MARTIN MANLEY'S BASKETBALL INDEXES

In 1990 Martin Manley published Basketball Heaven, in which he outlined his Production Ratings, statistical indexes which measure the overall production of players and teams. In the book, he discusses his formulae and variations, and compiles indexes for all players in the NBA.

I have to admit to a special affinity for Manley, as he too grew up in rural Kansas and is an unabashed Jayhawk fan.  So, he can't be all bad in my book.

His formula is relatively simple, adding up the 'good' things players do, including points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots, and subtracting the 'bad' things, such as missed field goals, missed free throws, and turnovers.  The sum of those eight statistics are then divided by the number of games played to derive a Game Index (GI), or divided by the number of minutes played to derive a Minute Index (MI). 

       (PTS + RBS + AST + BLK + STL) - (TO + MFG + MFT) = PRODUCTION POINTS

      PRODUCTION POINTS / GAMES = GAME INDEX

      PRODUCTION POINTS/MINUTES PLAYED = MINUTE INDEX

While useful in condensing a game or even an entire season into a meaningful comparative statistic, Manley admits that it has some weaknesses, primarily due to the fact that box score statistics lean heavily on the offensive part of the game.  Too, he says that "no statistical ranking can measure a clutch player's abilities in the closing seconds of a game.  Nor can it measure a player's abilities to psych up his teammates or psych out his opponents.  It can't measure flash, charisma, or intensity, ingredients which all go into the process of winning."  "Still, those categories which are statistically measurable constitute at least 90% of winning and losing", concludes Manley.