Maybe this is just a part of the "attendance conspiracy" Ben. :)

Allen - see page 14

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/ForSIDs/Policies.pdf

If I could get the rebound off when my shot was blocked, my career stats just went way up.

Relating to rebounds, shooting on your own basket doesn't count.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNrehtOZIlY

They say numbers never lie. Basketball box scores almost always are fibbing. Rarely are rebounding stats kept correctly, as UpSan's excellent post points out all the nooks and crannies that are rarely known by the people keeping the stats.

The best stats I ever get are at the high school level, two days after the game, kept personally by the assistant coach or head coach who watched the tape and adjusted the stats. Everything else, my own stats I keep included, have issues.

I would really like to see more in-depth statistics on assists used. The hockey assist (the guy who passed to the person who tallies the assist) and "assisting" on a guy drawing foul shots are two things that I really wish were in every box score.

The people who keep the stats (with computers it can be done with a 3 person team as opposed to doing it in writing when it takes up to 6 or 7) are hired and work for the SID's. Sometimes one or two assistant SID's will be a part of the team. These people sometimes do it as volunteers and sometimes they get paid or are given season tickets. Many times an assistant or a manager will also chart some statistics that a coach is especially interested in. Shot charts to see where an individual is making or attempting his shots.

Used to be that the radio and TV staffs will include a statistician who sits either in the production truck watching the games on very small TV's or next to the on air talent on press row. This person is paid. There are a few guys who get to travel across the country and do games for TV. The away team will either bring in a statistician with their on air talent or will ask the home SID to supply them with a stat person just for that one game. A couple items of interest:
1. The stat person RARELY talks during the game. Sometimes he will read partial stats at halftime or at the end of the game if there is time - but unless the talent wants something specifically and asks - he doesn't talk. They will slip a note to the statistician and get a note back with the answer.
2. Now - at most schools they have TV monitors up and down press row. With that there isn't the need for TV stats - the talent just watches the monitor.
3 At all times the box score should balance. Missed shots and rebounds must equal. At the end of the game the crew will decide who gets a couple extra rebounds or gets them taken away so it balances.
4 There is a lot of pressure on the stat crew and it can be easy to get behind. WHen this happens the crew tries to catch up as quickly as possible. I once had Rollie Massimino slam his fist down on my printer totally breaking it. We got way behind.
5. I once let Tark know that Larry Johnson was just one rebound away from a triple double. It was late in the game and Larry had been pulled from the lineup. Tark put him back in, he got another rebound, and he was put back down on the bench.
7. One year Ohio played UNLV in a Christmas Tournament. Vegas was known for their tremendous fireworks display at the start of the game. Now a lot of teams do it but back then it was just UNLV. Prior to the Ohio game I passed out sparklers to the Ohio fans who made the trip. When the Ohio starters were announced the Ohio fans lit their sparklers and proudly hoisted them in the air. Everyone was laughing except the Facility Manager who told me never to do that again.

Great stuff. Yes, during my second senior year (ahem) I worked with the SID and one of my roles was to take stats at home basketball games. There were a handful of us and we divvied up categories. There was a second set of stats also being recorded and the SID compared the two sets to make sure they were consistent. No sparklers, though.

Great stuff.

That's not always true.

How often a pass gets to its target. If it's stolen, deflected, etc., it counts as a miss. Soccer and hockey use it. I don't know if it would be useful, but it would at least be interesting.

Yes, last night for example, there were 42 missed shots (41 FGs, 1 FT) by Ohio and 32 missed shots (27 FGs and 5 FTs) by Evansville for 74 missed shots overall. There were 38 rebounds to Evansville, 33 to Ohio and 3 deadball rebounds for a total of 74. It always adds up, though sometimes you don't see the deadball rebounds given as a stat anywhere.