Classic stats (points, rebounds, assists, FG%) give you a first picture of a player. But they are not enough to answer finer questions: "who is really the most efficient player on the team?", "who carries the offense?", "which player contributes the most to wins?". For that, you need advanced statistics.

This article complements our complete basketball stats guide. You will find here the advanced stats most useful for an amateur player and an amateur analyst.

Why advanced stats exist

Three limits push us beyond classic stats:

1. Raw stats ignore playing time. A player who scores 8 points in 10 minutes is more efficient than a player who scores 10 in 30, but raw totals flatter the latter.
2. Raw stats ignore pace. A team that plays 100 possessions per game will have bigger totals than a team at 85, without necessarily being better.
3. Raw stats treat every shot the same. A three is worth 50% more than a two, and a free throw does not consume a shot attempt. A raw FG% captures none of that.

Advanced stats correct these biases. They do not replace the classics — they complement them.

1. True Shooting Percentage (TS%)

True Shooting Percentage is the serious version of FG%. It weights threes, twos, and free throws to produce a single measure of actual shooting efficiency.

Formula

TS% = Points / (2 × (Field Goal Attempts + 0.44 × Free Throw Attempts))

The 0.44 coefficient comes from statistical studies on how often free throws consume a possession (versus and-one free throws that do not). It is the standard coefficient used by most professional leagues.

Worked example

A player scores 20 points on 6-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from the line.

• Points = 20
• FGA = 14
• FTA = 5
• TS% = 20 / (2 × (14 + 0.44 × 5)) = 20 / (2 × 16.2) = 20 / 32.4 = 0.617, so 61.7%

His FG% was 6/14 = 42.8%, but his TS% reaches 61.7% thanks to the threes and free throws. TS% tells a much truer story.

How to use it

A TS% above 55% is considered very good. Above 60%, you are elite. To dig into FG%, the building block of TS%, read our dedicated article.

2. Player Efficiency Rating (PER)

PER is the best-known advanced stat, created by journalist John Hollinger. It is a composite score that bundles every positive event (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, made shots) and every negative one (missed shots, turnovers, fouls) into a single number, normalized by minute.

How it is computed

The full formula runs across several lines and is not the most readable. What matters:

• Each positive action adds a score.
• Each negative action subtracts a score.
• The total is divided by playing time.
• It is then adjusted for team pace.
• Finally it is calibrated so that the NBA average equals 15.

Reading

Here are the NBA benchmark thresholds, transposable proportionally to the high amateur level:

Limits

PER favors players who take many shots, even inefficient ones, and undervalues defense (because defense is poorly captured in the box score). It is a useful first approximation, not a final verdict.

3. Usage Rate (Usage %)

Usage Rate measures the share of your team's possessions you "consume" while on the floor. A consumed possession = a shot taken, a free throw attempted, or a turnover.

Simplified formula

Usage% = (FGA + 0.44 × FTA + TO) × (team minutes / (5 × player minutes)) / team possessions × 100

The simplified mental picture: out of every 100 offensive possessions while you are on the floor, on how many do you finish the action?

Reading

How to interpret it

Usage Rate in isolation means nothing. It must always be paired with efficiency (TS%, FG%). A player at 30% Usage and 60% TS% is a monster. A player at 30% Usage and 48% TS% drags his team down.

This echoes what we explain in our Plus/Minus article: consuming many possessions has a cost if you do not convert them efficiently.

4. Box Plus/Minus (BPM)

BPM is an attempt to extend raw Plus/Minus by adjusting it through the box score. The idea: estimate a player's scoring contribution per 100 possessions, accounting for individual stats, context, and pace.

Interpretation

BPM is expressed as "points per 100 possessions above or below an average NBA player". Example:

• BPM = +5: your team is 5 points better per 100 possessions when you are on the floor, compared to an average NBA player.
• BPM = 0: you are exactly at the level of an average NBA player.
• BPM = -3: your team is 3 points worse per 100 possessions when you play.

Thresholds

Advantage over raw +/-

BPM is much more stable because it relies on the box score rather than the raw team differential. It is therefore less sensitive to teammates and opponents. In return, it inherits the blind spots of the box score (defense, mostly).

5. Win Shares (WS)

Win Shares allocate part of a team's wins to each player based on his offensive and defensive contribution. The sum of Win Shares across a team's players is roughly equal to the team's win total on the season.

Breakdown

• Offensive Win Shares (OWS) — offensive contribution: shooting efficiency, creation, low turnovers.
• Defensive Win Shares (DWS) — defensive contribution: steals, blocks, defensive rebounds, team defensive percentage.
• Total Win Shares (WS) = OWS + DWS

Example

Over a season, your team wins 18 games out of 22. The sum of Win Shares across all players is roughly 18. If you have 4.2 WS, you "produced" 4.2 wins. You are an important contributor.

Reading

For an amateur player, the full-season WS number is often more intuitive than WS/48.

How to combine these stats

None of these advanced stats is sufficient on its own. Here is how to make them talk to each other.

To judge an offensive player

Look at, in order:

1. TS% — is he efficient when he shoots?
2. Usage% — how much does he carry the offense?
3. Assists / Turnovers — does he create for others without losing the ball?
4. PER — what is the summary number?

To judge a defender

Harder, because advanced stats are less rich on the defensive side. Look at:

1. DWS — how much of the team's wins do we credit to his defense?
2. Defensive Rating — how many points does the team concede per 100 possessions when he is on the floor?
3. Defensive BPM (DBPM) — how much does he weigh defensively?
4. Plus/Minus — does the team play better defensively with him? (see our Plus/Minus article)

To judge overall impact

1. BPM — a good summary per 100 possessions.
2. Season Win Shares — how many wins do we credit to this player?
3. Net +/- — empirical confirmation: does the team win more when he plays?

Are advanced stats useful for amateurs?

Yes — as long as you have a tool that computes them for you. Entering stats by hand in Excel and computing TS%, BPM, and Usage Rate is doable but tedious.

A tracking app like HoopsTrackR automates these calculations as soon as you enter your box scores. You visualize your TS% by month, your Usage Rate by opponent, your BPM over the last 10 games. That level of granularity is what turns stats tracking into a real progression tool.

Advanced stats are not magic

An important warning: advanced stats have their own limits.

• They depend on the quality of the box score. If an action is not captured (a set screen, a defensive switch), it does not enter the formula.
• They favor certain profiles. PER favors efficient scorers, BPM favors versatile creators.
• They do not replace the eye. A good coach still watches the game, not just the numbers.

The right approach: use advanced stats as a guardrail. If you feel you "carried the team" for a month but your BPM is at -1, there is probably an angle you are missing. Conversely, if your classic stats are average but your BPM and Plus/Minus are strong, you probably have an impact that raw numbers do not show.

Summary

Advanced stats are a high-resolution filter on top of classic stats. They adjust for noise (playing time, pace, context) and extract signal (real efficiency, impact, contribution to wins).

Key takeaways:

• TS%: shooting efficiency measure, superior to FG% because it integrates threes and free throws. For the FG% fundamentals, go to our dedicated article.
• PER: composite score, quick summary but biased toward scorers.
• Usage Rate: your share of possessions, always to be crossed with efficiency.
• BPM: adjusted impact per 100 possessions, the natural extension of raw Plus/Minus.
• Win Shares: wins contribution, offensive and defensive.

To zoom back out on the broader basketball stats picture, return to the complete basketball stats guide. To turn this into action, pick two or three of these advanced stats and monitor them over your next 10 games. That is the horizon on which real trends emerge, and it is how numbers become a real progression tool.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)