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A team’s eFG% (Effective Field Goal Percentage) is a mathematic evaluation of how they shoot from the field. The emphasis of eFG% is to properly account for the increased difficulty of making a three-pointer, rather than a two-pointer. The traditional shooting percentage does not account for the extra one point from a three-pointer.

With the value of a three-point field goal, the eFG% algorithm weighs a three-pointer one and a half times higher than a two-pointer. The algorithm for eFG% is as follows

(2pt FGM + (3pt FGM * 1.5)) / FGA = eFG%

Analyzing the eFG% of a player who shoots a lot of three-pointers would serve as a good example for explaining the significance of the metric. Emmanuel Bandoumel, starting guard for Southern Methodist University Mustangs has shot 22-59 from the field through the first seven games of the season. His current field goal percentage is 37.3%. 39 of Emmanuel’s 59 shots were three-pointers, per ESPN. Seeing as though Emmanuel made 16 of those 39 three-point attempts (41.0%), saying his shooting percentage is 37.3% would be an inadequate representation of his offensive value. Using the above-mentioned algorithm, we can find Bandoumel’s eFG%.

(8 + (16 * 1.5)) / 59 = 54%

A 37.3% shooting percentage would exclude Bandoumel from NCAA’s top 350 shooters, per NCAA.com. However, Bandoumel’s 54% effective field goal percentage ranks among the best in college basketball.

Another metric designed to properly represent the many ways a player can score, and the varying difficulty of different scoring options is TS%, or True Shooting Percentage. TS% represents a player’s shooting ability further than traditional field goal percentage, as it also takes into account three-point shooting percentages (like eFG%) as well as free throw percentage. The algorithm for TS% is as follows:

PTS / (2 * (FGA + 0.44 * FTA)) = TS%

The TS% algorithm was designed by APBRmetrics (Association for Professional Basketball Research Metrics). We can plug in the before-mentioned stats of Emmanuel Bandoumel to find his TS%.

67 / (2 * (59 + 0.44 * 8)) = 53.58

A true shooting percentage of 53.58% would rank Bandoumel in the top 40% of Division 1 guards. It is interesting to note the similarity between Bandoumel’s eFG% and TS%. The average variation of eFG% and TS% among Division 1 guards-in the top 50% of shooters-is between 2-8%. This is because the modern college guard takes a healthy mix of two and three-point baskets. However, Bandoumel takes nearly two-thirds of his shots from beyond the arch (66% of shots are three-pointers) and converts at a high rate (41% on three-pointers). As eFG% and TS% were designed to represent the increased difficulty of making a three-pointer (in comparison to a two-pointer,) the skill of players like Bandoumel-who are exceedingly successful three-point shooters-are more accurately represented.

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