Solving Basketball

Jeff Goodman, Basketball Analyst at Stadium, joins for #19. The episode includes plenty of analytics discussion - with Jeff switching roles at the end to ask Jordan some questions. But also: Jeff's pick-up scouting report, the process to interviewing head coaches on podcasts, the current CBB media landscape, and much more. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Eric Musselman, head coach at Nevada, joins for #18. Topics include: The use of stats by coaches long before the "analytics movement", communicating stats with players, the recent trend to more switching, Nevada basketball philosophy, and the impact of grad assistants. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Bart Torvik, creator of barttorvik.com, joins for episode #17. We got geeky about using analytics to evaluate the impact of specific players (like Duke without Tre Jones) and to rank teams. We also discussed what Bart has learned in his attempt to reverse-engineer the NET rankings so far this season and ended the episode with some fun examples of statistical oddities. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Sam Vecenie, Senior Writer for The Athletic, joins for episode #16. Similar to episode #9, this episode is based around a draft. Sam and I drafted and discussed our top players in college basketball this season that are currently outside of Sam's top 100 NBA draft prospects. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Neil Johnson, Sports Analytics Developer at ESPN, joins for episode #15. Neil has done a lot of work on using EYBL and other AAU stats to predict college performance. The episode revolves around that work, the traditional evaluation process, JUCO stats, and other basketball analytics and coaching topics. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Andy Schmitt, director of basketball operations at North Texas, joins for #14. The episode looks at the role of the "ops guy" on staff with a behind the scenes look at the logistics that go into a college basketball road trip. We also discussed in-game responsibilities and different stats that we have charted during games. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

This episode revolves around the supposed "transfer epidemic". The pod includes a conversation with Leland King. Leland started his career at Brown before transferring to Nevada and then UCSB. We talked about the circumstances behind that and advice Leland would have for others. I also gave background on why so many transfer and looked at the NCAA's transfer data to get a better picture of what's really happening. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Jesse Bopp, assistant coach at FIU, joins for #12. The episode revolves around 3 topics: 1) Analytics vs Eye Test in evaluating recruits. We talked about a real debate from working together at NMSU about a recruit 2) FIU's style of play. In their 1st year on the job, they rank #2 in the country in pace. 3) Ball screen defense. We got technical on the pros/cons of coverages and what NCAA coaches do relative to NBA. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Jesse Newell, a KU beat writer for the Kansas City Star, joins for episode 11. The episode is about Jesse's job as a beat writer and how he incorporates analytics and X's and O's into his writing. We also talk about the relationship between head coaches and beat/national writers and whether or not coaches read articles about their teams/opponents. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

John Gasaway, a college basketball writer for ESPN, joins for episode 10. The topic of the episode is the new NET rating and the NCAA selection process as a whole. John describes how the selection process would operate if he was NCAA commissioner and we discuss the NET and if the early season criticism is warranted. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Gibson Pyper, assistant coach at Cary Academy, joins for episode nine. The episode is based around the following scenario: In April, the NCAA switches rosters and randomly assigns players to each school. Coaches have until November to implement their styles in their new players. Given that hypothetical, Gibson and I each drafted our top 5 coaches -- with in depth x's and o's talk on those coaches. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Zak Boisvert, assistant coach at Army, joins the podcast for episode eight. A week ago, Army played Duke at Cameron Indoor immediately following Duke's 34-point demolition of Kentucky. Zak went into detail on the scout and gameplan for that game vs. Duke -- as well as his general scouting framework. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Kyle Smith, head coach at San Francisco, joins for episode 7. Main topics covered: 1) Recruiting style and different inefficiencies around the country 2) Coaching Princeton Offense. Why the offense is still popular today and different ways to tweak it based on personnel. 3) Coach Smith's Hustle Stats. A player efficiency system the staff uses to incentivize what's important and to decide playing time. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

Rob Dauster, Lead Writer and Managing Editor for College Basketball Talk, joins the podcast for episode six. Topics covered include: Transitioning from D3 player to blogger to national writer, pick-up scouting reports for other national writers, skill ball vs small ball, #DausterMath, and a deep dive (starting at 24:00) into both Kentucky and Duke before their big opening night matchup. For more information on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.

The number one question we've received from listeners is: "How do I get started working for a team?" In this episode, we answered that question. The pod starts with Jordan's story from starting a blog to being hired by Nevada and NMSU. Then Rafi Goldman (Tulane University) and Justin Tabor (Coffeyville Community College) joined to talk about their experiences as D1 student managers and their career paths. For more info on Solving Basketball and Jordan Sperber, follow on Twitter @hoopvision68.