Dave in Green Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Just in case you or any of your staff may secretly read ZipsNation looking for good ideas (yeah, I get the humor in that), there were two articles in today's New York Times sports section that I thought covered new ground and might be of interest to you. The first was a college story about a team that blew out VCU in a recent game:Davidson Math Students Lend a Hand to Basketball TeamBefore Davidson’s first season in the Atlantic 10, the conference’s preseason poll forecast the Wildcats to finish 12th out of 14 teams.... McKillop and his staff had homed in on a secret weapon. They did not recruit an unknown European marksman or a graduate transfer, but a math professor and a group of students infatuated with basketball statistics. ...... Chartier and his students presented a way to show the efficiency of every five-man lineup that Davidson used in games. As Chartier explained, a player may not produce individual statistics that indicate he is making an important contribution on the court, but by looking at the players in a group, their role becomes clearer. ...... Chartier’s group also provided the coaches with “heat maps” that show a player’s shooting efficiency from certain areas on the floor. Without high-tech cameras, Davidson math students watch games on television or from the sidelines and estimate the locations.Students also provide the coaching staff with scouting reports on the next opponent, which are ready almost immediately after each game. ...There's lots more to that story that's worth reading. The most important point is to get other areas of UA engaged in using their expertise to help the Zips win more games. There are probably many professors at UA who could care less if athletics went away. But all you need to do is find one or two willing to help to gain the edge that Davidson showed this season that will probably get a pre-season predicted 12th-place conference team into the NCAA tournament.The second story was about the best team in the NBA this season, the Atlanta Hawks, and some of the pioneering ideas they've been using:Key to Hawks’ Team Play: Nourish the IndividualATLANTA — The Hawks’ practice gym has bare walls, some cardio equipment crammed behind a baseline and patchwork flooring, a result of a recent leak. Most N.B.A. teams have gleaming, multimillion-dollar facilities. The Hawks spend their time in something that looks straight out of the Cold War.“You know, I kind of like it,” said Kenny Atkinson, an assistant coach. “It almost feels like we’re in a ‘Rocky’ movie.”The gym, which sits beside the team’s locker room at Philips Arena, safely hidden from public view, fits its style. It could be argued that no other team in the league has more effectively maximized its resources. Get them a couple of functional hoops, and the Hawks, with their lunch-pail roster, will take care of the rest.“It’s as important as anything we do,” Coach Mike Budenholzer said of the team’s emphasis on player development. ...... In Atlanta, he has his players spend as much time working one-on-one with members of his staff as they do in traditional team practice settings. He wants opportunities for Paul Millsap to hone his outside shooting touch and for Jeff Teague to identify passing angles and for Kyle Korver to add a floater to his repertoire.“I think the league is really trending toward shorter practices and more quality individual time,” Atkinson said. “It’s the difference between being in a class with 30 other kids and getting one-on-one tutoring for 20 or 30 minutes.” ...Again, there's much, much more to the story. But the key point is shifting practice time to more one-on-one from traditional team practice. You may already be aware of the concepts covered in these two articles since basketball is your life. But they caught my attention and made a lot of sense to me, so I thought I'd mention it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 +1!. But it'll never happen at UA. Because the people running UA don't take students seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glib Shanley Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I'd say if you really want Coach Dambrot to see it this, you should use his university email.akronhoops@uakron.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 The second story was about the best team in the NBA this season, the Atlanta HawksThe Hawks all pass, drive and shoot from distance well. They are a very well coached team IMO. Budenholzer learned from Popovich, and I would be shocked if Budenholzer doesn't win coach of the year. It's proof that a great coach can get a team to play great team basketball without over complicating things. So if KD is going to change his style, I'm all for imitating Budenholzer, especially when it comes to his offensive philosophy...adjust your offense to your players skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkwgriswold Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 The Hawks all pass, drive and shoot from distance well. They are a very well coached team IMO. Budenholzer learned from Popovich, and I would be shocked if Budenholzer doesn't win coach of the year. It's proof that a great coach can get a team to play great team basketball without over complicating things. So if KD is going to change his style, I'm all for imitating Budenholzer, especially when it comes to his offensive philosophy...adjust your offense to your players skills. I sure wish Mike Brown would have learned from Popovich like Budenholzer!There's always some push back from sports traditionalists to things like this, not unlike baseball with the sabermetrics movement. In time though, people start to see some value to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 KD spends countless hours analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of his teams and individual players. If there was an area he thought he could improve upon, I am sure he has studied the pros and cons of a new strategy before implementing it or discarding it. Am I doing it right? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Am I doing it right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAZip0510 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 +1!. But it'll never happen at UA. Because the people running UA don't take students seriously.At least you're not painting with a broad brush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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