Dirk Draws 16 Fouls

A year ago in this post, I proposed a new metric for the box score: number of fouls drawn by a player. The idea was to look at the ratio of fouls drawn to fouls committed - an efficiency metric similar to the assist to turnover ratio, but used to measure the effectiveness of a player’s intensity. In the opening game of the Western Conference Finals, Dirk Nowitzki was unstoppable. He had 48 points, 6 boards, and 4 blocks - aggressive on both the offensive and defensive end. What is not clear from Nowitzki’s stats is that he drew 16 fouls from 7 different players (nearly 60% of the 27 fouls by the Thunder were committed on Dirk). Serge Ibaka was supposed to be the player with the best chance to slow down Nowitzki, but he committed 5 fouls throughout the game, all on Dirk, and had no impact on Dirk's performance. Nowitzki’s ability to draw fouls on multiple players caused the Thunder to adjust their defensive rotation as players were forced to sit on the bench due to foul trouble. Dirk aggressively called for the ball and took advantage of his opportunities at the free throw line, converting on all 24 attempts - an NBA Playoff record. Meanwhile, he only committed 3 fouls in his 41 minutes of play. The number of fouls drawn should be a metric used to help value a player as it indicates the pressure he places on the opposing team's defense.