6 Essential Defensive Stats Every Coach Needs
You’ve probably told your team that “defense wins championships”. But do you have the data to see which players are really helping your defense? Here are six types of stats you can use to help make the best possible play-time decisions when it comes to defense. And they are only available in Hoopsalytics.
Def. PPP (Defensive Points per possession)
Defense is nuanced, and traditional stats like Steals and Blocks don’t really give you the full picture. You can get a good idea of who is communicating, helping, and rotating properly by seeing how each player affects the overall defensive points for possession when they are on the floor, versus when they are out. The Hoopsalytics Player Impact report and Player Stats give you this simple number to see which players have the biggest impact on defense.
Non-Shooting Fouls in the Bonus
As a coach there’s nothing I hate more than giving up two free throws on a non-shooting foul when the opposing team is in the bonus. This simple stat can tell you which players are making this mental error.
Blk/Foul and Stl/Foul
Hoopsalytics can tell you who you’re “cleanest” defenders are by showing the ratio of blocked shots to shooting fouls, and steals to non-shooting fouls. (Yes, Hoopsalytics tracks different kinds of fouls, unlike our competitors.)
Def. 2pt% and Def. 3pt%
How well do your opponents shoot 2s and 3s when each player is on the floor? These metrics will tell you the strength of each of your players’ defense. For example, if you have a player that makes the opponents’ two-point percentage worse, but three-point percentage better, it’s likely that they are over-helping and leaving their mark open for uncontested threes.
Def TO%
What is the turnover percentage for your opponents when each player is on the floor? This simple stat will let you know who to put in the game when the goal is to force turnovers.
Real Example
Here is a (user customizable) defensive box score from the 2025 Florida Gators NCAA Tournament Championship run showing the stats described above:
Hoopsalytics has even more to offer for defensive-minded coaches who want to be better, including adding your own events for defensive fails (or praises), or tracking “kills” (three consecutive stops in a row).
Are you ready to go beyond basic stats and get a clearer picture of who your real defensive stars are? Make the change to the modern, in-depth stats and analytics that only Hoopsalytics provides, and start making the best possible data-driven coaching decisions today.
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