interview with Owen Phillips

I always had my own custom box scores that incorporated a lot of what I cared about. I've had them for 20 years, putting new things in and modifying parts here and there. At ESPNAnalytics.com, we're actually rolling out a basic version of my box scores this coming week. It will have information on player value, how good the starters vs bench were, defensive information, the Four Factors, and so forth. We'll grow it from this point and make it better, but it's pretty good now. For me, that's my cheat sheet.

I'm not sure what net points are, he says:

Net Points: Points above average created on offense/defense by teams and players. Should add up to point differential (or very close).

but it's not clear to me exactly what that means.

He also has boxes for best/worst overall/offense/defense, again sorted by "net points":

If you click into the detailed box score, you get this:

The presentation of all of this could definitely use some work; I like some aspects of it and should consider them as I go forward with my game logs.


This review of Oliver's new book has a description of the stat:

He uses various data sources (box score, play-by-play, player tracking) to assign the credit/blame to each player on the court every time a play happens. So like if you have a pick and roll, and the ball handler makes a pull up 3 pointer as the defender goes under the screen. That's 3 points. How much were because of the guy that made the shot? How much for the screener? How much for the other offensive players providing spacing? How much for the defense making good/bad plays? Add that up over the course of the season, and the output is some kind of +/- number.

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