Now that the 2004-05 stats are up at Basketball-Reference.com, I thought I’d update the tables from my historical analysis of shooting efficiency in the NBA. As it turns out, 2004-05 may go down as the year the league’s tinkering finally yielded some results in terms of improved offensive efficiency and increased tempo, resulting in just the second season in a decade with an average team scoring above 97 points/game and the best shooting efficiency since they moved the three point line back eight years ago. Here’s the new tables, including revised historical averages incorporating the new numbers:
The 2000s
| Season | P/G | 2% | 3% | FT% | PPFGA | FGA/G | FT/P | FGA/FTA | %3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 97.5 | .468 | .353 | .750 | 1.046 | 93.2 | 19.5 | 3.25 | 16.7 |
| 2000-01 | 94.8 | .461 | .353 | .747 | 1.036 | 91.5 | 19.6 | 3.24 | 17.0 |
| 2001-02 | 95.5 | .465 | .354 | .753 | 1.041 | 91.8 | 18.8 | 3.41 | 18.1 |
| 2002-03 | 95.1 | .463 | .350 | .757 | 1.039 | 91.5 | 19.5 | 3.31 | 18.2 |
| 2003-04 | 93.4 | .460 | .347 | .752 | 1.032 | 90.5 | 19.5 | 3.30 | 18.7 |
| 2004-05 | 97.2 | .470 | .355 | .756 | 1.059 | 91.8 | 20.3 | 3.08 | 19.6 |
| Average | 103.4 | .444 | .340 | .741 | 0.996 | 103.8 | 21.7 | 2.98 | 10.6 |
You’ll see that all the elements of offensive efficiency were up – shooting percentages from all distances were up, as were three pointers and free throws as a percentage of field goal attempts. These figures are reflected in the numbers for the league’s top players and teams, notably several players on Phoenix (check the 1.23 PSA – another abbreviation for PPFGA – on Amare Stoudamire, who attempted nearly 800 free throws this season) and Miami. Also look at Kevin Garnett’s career high 1.13 mark, as Garnett easily set career highs in free throw attempts and FT% while cutting his shot attempts and matching his career best FG%.
A lot of this can be attributed to the re-emergence of the running game (PHX, DAL, DEN), especially in the West that had slowed a bit due to Shaq-itis. Running a set offense also allows the defense to get into place.
And, yes, it also helps on the 3s.
Maybe so,but 27 years ago today,Mar.9,1979,the Pistons
had their highest scoring home game when they routed
the pre-Bird-McHale-Parish Celtics,160-117.And,of course,they and the Denver Nuggets combined for a league record 370 Dec.13,1983(Detroit 186,Denver 184
in triple overtime.)At 52,I pine for the 126-125 games of the ’60’s through the Doug Moe motion offense days of
the late ’80’s and early ’90’s.Culprit for today’s low-sco-
ring era:Mike Fratello,who while with Cleveland pio-
neered holding the ball for 23 seconds on almost every
possession.