Alright folks, grabbed a cup of coffee this morning and decided, you know what? I gotta finally figure out those dang basketball box scores everyone keeps talking about. Picked the Bulls vs Pistons game from last night because why not? Had the box score open on my screen, staring at this wall of numbers and abbreviations. Felt like reading another language.
Starting Out: Pure Confusion
First off, I just scanned the whole thing. Names on the left, buncha columns with labels like MIN, FGM-A, PTS. Recognized MIN was probably minutes, PTS was points… cool. But FGM-A? What the heck is that? Saw numbers like 8-15 or 3-7 next to player names. Took me a minute, scratching my head, then it clicked – Oh! Field Goals Made and Attempted. So that’s how many shots they took and how many went in. Simple enough once I got it. Felt like a lightbulb moment, honestly.
Getting Stuck on the Weird Stuff
Kept looking and bam, more trouble. Saw 3PM-A. Okay, “M-A” again, made-attempted, sure. The “3P” part? Knew it was three-pointers, but almost glossed over it. Almost wrote it off. Then hit FTM-A. Free Throws! Made sense. So now I had the core stuff for individual players:
- MIN: Minutes played.
- FGM-A: How many shots they made and tried.
- 3PM-A: Same deal but for long shots.
- FTM-A: Free throws made and attempted.
- PTS: Total points from all those.
But then I saw columns like REB, AST, STL, BLK, and TO. Rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers. Rebounds and assists I knew were important, TO I figured out was bad news – turnovers, losing the ball. Good stuff. Made a mental note.
Team Stuff Tripped Me Up
Down at the bottom, saw totals for each team. Looked similar but grouped together. Noticed team totals for points, rebounds, assists – the usual suspects. But then saw FG%, 3P%, FT% for the whole team. That’s just the percentage of shots they made overall. Helped see how efficient each team was shooting. Pretty useful to see at a glance who shot better.
The Final Puzzle Piece: Plus/Minus
Almost called it a day, but one last thing bugged me. Saw a column labeled . Saw numbers like +12 or -15 next to names. Searched around online briefly (lots of sites talking, had to dig for a simple explanation). Turns out it’s how the team did while that specific player was on the court. So +12 means the team outscored the opponents by 12 points with that guy playing. Negative means the team got outscored while they were out there. Interesting context!
Putting It All Together
Armed with this new “wisdom,” went back to the Bulls/Pistons box score. Checked the top scorers (easy, look for high PTS), who shot well (look at FG% and those FGM-A), who was passing well (AST leaders), who cleaned up the glass (REB top), and who might’ve struggled (low FG% or high TO). Team totals quickly showed me the Pistons shot terribly overall (saw their low FG%) and the Bulls won the rebounding battle (higher REB total). The final score suddenly made a lot more sense!
So yeah, went from total confusion to a decent grasp. Still learning, but at least now I don’t just glaze over when someone mentions “check the box score.” Feels less intimidating when you break it down piece by piece. Coffee helped too.
