Shooting Percentage in the WNBA

[easttexastrash]

What is considered a good shooting percentage, in your opinion. I was looking at the top 10 scorers in the WNBA and only 2 (Whalen and Parker) have a shooting percentage of 50% or better. Only 5 of the top 20 are shooting 50% or better.

 

[ndmb]

It depends on the position, style of play, and the ability of other team-mates. Whalen shooting 50% as a PG is tremendous, because you don't have to risk an entry pass into the post (a high-turnover pass) to get her the ball. Likewise, a player who is shooting a high volume because the team doesn't have better options has a lower opportunity cost for each shot they take. Players who take lots of threes are justified in shooting a lower percentage, because their makes are 50% more valuable.

I would say that my range of very good starts anywhere from 40 to 50 percent, depending on those factors.

 

[ndmb]

I know that this isn't a WNBA example, but I think it outlines my point. In 2009, Angel McCoughtry averaged 23.1 PPG on 43.7% shooting. In some circumstances, 44% would be an awful shooting percentage in college, but given her ability to self-create, the attention she received from defenses, the fact that she often had the ball in her hands to start with, and that her team was only shooting 42.3%, I would say that her numbers were very good.

 

[reno tony]

Should there be a new statistic like PPS or Points Per Shot that would take into account the difficulty of 3-point shooting but compensate them by giving them more points?

 

[Geno-ista]

I know that this isn't a WNBA example, but I think it outlines my point. In 2009, Angel McCoughtry averaged 23.1 PPG on 43.7% shooting. In some circumstances, 44% would be an awful shooting percentage in college, but given her ability to self-create, the attention she received from defenses, the fact that she often had the ball in her hands to start with, and that her team was only shooting 42.3%, I would say that her numbers were very good.

Great analysis
!

 

[iri10]

Should there be a new statistic like PPS or Points Per Shot that would take into account the difficulty of 3-point shooting but compensate them by giving them more points?

There are a few ways this is done, though most are obscure. The "efficiency" stat found on NBA/WNBA stat pages takes the difference into account, sort of: PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK - FG missed - FT missed - TO

A more direct way is "effective field goal percentage," which is easy to calculate: (FG + 0.5 × 3P) / FGA where FG is total field goals made and 3p is 3 point field goals made. The effective field goal percentage of KML last year was 65.7%.

And there's an even more obscure stat called "true shooting percentage" that also takes free throws into account: PTS / (2×(FGA+0.44×FTA)). Though I don't know if that 0.44 constant is meaningful across all levels of basketball.

 

[UcMiami]

I sort of like just '#points/#shots' - you get a bonus for the free throws because the free throws do not get counted in the shots number, but drawing fouls on the other team is an advantage for your team.
I agree with most everything already posted but would say that I expect post players to have better field goal percentage than wing players and for them to be under 50% is not good. They are generally shooting form 15' in vs wings who are shooting from 15' out. Whalen does a lot of her damage on drives as do some other 'wing players' but when she gets to the rim she is dealing with significantly taller players so that still increases her difficulty level.

 

[Scotter]

What is considered a good shooting percentage, in your opinion. I was looking at the top 10 scorers in the WNBA and only 2 (Whalen and Parker) have a shooting percentage of 50% or better. Only 5 of the top 20 are shooting 50% or better.

Current WNBA shooting percentages are very good, particularly for the star players. Any perimeter player that shoots around 45% has a good shooting percentage.

 

[reno tony]

There are a few ways this is done, though most are obscure. The "efficiency" stat found on NBA/WNBA stat pages takes the difference into account, sort of: PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK - FG missed - FT missed - TO

A more direct way is "effective field goal percentage," which is easy to calculate: (FG + 0.5 × 3P) / FGA where FG is total field goals made and 3p is 3 point field goals made. The effective field goal percentage of KML last year was 65.7%.

And there's an even more obscure stat called "true shooting percentage" that also takes free throws into account: PTS / (2×(FGA+0.44×FTA)). Though I don't know if that 0.44 constant is meaningful across all levels of basketball.

Thanks for the info.​