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ODU Basketball: "Analyze This"

Head coach Jeff Jones and staff are trying to embrace analytics in college basketball

NORFOLK, Va. — When to take a two-point jump or take a three-pointer instead or should a team play zone or not? For ODU basketball, the answer could lay in analytics. The program is subscribing with an analytics company this year to help with the numbers.  

For ODU head coach Jeff Jones, it takes some getting used to, "I think there is a learning curve there for me, for our staff. We're tying to embrace it."

Back to that shot selection topic. Jones says the numbers are clear, "Our three-point shot attempts versus our two-point jump shot attempts is out of whack from an analytics standpoint."

How deep is the dive into analytics? Jones is finding the right balance, "You just can't forget your core principles. This is my 40th year as a coach. There are certain things that I just believe in and analytics aren't going to change that. But, if the analytics can enhance and make what we do better," then he is all in favor of it.

Embracing the idea at first was a bit of a challenge. Jones says, "Change is not always easy and I think understanding that it shouldn't be an ego thing. It's very, very simple. Does it helps us win more games? I think the answer is yes. It can and then you've got to figure out how to implement using the analytics."

 

 

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