What is PIR in EuroLeague basketball, and how is it calculated?
PIR (Performance Index Rating) is the single number EuroLeague uses to rate a performance, and the currency of EuroLeague Fantasy. Here is the exact formula, what it rewards, and where it misleads.
The formula
PIR adds everything a player produced and subtracts everything they wasted:
PIR = (PTS + REB + AST + STL + BLK + FD)
- (missed FG + missed FT + TOV + BLKA + PF)Every term weighs exactly one. A rebound is worth a point; a turnover costs a point; a missed free throw costs a point. That flatness is what makes PIR easy to read and easy to game: the fastest way to raise it is not to score more, it is to stop missing.
What it rewards, and what it hides
Because misses are punished one for one, efficiency beats volume. A player who takes four shots and makes three contributes more to PIR than one who takes twelve and makes six, once you count the rest of the line.
Fouls drawn are the most underrated term. They add to PIR directly and correlate with free throws made, so a player who attacks contact scores twice from the same action. Almost no public source tracks fouls drawn per player in Europe, which is exactly why we publish them next to every line.
The blind spot is defence that never reaches the sheet: a big man who deters ten drives without blocking a shot earns nothing. PIR measures the box score, not the game.
Exact PIR and approximate PIR
The formula needs eleven components. Many sheets, especially the FIBA-style ones used in preseason friendlies, never publish blocks against. When that single term is missing we compute the rest and label the result approximate, marked in the interface, instead of quietly presenting it as exact. When any other component is missing, we show N/A and compute nothing.
We also compare our computed PIR against the PIR printed on the sheet. When the two disagree the game is flagged: it usually means a typo in the source, and that is the kind of error that poisons a whole season of averages without anyone noticing.
PIR in EuroLeague Fantasy
In the official Fantasy game your score is the sum of your players PIR, with the captain counting double and the bench at half. So Fantasy value is not a question of who is the best player, but of who produces the most PIR per credit spent. That is why FantaSheet publishes a fair price next to the official one.
Frequently asked
- What does PIR stand for?
- Performance Index Rating. It is the official EuroLeague efficiency metric, shown next to every box score and used as the scoring unit of the EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge.
- What is the PIR formula?
- (Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks + Fouls drawn) minus (Missed field goals + Missed free throws + Turnovers + Blocks against + Fouls committed). Nothing is weighted: every term counts one.
- Can PIR be negative?
- Yes. A player who misses several shots, turns the ball over and commits fouls without producing can finish a game below zero. It happens most often to volume shooters on a cold night.
- Is PIR the same as NBA efficiency?
- They are close but not identical. The EuroLeague formula subtracts blocks against and adds fouls drawn, two terms the usual NBA efficiency rating ignores. Fouls drawn in particular make European big men and drivers more valuable than an NBA-style rating suggests.
See it on real games
Box scores for all 20 EuroLeague clubs, preseason included, with prices, projections and a fair price per player.
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