From basic statistics to advanced basketball metrics, explained with formulas and examples.
Before diving into basketball, let’s understand the core statistical tools using a simple dataset.
Scores: [5, 7, 8, 10, 10, 12, 15]
Sum ÷ Count
Middle value in sorted list
Most frequent value
Max – Min
This dummy dataset shows 5 players’ box score stats from a single game, including Efficiency (EFF) and Plus/Minus (+/-).
| Player | PTS | REB | AST | FGA | FGM | FTA | FTM | 3PA | 3PM | TO | EFF | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 24 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | +34 | +15 |
| Player B | 15 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | +28 | +8 |
| Player C | 30 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 4 | +32 | +12 |
| Player D | 10 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +20 | -5 |
| Player E | 18 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | +26 | +3 |
Player A’s Efficiency (EFF) and Plus/Minus (+/-):
Dummy stats for 5 players across 5 games. We’ll use this to calculate per-game averages.
| Player | Game 1 (PTS/AST/REB) | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Total | PPG | APG | RPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player A | 20 / 5 / 8 | 24 / 6 / 7 | 18 / 4 / 9 | 22 / 7 / 10 | 26 / 5 / 6 | 110 / 27 / 40 | 22.0 | 5.4 | 8.0 |
| Player B | 12 / 7 / 10 | 15 / 8 / 9 | 18 / 6 / 11 | 14 / 5 / 8 | 20 / 9 / 12 | 79 / 35 / 50 | 15.8 | 7.0 | 10.0 |
| Player C | 25 / 4 / 6 | 30 / 5 / 7 | 28 / 3 / 5 | 22 / 6 / 8 | 27 / 4 / 6 | 132 / 22 / 32 | 26.4 | 4.4 | 6.4 |
| Player D | 10 / 2 / 12 | 8 / 3 / 11 | 12 / 4 / 10 | 9 / 2 / 13 | 11 / 3 / 9 | 50 / 14 / 55 | 10.0 | 2.8 | 11.0 |
| Player E | 16 / 6 / 9 | 18 / 5 / 8 | 20 / 7 / 10 | 14 / 4 / 7 | 22 / 6 / 11 | 90 / 28 / 45 | 18.0 | 5.6 | 9.0 |
Player A’s averages across 5 games: