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Team efficiency

On/off

On/off compares how a team played per 100 possessions with a player on the floor against how it played with him on the bench.

Why it matters

  • It is the most direct public view of how a team changes when one player checks in.
  • Splitting it into offense, defense, four factors and shot profile shows where the change comes from.

How to interpret it

  • Swing is on net minus off net. A +6 swing means the team was 6 points per 100 possessions better with him playing.
  • Read the 95% range before the swing. A +4 swing with a range of −4 to +12 is consistent with no effect at all.
  • Check who he played with and against. Strong teammates lift the on number; facing starters pulls it down.
  • A great backup makes a starter's off number look good, which shrinks his swing without saying anything bad about him.

How DRBL uses it

  • Every possession of every regular-season and playoff game from 2022-23 on is tagged with the ten players on the floor, using the same lineup reconstruction as DRBL.
  • Filtered drops garbage time and possessions that start with 2 seconds or less in a period. Garbage time is the closing run of a fourth quarter with two or fewer starters on the floor and a lead of at least 25 with more than 9 minutes left, 20 with 6 to 9 minutes left, or 10 inside 6 minutes.
  • Clutch uses the NBA definition: last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, score within five.
  • Luck-adjusted sets opponents' 3-point and free-throw percentages to league average.
  • With/without splits a pair of teammates into both on, each alone, and both off.
  • Who takes his minutes lists teammates whose share of the floor rises when he sits. Their play is most of his off number.
  • The season line shows his swing from opening night through each game, starting once he has 250 possessions on and off.
  • Playoff splits get no league percentile, since playoff teams play anywhere from 4 to 28 games.