Basketball is a free flowing game of alternating possessions. As a result, how your offensive possession ends impacts the results on the ensuing defensive possession. If you score, your opponent has to take the ball out of bounds and inbound it, which gives you extra time to get back on defense. That extra time to get back on defense helps your defense compared to if you missed a shot and the other team got the rebound. If you turn the ball over, your opponent may have a chance to score on a fast break. How much do these things actually impact your defensive efficiency though? At pbpstats.com you can filter stats by how the previous possession ends, so we can see exactly how teams do based on how the offensive possession starts. Here are the stats for the 2017-18 regular season.
| Start Type | League Average Efficiency |
|---|---|
| Off Live Ball Turnover | 126.2 |
| Off At Rim Block | 118.7 |
| Off At Rim Miss or Block | 115.2 |
| Off At Rim Miss | 114.0 |
| Off Any Missed FG | 111.0 |
| Off Corner 3 Miss | 110.8 |
| Off Long Mid-Range Miss | 110.5 |
| Off Any Mid-Range Miss | 110.2 |
| Off Short Mid-Range Miss | 109.8 |
| All | 109.3 |
| Off Any Missed 3 | 109.2 |
| Off Arc 3 Miss | 108.7 |
| Off Missed FT | 106.9 |
| Off Made FT | 106.6 |
| Off Any Made FG | 106.4 |
| Off Dead Ball | 106.1 |
You can see how bad live ball turnovers are because not only do you not score on your possession, but you give your opponent the highest valued possession type. This also highlights the value of scoring for your defense - efficiency after any made FG is 106.4 and after any missed FG it is 111.0. By simply scoring more you can help your defense. Not all missed shots are the same - missing a shot at the rim hurts your defense much more than missing a shot anywhere else on the floor. The only thing worse for your defense than missing or getting blocked at the rim is a live ball turnover. When you get to the free throw line, you should have a relatively set defense on the following defensive possession so it makes sense that efficiency is low in those spots. These numbers show that on the margins you can really help your defense by not turning the ball over, making shots and getting to the free throw line.