Besides buzzwords, how can the national champion’s success be applied?

Basketball is one of the most naked sports to the eye, a lot of the game can be identified, despite the potential limited knowledge that the individual watching possesses. Because of this phenomenon and the flow of basketball videos out in the world, many pundits get by using as many buzzwords as possible, without saying anything of substance.

For example, a writer on a popular sports blog, or a sports talk host can constantly say, “X team needs to run spread pick-and-rolls to shoot as many three pointers and lay-ups as possible.” (I have actually read/seen these statements being made…numerous times.)

While on the surface it seems like something of note was said, in reality, that statement means absolutely nothing.

For example, I can tell someone to invest in stocks when the price of a company is low, and then sell when the price is high. But if I don’t know what to look for in a stock, or the best way to buy or sell, then what the hell am I doing giving financial advice?

That was a long tangent for how I feel about Villanova’s success is being portrayed in the national college basketball media.

You can SEE the spacing of Villanova’s offense. You can SEE four players ready to shoot a three at a moments notice. You can SEE pick-and-rolls occurring in space, forcing the opposing defense to become compromised. You can SEE the similarity to the pro game.

Dress well, coach well. A simple rule for life.

But if you don’t understand the reasoning behind Villanova’s system, or why their system, with the right personnel, can be so lethal, then how could you ever improve your basketball program?

My previous articles have focused on diagrams and film. We are going to switch that up today and look at some numbers! (yay?)

Thanks to the amazing work at basketball reference, I have been able to compile what I believe to be meaningful statistics that have redeemable value. I have broken my selected stats into two categories; box score statistics, and advanced stats. Box score stats is derived from the fact that these can be totaled from a traditional box score, while the advanced stats are derived from more complex equations (calculator required). All stats and rankings are how Villanova finished the 2017–2018 season. All rankings are out of the eligible 351 D1 Basketball programs.

If you love making spreadsheets idk if I can ever trust you.

Don’t worry I will provide context

Let’s clarify what we are looking at, shall we? Because there is absolutely no point of throwing numbers out if we have no idea what they mean.

Starting with the box stats, let’s talk this out

Villanova shot, and made a lot of three-pointers, in fact 55.5% of all of their field goal attempts were from beyond the arc

Nova was in the 80th percentile (elite) in getting to the free-throw line

‘Nova gave up a lot of thee point attempts, but did an amazing job defending them as one of the top 20 three-point defenses in the country (this stat may be inflated due to the fact that they had big leads a lot and a lot of their opponents resulted in bombing shots)

Box scores are great, but we need to dive deeper, let’s go to the advanced stats table:

Villanova was slightly above average in estimated possessions per 40 minutes (Pace)

Villanova did not rely on getting to the charity stripe, they were one of the worst teams to average a free-throw per shot attempt (29.4% indicates that less than a third of the time Villanova attempted a field goal, a free-throw followed)

‘Nova was hella efficient, and I mean hella — 2nd in the country in TS%, which accounts for FGA,3PA, and FTA efficiency

Villanova was average in assisting on shot attempts (AST%)

On defense, ‘Nova slowed down the opposition, and was pretty good at forcing their opponent to shoot a 3PA (3PAr), furthermore, they were very average at forcing turnovers (TOV%)

I just presented a bunch of numbers and context… so what? After all, you don’t read this to just forget everything… I hope, we need to have a tangible conclusion that can be applied in real life. Evan’s final 10 take-a-ways are below:

If you are going to shoot from deep a lot, you better have numerous players capable of making them — duh. Your team doesn’t have to live at the free-throw line, but you can’t give those free points away. It’s more ok now to not be the best interior defensive team, but you must close out and emphasize defense on the perimeter. Rebounding will most likely not be the primary, or even secondary factor behind a win or a loss. Your team doesn’t have to play at warp speed, but they shouldn’t go at a snails pace either. Be really, really, really, really, really, efficient on offense, easier said than done. Make your opponent play at a pace that mirrors your own, or slightly slower. Don’t give up cheap fouls. Forcing bad shots > gambling for steals. Have someone on the team that’s really really really ridiculously good looking (and has a mean blue-steel face).

It’s clear that Villanova has the recipe for success in today’s modern college landscape. What will be telling in 2018–2019 is how many teams philosophically adjust to mirror the champs.