The Detroit News - New Sharpshooters Praise Video System

By Tim Twentyman -  The Detroit News

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Grosse Pointe South coach Kevin Richards calls it a "miracle worker."

Greg Kampe, in his 25th year as the men's basketball coach at Oakland University, credits it for transforming some of his worst shooters into high-quality shooters.

At first glance, the Noah Select System doesn't look like a basketball coach's dream machine. It actually seems more suited for a computer lab than a gymnasium. But the state-of-the-art shot analyzer has coaches around the country raving about what it's done for their players' games.

The Noah Select System looks like a giant rock-concert speaker with a laptop computer attached to the top. The system utilizes a high-speed digital camera with speakers and a built-in computer that gives instant verbal and video feedback of a player's shot. The camera captures every shot, and the computer analyzes the arc of the ball as it travels from the player's hand to the hoop. The camera also captures where the ball lands on the rim and does all this while giving the shooter verbal feedback. The system is designed to promote muscle memory.

The numbers don't lie

Boosters at Grosse Pointe South bought the $6,000 system in June along with two Gun Basketball Shooting Machines at $5,000 apiece. At the same time, Richards started the "Breakfast Club," which asked his girls basketball players to come in at 6 a.m. to start using the equipment. The results have been tangible on both the court and the stat sheet.

South (9-1) is leading the Macomb Area Conference in points per game at 62.8, which is up from 46.1 last season with essentially the same players.

Sophomore Aisha Rodney shot 43 percent and 55 percent from the free-throw line last season. This season, she's shooting 60 percent and 62 percent from the line. She's averaging 21 points, up from 8.2 last year.

"Once you get used to it, you get used to getting 48 and 49 (optimal shot arc level is between 47 and 50) and you get muscle memory and you just flow with it," she said. "You get your distances right, too."

Junior Chloe Srebernak has improved her free-throw shooting to 78 percent, up from 52 percent last season. She credits Noah with the improvement.

"By being able to see what your shot looks like, it lets you see what you are doing right and wrong. Last year, my shot was basically a chuck-and-duck, which is what we called it," Srebernak said. "This year I think that I am more of a shooter instead of chucking it up there and hoping it goes in. When I go to the free-throw line, I just think 46 degrees because that is what I'm supposed to be at and it helps me focus on one thing to help keep my shot consistent."

Senior Kate Pangori has had 98 sessions on the Noah since June and has improved her 3-point shooting from 33 percent last year to 44 percent this year.

Tools for teaching

Kampe is a big proponent of integrating technology into the game.

"You should see some of the stuff we can do with video," he said. "Ten minutes after a game, I can have a DVD in my hand of every turnover we committed."

He got the Noah system in 2004, and since has seen a dramatic improvement in shooting.

"We were sold on Noah after seeing what it could do. (Freshman guard) Drew Maynard came to us this year and he couldn't make a free throw, he just couldn't," Kampe said. "Now he hasn't turned into Rick Barry, but he can step up there and make them (58.5 percent) and I give all the credit to our assistant coach Jeff Tungate working with him and the Noah."

In addition to Noah, Oakland has two Gun Basketball Shooting Machines, which is a system that attaches to a regulation basketball hoop and fires the ball back to the shooter for more repetitions.

"We challenged our guys to make 20,000 shots over the summer. If we didn't have the Gun, we couldn't do that," Kampe said. "With the Gun, you can get 500 shots in a half-hour. We are a team that shoots the ball well and I attribute that to the technology,"

Oakland has the No. 2 scoring offense in the Summit League (72.7) and is in the top five in 3-pointers (138), 3-point percentage (.351) and shooting (.448).

What a difference a year makes

Since the school bought a Noah Select System, some Grosse Pointe South basketball players have seen their stats improve:

You can reach Tim Twentyman at ttwentyman@detnews.com.