Glossary of Terms

I realize that to the uninitiated, there are plenty of terms, jargon, and formulas that need explanation. Here are some of the ones that I use heavily in my posts:

C, PF, SF, SG, PG - the five positions on a basketball court.

FG, FG%, FGAtt - a shot attempt, shot attempt percentage, and rate of shot attempts per 48 minutes

FT, FT%, FTAtt - a free-throw attempt, free-throw attempt percentage, and rate of free-throw attempts per 48 minutes

When I use the following term to compare players against an average, these stats are per 48 minutes (or per 40 minutes, depending on the league):
  • TOs - turnovers 
  • PFs - personal foul  
  • Pts - points scored 
  • Blk - blocks 
  • Stl - steals 
  • Ast - assists 
  • Reb - rebounds
PPS - points per shot. Calculated by subtracting points scored at the free-throw line from total points scored and then dividing by field goal attempts. Describes the number of points scored every time a shot is taken

AdjFG% - adjusted FG%. Calculated by dividing PPS by 2. A shooting percentage that takes 3point shots into consideration 

Net Poss - net possessions. Calculated by adding Reb and Stl and subtracting TOs. Describes the number of possessions added by a player

Wins Produced (WP) - number of wins a player creates with his or her play. Explanation for the calculation provided here.

WP48 - Wins Produced per 48 minutes. Explanation for the calculation provided here. Describes the number of wins produced by a player if the player plays for 48 minutes.

WP40 - Wins Produced per 40 minutes. Used with leagues where the length of the game is 40 minutes long. Describes the number of wins produced by a player if the player plays for 40 minutes.

Win Score - explanation for the calculation provided here. Simpler way of calculating wins produced.

PAWS, PAWSmin - Position Adjusted Win Score and Position Adjusted Win Score per minute. Due to the different production levels of each position on the court, it's best to adjust Win Score by position. PAWSmin is simply a per-minute adjustment of PAWS. Explanation provided here.

EWP, EWP48, and EWP40 - Estimated WP, Estimated WP48, and Estimated WP40. These metrics are calculated using Win Score and are easier to calculate than the non-estimated variants. Explanation for the calculation provided here.

    This list is a work in progress.