True Shooting Percentage and Effective Field Goal Percentage
Two efficiency metrics that fix the flaw in raw field-goal percentage by accounting for the extra value of three-pointers (eFG%) and, additionally, free throws (TS%).
Scouting And Strategy
The Four Factors of Basketball Success
The Four Factors, introduced by Dean Oliver, are the four statistical categories that most determine winning: shooting efficiency (eFG%), turnovers (TOV%), rebounding (ORB%), and free throw rate (FT rate), each expressed…
Direct answer
What is The Four Factors of Basketball Success?
The Four Factors, introduced by Dean Oliver, are the four statistical categories that most determine winning: shooting efficiency (eFG%), turnovers (TOV%), rebounding (ORB%), and free throw rate (FT rate), each expressed…
Quick facts
| Category | Scouting And Strategy |
|---|---|
| Also called | Dean Oliver four factors, eFG TOV ORB FTR, four factors framework, factors of winning |
| Source volume | Basketball Knowledge Vault/vol6_supplemental_coverage.md |
What it is
- The Four Factors, introduced by Dean Oliver, are the four statistical categories that most determine winning: shooting efficiency (eFG%), turnovers (TOV%), rebounding (ORB%), and free throw rate (FT rate), each expressed…
Why it matters
- They distill team success into four actionable buckets, making it easy to diagnose why a team wins or loses.
- They are pace-adjusted (per-possession), so they compare teams fairly regardless of how fast they play.
- They form the backbone of team-level scouting and analytics — a coach can target the factor where an opponent is weakest.
How it works
- Effective Field Goal % (eFG%) = (FGM + 0.5 3PM) / FGA — shooting efficiency that credits the three for being worth 50% more.
- Turnover % (TOV%) = TOV / (FGA + 0.44 FTA + TOV) — turnovers per possession; lower is better.
- Offensive Rebound % (ORB%) = ORB / (ORB + opponent DRB) — share of available offensive boards grabbed.
- Free Throw Rate (FT rate) = FTA / FGA (Oliver also used FTM/FGA) — how often a team gets to the line relative to shot attempts.
- Each factor has both an offensive and defensive version (your eFG% vs. opponent eFG% allowed, etc.); the defensive rebounding factor is opponent ORB% (equivalently your DRB%), not a "defensive ORB%." Oliver weighted…
Teaching cues
- Prioritize shooting and ball security first — they carry the most weight in the framework.
- Scout the opponent's worst factor and design the game plan to attack or protect it (e.g., crash the glass against a poor defensive-rebounding team).
- Track both your offensive and defensive Four Factors; a win or loss usually traces to a clear edge or deficit in one or two of them.
Bilingual terms
| English | The Four Factors of Basketball Success |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 篮球成功的四个因素 |
| Traditional Chinese | 籃球成功的四個因素 |
Learn before and after
These graph neighbors help place The Four Factors of Basketball Success in the larger basketball map.
Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating, Net Rating, and Pace
Team (and lineup) efficiency metrics expressed per 100 possessions — Offensive Rating (points scored per 100), Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100), and Net Rating (the difference)
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