Statistics coverage of a basketball game is in essence the recording of data, which are considered to be important for the description of player and team performance.

Apart from the score, points were the first of these data, which were kept 40 years ago. Later on, rebounds and assists were included and currently we reached a total of 15 basic prerequisite parameters for the completion of the FIBA statistics sheet and another 26 optional parameters, which are considered to be important for coaches and the Press. In parallel, of course, analyses related to game progression are presented.

Having reached this stage we have to clarify the rules of the game because doubts arise in cases which appear to be vague to coaches, players and statisticians.

Introducing a new parameter the turnover without ball possession, let's present two examples where the defender errs while the attacker shoots. In this case, the defender has no ball possession and with his action he prolongs the attack (no 30" clock reset is given) allowing the team in offense to maintain ball possession and eventually increase productivity of the attack in question.

These two examples demonstrate that when the statisticians record a parameter they should always check the ball possession. Possession can not change without any justification. An attack always begins after a goal, or an opponent's turnover, or a rebound.

We should clarify that there are two kinds of recorded information: the data kept by table officials which have to be identical to those of the statisticians (points, fouls) and the data chosen by the statistician.

Having mentioned all above, let's present all the parameters that are recorded by the statisticians, one-by-one, with examples and clarifications so there won't be any disputes and complaints.

All the primary parameters recorded by the statisticians are the following:

• 1p Shots, First, Last, Extra (made and missed),
• 2p Shots, Left, Center, Right, Under the Basket (Dunks & Lay-ups) (made and missed),
• 3p Shots, Left, Center, Right (made and missed),
• Technical Fouls on player, coach and bench,
• Personal Fouls,
• Disqualifying Fouls,
• Fouls Won,
• Offensive Fouls Won,
• Rebounds Offensive and Defensive,
• Team Offensive Rebounds, Team Defensive Rebounds,
• Assists,
• Steals,
• Turnovers, Turnovers Without Ball Possession
• Bench Turnovers,
• Blocks,
• Blocked Shots,
• Fast-breaks Successful and Unsuccessful,
• Minutes Played.

5. PERSONAL FOUL
6. TECHNICAL FOUL
7. DISQUALIFYING FOUL
8. FOUL WON
9. OFFENSIVE FOUL WON

A personal foul is recorded when the referee calls. Simultaneously, a foul won is given to the player fouled.

In the case where a player fouls when his team has ball possession then he is charged with both a foul and a turnover while an offensive foul won is charged to the player who won the foul.

A technical foul is charged to the player as well as to the coach and the bench.

If the technical foul (as the foul) is recorded to a player whose team has ball possession then the player is charged with both a technical foul (or a foul) and a turnover.

The same applies in the case of unsportsmanlike foul, i.e. a turnover is given but it is recorded as a personal foul.

Disqualifying foul is marked separately and is not included in the column of personal fouls.

A technical foul on the bench or the coach results in free throws and ball possession for the opponent.

If the team, which is charged with a technical foul, has ball possession then the bench should be charged with a bench turnover.
Since technical fouls on the bench and the coach change ball possession, they should appear together with the team's turnovers on which the bench turnovers should be added.

In the FIBA sheet, players' personal and technical fouls appear together, players' disqualifying fouls and technical fouls of the coach appear separately, while technical fouls on the bench are included in the team's totals.

10. STEAL

A steal is given to the player who takes the ball from the opponent giving ball possession to his team.

A steal is always accompanied with the recording of a turnover on the opponent who looses the ball.

A steal is also given to a player who takes the ball from the opponent by pushing it to a teammate.

There is no steal in the case where a player obstructs an opponent and the second commits a turnover (i.e. sends the ball out of court, steps on the line, keeps the ball more than the allowed time, etc.).

11. TURNOVER
TURNOVER WITHOUT BALL POSSESSION
BENCH TURNOVER

Turnovers are divided into three categories.

a) Rule Violation, b) Bad Play and c) Bad Behaviour on the Bench.

In case (a), we have a simple recording of a turnover when the referee stops the game for: 3¨, 5¨, 10¨, 30¨- violations, stepping on a line, to-and-frow, double dribble, hitting of the ball on the back of the backboard, and delay in bringing back the ball into the game (5¨).

Case (b) is divided into two sub-categories:

b1) Opponent's Steal
b2) Bad Play

The case of a steal is simple: when a steal is credited, a turnover is charged to the player who looses the ball. However if the handler passes and the receiver looses the ball without obvious mistake from his side then the turnover is charged to the handler (i.e. the player who passes the ball).

The case of bad play is more complicated and includes the following cases:

b2-1) Technical foul on a player when his team has ball possession
b2-2) Offensive foul (i.e. foul when the team has ball possession)
b2-3) Turnover without ball possession

This last case is merely examined in the two examples of the introduction. However, turnover without ball can be given in cases where a defender fouls and simultaneously is credited with a technical foul, too, because the team in attack is given two extra free throws due to the mistake of the defender who has not ball possession.

Case (c), i.e. bench turnover, is examined in the technical foul paragraph.

Taking into consideration all mentioned in paragraph 5, total turnovers are defined as:

TurnoversA+ Turnovers Without BallA+ Coach Technical FoulsA + Bench Technical FoulsA+ Bench TurnoversA

According to the definition, a turnover is always accompanied by loss of ball possession; i.e.the players of a team can commit a turnover only when they have ball possession. As we noticed both in the introductory examples and here, a team can loose a 'possession' which is not 'theirs' yet, but would be, in the following sequence.

A turnover without ball counts as a turnover in team/player totals and tendex calculation but it should not be included in calculations for 30" resets and number of attacks as it does not offer a new attack but it prolongs simply the current one. Turnovers without ball include all the balls which go out when hitting on a defender's leg and a 30" reset is given.

Both player and total turnovers appear in the FIBA sheet, whereas bench turnovers do not.

12. ASSIST

An assist is the final pass of the ball followed by a successful shot and is recorded in the following cases:

a) Passing the ball to a free player who scores a 2p or 3p shot without any obstruction from an opponent.

b) Passing the ball to a non-free player under the basket with the assumption that the attacker shoots directly without dribbling.

c) Passing the ball in case of a fast-break where the goal is attained
c1) by a direct shot
c2) coast-to-coast even under pressure.

In case (b), when the attacker wins a foul and even if he succeeds in an 1p shot then no assist is recorded, as it happens when a fast-break stops because of a foul. In this case there is no fast break counted either.

Both player and total assists appear in the FIBA sheet.

13. BLOCK
14. BLOCKED SHOT

A block is credited to the player who blocks an opponent's shot while the opponent who is blocked is charged with a blocked shot.

The player who is charged with a blocked shot, i.e. the attacker, is charged with a missed 2p or 3p shot, too, while a rebound is recorded which is:

a) defensive, if the ball ends to the defense,
a) offensive, if the ball ends to the offense.

Both blocks and blocked shots are not included in the FIBA sheet.

15. JUMP BALL

Jump ball in the beginning of each period, where no ball possession by either team is preceded, is charged to the player who jumps and wins the ball. Jump ball is shown as an offensive rebound in the player's individual statistics but it is shown separately in the team's statistics. The statistician records the player who jumps for the ball but this does not appear in the statistics tables.

During the game we have a jump ball in the following cases:

a) When there is a shot and the referee orders a jump ball, then this is recorded as a defensive or offensive rebound on the player who wins the ball.

b) When there is held ball or the handler passes the ball to another player, or a player has/looses the ball and the referee orders a jump ball, then:

b1) the statistician charges the defender with a steal and the attacker with a turnover if there is a change in the possession of the ball after the jump ball,

b2) nothing! if there is no change in the possession of the ball. However, in this case the ability of the player to win the ball is not recorded.

Jump ball does not appear in the FIBA sheet.

16. MINUTES PLAYED

It describes how long each player participated in the game. The time is counted in minutes and seconds and for a 40-minutes-game the sum of all the players' minutes played equals to 5x40=200 minutes.

The individual minutes played appear in the FIBA sheet and are counted in minutes.

17. SUCCESSFUL FAST BREAK
18. UNSUCCESSFUL FAST BREAK

A fast break is defined as an attack within the first 10" and since the defense has not been organized.

Both primary and secondary fast-breaks are recorded, without any differentiation.

In the case where there is a goal the fast break is recorded as successful while in the case where there is a missed shot the fast break is characterized as unsuccessful.

In the case where during a fast-break there is a foul on the attacker then the statistician does not record a fast-break even if point(s) are scored by free throws or not, as happens with the assists.

Fast breaks, both successful and unsuccessful, are only recorded as team statistics and do not appear in the FIBA sheet.

Finally, we will present a list of parameters, which are calculated and presented in the statistics, sheets and for which coaches show great interest. All these parameters do not appear in the FIBA sheet.

ATTACKS - 30" CLOCK RESET - BALL POSSESSIONS - POSSESSION VALUE - FINAL ATTEMPTS - FIELD GOALS

The total attacks of a team is calculated from the opponent team's total shots, the opponent team's turnovers and the offensive rebounds of the game as follows:

AttacksA= ShotsB + Total TurnoversB + Off.ReboundsA - Off.ReboundsB

where shots do not include the first missed and the extra 1p shots, and turnovers are given in paragraph 11.

Attacks differ from 30¨clock resets only in cases where fouls and some balls are played from the side i.e..:

30" ResetsA= AttacksA + Fouls played from side-lineA + Balls played from side-lineA

Note: Fouls played from side-line are calculated as: FoulsA + Technical FoulsA - Last 1p ShotsA - Extra 1p Shots
Balls played from sideline include only those cases where the ball goes out of court when hitting on a leg.

Ball possessions are all balls taken from the opponent. In this sense, a ball regained with an offensive rebound is not taken from the opponent although a 30" clock reset takes place. Also, an extra free throw (bonus) is part of the same ball possession. The same occurs when the defender kicks the ball out of court and 30" are given to the attacking team but in reality we talk about the same ball possession. Thus,

Ball PossessionsA = GoalsB + TurnoversB + Def.ReboundsA

An important consequence of ball possession calculation is the fact that the ratio

Finished Possessions / Ball Possessions

can be defined, i.e. from a number of given balls how many of those a team manages to finish, where finished possessions equal to 2p goals + 3p goals + last 1p goals (goals made from extra free throws are not included).

Another important consequence is the calculation of the value of each possession. All finished possessions contribute to final score, therefore:

Possession Value = Total Points / Ball Possessions

Final attempts are all attacks, which end up with a shot, so:

Final AttemptsA = 2p ShotsA + 3p ShotsA + Last 1p ShotsA

Field goals are all 2p and 3p shots, so:

Field GoalsA = 2p ShotsA + 3p ShotsA

TENDEX (EVALUATION INDEX)

TENDEX is calculated by the following equation:

Points - Missed Shots + Rebounds + Assists + Blocks + Steals - Turnovers
Minutes Played

and is computed only in the case of a player who participated in the game for at least 7 minutes.

It is called TENDEX after the union of the two words TEN and INDEX.

In the above equation there are 8 parameters (along with minutes played) but in reality these parameters are 9, since the parameter Missed Shots includes 2 parameters: Missed 1p Shots and Missed Field Goals.

The 10th parameter, the game pace, is missing from these parameters. Game pace is defined as the sum of the results given by the above equation for both teams, where the nominator shows the team statistics and the denominator shows the minutes played which is equal to 200 minutes for a 40-minute-game, 225 minutes for a game with one extra time, or 250 minutes for a game with two extra times, etc. But since this sum is common for all the players of both teams, it is omitted in the case of calculation in a sole game.

In the case of calculating the evaluation index in the whole championship, then the evaluation index of a player is calculated at first based on the total statistics of the player in all the games he played.

Then, the team pace is calculated taking into consideration the following two parameters:

a) the evaluation index from the team's total statistics
b) the evaluation index from all the opponents' statistics against that team (in the case of one game the statistics are those of the opponent team)

The sum of these two indices divides the player's evaluation index and the result is the final TENDEX of the player.

CONTROLS

A correct set of statistics tables must satisfy the following controls:

• Steals of a team are less or equal opponent's turnovers.

• Rebounds of the game are less or equal to total missed shots.

• Fouls of a team are equal to fouls won of the opponent.

• Total time played is equal to 200, 225, 250 minutes, e.t.c. depending on the duration of the game.

• Offensive rebounds of a team plus def. rebounds of the other are less or equal to missed shots of the first.

• Blocks of a team are equal to blocked shots of the other.

• The difference between team's offensive rebounds is equal to the difference of attacks.

COMMENTS

There are parameters in the stats table of a team which have a corresponding pair in the table of the opposing team like steal and turnover, block and blocked shot, foul and foul won. In the same way, a made shot corresponds automatically to a possession of the team in defense, whereas a missed shot is followed by a rebound (even if the shot goes out directly). In case a foul (i.e. goal+foul) or a technical foul intervenes then a turnover without ball needs to be recorded, which counts as a turnover of a player and the team, but is not included in the calculation of 30" and attacks. If on the contrary a simple turnover is given then two attacks for the team in defense or no attack for the attacking team will result, depending on the case.