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Value Point System: The All-in-One Stat That Keeps Growing

Nov 01, 2019
4 Min Read

Against all the noisy data out there, this metric has become one of the game’s most important measurements.

A quizzi­cal look. A raised eye­brow. A con­fused ​“Huh?”

As recent­ly as a few years ago, these were the typ­i­cal respons­es when anyone brought up VPS.

Now coach­es say it’s become one of the most impor­tant sta­tis­tics in basketball.

The Value Point System comes from a for­mu­la that fac­tors in sev­er­al count­ing stats to pro­duce a num­ber that gives a more well-round­ed indi­ca­tion of over­all per­for­mance. It’s not as sim­ple to cal­cu­late as most sta­tis­tics, so on the sur­face the for­mu­la looks a bit daunt­ing. 

But coach­es now know just how pow­er­ful this num­ber can be.

“Because of how it’s for­mu­lat­ed, it real­ly gives an accu­rate depic­tion of how effi­cient a play­er is,” Rob Brost, head coach at Bolingbrook High (Ill.) said. ​“For us, it’s next lev­el. It breaks it down so quick­ly for us. We don’t have to look for any­thing. We don’t have to com­pute any­thing. We don’t have to real­ly do any­thing except look at that VPS.”

How It Works

VPS pro­vides an all-encom­pass­ing look at performance by weigh­ing pos­i­tive con­tri­bu­tions against neg­a­tive ones. The result­ing num­ber shows how effec­tive a play­er is.

Let’s look at a lineup from a team with top Four Factors and field goal data. Who here is the best shooter on the floor? And are they really the most dangerous all-around threat?

The player with the best effective field goal percentage, Brad Hilligoss, also has one of the lowest VPS ratings. Looks like opposing defenses had better pay closer attention to Eric Brouillette or Doug McClure and their VPS ratings north of 1.3, especially when added to a fairly good effective field goal percentage, free throw factor and turnover percentage.

How Coaches Value It

When it comes to honest assessments of player performance, objectivity is sometimes in the eye of the beholder. Backing up intuition with VPS metrics helps bridge those conversations.

“It’s awe­some,” Ryan Fretz, head coach at Clyde High (Ohio), said. ​“It takes the pos­i­tive stuff, divides it by the neg­a­tive and gives you a val­ue point sys­tem. It tru­ly shows how effi­cient­ly your play­ers are play­ing. Your star can come out and say, ​‘I had 22 points and 10 rebounds last night.’ Yeah, but you also missed ten free throws, had five turnovers and took 30 shots in the game. Look how much more effi­cient you could be if you took care of the ball and had bet­ter shot selection.”

From a scouting standpoint, the benefits are huge. Coaching in one of the nation’s toughest high school conferences, the Seattle Metro League, a good scouting workflow is paramount to account for the major talent that walks through those gyms. That’s why O’Dea High School (Wash.) assistant boys basketball coach Ryland Brown so readily turns to VPS.

“I’ll look at that to see which of their guys are most productive before I even look at plays and things like that, because then I can hunt down guys that maybe don’t jump off the stat sheet,” Brown says. “I kinda look at it from an opponent’s standpoint, and then try to get a quick overview for what I’m looking at and kind of help guide our next couple steps.

Chris Horton, the girls basketball coach at Lone Oak High (Texas) val­ues VPS because it gives him an accu­rate depic­tion of his ath­letes’ per­for­mance, espe­cial­ly those who don’t play as much. Unlike tra­di­tion­al count­ing stats, VPS isn’t affect­ed by minutes.

“We always talk about how effi­cient we want our play­ers to be, and the VPS takes in all those fac­tors,” Brost said. ​“If you miss a free throw, that’s a fac­tor. If you miss a field goal, that’s a fac­tor. It’s not just points, rebounds and assists. Things like steals, blocks and assists are worth more than a free throw, for example.”

How You Can Use It

Consider VPS to be an entryway into the deep dive analytics allows you to make. This can be a super resourceful statistic to pair with other data columns when scouting both your own team and your opponents.

Take, for instance, lineup data. It should immediately jump off the page which lineup here is the most effective.

This kind of knowledge can come in handy when scouting the tendencies of top lineups. If you see someone with limited minutes registering an unusually high VPS, it could lead to a key strategic adjustment when that player enters the game.

Since VPS is an accumulation of other stats, it’s only natural to pair this metric with other columns of data to make further discoveries. How is that player with the high rating performing on the glass? How can the one with the low rating become more than just a nice spot-up shooter? You can then go further and take it all to video, seeing exactly how the number came together.

VPS is just one of the sta­tis­tics that are chang­ing the way coach­es ana­lyze bas­ket­ball. And with Hudl Assist, you can get these sta­tis­tics deliv­ered to you for every game. 

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