NBA Team Efficiency: Possessions

I feel like I need to write something or i'll get kicked off the blog. So here is my half-hearted rant on basketball.

I have spent a great deal of time trying to prove to the world the importance of free throw attempts for teams and individual players, as well as breaking down how to analyze scoring efficiency for individual players. However, basketball is a true team sport and no one individual will his team to victory, except MJ of course. The premise is quite simply. Disregarding the efficiency of a team's offense or defense, a crude way to predict their success is simply through the number of possessions a team generates relative to their competition. Basically a +/- system of possessions. It can be surmised that the team with more possessions will have more chance to score and all else being equal should win more games than they lose. Obviously, this is not the whole story, because being able to make shots, earn free throws, and excel defensively factor into the equation.

So how can a team go about getting more possessions than their opponents? The rules of the game ensure that after one team scores, the other team gets the ball, but it is still possible to gain possessions or better yet steal possessions from the opponents. The combination of a few stats from any box score can usually indicate which team won without even looking at the final score

1. Difference in field goal attempts - If one team takes 90 shots an the other takes 80, that is a good sign, but no the end of the story
2. Difference in free throw attempts - You can assume every 2 free throws is equal to 1 possession, so it has to be factored into difference in field goal attempts
3. Difference in turnovers - If one team forces 5 more turnovers than the opposition, that is basically a 10 possession difference
   
4. Offensive rebounds - Rebounding your own missed shot adds an extra possession, allowing for the opportunity to score more points.