439

May 6, 1938,

Major John Griffith,-
The Athletic Journal,
Chicago, Illes

Dear lit, Griffith,

. 4n article on the rating of basketball teams

by Mr. Robert Db. — Mt. Union College, in the eurrent

issue of the athletic Journal is of particular interest at ‘
the University of Kansas, for we have been using for several yeers,
five or six, a method of comparing effectiveness of besketball
teams. We use the term "offense ratio,” which is the
number of points a team scores to each point made by opponents

| *) The “offense ratio” is in effect a combining of
offense end defense effectiveness of e team, for example, in the:
Big Six season just closed, the best offense was shown by diclahona,
with a total of 456 scores in-ten conference games, Kansas had _
only 406 points, and “ebraska, lest year's co-ghampions, had 383.-
While Oklahoma was running up lts score totals by rapid-fire play,
Opponents likewise were scoring, amassing a total of 401. In the
Meantime, Kansas was holding its opponents, including the fiery
Oklahomans, to a total of $29 points. Kansas* moderate offense
coupled with strong defense gave the Jayhawkers the championship
(their 20th in 31 years of conference competition) and Oklahoma
took second place, ,

ee “hen the "offense ratio" ig applied to these figures,
it appears that Kansas scored 1,240 points for each one an opponent
scored, while Olf{lahoma was making a ratio of 1,112. These ratios
substantially unehanged, had prevailed throughout the season-<<at
least after several pape mae been played suffielent to “give an
average." The relationship between ‘offense ratio" and confer-
ence s a shown in the following summary of the 1988 season
in the Big Six: |

ae 3 offense

W L Pots PtS_ OpePts,. Ratio as
Oklahoma i ee ee a
Missouri 4 6 400 389 384 1.015
Nebraska 4 6 400 5383 SOS 14013
Kansas State 3 7 ,500 S48 398 0874
Towa State 2 8 800 295 389 4 7B

wt

A variation of the Kansas "offense ratio" was used in
a story or two from the University of Oklahoma the past winter when
Harold Keith prepared stories showing the average score of games
_ Played by each member of the conference and comparing the plus or
_ Sinus advantage of each team over its opponents. Thus,‘one team Lepe
averaged four points to the game more than its oppnents, while Pas
another team averaged only 3.5 points advantege per game.

Where the average scores are somewhat similar, this

Hite ier Ass

cash faci