By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports writer
When his team isn’t playing very well, Boone County boys’ basketball coach Greg McQueary can double-click on a computer software program to help him find out why.
The software reviews data from game statistics and produces digital spreadsheets that the coach can use to identify the team’s problem. Then he knows what to work on in practice or how to adjust the lineup during games to have a better chance of winning. That’s why you’ll see someone with a portable computer tablet sitting on the Boone County bench during games so the coach can consult the digital data whenever he needs to.
“There was a game last week where we were behind at halftime and I looked at it to see what was our most efficient lineup,” McQueary said. “I thought this one group played pretty well together and when I looked at the data it backed me up, so those guys started the second half.”
Coaches have always relied on statistics to measure their team’s strengths and weaknesses, but what Boone County is doing goes a step beyond that. In modern technology circles it’s known as informatics — turning data and information into knowledge that people can use. Boone County’s software program was created by David Crickmer, who majored in computer science at the University of Kentucky.
team statistician David Crickmer, who developed the computer program used by the team to analyze data (Terry Boehmker Photo)
After he graduated from college, Crickmer volunteered to do statistics for the Rebels’ basketball team and wrote the program that produces player efficiency ratings. During a game, each player gets positive points and negative points that determine their efficiency rating. Positive points are awarded for field goals, free throws, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Negative points come from fouls, turnovers, missed field goals or missed free throws.
The volume of statistics produced by the software program would be overwhelming to some high school coaches, but not McQueary.
“Me being a math teacher made a big difference,” he said. “I understood the mathematics involved with it and there was a lot of good stuff in the numbers it was sharing.”
This is the eighth season that Crickmer has been doing statistics and efficiency ratings for the Boone County basketball team. If he can’t make it to a game to record stats on a tablet, the coach’s son or one of the assistant coaches do it. Crickmer prefers to be on the bench during games, however, so he can point out revealing stats to the coach that might help the Rebels win.
“Usually, at halftime, I’ll give him a rundown of stuff I noticed,” Crickmer said. “But I’m not a coach. I don’t tell him who to play or anything like that. I just say, ‘Hey, you might want to look at this.’”
During a game, the efficiency ratings can also show how well the team does with different combinations of players on the court. That’s something that had an impact on the Rebels’ highly successful 2008-2009 season.
“In a game against Louisville Ballard, we were just getting crushed at halftime,” recalled Crickmer. “That’s when we saw that one of our players had a positive rating, which doesn’t happen that often when you’re losing that bad. So we inserted him in the lineup and almost came back to win. We lost that game by two points, but that ended up being our new starting lineup and we didn’t lose another game until we lost to Holmes in the regional final.”
The Boone County players know how much stock their coach puts in stats. In fact, the player that finishes the season with the highest overall efficiency rating gets a trophy at the team banquet each year.
“A lot of times during the season I’ll use it to point out positives (to a player),” McQueary said. “I’ll show him his numbers and say, ‘You’re doing exactly what we want you to do. Keep it up.’”
McQueary said major college basketball teams are investing money in similar statistical-based software, but few high school coaches are aware of the technology. Whether that gives Boone County an advantage against its opponents is debatable, but the Rebels have posted a winning record six of the last seven seasons and this year’s team is 12-6.
“It’s still not a substitute for good players,” McQueary said of the digital data. “The team that has the best players usually wins. This doesn’t overcome that. It just gives you an opportunity to give your team a better chance to succeed.”