In the summer of 2021, the Bill Laimbeer-led Las Vegas Aces attempted a measly 432 three-point shots in their 32 games (roughly 13.5 per game) … less than half as many as not one but two separate teams (New York and Washington), and 120 fewer than the circuit’s second-most reluctant long-ballers (Indiana). [Worthy of note, the Aces’ .375 rate of accuracy did rank the No. 2 for the season.]
The opportunity to lead her former team, the re-located San Antonio Silver Stars, lured WNBA legend Becky
Hammon away from Greg Popovich’s staff, and the clever playmaker has imposed
more versatility on the team’s offensive attack, particularly in their usage of
the three-point arc – their per game attempts have almost doubled to 25, while
the connect rate has improved to a league-best .380.
Here’s what the average 2022 WNBA game performance looks
like, numerically.
[All data reflects play through Thursday, June 2. An explanation of the criteria is available below.]
Possessions: 79.4
Points: 81.4 [PPP:
1.025]
FG: 29.4 – 67.8, .433
3FG: 7.6 – 21.9, .346
3PAr/Usage rate: .324
FT: 15.1 – 19.1, .789
(Off – Tot) Reb: 8.5 – 34.6
[OR% .246]
TO: 14.1 [TO% .156]
No. 1 Las Vegas Aces, 9-2
(13)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 2]
KK: +2; (3 Road Wins
– 1 Home Loss) / No. 1 overall (tied)
Flow: +3.82; (46.5 stops
OF opp [No. 3] – 42.6 stops BY opp [No. 3] / No. 2 overall
Striping: +0.55;
(+2.59) conversions [No. 2] – (+2.05) opp conversions [No. 7] / No. 6 overall
SPOR-t: +27; (524
[No. 6] – 497 [No. 5]) / No. 2 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Aces rank No.1 in both shooting (.380) and defending (.299) the 3FG.
No. 2 Connecticut Sun, 7-3 (14)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 3]
KK: +2; (3 Road Wins
– 1 Home Loss) / No. 1 overall (tied)
Flow: +4.50; (46.2 stops
OF opp [No. 5] – 41.7 stops BY opp [No. 1] / No. 1 overall
Striping: -0.70; (+1.00)
conversions [No. 10] – (+1.70) conversions [No. 5] / No. 9 overall
SPOR-t: +172; (634
[No. 1] – 462 [No. 2]) / No. 1 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Sun rank first in OR% (.345) and second in DR% (.771).
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Masters of the Craft
(Part 1)
Which teams are
performing the rudimentary skills of the game most proficiently at both ends of
the floor? Let’s consider six elements of play: FG shooting, three-point
shooting, Points per Game, Offensive Rebounding, the matter of turnovers and
the SPOR-t score of our ratings. These teams hold a Top Four rank offensively
and defensively:
FG%: Chicago, Las
Vegas
3FG%: Atlanta,
Connecticut, Las Vegas
PPG: Connecticut
OR%: Connecticut
TO%: Dallas, Seattle
SPOR-t: Connecticut
No. 3 Washington Mystics,
7-3 (16)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 1]
KK: +2; (4 Road Wins
– 2 Home Losses) / No. 1 overall (tied)
Flow: +2.80; (45.8 stops
OF opp [No. 6] – 43.0 stops BY opp [No. 4] / No. 3 overall
Striping: +0.50;
(+2.20) conversions [No. 6] – (+1.70) opp conversions [No. 5] / No. 7 overall
SPOR-t: +23; (517
[No. 7] – 494 [No. 4]) / No. 3 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Mystics force three more TO’s per game than they commit.
No. 4 Atlanta Dream, 6-3 (20.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 5]
KK: +1; (3 Road Win –
2 Home Losses) / No. 6 overall
Flow: -0.78; (48.6 stops
OF opp [No. 1] – 49.3 stops BY opp [No. 11] / No. 7 overall
Striping: +1.50;
[+2.39) conversions [No. 4] – (+0.89) conversions [No. 2] / No. 1 overall
SPOR-t: +3; (440 [No.
4] – 437 [No. 10]) / No. 6 overall (tied)
Abacus Revelation: The Dream’s stingy defense has allowed opponents
a paltry .379 FG%.
No.4 Dallas Wings,
5-4 (20.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 6]
KK: +2; (4 Road Wins
– 2 Home Losses) / No. 1 overall (tied)
Flow: -2.00; (42.0 stops
OF opp [No. 12] – 44.0 stops BY opp [No. 5] / No. 9 overall
Striping: +1.39; (+2.50)
conversions [No. 3] – (+1.11) conversions [No. 4] / No. 2 overall
SPOR-t: +3; (532 [No.
4] – 529 [No. 7]) / No. 6 overall (tied)
Abacus Revelation:
The Wings rank ninth in FG% … but fifth in per-game scoring.
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Scoring Pace 58 games
100+ points: 5 games
90-99 points: 24
games
80-89 points: 35
games
70-79 points: 39
games
60-69 points: 9 games
<60 points: 4
games
No. 6 Seattle Storm, 5-3
(21.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 7]
KK: -1; (0 Road Wins
– 1 Home Loss) / No. 8 overall (tied)
Flow: +1.75; (48.3 stops
OF opp [No. 2] – 46.5 stops BY opp [No. 9] / No. 6 overall
Striping: +1.00;
(+3.44) conversions [No. 1] - (+2.44) opp conversions [No. 9] / No. 3 overall
SPOR-t: +22; (497
[No. 9] – 482 [No. 3]) / No. 4 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Storm’s atrocious .404 FG% ranks them No. 11.
No. 7 Chicago Sky, 5-3 (22)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 4]
KK: 0; (2 Road Wins –
2 Home Losses) / No. 7 overall
Flow: +1.88; (46.3 stops
OF opp [No. 4] – 44.4 stops BY opp [No. 7] / No. 5 overall
Striping: +0.81; (+1.69)
conversions [No. 9] – (+0.88) opp conversions [No. 1] / No. 5 overall
SPOR-t: +10; (517
[No. 7] – 507 [No. 6]) / No. 5 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The “defending” champions rank 9th in DR% (.745) and 8th in forcing TO’s
(.150).
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Scoring Differential 58
games
1-5 points: 14 games
6-10 points: 20 games
11-15 points: 7 games
16-20 points: 7 games
>20: 10 games
No. 8 Los Angeles Sparks,
5-6 (28)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 8]
KK: +2; (3 Road Wins
– 1 Home Loss) / No. 1 overall (tied)
Flow: +2.00; (43.8
stops OF opp [No. 9] – 41.8 stops BY opp [No. 2] / No. 4 overall
Striping: -2.32;
(+0.18) conversions [No. 11] – (+2.50) opp conversions [No. 10]) / No. 11
overall
SPOR-t: -44; (530
[No. 5] – 574 [No. 12]) / No. 10 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The sharp-shooting (.480) Sparks rank first in FG% … with 9 fewer 3FGA’s per
game.
No. 9 Indiana Fever, 3-9
(36)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 9]
KK: -4; (1 Road Win –
5 Home Losses) / No. 12 overall
Flow: -4.58; (43.8 stops
OF opp [No. 8] – 48.4 stops BY opp [No. 10] / No. 11 overall
Striping: +0.92;
(+1.96) conversions [No. 7] – (+1.04) conversions [No. 3) / No. 4 overall
SPOR-t: -36; (533
[No. 3] – 569 [No. 11]) / No. 9 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Fever yield a league-worst 89.2 ppg.
No. 10 Minnesota Lynx, 2-8
(38)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 10]
KK: -2; (1 Road Win –
3 Home Losses) / No. 10 overall
Flow: -1.10; (43.2 stops
OF opp [No. 11] – 44.3 stops BY opp [No. 6] / No. 8 overall
Striping: -2.55;
(0.00) conversions [No. 12] – (+2.55) opp conversions [No. 11] / No. 12 overall
SPOR-t: -1; (537 [No.
2] – 538 [No. 7]) / No. 8 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Lynx rank 10th in 3FG% (.320) and 9th in defending treys (.370)..
ABACUS INFOMERCIAL
Masters of the Craft
(Part 2)
Are not the
exceptionally inept worthy of some recognition? Here are the teams that hold a
Bottom Four offensive and defensive ranking in our key elements of play: FG
shooting, three-point shooting, PPG, Offensive Rebounding, Turnovers and SPOR-t.
FG%: Dallas, Indiana
3FG%: Minnesota, New
York, Phoenix
PPG: Minnesota, Phoenix
OR%: Los Angeles, New
York
TO%: Minnesota, New
York
SPOR-t: Phoenix
No. 11 Phoenix Mercury,
2-7 (39.5)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 11]
KK: -1; (1 Road Win –
2 Home Losses) / No. 8 overall (tied)
Flow: -2.44; (43.2 stops
OF opp [No. 10] – 45.7 stops BY opp [No. 8] / No. 10 overall
Striping: -0.83;
(+1.94) conversions [No. 8] – (+2.78) opp conversions [No. 12] / No. 10 overall
SPOR-t: -76; (466
[No. 10] – 542 [No. 10]) / No. 11 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Mercury and their opponents have each attempted 157 free throws.
No. 12 New York Liberty,
2-7 (43)
[2-week Abacus Rank: No. 12]
KK: -3; (0 Road Wins
– 3 Home Losses) / No. 11 overall
Flow: -5.56; (44.4 stops
OF opp [No. 7] – 50.0 stops BY opp [No. 12] / No. 12 overall
Striping: +0.28;
(+2.39) conversions [No. 4] – (+2.11) opp conversions [No. 8] / No. 8 overall
SPOR-t: -140; (398
[No. 12] – 538 [No. 8]) / No. 12 overall
Abacus Revelation:
The Liberty lead the “W” in 3FG usage (40.2% of their FGA’s).
Abacus Revelation for
the Road / Random Ranking – Per-game Differential in Free-Throw Attempts
In its first 58 games, WNBA 2022 produced exactly 2,214
free-throw attempts – an average of 18.1 per game per team.
Las Vegas +5.73 FTA’s
per game [22.1 (No. 3) – 16.4 (No. 3)]
Minnesota +4.50 FTA’s
per game [23.1 (No. 1) – 18.6 (No. 6)]
Connecticut +3.70
FTA’s per game [22.7 (No. 2) – 19.0 (No. 7)]
Seattle +1.75 FTA’s
per game [15.1 (No. 12) – 13.4 (No. 1)]
Washington +1.30
FTA’s per game [16.2 (No. 11) – 14.9 (No. 2)]
Los Angeles +0.09
FTA’s per game [22.1 (No. 4) – 22.0 (No. 10)]
Phoenix 0.00 FTA’s
per game [17.4 (No. 7) – 17.4 (No. 4)]
Dallas -0.33 FTA’s
per game [20.1 (No. 5) – 20.4 (No. 8)]
Chicago -0.75 FTA’s
per game [17.0 (No. 8) – 17.8 (No. 5)]
Atlanta -4.78 FTA’s
per game [16.8 (No. 9) – 21.6 (No. 9)]
Indiana -5.67 FTA’s
per game [17.9 (No. 6) – 23.6 (No. 12)]
New York -5.89 FTA’s
per game [16.3 (No. 10) – 22.2 (No. 11)]
The Grading Scale
“Flow”: this calculation puts a
number to a team’s unsuccessful possessions (i.e. the other guys’ “stops”).
Just take their missed field goals (attempts minus makes), subtract the
offensive rebounds, and then add the turnovers. The “scores” represent per-game
performance.
“Striping”: this calculation
measures the impact of missed free throws and made treys. By subtracting the
former from the latter [3’s minus missed FT’s], we identify a team’s gain or
loss in points through “specialty shooting.” Again the “scores” are per-game.
(A further division by two converts “points” to “conversions” – thus they can
be combined with the “Flow” score.)
KK: Karl Kount – named for George
Karl – is a way to measure a team’s grit and savvy through its ability to
defend its home court and win on the road, a simple calculation for generally
reliable info.
“SPOR-t”: SPOR-t stands for
“Shooting Plus Offensive Rebounds minus turnovers.” Add a team’s FG percentage
and its offensive rebounding percentage (o. boards divided by the sum of those
o. boards and the opposition's d. boards). Then subtract the percentage of a
team’s possessions lost to turnovers. For example, a team shoots field goals at
a .488 clip, offensive rebounds at a rate of .199, and commits a turnover on .143
of its possessions. So its SPOR-t is (488+199-143) or 544. Once again, our
measurement will be the difference between the SPOR-t scores of a team and its
opposition.
We’ll rank the teams from 1 to 12
in all criteria and simply add up the rankings. Low score wins,
naturally.
