Four Factors That Make the Golden State Warriors Better Than You Think

What are the Four Factors?  The principles behind Oliver’s Four Factors of basketball are actually quite simple. You need to shoot the ball efficiently, take care of the ball on offense, get offensive rebounds, and get to the foul line—and make sure you force your opponent to do the opposite. Though there’s no one way to use this formula to build a winner, it’s hard to dispute that you need all of those elements for winning basketball. From Oliver’s website:

“Saying above that shooting is "the most important" of the four factors hints at what this section is about: The Four Factors aren't all equivalent in value. You can do better at your opponent in three of these factors and still lose. You can be a good team at three factors and poor at the other and only end up with a mediocre team. Identifying the factors that are generally important then helps in identifying a strategy for constructing a successful team.”

So one way to put the Warriors’ recent moves in perspective is to look at them relative to the Four Factors, keeping the principle in mind that they aren’t equivalent in value.

What I think will become clear is that while the Warriors are not yet a contender, they’ve built the foundation for a strong basketball system in the future

Effective field goal percentage  Effective field goal percentage (eFG%) is the most obvious improvement the Warriors have made in the Four Factors—and what’s most interesting is that it was already their strongest point.

The Warriors were eighth in the league last season in eFG%, which adjusts for the difference in value between two- and three-point field goals. The Warriors did not need much help in this category, but Maggette should be seen as a welcome addition.  Part of success in this factor is shot selection—and Maggette will be the Warriors’ best option on that front at small forward, as he ranks a little higher than Stephen Jackson with a 50 percent eFG%.

Since the assumption is that Jackson will slide over to shooting guard, this should work well. But it’s Maggette’s style of play that should most benefit the Warriors—he’s able to drive and score close to the basket and get to the free throw line.   Without Baron Davis’ three-point attempts, you should expect the Warriors to be a much-improved shooting team overall

Free throw attempts per field goal attempt  The Warriors were fifth-worst in the league in free throw attempts per field goal last season, which is likely a result of their heavy reliance on perimeter shooting. It’s a given that Maggette will help on that front, as he was tops among small forwards in that category last year.   However, it’s also worth noting that Turiaf was 11th among power forwards and 20th

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