“Moneyball” gets misunderstood.

It’s not about turning the game into a spreadsheet or coaching like a robot. It’s about coaching with clarity—so when you’ve got limited practice time, you’re not guessing what deserves the most reps and the loudest emphasis.

In basketball, that clarity starts with a framework that has held up across every era, every pace, and every style:

The Four Factors.

The Four Factors: the fastest way to explain why teams win

Dean Oliver’s Four Factors are referenced everywhere for one simple reason: they strip the game down to the repeatable drivers that correlate with winning:

• Shooting
  
• Turnovers
• Free Throws
  
• Rebounding
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You’ll see them summarized (and weighted) in places like Basketball-Reference, with shooting typically carrying the most influence, followed by turnovers, rebounding, and free throws. Hudl has also taught the Four Factors as a way to adjust for pace and see past raw totals—leaning on tools like effective field goal percentage and turnover rate to describe what’s really happening.

Here’s the key: the Four Factors aren’t “analytics.” They’re a coaching language.

They help you answer the questions that actually matter:

• What do we need to win this game?
  
• What should we drill?
  
• What can we live with?
  
• What must we eliminate?

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The modern coaching stack: video, playbooks, and now decision support

Most programs already operate inside some combination of:

• film platforms (review, sharing, breakdown workflows)
  
• play diagramming tools (installing and teaching actions cleanly)
  
• scouting templates (personnel, sets, BLOB/SLOB, special situations)

That’s why tools like Hudl Assist (stats connected to video) and diagram/scout ecosystems like FastDraw + FastScout have become staples in serious environments.

But there’s been a missing link—especially for high school programs:

A way to connect the Four Factors to a real, matchup-specific plan without needing a data person.

That’s where Anova Sports comes in.

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What Anova adds: know them + know yourself + see it before it happens

Anova is built on a simple belief: the biggest edge in basketball is knowledge—knowing your opponent and knowing your own identity.

On the know them / know yourself side, the platform emphasizes coach-relevant lenses like:

• tempo and efficiency
  
• shot profile
  
• Four Factors
  
• foul pressure and trendlines
  
• identity markers like ball security and glass control

On the see it before it happens side, Anova’s simulation engine runs the matchup on paper first—projected score ranges, win odds, and the areas most likely to decide the outcome.

Why simulations matter more than raw averages

Season averages can lie—especially in high school basketball, where schedule strength varies, pace swings are extreme, and sample sizes can be small.

That’s why Anova centers the workflow around simulation:

• coaches upload team and opponent stats
  
• the model runs 1,000 simulated matchups
  
• you get win probabilities and actionable insights

The point isn’t to “predict the exact score.”

The point is to surface what swings outcomes, so the plan has teeth.

Turning the Four Factors into a game plan that players can execute

This is where a lot of teams get stuck: they understand the categories, but they don’t translate them into teachable decisions.

Here’s the practical version—how to take each factor and turn it into game-night clarity.

1) Shooting: don’t chase percentage—chase shot quality

Instead of “we need to shoot better,” get specific:

• Are we generating paint touches?
  
• Are our threes coming off advantage (inside-out, drive-and-kick)?
  
• Are we taking shots our personnel can make under pressure?

Metrics like effective FG% matter because shot value changes the math—a made three isn’t just “one extra point,” it reshapes possessions.

Translation: If simulation shows your win condition is shooting efficiency, the answer isn’t “make shots.” The answer is building practice around shot selection and the actions that consistently create your best looks.

2) Turnovers: protect possessions like they’re points

Lose the turnover battle and you’re handing over shot attempts you never get back. That’s not a stat problem—it’s a possession problem.

This is where Anova’s Keys to Victory becomes functional: it’s a tight summary generated directly from matchup simulations, built for locker room language.

Translation: If turnovers are the swing factor, you can respond with real levers:

• simplify early offense
  
• install pressure-release rules
  
• emphasize catch-read-rip decision habits
  
• set a hard ceiling for live-ball turnovers

Because the worst turnovers aren’t just empty possessions—they’re runouts.

3) Rebounding: treat the glass like a possession battle

Rebounding gets labeled as “effort,” but the teams that rebound consistently do it with rules: spacing, contact, and pursuit.

Translation: If you need to win the glass:

• decide who crashes and who gets back
  
  
• drill hit-find-pursue
  
  
• chart opponent long-rebound tendencies (shot locations matter)
  
  
• install a weakside crack-back rule so you don’t get punished on the backboard

The glass is often the quiet difference between “we played well” and “we won.”

4) Free throws: measure pressure, not just percentage

Free throws get reduced to “we missed late,” but the real lever is foul pressure—how often you get to the line.

That’s why “free throw factor” is about rate, not just accuracy.

Translation: If free throws are the edge:

• get downhill earlier in possessions
  
• target matchups that can’t guard without hands
  
• emphasize post seals, rip-throughs, and paint attacks
  
• defensively, teach verticality and discipline so you don’t gift points

A team that lives at the line controls tempo without even pushing it.

The missing link is execution: diagram it, install it, teach it cleanly

Once you know the plan, you still have to teach it—and that means turning insights into actions players can recognize and run.

FastDraw has long been a standard for diagramming and organizing concepts into teachable playbooks. Anova includes a Play Builder specifically designed to build, visualize, and refine game strategies—so Keys to Victory become install-ready actions, not just talking points.

What “leadership in analytics” should mean at the high school level

At higher levels, platforms like Synergy offer deep shot charts, lineup data, and multi-game tendencies. Hudl Sportscode sits in the elite performance analysis tier with highly customizable workflows.

High school programs don’t need to copy pro complexity.

They need pro-level clarity with high school usability.

That’s the lane Anova is building: elite analytics, simplified—so a staff can build a confident plan without needing a data department.

Bottom line: the best Moneyball advantage is focus

If you take nothing else from this:

• Play Builder helps you teach it.
• The Four Factors tell you why teams win.
  
• Simulation tells you where you’re most likely to win this matchup.
  
• Keys to Victory tells you what to emphasize.

That’s the full loop—from numbers to a plan players can execute.

And that’s what modern basketball analytics should be: not a spreadsheet… a strategy.

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