True Shooting Percentage

[cdif911]

After reading Steve's article today it brought me back to this idea of "true shooting percentage" and how good of a measure it is of a player's offensive ability - I've heard the term tossed around a lot, but I never actually knew what it meant, so I did about 42 seconds of research and came to this:

"TS% True Shooting Percentage calculates what a player’s shooting percentage would be if we accounted for free throws and 3-pointers. True Shooting Percentage = (Total points x 50) divided by [(FGA + (FTA x 0.44)]" - From Hollinger's Player statistics on ESPN

Now I'm not 100% sure I get the formula, as I don't see 3 pointers being taken into account, and I'm not sure if I think free throws should really be added in.

that said, this statistic turns up some interesting guys in the top 10 in the league, my guess would be b/c they play so close to the basket....

1) Bynum
2) A. Stoudemire
3) B. Barry
4) J. Childress
5) E. Dampier
6) S. Nash
7) C. Landry
A. Biedrins
9) Perk
10) T. Chandler
11) Our own Big Bad Leon Powe

not guys you generally think of as great shooters, outside of Nash and Barry...

so what is this stat good for measuring for? Is it useful? chime in y'all

[wdleehi]

It is a nice tool, but a more useful one when you break it down by position. 

[Roy Hobbs]

I prefer eFG%, to look at just field goals, but accounting for threes.  It shows who the best shooters from the floor are.

As wdleehi says, though, you need to compare by position, as well as by the number of shot attempts and the type of game a player has. 

A good place to look to see how effective a player is from certain parts of the floor is www.nba.com/hotspots.  I think that's an absolutely fascinating site, and really allows you to see who the great shooters are, and who just shoots a high percentage because they get a lot of layups / inside baskets.