The Hone Dogs keep stats. Yep that's right, you heard correctly, we are a non-professional Bocce team that has our own set of statistics, which we developed ourselves. We figure, Bocce is vying for a spot in the Olympic games and we are just trying to do our part to contribute to the legitimacy of the sport, plus we are ridiculously competitive and need our stats to resolve arguments. Also, we like tracking what aspects of the game we need to work on. Another added bonus is that our stats, along with our strategic mid-court meetings, really irk some of the teams we play against (not exactly sure why).  Don't forget to look at the bottom of the page where you can see the actual Hone Dog stats in all their confusing glory.

 

Here are some definitions for the Hone Dog statistical categories.

 

 Games: We start with the most basic statistic we have. It tallies the number of Games a particular Hone Dog plays in during a season (remember there are 3 games per week for typically 13 or 15 weeks, for a total of 39 or 45 games).

 

Total Balls: This is essentially the second most basic stat we have (aren't you lucky) This is the total number of balls each Hone Dog throws for that particular season. We tend to average between 7 and 10 balls per game. But as you can see... we have a lot of balls.

 

UPDATE: As of 9/09, we now have a new statistical category LPB.

 

LPB: This stat is just a combination of Lag Rating and Points per ball thrown, much like the WHIP or OPS stat in baseball. (e.g. if your Lag Rating was 2.00 and your Points per ball thrown was .35 your LPB would be 2.35). See it's just simple addition, that's not too bad, huh? This stat was created as a compromise between the Capo and Underboss to convey the importance of both accuracy and scoring in a single statistical category. Also, it is now used to determine who starts the first game of a particular week.

 

Points per game (PPG): This is the total amount of points scored, divided by the number of games played, basically a scoring avg. per game for a season (e.g. if you play in 20 games during the season and score 60 points total, your Points per game would be 3.00). The 1st team to 12 points wins the game.

 

Lag Rating: This category is a little... alright, A LOT more complex (hence the visual aid). Lag Rating is a weighted avg. of all balls thrown depending on their measured distance from the pallino. Balls 1 ft or closer are worth 4 points; balls between 1 ft and 2 ft are worth 3 points; balls between 2 ft and 3 ft are worth 2 points; balls between 3 ft and 5 ft are worth 1 points; and balls over 5 ft are "dead bodies" and not worth any points. So every ball is worth 0 to 4 points. Lag Rating thus represents how far on avg. you lag (roll your ball) away from the pallino (e.g. if you had a Lag Rating of 2.0 your avg. throw would be between 2 ft and 3 ft away from the pallino) See table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->

 

Points per Ball Thrown (PPB): Stats are a funny thing, not funny haha, but more funny/interesting. They can evolve over time and be "honed" to create a more meaningful representation of what happens on the Bocce court. This stat was a late addition to the Hone Dog statistical catalog. It conveys what percentage of a player's throws end up scoring a point (e.g. if you threw 4 balls and one of those scored a point you would have a .25 Points per ball thrown score because 25% (1 out of 4) of your balls thrown scored points).     

 

Opponent's points per game (OPPG): Everybody knows "Defense Wins Championships" and if you don't, you should be ashamed of yourself. This stat helps to inform us as to how well we minimize our opponents scoring opportunities. We track how many points each side, north and south, gives up per game (remember there are 2 Hone Dogs on EACH end of the court playing against 2 opposing players, for a total of 4 on 4). These points are then divided amongst the two players on each particular end. Wow, that sounds wickedly complicated. So here's another example (e.g. if the north side gives up 4 points in a game then each players' Opp. points per game would be 2.00 because the points are divided between the 2 players).

 

+/- points per game: Okay, if you understood Opponents points per game this one should be a breeze. All you do is take the particular Hone Dog's Points per game (4th stat) and subtract the Opp. points per game (7th stat) and you get this statistic (e.g. in the 1st set of stats below, Patron had a 3.15 ppg, and from this you subtract his .84 Opp. ppg., which translates to his awesome +2.30 +/- points per game. Meaning, he scored 2.30 more points per game than he gave up during the Fall 09 regular season).

 

Holy crap, I think we need a break. It's exhausting writing this so it must be similarly tiresome reading this stuff. Don't worry there isn't any test at the end of this... or maybe there is?!? Why don't you go get a drink of your choosing and heat up a nice toaster bagel, then take a few deep breaths to calm the mind. I'll wait... Bocce is a fun game and all this stat talk might seem a little much (believe me I know) but it has its place and its more about "honing" our skills, much like the samurai, ninja or jazzercise instructor.

 

Alright, we ready? Okay good, let's continue.

 

% In Front and % Behind: Thank you Jesus, some easy categories to ease us back into this endeavor. These stats are the percentage of balls left In front of the pallino (Hone Dog rule #1) vs the percentage left Behind the pallino. Balls left In front are desired because they block the opponents from using certain lines in their effort to lag close to the pallino, additionally, balls in front can be bumped up for points by you, your teammate, or even by the opposing team inadvertantly.

 

UPDATE: As we our phasing out sells and assists (see below) we are phasing in total points and opponents points for record keeping purposes. You know for the government.  

 

TP: Total points is another easy stat cat (short of statistical category, but you already knew that). Total points is just a summation of all the points a particular Hone Dog scored during that particular season or playoff. (e.g. if Patron has played three weeks and he has scored 9, 7 and 8 points respectively his TP would be 24 up to that point in the season) The TP stat is used in determining Points per game, Points per ball thrown and +/- points per game.

 

OP: Opponents points is a more comlicated stat cat (sorry). Opponents points is the total of all the points your opponents, on your particular side, have scored against you. Remember that if your opponents score 6 points on a particular side it is divided by 2 b/c there are two Hone Dogs on each side. See OPPG for further reference. (e.g. if your side gives up those 6 points each Hone Dog will receive 3 OP b/c each is responsible for half the points scored against them).     

 

 

UPDATE: We are no longer tracking Assists as a category. Management decided that .5 of a point will be awarded to both players involved with the scoring of the point (i.e. the knocker-upper and the one who was knocked up)

 

Assists: This one's a little more tricky. An Assist is credited when your teammate shoots out the opponent's closest ball to the pallino, which then turns your previously thrown ball, which initially wasn't a point, into a scoring ball.  Furthermore, you also receive an assist if your ball, which initially wasn't a point, gets bumped in for a point by your teammate. Here we go, you knew it was coming (e.g. if you throw a ball 3 ft away from the pallino but your opponent has a ball 2 ft away your ball wouldn't score. But, if your teammate shot out that opponent's 2 ft ball thus making your ball now the closest to the pallino you would get an Assist and your teammate would get credited for the point. Or, in the other scenario, if your teammate bumps your same 3 ft ball up so it is now 1 ft away from the pallino, and inside your opponent's 2 ft ball, you would get the Assist not the point. This is because in both these situations it was your teammate's throw/shot that resulted in the point being scored).     

 

Sells: This is the one stat you do not want to be the leader in.  A sell is when you give your opponents a point, or points, by either knocking out your scoring ball or knocking your opponent's ball closer than your closest scoring ball. 

  

Shots: No, this statistic has nothing to do with Tequilia. A Shot is when you throw a forceful ball in an effort to knock out your opponents closest ball or to move the pallino away from your opponent's ball. This stat totals the number of times you attempt a Shot.

 

Hits: No, no, this stat has nothing to do with the Top 40, although it would be cool to make our own greatest "Hits" youtube video, because there have been a number of memorable ones over the years, but I digress. Hits are the positive culmination of a Shot.  It's when you make contact with whatever it is you are aiming for (the pallino and/or the opponent's ball). 

 

Shooting %: We made it, hooray!!!  This is the last stat and a relatively benign one, which you might have already figured out on our own. See learning can be fun. Shooting % is the number of Hits you've had during the season divided by the number of Shots you have taken. For old times sake (e.g. if you take 20 total shots during the season and hit what you are aiming for 10 times your Shooting % would be 50%).            

 

Okay, now that you know how to decipher them, feel free to browse through our compilation of various Regular season and Playoff statistics listed below. We started keeping stats for the Summer '07 season (no Fall '07) so they begin there and go through the Spring and Fall '09 seasons.  Regular seasons are listed first followed by Playoffs, with each being listed chronologically from the most current season. In addition, a Regular and Playoff single season record table appears at the bottom of the page.

 

A mini game-by-game Blog can also be found on the Spring 2009 Season and the Fall 2009 Season pages.  Also, an expanded (in the mind of a Hone Dog) short story for the Fall '09 playoffs is here; at the Fall 2009 Playoffs page (go figure). 

SH City denotes our current St. Helena City Rec. Dept. league and SHBC stands for the now defunct St. Helena Bocce Club league.

 

Note: The stats that are highlighted in Red indicate Hone Dog Single Season Records for both the Regular Season and Playoffs. Blue highlights indicate which Hone Dog was the "Team Leader" in that particular statistical category during the relevant Regular Season or Playoffs. To be considered a "Team Leader" you must've played in at least 33% of the team's games. In addition, for shooting % your total shots must be 10% of the team's total shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    * Due to a massive solar flare 4 games were not tallied

 

 

      

 

      

 

 

                                                                                                           

                                                                              

 

 

                                                                                                                                      

  

       

                       

 

               

 

Statistic	Leader	Record	Season
LPB	Cante	2.61	Fall '08
PPG	Sean	3.46	Fall '09
Lag Rating	Cante	2.26	Fall '08
PPB	Underboss	.43	Fall '09
OPPG	Underboss	.71	Fall '09
+/- PPG	Underboss	+2.56	Fall '09
% In Front	Jim	66%	Spring '09
Shots	Cante	71	Spring '08
Hits	Cante	41	Spring '08
Shooting %	Underboss	72.7%	Fall '09