The whole point of coaching is to develop better players, because better players mean winning teams. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly —- improvement on the basketball court is what coaching is all about. Player development happens at all levels of the game. From youth basketball all the way up to the pros, everyone wants to add something to his/her game that will result in better performance. The big question is … how do you really know that your players are improving?

The answer is measurement.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure, and that’s why analytics are key to player development. Telling an athlete she needs to work on passing and showing an athlete her YTD turnover count immediately following practice are two different things.

The challenge is, with tight budgets and everything you have to do as a coach, how do you get the data? That’s where ShotTracker® TEAM comes in. Developed in partnership with Spalding ^®, ShotTracker TEAM captures virtually every player stat in real-time during practice, games or anytime your player hits the court.

Each player wears a small sensor on his/her shoe, and players use the Spalding ShotTracker ball. Sensors installed in the rafters above the court identify the location of the nets and track player and ball movement. With that information, an algorithm calculates practically every performance statistic. The data is collected automatically and in real-time, which is delivered to you and your players via the ShotTracker App.

As an example, let’s look at player efficiency. Ball movement and being efficient is crucial in today’s game. In Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals this year, DeMar DeRozan’s number of dribbles was inversely related to his eFG%. Imagine having this information for your players. If you knew exact stats that explained why your starting shooting guard was in a slump and his FG% increased by 20% when he takes less than 2 dribbles, wouldn’t you prioritize this aspect of his development in practice? These types of stats can provide a great framework for player development and help turn your player’s weaknesses into strengths.

When it comes to shooting, drills and repetition are key to improvement. With ShotTracker TEAM, you can set a specific practice goal for your players. For example, “As a team, we want to shoot 55% on unguarded 3pt shots”. Using ShotTracker TEAM, you could track player 3pt shooting performance over the course of a few weeks. Perhaps you see that overall, the team is shooting 45%, but you have freshman shooting 35% (with particular weakness on corner 3pt shots), which has been offset by a junior shooting 50%. As a result, you may take a closer look at the freshman’s development habits and assign workouts and drills accordingly.

 

With ShotTracker TEAM, you’ll step off the court with full box scores, player efficiency ratings (PER), your optimal starting five, and more. Imagine your players receiving their own personal practice report via text before they leave the locker room.  Every play is accountable and every player knows where he/she stands. Creating a culture of player development and accountability are keys to winning big, and ShotTracker TEAM gives you the necessary tools at an affordable price.

 

For more information, check out the ShotTracker TEAM official website, or take a look back at our last article on how to building winning lineups with analytics.