Dutch Basketball League Statistical Team Leaders
Groningen ranks 1st at the end of the regular season of the Dutch Basketball League. They will be the clear favorites for the coming playoffs. On their way to the top, they bested many teams, which in their own right, are worth mentioning for their noteworthy accomplishments. There are other winners. Teams that broke records and were the best in particular statistical categories. A lot of these achievements go unnoticed or pass us by without much pomp and circumstance. Most of them are only appreciated when seen through the lenses of advanced statistics and basketball metrics, something not ordinarily appreciated by the pedestrian basketball fan.
CONTEXT IS KEY
The highest scoring team may not always be the best offensive team. Some teams prefer to play an up-tempo style of offense, pushing the ball down the floor and running at every opportunity. On the other side of the coin, are teams that like to “milk the clock” and slowly set up their offense in a half-court set. These contrasting playing styles influence the number of possessions in a game and therefore, the opportunities to score, rebound, and compile other statistics.
IT’S ABOUT THE POSSESSIONS
It is fair and balanced criteria to assess teams and what they do on a per-possession basis, as opposed to a per-game filter because they can be compared more evenly, regardless of the pace of the game. The NBA was the first to use these type of advanced stats. Until today no such data was available for the Dutch Basketball League. Court Side Newspaper is the first source to introduce it.
LONGEST STREAK
Groningen stayed undefeated for 16 games in a row in the Dutch Basketball League. Their run came to an end in and against Den Bosch, 73-84 on the 9th of March, 2017. The longest losing streak belongs to Weert with nine games.
BIGGEST DIFFERENCE
The biggest difference between two teams this season was on the 2nd of February 2017. On that day Zwolle beat Leeuwarden with 120-67.
TO RUN-AND-GUN OR GRIND IT OUT?
Weert was the fastest team in the Dutch Basketball League this season. They played at the highest pace and used 74,7 possessions per game. The slowest team was Den Bosch with only 70,6 possessions per game.
MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER
While Weert played at the highest pace, it was Groningen that had the best offense, Not because they averaged most points in the league, but because they had the best offensive rating this season. Their offensive rating was 114,8 which means that they scored 114,8 points per-100 possessions. Weert, the fastest team in the league, had the worst offensive rating with 93,1. They also averaged the fewest points per game.
ROCK-SOLID DEFENSE
The toughest team to score against in the Dutch Basketball League was Groningen. Their stingy defense allowed only 86,1 points per-100 possessions. Leeuwarden had the worst defensive rating. They allowed 118,1 points per 100 possessions.
LEEUWARDEN WERE SNIPERS FROM THE FREE-THROW LINE
Leeuwarden may not play much defense, but they sure do play a robust offense. They recorded a 30,3 free throw rate. That’s the ratio of foul shots to field goal attempts. However, the best True Shooting Percentage belonged to Groningen (60,5 TS%). True shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.
GRONINGEN WERE CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
Groningen grabbed 55 % of all available rebounds (rebound percentage). They were closely followed by Den Bosch (54,3). It is also noteworthy that no team crashed the offensive glass like Den Bosch (31,8) and Zwolle (28,7 %).
THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN ADVANCED STATS AND GRONINGEN
Defense wins championships. At least that’s what they say. So far, it is held true when it comes to Groningen and the regular season. But they topped many other crucial stat categories as well. They play together as a team (highest assist ratio with 20,5), take good care of the ball (lowest assist to turnover ratio), have the best offense, and dominate the board like no other team. Groningen does not give away anything for free. Not even at the international level. In the FIBA Europe Cup, this season Groningen ranked 1st in defensive rebound percentage. They grabbed 78,3 % of all available defensive rebounds. Can anybody challenge Groningen during the Dutch playoffs? Time will tell, but for now, the odds are in their favor.
These are just some of the advanced statistics that we have available. For more, please visit the Basketball Database.