Is it really an assist if the scorer catches the ball with his back to the basket?

[Nowitness]

thoughts?

[josh99]

Depends on how it long it takes the player to shoot the ball. An assist is very vague stat, if you past it to a player and he makes a half court shot are you really assisting him?

Or for example if a player stands at the top holding the ball while Ray Allen goes through some back screens to get open for a three and then you pass him the ball. Did that player really assist Ray Allen? All he did was stand there and then pass the ball to a wide open man once all the hard work had been done.

Now compare those sort of assists to say a pass in traffic for a wide open dunk. Or a drive and kick for a wide open jump shot. So I guess my point is is that there are many types of assists and going by the current definition passing to someone with his back to the basket could be an assist.

[ZMonkey11]

Knowing when to pass it. Passing the ball in such a way that the player is still in position to take a quality shoot he is comfortable with. Yes

[wally_world]

If a player doesnt box out and the ball just happens to bounce to his hands, is it a rebound?

[SHAQisGOAT]

Yea that should be an assist, at least as long as the teammate doesn't that a whole lot of time to shoot after plenty of moves... Not simply easy to find the back-to-the-basket teammate at the right time, in the right position.

[SpanishACB]

if the back to the basket shot is contested it shouldn't.

but you have to draw the line somewhere in order to be able to quantify them in a practical and possible way.

[Oly BC]

If he's guarded and needs to post, then no.
If he's guarded and needs to post but it's a very obvious mismatch, eg center against pg because the players switched after a screen, then it should be but I'm not sure it counts as one.

[Levity]

I feel it really depends on the situation and how the post player reacts after getting the pass.

throwing the ball into the post is an art. you honestly have to know what youre doing despite how simple and straightforward it looks.

[Oly BC]

throwing the ball into the post is an art
No, it's not. It's a pass.

[Lebronxrings]

i guess that eliminates all of kobe's assists if we don't count it.

[Levity]

No, it's not. It's a pass.

:cheers: