Basketball Tip
The Numbers Advantage: How to Use Statistics as a Tool in Basketball
Points per game. Free throw percentages. These are the kinds of stats that many basketball enthusiasts know, and can often reel off. But basketball stats involve tallying more than the number of times the ball goes through the net—it’s about the plays that help your team score, and all the other skills needed to make those plays.
At Nike Basketball Camps, we know which stats are the most important and we aim to help your players improve their game and refine their skills. Below, we’ve laid out four important—and often overlooked—statistics in basketball, how to measure them, and how they can help you enhance your team’s game.
Rebounds — get the ball back
The goal in basketball is to successfully make shots. But you can’t do that unless your team has the ball. That’s why rebounding stats are just as important as points per game (PPG) stats. Dennis Rodman’s star status was about more than his PPG total; he averaged 13.1 rebounds per game—for a career-total of 11,954 rebounds.
Nor will the number of rebounds you get during a game—or the number of rebounds you allowed the other team to get—give you a super-accurate idea of your rebounding prowess vs. your opponents’. Instead, let’s look at an even more specific rebounding calculation: Percentage of Available Rebounds (REB%).
To figure out how skilled an individual player is at rebounding, add up the number of missed shots that didn’t go out of bounds or lead to a foul. Then, calculate the percentage of times an individual player gained possession of the ball as a result of those missed shots. Also, ignore rebounds from foul shots.
Example: There were 60 missed shots during the game. Jimmy had 12 rebounds off of those shots. 12/60 = 0.2. Jimmy’s rebounding statistic is 20%
Now that you know how to calculate rebounding statistics, let’s talk about how you can utilize them to lead your team to a championship. Designate an assistant coach or an involved parent to keep track of each player’s rebounding statistics. That way, your players can see how much progress they’re making, and work harder to improve these skills. It builds camaraderie, too, if all of your players are working on improving rebounds. The moment the ball leaves the backboard, your players should have the same goal in mind—get the ball back.
You could also consider implementing a rewards system. The player with the best rebounding statistic during a game gets a $10 gift card to their favorite athletic store, restaurant, etc. This not only motivates your players, it also drives home the idea that rebounding is just as crucial of a skill to master as field goals.
Assists — are your players lending a helpful hand?
Assists mean exactly what they say—a player assists another player in attempting to make a basket. Different basketball leagues define and calculate assists differently. For example, in the NBA, an assist occurs when a player passes the ball to another player, who makes the basket directly. At the college level, the NCAA defines it as any pass that contributes to a field goal, regardless of how many players touch the ball before it makes it through the net.
Assist percentage is an estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while on the floor. The formula to calculate assists is:
100 X Assists/(((Minutes played/(Team Minutes/5)) X Team field goals made - field goals made as a result of the player’s assist).
Evaluating assists gives you a clear idea of which players are contributing the most to making points for the team—not just putting the ball through the hoop, but making that swish possible. You’re probably aware of the players on your team who can make the most baskets, but the players who helped them do it deserve as much recognition.
Encourage your players to build teamwork through improving their individual assist percentages. Throughout the 2019-2020 season, LeBron James hit a personal record of 684 assists. Can your team reach that number combined during the season? Motivate them to do so by promising an end-of-season pizza party.
Defensive rating — keep the ball in your hands
Defensive rating refers to the number of points allowed by a player per every 100 possessions of the ball—in other words, how many points a player allows the other team to make for every 100 times the opponent has the ball.
Only the baskets that are made because of a player’s failure to defend will count against them. This stat doesn’t account for how long a player was on the court or how long the game lasts. In this case, lower numbers are better than higher numbers.
A key part of this calculation involves the individual player’s defensive stop, meaning how many times a player ends an opposing team’s possession of the ball. This statistic gives you an idea of who on your team is doing a good job at keeping the ball out of the opponent’s hands.
Good defense is crucial, so keeping track of this stat for each of your players is really important. One way you can motivate your players to improve their defensive skills is by identifying the top two or four defensive players on your team and running a fun defensive drill at the end of practice among them. Whoever does the best job gets a pass on doing burpees at the end of practice.
Allowing your weaker defensive players to watch how your stronger defensive players approach certain situations in a game will help them learn and give them the confidence to put new defensive skills to the test when it’s game time.
Player efficiency — this one’s for the stat lover
A player efficiency rating (PER) is an all-in-one statistic that takes into account a player’s positive and negative contributions to the game—and adjusts that number on a per-minute basis. This results in a statistic that shows a player’s performance by the minute.
ESPN analyst and NBA columnist John Hollinger created this stat, and the formula is pretty complicated. A simpler formula involves using only linear weights, or multiplying a player’s stats by different weights and adding them up. PER primarily measures offensive performance—Hollinger even admits that it doesn’t paint a good picture of a player’s defensive performance.
Despite its flaws and complexities, PER is still one of the best basketball statistics available—providing a per-minute evaluation of a player’s skills that other statistics can’t. If you are really into your team’s game, and want to see how they measure up against the competition or if you’re looking to get your player’s recruited, get familiar with PER.
At the beginning of your season, explain to your team what PER is and what their individual PER stat means. This will prompt them to pay attention to every area of their performance during every practice, every drill, and every game.
By having an assistant coach or parent keep track of various stats for your players throughout the season, you’ll have the numbers you need to calculate PER. It’s important to have an accurate record of your player’s skills so you can objectively determine who your strongest players are—and help market them to potential recruiters.
To stay up-to-date on trends and ways to improve basketball skills, and ensure all of your players realize their hoops potential, check out more basketball drills, or attend one of our Nike Basketball Camps for hands-on experience.