Introducing a new basketball stat I created called PEST! It is used to quantify the aggressiveness of perimeter defense in the NBA. Results and methodology below 🧵

PEST stands for Perimeter Estimated Stress Transferred. The formula was created using publicly available tracking and box score data from As you can see from the graph, it has a strong correlation (0.65) with an overall defensive stat like DDARKO.

Here are the NBA leaders in PEST from the regular season along with their percentile ranks of the inputs to the formula. Inputs such as def avg speed and def feet traveled per min are weighted heavily along with turnover creating stats such as deflections, stls, blks, and charges

When creating the formula, all of these stats were standardized onto the same scale and adjusted for minutes played.

From a team level, the Magic and Thunder play the most aggressive perimeter defense in the league by a wide margin. The Jazz, Lakers, Nets, and Clippers have the lowest PEST, which is not a surprise based on their personnel.

On an individual level, Thybulle, Konchar, and Caruso seem to be the big 3 for PEST in the NBA. A bunch of the players you would expect in the top 10 based on their reputations are here so that is very reassuring.

Thanks for reading and if anyone has any questions, either leave a comment or send me a DM! I had fun making PEST, and hopefully it can add value down the road. To finish off, enjoy this clip of VCU’s iconic Havoc defense.

Dope work man

Thank you so much that means a lot coming from you!

Creating a whole new stat is so cool. Seems very representative of what’s actually happening too

Thanks so much I appreciate it man