FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How often is the site updated?
   • There is a new gauntlet weekly, and opinion articles appear biweekly.
2. What is a Win Share?
   • A Win Share attempts to calculate how many wins a player added or subtracted to his team. Each win share is equal to 1/3 of a win. Learn more at Basketball-Reference.
3. What is PER?
   • The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is a per-minute 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.”
4. How reliable are these numbers?
   • PER is quite reliable at determining how many wins a player can contribute. The average NBA player would receive a PER of 15. Generally, an increase of 1 PER over 2,000 minutes is equal to one win. However, PER tends to overrate players who score often but at a poor percentage. It also overrates those with good steals, blocks, and rebounds numbers who are poor defenders.
   • Although they can be useful for comparing players on the same team, Win Shares is not very reliable at comparing a player’s contribution irrespective of his team. As an example, Paul Pierce had -1 Win Shares Above Average in 2006-2007 but 15.5 in 2007-2008. His Win Shares increased because he was on a much better team. Likewise, his PER decreased because he was on a much better team- there were less rebounds for him to get.
   • When using statistics for an argument, remember that identical players could achieve very different numbers on different teams.
   • For example, a point guard on a team with many talented shooters could tally many more assists than if his teammates threw up bricks. A poor shooter may not be hurting his team that much if he is surrounded by great rebounders. A great rebounder would haul down less rebounds if his teammates were also good at rebounding.The coach’s strategy can also have a major impact on a player’s statistics. In conclusion, although statistics can help paint a picture of a player’s usefulness, no analysis is complete unless you consider ‘how’ and ‘why’ a player got those numbers.
   • Also remember that some team contributions are not recorded, but can be found in a plus/minus statistic.
5. True Shooting Percentage accounts for free throws and 3-pointers. Field Goal Percentage underrates those who get to the line often or make three pointers. To calculate TS%, use this equation: (Total points x 50) divided by [(FGA + (FTA x 0.44)].