When you look for the best and most effective scorers, most people turn to the world-renown NBA stat known as Field Goal Percentage (FG%). This stat is a simple calculation. Take shots made over shots taken (excluding free throws) and boom, FG%. The lack of context and the overall simplicity of this stat is almost insulting to player analysis. Field Goal Percentage is awful, and it shouldn’t be used to evaluate NBA players.
Field Goal Percentage Doesn’t Weigh Different NBA Shots
When you have the rising use of the three point shot, you cannot count it the same as a two pointer. There’s a reason 2P% and 3P% are scaled differently. While a 40% 3P% is really damn good, a 40% 2P% is really subpar. To combine these two stats without any adjustments simply is silly. This results is players being considered “below average” in terms of efficiency, despite the fact that they’re very efficient. This is because free throw shooting also matters for a player. How can you not include free throw shooting in your primary efficiency percentage? While yes it’s called field goal percentage, I’m just saying that since said stat is seen as the easy answer to a player’s efficiency, it’s quite silly to only make it about field goals and not add any weight
Wrongly Portraying Elite Scorers
Davis Bertans, a highly sought after three point specialist with elite precision from deep, had a very inefficient year according to FG%. His 43.4 FG% is well below average, but that’s such a false statement. The much more accurate True Shooting Percentage shows that Bertans actually was beyond efficient, as he had a 62.8 TS%. The same thing goes to Steph Curry who is a career 47.6 FG% shooter, which is not at that “elite” clip yet he’s been averaging a 62.3% TS% in his career. His best year he had a 67.5 TS% which is mind-boggling levels of elite. The last player we’ll talk about is the most controversial one: James Harden.
It’s beyond idiocy to declare James Harden an inefficient scorer, as he shoots a whopping 61.1% for his TS%. This is because while his 3P% is average, he takes a lot of them. That means he scores a ton of points on very difficult shots. This is coupled with how many free throws he takes (and how he rarely misses) and it makes him one of the most efficient scorers of our generation as despite the high volume of shots, he can still manage to be average in 3P% and above average in FT%. If he took less shots he’d arguably have a better efficiency numbers in FG% and 3P%, but volume makes it harder to have that percentage be great (unless you’re Steph Curry).
Just Use True Shooting Percentage
True Shooting Percentage (TS%) was what I used to show that Field Goal Percentage was inaccurate. This stat is harder to calculate on your own, but you can for sure find the formula or a calculator. It factors the difference between 2 and 3 point shots, AND uses free throws as well. This is less about field goals made and more about points scored. This is because 1 FG made could be 2 points or 3, and a free throw is always 1. Using points means you can naturally separate between the value of each shot and not just count them all as one. There’s a reason each shot has different value in terms of points.
TS% is simply a much better stat, and it actually does a good job at showing efficiency. No longer should we rely on Field Goal Percentage for NBA players, as it’s outdated and a thing of the past.
