HOW THE BENEDICTINE RAVENS LEVERAGE DATA TO FLY TO NEW HEIGHTS

Recently named NAIA DI Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year, Ryan Moody of Benedictine College cites several reasons for his team’s stellar 2018-19 campaign — and one of those reasons is ShotTracker. He is getting more out of his team than ever before by harnessing the power of instant stats and analytics.

The Ravens went undefeated in conference play, earned a 1 seed in the tournament, and finished with a final record of 31-4. They accomplished this by spreading the floor and taking better shots than ever before. “The analytics say that this is the best way to win with the talent that we have,” Coach Moody says. “ShotTracker drives home the point: ‘This is what we’re good at, and here’s why.’”

Coach Moody and his staff are continually finding new ways to take advantage of this cutting-edge tech — as a recruiting tool, a time-saver, an individual skill-enhancer and the perfect means to forging close bonds between him and his players.

Installing ShotTracker in their practice gym has proven to be a game-changer for Benedictine. Providing Coach Moody and his staff with a superabundance of data that translates into victories. “Without a doubt, ShotTracker has changed the way we look at analytics,” he says. “We are now way more in tune with the numbers and what works for us.”

Where a high tempo team that’s running and gunning might get 80 shots up over the course of a game, Benedictine averages between 65-72. That’s why one stat Coach Moody pays particularly close attention to is Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%). “For us, shot selection is everything. Other teams play so fast that they can take 15-18 terrible shots and it doesn’t matter. We’re using ShotTracker to really hone in on great shots.”

ShotTracker’s zone maps reveal the spots on the floor where Benedictine shoots most efficiently, and the coaching staff in turn drills their players in practice until taking shots from those spots becomes second nature to them. “Anybody who plays for us knows there are five spots on the floor that we want to get 3’s from. We want those five spots to be the hottest, with hopefully some orange and red in the corners and slots. If we’re taking 30 shots by halftime and 18 of them are 3s. In the past, we’d be going, ‘That’s way too many,’” Moody says. “But now, because we can trust in the data, we know this is who we are.”