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INDIANAPOLIS — On the morning of the Utah Jazz's first regular season game, Kelly Olynyk stood a few feet from a basket at the Jazz practice facility and put up shot after shot as Lauri Markkanen watched.
After each make, Markkanen glanced over to a large monitor near the hoop. On the screen was a graphic showing the top of the basket. As Olynyk's shots went in, dots appeared on the screen showing exactly where the ball had entered the rim.
The Jazz are one of 26 NBA teams that use the Noah Shooting System. The system tracks and measures shots from anywhere on the court, providing instant feedback for the arc, the depth, and if a ball goes left or right. Sensors are mounted around the gym, and the system captures the position of the ball 30 times per second and then analyzes the flight path.
"Based on that data, you go back and start looking at some of the physical pieces," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "Maybe it's something about their grip, maybe it's something about the ball position when they release it in terms of the arc they're generating or not generating. So it can be a very useful tool."
So was Olynyk shooting all those shots to try and collect data to analyze later? Not exactly.
With the sensors and data, it can all just turn into a real-life video game.
"He was just trying to get it perfectly right in the middle," Markkanen said.
Markkanen said he tries to get the ball to hit each side of the rim in order to get the "worst make possible." When you're shooting 43% from 3-point range on the third most attempts per game in the league, you can practice however you want.
But within the fun and games, there are relevant data points, too.
"Some of the stuff is a little bit obvious," Hardy said. "Like, when I shoot a brick off the front of the rim and it tells me I hit the front rim, it's like, 'Oh, thank you.' But stuff about arc, in particular, can lead to players getting some feedback that maybe they need. There's things you can see with your eyes, but when the thing is telling you over and over again how flat your shot is, it can create some change."
Kris Dunn is one of the players that has tried to utilize the tool seriously. He feels it's been helpful to identify trends on his shot. It allows him to see how and why he may be missing a shot and that, he thinks, has helped him tweak things.
"You are doing a drill and you miss five in a row, you can look at the chart, and say, 'OK, I've got to fix that,'" Dunn said.
Though, he is quick to say he wishes its helpfulness would be more obvious when it comes to his in-game shooting this season. Thus far, Dunn has shot 37% from the field and 28.6% from the 3-point line. He did sink his one 3-point attempt Monday in Utah's loss to the Bulls.
Due to the nature of this story, let's call that a win for the shooting system.
Hardy said some players are using it on a smaller scale to refine minor things, and the team is tracking other players and shots more on a long-term basis. It's all helpful data, but Hardy cautioned to pay too much attention to the high-tech system.
"If you really wanted to shoot every shot and look over at it, you could put yourself in a little bit of a mental pretzel, but we've got some guys on the team that are using and really buying into it," Hardy said.
