I discovered a useful little statistical anomaly recently –
it pertains to turnovers, offensive errors that result in a change of
possession.
In box-scores these days, each player’s official miscues
(from offensive fouls to ball-handling blunders) are compiled, and frequently
fodder for opinion/analysis – of both the saber-metric and bar-stool variety.
But if we look further down in a box-score, we’re also
provided a Team Total for Turnovers, as well as the opponents’ offensive
benefit therefrom. Often the Team Total for Turnovers is the same as the sum of
the players’ individual totals; never is it less than that sum.
However, with some frequency, the Team Turnover Total
exceeds the tally of all the players’.
What specifically constitutes such an “unassigned” turnover?
A 24- or 10-second violation? If a team is unable to in-bound a dead ball and
thus loses a possession, does the unsuccessfully-inbounding player get a “black
mark” in the book, or does the Team?
The useful piece of information, at least to this Stat Geek,
is that the Total of Team Turnovers (for Opponents, as well) at basketball-reference
for the 2014 WNBA regular season includes only TO’s charged to an individual
player.
The turnover numbers at WNBA.com’s team sites are higher
than those at basketball-reference – and do correspond precisely to these “extra
TO’s” cited in the box scores.
For what it’s worth, here’s how the teams rank in committing
and causing this type of turnover. Whatever it is, it happened 377 times this
season.
Fewest Committed /
Most Forced
New York (7) / Phoenix
(43)
Atlanta (14) / Los
Angeles (42)
Chicago
(22) / Atlanta (40)
Minnesota
(25) / Connecticut (37)
Phoenix
(26) / Indiana (33)
Los
Angeles (28) / Seattle (33)
Seattle
(36) / Minnesota (30)
Tulsa
(39) / New York (28)
Indiana
(42) / Tulsa (26)
Washington
(44) / San Antonio (25)
Connecticut (47) / Washington
(22)
San Antonio (47) / Chicago
(18)
You know, I just might have something here – if I only knew
what I was talking about.
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