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Welcome to “Green Street,” your dose of women’s college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Joe Vozzelli. He’ll offer up insight on Shauna Green’s Illini team and the women’s game at large every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
A piece of technology was on display early Wednesday afternoon at Ubben Basketball Complex as some players on the Illinois women’s basketball team got shots up before practice.
The Noah Basketball system.
The shot-tracking system, which is used by 28 NBA teams, provides instant feedback with sensors above the rim on the basketball court that look at shot arc, left/right position and depth. Those analytics are then relayed to a TV screen on the court that allows players to see their makes and misses and also the metrics of each shot attempt.
A view of the feedback the Noah Basketball system provides.
Illinois’ shooting numbers in Shauna Green‘s first two seasons have stayed consistent. At least the overall ones. The Illini shot 45.8 percent from the floor during both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. That mark ranked sixth in the 14-team Big Ten last winter, with Indiana leading the conference in field-goal percentage at 50.4.
Illinois did, however, see a dip in its production beyond the three-point arc from 37.2 percent in Green’s first season to 33.5 percent in year two.
“I think our kids are really buying into it,” Green said, with the Illini recently switching to using the Noah system this offseason, “and it’s pretty cool. … You see we have the TVs that are giving instant feedback on every shot. You know, the perfect shot and confetti comes out on TV so it gives a little bit of instant gratification. But it’s just been great, especially in these workouts right now where they’re just getting shots in individual with their coaches. We can look and see how they’ve shot all week in practice. Facial recognition … you can’t say you’re in the gym, we’ve got you on film right here. Just been really, really big-time technology.
“I’m still old school in the part where OK, I can see with my own eyes, but then, numbers confirm stuff. I just like that it’s pretty simple. … So then we can adjust in real time, instead of like all the analytics. I think there is a certain time where less is more.”