Viewing the Wooden Finalists through a narrow (but interesting) lens

Last week's guest-post on stats by Ken got this guest-blogger thinking about the stat known as points per field goal attempt (PPFGA), a figure which, as detailed here, can actually belie its name and take in FTA's as well.

Below are the top 10 and the bottom 10 from this year's Wooden Award finalists, ranked according to PPFGA.

Wooden Award Finalists--Top Ten PPFGA's
1. Ike Diogu, Arizona State (1.54)
2. Jarrett Jack, Georgia Tech (1.53)
3. Dee Brown, Illinois (1.51)
4. Nate Robinson, Washington (1.39)
5. Kevin Bookout, Oklahoma (1.39)
6. Rashad McCants, North Carolina (1.39)
7. Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga (1.37)
8. Joey Graham, Oklahoma State (1.35)
9. Andrew Bogut, Utah (1.33)
10. Travis Diener, Marquette (1.32)

Wooden Award Finalists--Bottom Ten PPFGA's
1. Chris Thomas, Notre Dame (0.94)
2. Charlie Villanueva, Connecticut (0.95)
3. Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State (0.97)
4. Channing Frye, Arizona (0.99)
5. Sean Banks, Memphis (1.00)
6. Daniel Horton, Michigan (1.01)
7. Chris Paul, Wake Forest (1.07)
8. Bracey Wright, Indiana (1.08)
9. Curtis Withers, Charlotte (1.08)
10. Torin Francis, Notre Dame (1.09)

What it means. Give Ike Diogu 12 FGA's and six FTA's and he'll score 23 points. Give those same shots to Chris Thomas and he'll score 14.

Disclaimers. The stat known as PPFGA is not for everyone. Side-effects include too much cognitive emphasis on offense, drastic over-simplification of a player's real contributions, and a false sense of having quantified the qualitative. Ask your hoops blogger if PPFGA is right for you.