Early-stage basketball analytics and data company Noah Basketball won the startup competition and $5,000 at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference last week in Boston as it pitched investors, potential customers and business partners.
It’s currently working with five NBA teams including the Miami Heat, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, which was one of the first organizations to utilize the Noahlytics Data Service to improve players’ shooting percentages. According to Noah Basketball, it’s also looking to add an additional 12 NBA teams in the coming months following Sloan.
“It is an honor to receive this recognition from the top professionals in the sports data and analytics industry,” Noah Basketball CEO John Carter said in a statement.
“Basketball programs at every level are now using Noahlytics. With this never-before-seen data, players can practice shooting while receiving real-time feedback on each shot. This will definitely provide these teams an edge during the season.”
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Positioned 13 feet above the rim, Noahlytics tracks players’ shots and monitors the ball position 30 times per second, highlighting specific data points in real time such as ball entry angle, depth and where the shot originated from, among other features. The data, which is gathered through computer-vision technology and proprietary algorithms, is then paired with Noahlytics’ shot chart and grading system to help improve shooting percentages. Players can even filter the data by name, makes, misses and shot distance.
“Noahlytics system is a huge technology breakthrough from a shooting standpoint,” Clippers assistant coach John Welch said last November when it was publicly announced the organization was partnering with Noah Basketball.
“We use it every day, and it is making our players better. Practice makes perfect only when you are practicing the right shot. If a player is working on the same shot over and over, but their arc is off, they are going to be running in circles.”