Blogs > The Full-Court Press

Welcome back to the Trentonian's Full-Court Press blog. Yes, we're still alive, and with the 2015-16 season rapidly approaching, it's time to fire up the old blog for another season. Check back here throughout the year for updates on all things Rider and Princeton, including coverage of both the MAAC and Ivy League. Feel free to drop me a line on twitter @kj_franko (https://twitter.com/kj_franko) or email kfranko@trentonian.com.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Inside the Numbers: Ian Hummer



Anyone who watches Princeton knows that Ian Hummer’s importance to the Tigers isn’t totally reflected by his stat line of 14.4 points, 6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. Those numbers are impressive, but they don’t reflect just how much of what Princeton does goes through the 6-foot-7 forward.

Thankfully, nerdy guys on the Internet have come up with a solution to this problem.

Thanks to the people at sports-reference.com, we can get a sense of just how much impact Hummer has had when he’s been on the court. He is currently leading the Ivy League in a rare combination of advanced metrics—usage percentage and assist percentage—which is more impressive when you understand what those two stats measure.

Usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when he was on the floor (or, for you math majors out there 100 * ((FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV) * (Tm MP / 5)) / (MP * (Tm FGA + 0.44 * Tm FTA + Tm TOV)). Basically, what’s being measured is how involved an individual player is in the offense. This rewards primary scorers who are not necessarily the most efficient players but are able to create their own shot.

Hummer has usage percentage of 31.9, more than four points higher than the next best in the Ivy, Dartmouth’s Gabas Maldunas at 27.8. To put that in perspective, the three highest usage percentages in the NBA right now are Carmelo Anthony (34.3), Kobe Bryant (32) and Russell Westbrook (31.1), high volume scorers one and all.

That, however, is only half the story. Hummer also leads the Ivy—and is sixth in the nation—in assist percentage, which is an estimate of the percentage of his teammates field goals a player assisted while he was on the floor (or, you know, 100 * AST / (((MP / (Tm MP / 5)) * Tm FG) – FG)).

Hummer has an astonishing assist percentage of 44.4. Yale’s Michael Grace is in second place, with 29.8. The top 13 NBA players in this stat are all point guards. The first forward? LeBron James at 32.7.

In short, Hummer has has been both the most primary offensive weapon and the most effective distributor during his time on the floor in the Ivy League this season.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home