Basketball Terms Ipsum

2-point field goal attempts the formula is (award points) / (maximum number of award points). for example, in the 2002-03 mvp voting tim duncan had 962 points out of a possible 1190. his mvp award share is 962 / 1190 = 0.81. blocks (available since the 1973-74 season in the nba) block percentage (available since the 1973-74 season in the nba); the formula is 100 * (blk * (tm mp / 5)) / (mp * (opp fga - opp 3pa)). block percentage is an estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while he was on the floor. defensive rating (available since the 1977-78 season in the nba); for players and teams it is points allowed per 100 posessions. this rating was developed by dean oliver, author of basketball on paper. i will point you to dean's book for complete details. fg games behind; the formula is ((first w - w) + (l - first l)) / 2, where first w and first l stand for wins and losses by the first place team, respectively. losses minutes played (available since the 1951-52 season) orb% pace player efficiency rating (available since the 1951-52 season); per is a rating developed by espn.com columnist john hollinger. in john's words, "the per sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a player's performance." please see the article calculating per for more information. also see vaa and var. a statistic (e.g., assists) divided by games. roy rookie of the year strength of schedule; a rating of strength of schedule. the rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average. my colleague doug drinen of pro-football-reference.com has written a great explanation of this method. true shooting percentage; the formula is pts / (2 * tsa). true shooting percentage is a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws. win shares per 48 minutes (available since the 1951-52 season in the nba); an estimate of the number of wins contributed by the player per 48 minutes (league average is approximately 0.100). please see the article calculating win shares for more information..

2p% 2pa assist percentage (available since the 1964-65 season in the nba); the formula is 100 * ast / (((mp / (tm mp / 5)) * tm fg) - fg). assist percentage is an estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while he was on on the floor. blk% fg% gmsc game score; the formula is pts + 0.4 * fg - 0.7 * fga - 0.4*(fta - ft) + 0.7 * orb + 0.3 * drb + stl + 0.7 * ast + 0.7 * blk - 0.4 * pf - tov. game score was created by john hollinger to give a rough measure of a player's productivity for a single game. the scale is similar to that of points scored, (40 is an outstanding performance, 10 is an average performance, etc.). games started (available since the 1982 season) most valuable player a statistic (e.g., assists) divided by games. pts strength of schedule; a rating of strength of schedule. the rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average. my colleague doug drinen of pro-football-reference.com has written a great explanation of this method. simple rating system; a rating that takes into account average point differential and strength of schedule. the rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average. my colleague doug drinen of pro-football-reference.com has written a great explanation of this method. steal percentage (available since the 1973-74 season in the nba); the formula is 100 * (stl * (tm mp / 5)) / (mp * opp poss). steal percentage is an estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while he was on the floor. usage percentage (available since the 1977-78 season in the nba); the formula is 100 * ((fga + 0.44 * fta + tov) * (tm mp / 5)) / (mp * (tm fga + 0.44 * tm fta + tm tov)). usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor. wins w-l% year that the season occurred. since the nba season is split over two calendar years, the year given is the last year for that season. for example, the year for the 1999-00 season would be 2000..

Turnover percentage (available since the 1977-78 season in the nba); the formula is 100 * tov / (fga + 0.44 * fta + tov). turnover percentage is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays. wins over .500; the formula is (w - l) / 2..