It is the time of year when competitive travel youth basketball gets into full swing. Players as young as 8 years old will travel all over the country playing one game after another. Parents will spend thousands of dollars on tournament fees, uniforms, and travel expenses to allow their child the opportunity for greater competition. This past Saturday my 3 boys were playing in 3 different tournaments in 3 different cities. I now have a nice collection of colorful paper bracelets for which I paid $10 each to watch them play.

Before I became a college coach I ran a baskeball academy and travel youth basketball teams, so I understand how it all works. Youth travel basketball alone is a million dollar industry in which very few actually get rich. Most do it for the same reasons I did, because they have kids involved and/or love the game. What concerns me is what we are teaching the next generation of players. They play tournaments almost every weekend, with 3 games in a day and another game win or lose. I question whether coaches are teaching the skills of the game and helping players learn the value of every possession.

Coaches have to spend time in practice so they can teach and develop a player's talent. Some of my toughest moments came in practice and that is when I have learned the most about myself as a player and competitor. Don't get me wrong, the opportunities our youth have these days are great and there are lots of good coaches out there. But we have to make sure that all these games and competitive opportunities are turning them into better players, and better teammates as well. My advice to all the coaches out there: Don't sacrifice practice time for game time. Your players and their future coaches will thank you for it later.

Ok I admit it, I am having an affair and my wife knows. This love affair started at six years old when I played my first game of organized basketball. As you may know, I was a multi-sport athlete all the way up through college. I have been asked more times than I can remember whether I like football, basketball or baseball the best. I always gave the diplomatic answer that I liked them all for various reasons, but deep down I knew basketball had the edge. Why did I play them all you ask? Because no matter how much I loved basketball, I loved competing even more. I am a relentless competitor and like to win. I figured if I was good enough to compete, why would I not play. Ultimately as my college career came to an end, a choice had to be made and on to hoops it was.

While this love affair has been going on for years, I can remember exactly when I realized for myself that I was addicted. It didn't happen while cutting down the nets at the ACC championship or on a private plane in the NBA. It hit me on a normal January morning at 6:00 am as I sat in the Sioux Falls, SD airport while playing in the CBA with the Idaho Stampede. I was in the middle of nowhere with a foot of snow on the ground, waiting to jump on a tiny plane to play a game later that day in Grand Rapids. We were delayed and waiting for the snow to clear. As I looked around at my teammates sprawled out and asleep on the floor of the terminal, I asked myself "Why are you doing this?" And the answer came as clear as I am typing right now: "You are getting paid to compete, what could be better!"

Like any passionate affair there have been many highs and lows, triumphs and disappointments. But no matter what, the game was always there for me. There is something reassuring and almost spiritual about being in the gym all alone, sweat soaked and nothing but the sound of the ball bouncing. Fortunately for me the real love of my life for the last 26 years, my wife Tammy, is a competitor too. She has been there to cheer during the victories but more importantly, to pick me up when the game has let me down. So I have some advice for all you young basketball junkies out there looking for love. If she will rebound for you on Friday night, she is a keeper.

The goal of every college team is to be playing in the NCAA Tournament this time of year. Being on the national stage as one of the “best” 68 teams in the country has obvious benefits for not only the basketball program but university as a whole. Coaches today have a wealth of statistics and resources to help evaluate their team and opponents.  Advanced statistical analysis, such as Dean Oliver’s Four Factors (explanation here), is readily available at sites like kenpom.com for all to see and parse through.

With this wealth of data, the hard part is figuring out how to apply it when building a team and formulating game plans. Per Dean Oliver’s research, the premise is that offensive and defensive eFG% has the most impact on winning. The next most influential stats are TO%, OR% and Free Throw rate.  We have heard coaches at all levels talk about taking good shots, eliminating easy shots for the opponent, not turning it over and rebounding the ball. In a nutshell that’s what these stats measure, but in a more intricate and detailed way.

In evaluating the Four Factors for any team, we must remember that being good in these areas does not guarantee wins. It can however be an excellent predictor of success. In addition, while the overall rank of each individual statistic is important, the differential between offensive and defensive numbers can be more indicative of success. We can’t look just at eFG% offense without also comparing that to eFG% defense. 

When evaluating the eFG% stats and differential of NCAA teams here are some facts:

• 28 of the top 68 offensive eFG% teams are in the NCAA tournament (41.2%)
• 30 of the top 68 defensive eFG% teams are in the NCAA tournament (44.1%)
• 39 of the top 68 differential teams (off eFG% - def eFG%) are in the NCAA tournament (57.4%)
• 6 of the 68 team NCAA field had a negative eFG% differential

The fact that jumped out to me was the last one in regards to the NCAA field only having six teams with negative eFG% in the tournament. When you look deeper, it gets even more interesting. The teams in the negative were Colorado, Providence, Milwaukee, Wofford, Mount St. Mary’s and Cal Poly. Out of those 6 only two, Colorado & Providence (bubble team), would have made the tournament without being an automatic qualifier. The interesting statistic for both of those schools is that they both have very positive OR% differential: Colorado +7.9 and Providence +4.7.  One could argue that they make up for the eFG% disparity by consistently winning the battle of the back boards.

Out of curiosity I also looked back at the NCAA fields for 2013 and 2012. In the NCAA field for 2013, only Illinois and James Madison had negative eFG% differentials. While both of these teams had slight negatives in rebounding differential, they both had positive TO% differentials: Illinois +4.3 and James Madison +3.9. Back in 2012, the field contained six teams with negative eFG%: Southern Miss, West Virginia, Loyola MD, Detroit, Lamar and W Kentucky. Only two of these teams, Southern Miss and West Virginia, were at large bids. Similar to 2014 they both have high positive OR% differentials: Southern Miss +7.5 and West Virginia +10.5. 

So in conclusion, eFG% differential does not guarantee enough success to make the NCAA field, it is highly unlikely to have a negative differential and make it in. If your team doesn’t consistently win the eFG% stat, you better be able to rebound at a high rate or take care of the ball. Regardless of the stats, you can always make a run in the conference tournament to go dancing!