Analysis: Open spot up efficiency

Unguarded catch and shoot jump shots rank among the most efficient scoring chances in basketball though they make up only 17% of all attempts in the half court. In the ABA League, a team’s ability to make open shots plays a key role in their overall offensive efficiency. The table above displays the most efficient teams in the ABA League this season in points scored per unguarded catch and shoot jump shot in the half court. Though they appear in a different order here, these five teams also rank as the league’s five most efficient offensive teams overall.

Digging Deeper

Crvena zvezda mts is the most efficient offensive team in the ABA League and a big reason why is their ability to create and make open jump shots. Zvezda leads the ABA League with 62% of the jump shots in the half court being unguarded and they have converted those attempts for a top-ranked 1.41 points per attempt. Billy Baron has been their most productive open shooter, but no one player has driven their success and Stratos Perperoglou and Mouhammad Faye have been comparably efficient on a similar number of attempts. The number of high-level shooters they put on the floor puts a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.

Partizan NIS takes advantage of their open jump shots almost as consistently as Zvezda, but has benefitted from some particularly accurate shooting from a few key players. Vanja Marinković, Stefan Janković, and Bandja Sy have all been especially effective on the rare occasions opposing defenses have left them open. Marinković’s ability to rise and fire off the catch—guarded or not—played a key role in Partizan’s Round 10 victory over Igokea.

Budućnost VOLI and Cedevita have each thrived thanks to the shooting of a couple key players. Ex-Cedevita forward James Bell was the ABA League’s most prolific open shooter by a significant margin as he regularly benefitted from his team’s ball movement and made the most of his chances. Earl Clark has not played quite as big of a role for Budućnost, but has driven his team’s success as well.

Igokea is an interesting case as they attempt a higher volume of unguarded spot up jump shots from two-point range than most ABA League teams, making their placement on this list even impressive.

Only two of the five teams above also rank in the top five in points per guarded catch and shoot attempt as their success does not necessarily translate when contested. However, guarded catch and shoot jumpers have a weak statistically relationship to overall offensive efficiency as open shots remains a vastly superior indicator of offensive success.

Insights and Statistics Provided by Synergy Sports Technology