FanPost

Check your cell phone, because you've missed a couple of calls! (updated 4/16)

Ok, I chose the title of this FanPost because it is 1) supposedly a good insult to a ref, 2) this post is related to fouls, and 3) there is some discrepancy in the data.

I was rather bored today and for whatever reason decided to try and look up advanced stats on fouls: how many shooting, how many personal, how many offensive, etc. I also wanted to see how many players give up the most points based on their fouls. Just because someone has 200 fouls does not mean they're much worse than someone who only has 125 fouls. Unfortunately (and I'm sure MFMP will prove me wrong) I couldn't find any data like this anywhere. I then thought about looking through play-by-play data and calculating that. Do you know long that would have taken? Well, I used my college degree to help me out, I wrote a program.

I copied a game's worth of play-by-play data into an Excel workbook and wrote a simple C# program to iterate through the rows and calculate a couple of things. After getting some kinks worked out, I then added a few more sheets for a few more games and checked to see if they added up. They did. So then I blindly did the rest of the season. I used play-by-play data from NBA.com (as compared to ESPN.com or Basketball-Reference.com) because of how they structured it. For instance, NBA.com shows a foul like "Monroe Foul: Shooting (1 PF) (2 FTA)" under the Detroit column. ESPN.com shows a foul like "Greg Monroe shooting foul (James Harden draws the foul )" also under the Detroit column. However, Basketball-Reference.com shows a foul like "Shooting foul by G. Monroe (drawn by J. Harden)" under the Opponent column. The easiest way to write the program was to use whatever provided data under the Detroit column, so Basketball-Reference.com was out. Then, because NBA.com provided how many free throws were to be shot, I decided that was the best data to use.

Here's what I found:

Player TF SF SF% PF PF% OF OF% A1 F3 PFFT OFFT FTM FTA FT% Foul Count Discrepancy
Bynum 107 43 40.19% 56 52.34% 8 7.48% 8 2 38 0 100 128 78.13% -9
Calderon 41 28 68.29% 12 29.27% 1 2.44% 9 0 8 0 49 55 89.10% 0
Drummond 114 69 60.51% 36 31.58% 9 7.89% 4 0 14 0 118 152 77.63% -12
English 39 22 56.41% 14 35.90% 3 7.69% 6 2 16 0 45 60 75.00% -2
Jerebko 76 37 48.68% 34 44.74% 5 6.58% 10 1 22 0 75 91 82.42% -4
Knight 142 49 34.51% 78 54.93% 15 10.56% 11 1 28 0 94 124 75.81% -7
Kravtsov 29 16 55.17% 7 24.14% 6 20.69% 4 0 4 0 23 34 67.65% -2
Maggette 41 14 34.15% 21 51.22% 6 14.63% 3 2 8 0 27 37 72.97% -1
Maxiell 153 86 56.21% 48 31.37% 19 12.42% 13 0 18 0 144 185 77.84% -19
Middleton 44 21 47.73% 22 50.00% 1 2.27% 8 0 16 0 41 52 78.85% -2
Monroe 172 92 53.49% 57 33.14% 23 13.37% 26 0 26 0 144 194 74.23% -9
Singler 194 102 52.58% 77 39.69% 15 7.73% 19 2 20 0 161 211 76.30% -19
Stuckey 118 58 49.15% 44 37.29% 16 13.56% 9 0 38 0 111 145 76.55% -1
Villanueva 87 60 68.97% 24 27.59% 3 3.45% 12 0 16 0 82 126 65.08% -6
Prince 45 25 55.56% 19 42.22% 1 2.22% 6 0 14 0 43 58 74.14% 0
Daye 39 25 64.10% 10 25.64% 4 10.26% 6 2 6 0 47 56 83.93% -4
TOTALS 1441 747 51.84% 559 38.79% 135 9.37 154 12 292 0 1304 1708 76.35% 97

Hover over column headers for descriptions.

Now, let me explain the discrepancy. After running my program on all 78 games that have been played to date, I added up the SF, PF and OF and checked to see how close it was to what was in Stats.NBA.com. After seeing the discrepancies, I made a change to my program adding in a default catch (I have a switch/case for each player's name which is extrapolated from the cell's text value) just in case the name that was pulled wasn't one of the Pistons players. I put a breakpoint there, ran the program, and the breakpoint was never hit meaning each time the word "Foul" appeared in the text, it always pointed to a Pistons player (I wasn't looking in the Opponent's column). So somehow, NBA.com's play-by-play data does not match the counts in their database. (As I've been typing this, I was wondering the difference between the play-by-play on NBA.com and Stats.NBA.com and they are rather different..."Drummond S.FOUL (P1.T1)".) So the discrepancy in data seems to be that of NBA.com's data issues, not my program (or I hope that's the case).

Ok, so what can we take from this information? Well, the first thing (again, as long as the issue isn't my program) I see is that we don't ever seem to commit offensive fouls when we're in the bonus. Either that, or offensive fouls don't lead to the other teams free throws when they're in the bonus. I know offensive fouls don't count towards the penalty count, but not sure about after the bonus has already happened. The second thing I see is that Knight has only committed 15 offensive fouls. I honestly thought this count was higher. But since it isn't, that means 179 of Brandon's 194 total turnovers are from just plain crappy play.

I'm pretty sure there's other things in there that might be, or not be, surprising (such as the two people we joke about with the worst defense, Calderon and Villanueva, having the highest percentage of Shooting Fouls), but could this information be useful at all? When I looked at the team's fouls from 2000-01 through today, the lowest year for FPG was 2005-06 with 18.5. This year we currently average 19.7 which is third in that time span, just behind last year's of 19.6. One thing I would like to find out (and am looking into it) is finding out how long the Pistons have been in the Bonus compared to their opponents.

Well, let me know what you guys think of this data. Also, I'm thinking of keeping this program for next year and running it on every game for every team. I'm slowly working my way to those advanced stats.

UPDATE (4/16) - Further Breakdown

The data below is for all games played so far.

Sorry it took so long for the update. There were quite a few tweaks that I ended up making to my program and I found the fouls I wasn't counting before...Loose Ball and Clear Path Fouls. There were also a couple of instances where there might be a double technical or double personal and it wasn't showing up for that player as it wasn't in the same format. I also ran into a few instances where there would be a shooting/personal foul that resulted in free throws, a technical immediately after it, and the technical was shot first, messing up how I was calculating made free throws. I've changed all of that so it should be pretty damn accurate now.

Ok, so here's the breakdown of the different fouls. While a "And 1" shot is technically classified as a shooting foul, I separated them. Same with fouls on three point shots that didn't go in. Originally I had it to where I counted shooting fouls together, but had a column showing how many of them were And 1 and how many were fouls on 3 pointers. So total shooting fouls would be SF + A1 + 3PF. Also, not all Loose Ball fouls result in free throws (for those wondering why there didn't seem to be a trend between them). You can now also see how many Personal Fouls were intentional and how many were in the bonus. The last table of Personal Fouls are those that are run of the mill Personal Fouls. Let me know what you think of this more detailed data.

I may update this again later this week to include P36 counts, but spent too much time on it today just to get this.

Shooting Fouls

Player Total Fouls Shooting Fouls % of Fouls SFFTM SFFTA FT%
Bynum 128 36 28.13% 58 72 80.56%
Calderon 41 19 46.34% 32 38 84.21%
Drummond 143 71 49.65% 108 142 76.06%
English 43 15 34.88% 22 30 73.33%
Jerebko 88 28 31.82% 49 56 87.50%
Knight 156 39 25.00% 62 78 79.49%
Kravtsov 31 12 38.71% 17 24 70.83%
Maggette 42 9 21.43% 12 18 66.67%
Maxiell 173 73 42.20% 115 146 78.77%
Middleton 53 17 32.08% 23 34 67.65%
Monroe 189 68 35.98% 108 136 79.41%
Singler 216 81 37.50% 124 162 76.54%
Stuckey 128 52 40.63% 78 104 75.00%
Villanueva 94 48 51.06% 65 96 67.71%
Daye 42 17 40.48% 27 34 79.41%
Prince 45 19 42.22% 26 38 68.42%

Personal Fouls in Bonus

Player Total Fouls Personal Fouls in Bonus % of Fouls PFBFTM PFBFTA FT%
Bynum 128 18 14.06% 28 36 77.78%
Calderon 41 4 9.76% 8 8 100.00%
Drummond 143 8 5.59% 13 16 81.25%
English 43 8 18.60% 12 16 75.00%
Jerebko 88 11 12.50% 15 22 68.18%
Knight 156 14 8.97% 22 28 78.57%
Kravtsov 31 2 6.45% 3 4 75.00%
Maggette 42 4 9.52% 6 8 75.00%
Maxiell 173 9 5.20% 15 18 83.33%
Middleton 53 7 13.21% 13 14 92.86%
Monroe 189 10 5.29% 10 20 50.00%
Singler 216 8 3.70% 12 16 75.00%
Stuckey 128 16 12.50% 24 32 75.00%
Villanueva 94 8 8.51% 10 16 62.50%
Daye 42 3 7.14% 5 6 83.33%
Prince 45 7 15.56% 13 14 92.86%

Personal Fouls Taken (Intentional in the Bonus)

Player Total Fouls Personal Fouls Taken % of Fouls PFTFTM PFTFTA FT%
Bynum 128 4 3.13% 5 8 62.50%
Calderon 41 1 2.44% 0 2 0.00%
Drummond 143 1 0.70% 0 2 0.00%
Jerebko 88 1 1.14% 0 2 0.00%
Knight 156 1 0.64% 0 2 0.00%
Middleton 53 1 1.89% 2 2 100.00%
Monroe 189 4 2.12% 4 8 50.00%
Singler 216 3 1.39% 3 6 50.00%
Stuckey 128 5 3.91% 5 10 50.00%
Prince 45 1 2.22% 0 2 0.00%

Clear Path Fouls

Player Total Fouls Clear Path Fouls % of Fouls CPFTM CPFTA FT%
Bynum 128 3 2.34% 5 6 83.33%
Knight 156 1 0.64% 1 2 50.00%

Loose Ball Fouls

Player Total Fouls Loose Ball Fouls % of Fouls LBFTM LBFTA FT%
Bynum 128 5 3.91% 1 2 50.00%
Drummond 143 12 8.39% 4 4 100.00%
Jerebko 88 5 5.68% 2 4 50.00%
Knight 156 5 3.21% 2 4 50.00%
Kravtsov 31 2 6.45% 2 2 100.00%
Maxiell 173 16 9.25% 3 4 75.00%
Middleton 53 2 3.77% 2 2 100.00%
Monroe 189 10 5.29% 6 10 60.00%
Singler 216 19 8.80% 2 4 50.00%
Daye 42 2 4.76% 2 2 100.00%

Flagrant Type 1 Fouls

Player Total Fouls Flagrant Type 1 Fouls % of Fouls F1FTM F1FTA FT%
English 43 1 2.33% 2 2 100.00%
Knight 156 1 0.64% 2 2 100.00%
Maggette 42 1 2.38% 2 2 100.00%
Maxiell 173 2 1.16% 2 4 50.00%
Daye 42 1 2.38% 2 2 100.00%

Flagrant Type 2 Fouls

Player Total Fouls Flagrant Type 1 Fouls % of Fouls F2FTM F2FTA FT%
Bynum 128 1 0.78% 1 2 50.00%
Villanueva 94 1 1.06% 2 2 100.00%

Technical Fouls

Player Total Fouls Technical Fouls % of Fouls TFFTM TFFTA FT%
Bynum 128 1 0.78% 1 1 100.00%
Drummond 143 3 2.10% 2 3 66.67%
Jerebko 88 2 2.27% 0 2 0.00%
Monroe 189 3 1.59% 2 3 66.67%
Stuckey 128 2 1.56% 2 2 100.00%
Villanueva 94 1 1.06% 0 1 0.00%
Abdenour 1 1 100.00% 1 1 100.00%
Frank 4 4 100.00% 4 4 100.00%

And 1 (HEY!) Fouls

Player Total Fouls And 1 Fouls % of Fouls A1FTM A1FTA FT%
Bynum 128 10 7.81% 10 10 100.00%
Calderon 41 9 21.95% 8 9 88.89%
Drummond 143 6 4.20% 4 6 66.67%
English 43 7 16.28% 6 7 85.71%
Jerebko 88 10 11.36% 9 10 90.00%
Knight 156 13 8.33% 11 13 84.62%
Kravtsov 31 4 12.90% 1 4 25.00%
Maggette 42 3 7.14% 3 3 100.00%
Maxiell 173 13 7.51% 10 13 76.92%
Middleton 53 8 15.09% 8 8 100.00%
Monroe 189 27 14.29% 20 27 74.07%
Singler 216 20 9.26% 16 20 80.00%
Stuckey 128 9 7.03% 8 9 88.89%
Villanueva 94 12 12.77% 5 12 41.67%
Daye 42 6 14.29% 6 6 100.00%
Prince 45 6 13.33% 4 6 66.67%

3 Pointer Fouls (3 Shots)

Player Total Fouls 3 Pointer Fouls % of Fouls 3PFTM 3PFTA FT%
Bynum 128 2 1.56% 3 6 50.00%
English 43 2 4.65% 4 6 66.67%
Jerebko 88 1 1.14% 3 3 100.00%
Knight 156 1 0.64% 2 3 66.67%
Maggette 42 2 4.76% 4 6 66.67%
Singler 216 2 0.93% 4 6 66.67%
Stuckey 128 1 0.78% 2 3 66.67%

Personal Fouls

Player Total Fouls Personal Fouls % of Fouls
Bynum 128 40 31.25%
Calderon 41 7 17.07%
Drummond 143 31 21.68%
English 43 7 16.28%
Jerebko 88 24 27.27%
Knight 156 66 42.31%
Kravtsov 31 5 16.13%
Maggette 42 17 40.48%
Maxiell 173 40 22.54%
Middleton 53 16 30.19%
Monroe 189 45 23.81%
Singler 216 67 31.02%
Stuckey 128 25 19.53%
Villanueva 94 16 17.02%
Daye 42 7 16.67%
Prince 45 11 24.44%

Offensive Fouls

Player Total Fouls Offensive Fouls % of Fouls
Bynum 128 8 6.25%
Calderon 41 1 2.44%
Drummond 143 11 7.69%
English 43 3 6.98%
Jerebko 88 6 6.82%
Knight 156 15 9.62%
Kravtsov 31 6 19.35%
Maggette 42 6 14.29%
Maxiell 173 19 10.98%
Middleton 53 2 3.77%
Monroe 189 22 11.64%
Singler 216 15 6.94%
Stuckey 128 17 13.28%
Villanueva 94 3 3.19%
Daye 42 4 9.52%
Prince 45 1 2.22%

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