By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Every year for the last six seasons the number of assists per game in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague has been going up, proving that basketball is starting to go in another direction. Eurohoops.net analyzes the numbers that prove this, explains the phenomenon and asks the opinion of two experts, Sergio Scariolo and Panagiotis Giannakis.
The numerous individual records and the big team performances led us to investigate the “phenomenon” of assists and in the end the suspicion was confirmed. In the 2010-11 season each team distributed an average of 13,5 assists per game. This number goes up every year and now the average performance for each team is 17,3 per game!
Even if someone thinks this fact is random, it’s certainly surprising that, among the nine best individual performances in assists in the Euroleague (at least 14 in one game by one player) there are only two players who brought this off in the first ten years of the competition, between 2000 and 2010. Tyus Edney dished out 14 assists as a player for Benetton Treviso against Olympiacos Piraeus on February 5, 2004, and Theodoros Papaloukas distributed the same number of assists on December 12, 2009 with Olympiacos against Entente Orleanaise. The rest of the top seven performances took place in the last six years (Stefan Jovic 19, Marcus Williams 17, Thomas Heurtel 15 twice, Taylor Rochestie 15, John Linehan 15, Milos Teodosic 14).
However, the increase does not occur because of the quality of the players, since in previous years, too, there were many point guards with highly developed creative instincts and an excellent feel for the game. To clarify the issue, it’s worth mentioning that an assist is considered to be the final pass before every successful shot or even a successful free throw.
One could assume that an important reason for the above fact is the increase of points scored in every game or the increase in possessions in every game. And yet! The average productivity of a team has been on an upward trend each year, but this year, for instance, it has dropped. In the same way, one could make the assumption that in the last six years the number of possessions has been increasing. But once again, there are many fluctuations. Of course, it’s not connected to the teams’ accuracy, since those percentages too present constant shifts.
As you will see in the table below, the column that shows the upward trend in baskets scored after assists most clearly is the last one.
There you can see the percentage of baskets that are scored after assists. And when that percentage was 51,5% in the 2010-11 season and now reaches 62,3%, it’s clear that we are talking about a phenomenon, a shift in basketball.
| Season | Points | Poss. | Assists | 2p.% | 3p.% | AS/FGM |
| 2015-16 | 76,6 | 73,7 | 17,3 | 51,4 | 35,3 | 62,3% |
| 2014-15 | 77,3 | 73,4 | 16,9 | 50,8 | 35,2 | 60,9% |
| 2013-14 | 74,7 | 71,9 | 15,8 | 50,9 | 35,3 | 57,7% |
| 2012-13 | 74,4 | 72,9 | 14,4 | 50,5 | 35,2 | 54,1% |
| 2011-12 | 73,9 | 73,4 | 13,8 | 50,1 | 33,8 | 52,1% |
| 2010-11 | 73,6 | 73,5 | 13,5 | 50,5 | 33,3 | 51,5% |
*AS/FGM: % Percentage of field goals that were created by an assist.
An “easy” explanation would be the change of regulations and adopting the 14-second shot clock following an offensive rebound from the 2014-15 season onwards. A natural corollary of this decision was the increase in scoring and the number of possessions. However, it does not explain the increase over the entire span of those six years and, indeed, during this period the increase in baskets scored after assists was even greater, continuing the upward trend of recent years.
So, what is the explanation for the continued increase in assists in every game?
Euroleague basketball has changed over the last few years, as centers with athletic qualities play a dominant role, overwhelmingly scoring on dunks following assists. Virtually every team in the Euroleague has a player like this who plays over the rim and scores with alley-oops.
In addition, the coaching in the Euroleague is at a very high level and coaches do their homework regarding the opponent’s strengths. Most try to avoid the one-on-one plays as much as possible. The players that are charismatic on offense are often forced to pass instead of scoring, since the opposing team’s defense is adapted to them. As a result, basketball becomes more of a team sport and the teams that have a high level of collaborations, but not necessarily the same level of individual talent, are rewarded.
A consequence of the “help defense” that many teams play is that gaps are created and passing lanes to an open teammate come up in every offense – for those players who can spot them. Another factor is the change in regulations that now “protect” the offense more and so the defense becomes makes less contact with offensive players compared to previous years.
The experts’ opinion
Sergio Scariolo
The game is constantly growing, evolving and moving toward being more of a more team sport. Basketball is becoming more and more a pick-and-roll game with easy dunks from the athletic big men who now dominate, compared to previous years. Modern big men don’t dribble: they jump high and they usually receive the ball in order to dunk. For example, in previous years an excellent pick-and-roll team like Panathinaikos Athens, with a center like Nikola Pekovic, didn’t have so many assists, because the center had to make several movements until he could shoot the ball. At the same time, the game is generally faster, and also, very often there are open three-point shots after a penetrations to the basket.
In general, the coaching influence has been further developed in the game. For example, the players who score 20-plus points in every game have become less. Also less are the players who play 35 minutes. Aside from this, in recent years there aren’t so many gifted players on offense who can play one-on-one. Most defenses don’t allow this game. Defenses have evolved tremendously and give help defense with one and two players on the more talented players.
In addition, the way people look at statistics has changed. The way assists are counted has also changed and the statistical services have become more generous with passers.
Panagiotis Giannakis
The increase in assists seems to be related mostly to two parts of the game. All professional players now put an emphasis on the extra pass and they realize the value it has. As a result, a lot of promising shots are created. On the other side, we have many players who can play the pick-and-roll well and many teams that use it; basically, we have really easy baskets that result from good passes. The athletes have learned to read quickly the passes to their teammate who moves toward the basket and they they’ve become effective at this.
It’s a given that the way the game is played in Europe is clearly based on teamwork and the stars don’t monopolize the ball; neither do they force plays. Instead, they look for a way to make the most of their teammates. The obstacle that has to be overcome in this case is the ego of each player, but this is something that is worked on everywhere.
We have to say, though, that the fact that assists are increasing doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re watching better, or, if you will, more effective basketball. If this was the case, then the possessions and the scores should also be increasing steadily, something that doesn’t seem to be happening.