Aggression+

Click here for a full explainer on Aggression+ and Variance+, a pair of metrics developed by myself and Krishna Narsu for FiveThirtyEight.

These numbers give you an idea of how aggressive a team’s defense is on a nightly basis (Aggression+), as well as how often that defense varies its level of aggression from night to night (Variance+).

The higher your team’s Aggression+, the more aggressive it is about sending extra defenders toward opposing offensive actions — double-teaming isolations and post-ups, and blitzing or switching pick and rolls, dribble hand-offs, and off-ball screens, etc. The lower your team’s Aggression+, the less likely it is to send extra defenders. That team will play isolations and post-ups one on one, and is more likely to utilize drop coverage than to blitz or switch.

The higher your team’s Variance+, the more likely it is to vary its level aggressiveness on a night-to-night basis. Some nights, the team might play straight up; and on others, it might go all out. The lower your team’s Variance+, the more likely it is to stick with standard schemes each and every night.