In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m In Basketball, the term field goal is a basket scored on any shot or tap other than a Free throw, worth two or three points depending on the distance of the attempt This person is known as the "assistor. " According to the Official 2004 NCAA Basketball Statistics Rules, an assist has to be "a major part of the play," which either finds the player already with a "positional advantage," or helps him or her get one. There is thus some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist. An assist can be scored for the passer even if the player who receives the pass makes a basket after dribbling the ball. However, the original definition of an assist did not include such situations,^[1] so the comparison of assist statistics across eras is a complex matter.

Only the pass directly before the score may be counted as an assist, so no more than one assist can be recorded per field goal (unlike in other sports, such as ice hockey. Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. ) A pass that leads to a shooting foul and scoring by free throws does not count as an assist. Main article Basketball moves In Basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted

A player can get him or herself into position to receive an assist in a variety of ways. The main way is to come off a screen, which, if executed properly, will leave the player open for a pass, and in a position to easily score. A screen is a blocking move by an offensive player by standing beside or behind a defender to free a teammate to shoot receive a pass or drive in to score Other times the defense will double team an offensive player, leaving someone else open. A double team in Basketball is defending one offensive player with two defensive players (It is the passer, not the player receiving the pass, who "receives" the credit for making an assist. ) Averaging a large number of assists doesn't always mean that the player is good at passing; it could just mean that he/she makes many passes in the course of a game. A more useful metric is a player's assist/turnover ratio, which compares passes that lead to an assist to those that fall into the opposing team's hands. In Basketball, a turnover occurs when a player from one team gives possession to a member of another team by losing the ball Of course, many other factors, such as a team's play style and teammates' scoring prowess, should be considered as well.

Point guards tend to get the most assists per game (apg), as their role is primarily that of a passer and ballhandler. Point guard ( PG) also called the one or " the ball-handler " is one of the standard positions in a regulation Basketball game Centers tend to get fewer assists, but centers with good floor presence and court vision can dominate a team by assisting. The center, colloquially the five, is one of the standard positions in a regulation Basketball game Being inside the key, the center often has the best angles and the best position for "dishes" and other short passes in the scoring area. Center Wilt Chamberlain led the NBA in assists in 1968. Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain (August 21 1936&ndashOctober 12 1999 nicknamed Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, and Chairman of the Boards A strong center with inside-scoring prowess, such as the Phoenix Suns' center Shaquille O'Neal, can also be an effective assistor because the defense's need to double-team him results in the offense's shooters being open outside. The Phoenix Suns are a professional Basketball team based in Phoenix Arizona. Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (born March 6 1972 frequently referred to simply as " Shaq " is an African American Professional basketball

The NBA single-game assist record is 30, held by Scott Skiles of the Orlando Magic against the Denver Nuggets, on December 30, 1990. Scott Allen Skiles (born March 5 1964 in LaPorte Indiana) is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and former American professional Basketball player

Contents 1 Notable players 2 Other terminology 3 See also 4 References

Notable players

John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Cousy are widely considered the greatest ever at delivering assists in the NBA. John Houston Stockton (born March 26 1962 is a retired American professional Basketball player ( NBA) who spent his entire career ( 1984 &ndash Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24 1938 in Charlotte Tennessee) nicknamed " The Big O " is a former American NBA player with Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy (born August 9 1928 in New York City) is a former French - American professional Basketball player Stockton holds the record for most total assists in a career, with 15,806. Behind him is Mark Jackson, whose 10,334 assists are a distant second to Stockton's total. Mark A Jackson (born April 1 1965 in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American professional Basketball player who played Magic Johnson holds the record for highest career average apg with 11. 2, Stockton is second with 10. 5. Stockton holds the highest season average with 14. 5. Stockton, Jackson, and Johnson were all point guards. Oscar Robertson had 9,887 career assists at a time when assists were only awarded for field goals made without a dribble. He was the first player to average more than 10 assists per game in a season, and led the NBA in assists six times. Cousy led the league in assists eight straight seasons. Other players that are considered to be great at making assists are: Nate Archibald, Tim Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Isiah Thomas, Mark Price, and Lenny Wilkens among other notables. Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2 1948 New York City is a retired American professional Basketball player Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway (born September 1 1966) is an American retired Basketball Point guard who played in the Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4 1966 is a retired American Basketball Point guard who played for the NBA 's Cleveland Cavaliers Gary Dwayne Payton (born July 23 1968 is an American professional Basketball player formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA Stephen John Nash, OC, OBC (born 7 February 1974 is a Canadian professional Basketball player who plays Point guard for the Isiah Lord Thomas III (nicknamed "Zeke" (/aɪˈzeɪə/ born April 30 1961 is an American retired professional Basketball player most renowned as the William Mark Price (born February 15 1964 in Bartlesville Oklahoma) is a retired American Basketball player who played for 12 Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens (born October 28 1937 in Brooklyn, New York U

Other notable assistors today include: Jose Calderon, Jason Kidd, Baron Davis, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, Andre Miller and more recently Ramon Sessions. José Calderón is the name of José Calderón (basketball José Manuel Calderón (musician José Manuel Calderón (Chilean Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23 1973 is an American professional Basketball player in the NBA who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks. Baron Walter Louis Davis. (born April 13 1979 in Los Angeles California) is an American professional Basketball player who currently plays for the Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6 1985 in Winston-Salem North Carolina) is an American professional Basketball player who currently plays Point Deron Michael Williams (ˈdɛrən (DARE-in (born June 26 1984 in Parkersburg West Virginia) is an American professional Basketball player currently Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25 1976 in Denver Colorado) is an American professional Basketball player Andre Lloyd Miller (born March 19 1976 in Los Angeles California) is an American professional Basketball player for the Philadelphia Ramon Sessions (born April 11 1986 in Myrtle Beach South Carolina) is an American professional Basketball player for the NBA 's Milwaukee

Other terminology

There are many synonyms used to describe an assist. Some of the most popular are:

• "dishing the rock"
• "dropping a dime"
• "feed"
• "sharing the wealth"
• "distributing the rock"

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

References

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