The Analytics of Todd Golden

I am not sure what a analytics coach even means. Can someone explain. Is it playing the odds?
I really have no idea

 

Well, he analyzed the fact that the Gators sucked at rebounding before he arrived. This year, that analytic is improved.

 

Th biggest place it shows up is in shot selection, it’s either layups or threes. Those two have the highest returns.
He also came interesting how important offensive rebounding was analytically and basically turned us into a monster in it in two years.
But we haven’t seen the analytics driven fouls to this point.

 

Tempo might be an analytic CTG is intent upon, as the Gators are one of the fastest shooting teams in the country. I'd also like to know what prompted our guards to throw the long ball down low on the break because that was obviously on the agenda for this game. Perhaps there was a transition defense analytic involved.

 

Might want to analyze our FT%

 

The only analytics I saw were turnovers…..

 

We also don’t know how much analytics are driving rotations and playing time. Even recruiting as I alluded to above, my guess is probably that those would be where it shows up most. as far as the Samuel possession, no one was shooting FTs well, he was as good a choice as any. But the larger issue was that the entire offense tonight was predicated around dumping the ball inside. Changing the offense at that point might have been the bigger sin than playing the analytics game.
Jmo.

 

The biggest thing I've seen is Golden identifying elements that opponents do well and getting the team to concentrate on combating it. He seems to have specific numerical goals for each game which I haven't heard of before.

 

one analytic that I see is that Kugel plays like crap then he gets benched because of it

 

Kugel, Clayton, Richard and Pullin should be driving almost every possession. And hit FTs! They are all fast. There's usually a big man to dump it to or to rebound.

 

We calling for the return of the dribble drive offense? Jk

 

I don't care what system he uses as long as he wins.

 

When it works.

 

100% agree with this spot on observation. Missing 50% of your free throws is like missing extra points in a football game. They can cost you wins.

 

Analytics say that the team that scores more points win.

 

Golden is a smart guy and his approach to analytics is nuanced. I had watched this video of him talking about his approach when he was first announced as the new coach:



Some of his main points:

• He likes to apply analytics in various aspects of the program, including practice, game planning, shooting, recruiting, and scheduling. So what we get to see during game time is a very small aspect of his approach. He also likes to use analytics as a teaching tool with players.
• Fouling strategy and two foul participation: Golden likes to maximize minutes with your best players and dislikes automatically benching players with two fouls in the first half.
• Shot selection: He does not automatically view three-points as good and all mid-range shots as bad. Context, player, and shot quality all matter. He dislikes guarded step-back three pointers. He likes uncontested mid-range jumpers taken in rhythm.
• He relies on Dean Oliver’s four factors: effective field goal percentage, turnover rate, offensive rebounding percentage, and free throw rate. He must be pretty happy so far this year with the offensive rebounding percentage and the free throw rate, but miserable about eFG% and the turnover rate.

 

Good stuff.
The free throw percentage, I THINK, will go up a little as Clayton gets closer to his form and Condo and Haugh get more comfortable at the line. The turnover rate is not unusual for early in a season and should go down. A lot of our turnovers are of the careless variety rather than the great defense variety.
Shot selection is dependent upon the situation and the shooter. I'll always want a decent shooter to take an open midrange shot.