Since the introduction of the +/-, a few people have mentioned they would like to see a tempo free version. A tempo free version is intended to ignore the pace at which teams play. There are 347 Division 1 college basketball programs and they all have coaches who attempt to recruit kids who fit their program. Some coaches prefer to slow the game down as much as possible with a sagging defense and a patient offense (Doc Sadler) while others run up and down the court whenever possible (Texas). In the end, Texas ends up with more possessions and more opportunities to accumulate stats, the difference makes comparing stats across teams somewhat difficult.
Below you'll find my first attempt at a Tempo Free +/-. Before I get into how I did it, I do want to say that I have no clue if I what I did to get rid of the pace is correct. If something is backwards or screwed up, let me know and I'll do what I can to fix it (or forget it all together).
Method: Found the teams +/- per game for the season and then used a multiplier to take all teams to 68.2 possessions per game. Why 68.2? According to KenPom, it is the average number of possessions for games this season. This made sense to at the time but now I'm not sure it should be so simple. The multiplier was the product of 68.2 divided the team's possessions per game according to Statsheet. For example, Texas averages 76.6 possessions per game, so 68.2/76.6 = .890. Texas averages +53.17 per game, multiply that by .890 and you get +47.32. Data first and I'll throw out some more thoughts below.
| NAME | FGA | FTM | FTA | FTMiss | PTS | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | PF | Plus/Minus | Per Game | Tempo Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 1068 | 318 | 449 | 131 | 1530 | 737 | 333 | 227 | 166 | 116 | 323 | 1133 | 62.94 | 60.61 |
| Baylor | 979 | 227 | 339 | 112 | 1343 | 722 | 266 | 247 | 97 | 128 | 298 | 920 | 54.12 | 53.90 |
| Texas | 1166 | 307 | 492 | 185 | 1545 | 809 | 291 | 257 | 157 | 115 | 352 | 957 | 53.17 | 47.32 |
| Missouri | 1142 | 285 | 396 | 111 | 1481 | 675 | 309 | 255 | 225 | 94 | 351 | 925 | 51.39 | 47.43 |
| Iowa State | 1047 | 243 | 391 | 148 | 1364 | 692 | 280 | 245 | 97 | 98 | 274 | 817 | 45.39 | 44.03 |
| Kansas State | 1039 | 403 | 610 | 207 | 1483 | 728 | 277 | 285 | 134 | 89 | 416 | 764 | 42.44 | 39.43 |
| Oklahoma | 1036 | 283 | 385 | 102 | 1345 | 649 | 237 | 224 | 106 | 51 | 278 | 748 | 41.56 | 41.02 |
| Texas Tech | 1084 | 348 | 486 | 138 | 1407 | 691 | 252 | 263 | 129 | 88 | 373 | 709 | 39.39 | 36.12 |
| Colorado | 941 | 358 | 468 | 110 | 1394 | 518 | 262 | 236 | 150 | 47 | 393 | 691 | 38.39 | 37.51 |
| Texas A&M | 979 | 342 | 528 | 186 | 1318 | 673 | 221 | 213 | 118 | 67 | 346 | 673 | 37.39 | 37.17 |
| Oklahoma State | 1060 | 276 | 390 | 114 | 1343 | 674 | 218 | 201 | 111 | 48 | 352 | 667 | 37.06 | 36.36 |
| Nebraska | 965 | 223 | 348 | 125 | 1228 | 584 | 270 | 209 | 136 | 61 | 327 | 653 | 36.28 | 38.06 |
For the visual learners:
Thoughts:
- Surprising to see how fast Texas Tech plays, did Bobby Knight coached teams play faster than I remembered or is this Pat Knight's own doing?
- K-State fans won't be impressed with the +/-, just not a good system for their team. They foul a lot, turn the ball over quite a bit, don't shoot particularly well, and miss a lot of free throws. It will be interesting to see how this plays out with them.
- Oklahoma and Iowa State have me questioning everything I just typed. Neither teams fouls a lot though and that helps them here, it will also help them in close games.
Like I said earlier, this made some sense to me at the time I was doing it. What does everyone else think? I'm more of a fan of the game by game +/- because I think it can highlight some things that are missed when looking at a box score.
