Celtic 3-week “Quarterly” Efficiency

The essence of competitive basketball – from the “black-top” to the NBA’s pricey and spiffy hardwood – is to “stop” the other team’s attempts to score more often than they can “stop” yours – even more crucial when playing “make-it-take-it” on the cement, huh?

I’ve been infatuated with that notion for some time (especially with the league’s explosion in 3-point shooting over the past decade), and thus I’ve been closely tracking Possessions and Conversions in Boston’s games over the past couple of seasons or so.

Here’s a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of those “stops” and “conversions” – along with the success rate of Coach Joe’s boys as well as the opposition. (Perhaps Coach Mazzulla reveals his inexperience by apparently being out-performed thus far in “Halftime Adjustments” – besides mediocre showings in two OT periods, the C’s are out-converted only in Q3.)

Note: “FTC’s” = “Free throw Conversions” (i.e. the number of offensive possessions that end with multiple foul shots … “techs” and “and-1’s” NOT included.)

Data reflects play thru Monday, Nov. 7.


Q1

Bos: 107 FG’s + 26 FTC’s // 255 possessions = .522 [310 points]
Opp: 109 FG’s + 20 FTC’s // 257 possessions = .502 [291 points]


Q2

Bos: 114 FG’s + 22 FTC’s // 244 possessions = .557 [318 points]
Opp: 106 FG’s + 26 FTC’s // 242 possessions = .545 [292 points]


Q3

Bos: 94 FG’s + 26 FTC’s // 250 possessions = .480 [277 points]
Opp: 103 FG’s + 30 FTC’s // 248 possessions = .536 [290 points]


Q4

Bos: 87 FG’s + 30 FTC’s // 234 possessions = .500 [258 points]
Opp: 98 FG’s + 16 FTC’s // 231 possessions = .494 [246 points]


OT

Bos: 6 FG’s + 1 FTC // 18 possessions = .389 [15 points]
Opp: 8 FG’s + 2 FTC’s // 20 possessions = .500 [25 points]


Abacus Revelation for the Road

The C’s rank first in usage of the three-ball (.477, 3PAr) while standing No. 6 in accuracy at .387.

The only other teams to rank Top Ten in those “odd” categories … the Sixers and Pacers, both pretty much .500 teams through 21 days.