DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF FIELD GOALS ATTEMPTED. Analyze your statisticians report to understand how many shots were taken by your team during the game (this is typically done on a shot chart with the number of the player noted on the position of the court where the shot was taken). This is the FGA (Field Goals Attempted).
DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS. Analyze your statisticians report to understand how many offensive rebounds your team got during the game. This is typically done by player--add up the team total. This is the OffReb (Offensive Rebounds).
DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF TURNOVERS. Analyze your statisticians report to understand how many turnovers (e.g. violation, ball stolen) your team committed during the game. This is your TOV (Turnovers).
DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED. Free thows can be shot as a pair (fouled while shooting) or can be shot as a single (miss the front end of a bonus or shoot one to complete a three-point play). Simply count up how many free throws were attempted by your team. This is your FTA (Free Throws Attempted).
Utilize this formula to determine the number of possessions your team had for the game (or any specified period of time):
Possessions = FGA - OffReb + TOV + (0.4 x FTA)
Note: you are multiplying the FTA by 0.4 to best estimate the number of attempted free throws that end a possession. As described above, some free throws do not end a possession. According to Dean Oliver, approximately 40 percent of all free throws end a possession.
Example....Your team had the following statistics for the game:
70 field goals attempted
15 offensive rebounds
12 turnovers
10 free throws attempted
Possessions = 70 - 15 + 12 + (0.4 x 10)
Possessions = 71