This metric, focusing on offensive player effectiveness, quantifies the frequency with which a ball-handler successfully drives past a defender, creating a positional advantage and often leading to scoring opportunities. It is calculated by dividing the number of successful drives resulting in the ball-handler getting past the defender by the total number of drive attempts. A higher figure indicates a greater ability to penetrate the defense. For example, a player with a 60% rate is considered more effective at attacking the basket in this specific manner than a player with a 40% rate.
Understanding this offensive skill contributes significantly to evaluating a player’s ability to create scoring chances for themselves and their teammates. Historically, it has become a more valuable statistic as offensive strategies have evolved to emphasize driving to the basket. The ability to consistently break down a defense opens up opportunities for layups, dunks, and kick-out passes to open shooters, making it a key component of modern offensive schemes and thereby making its accurate measurement beneficial for team strategy and player evaluations.
