News
Get the FastPlay of the Day
19 Jan 2011You can now have the Fast Model "Play of the Day" sent directly to your FastDraw Program via our new FastTrade feature by following us on Twitter and retweeting a play!
Follow @FastModel on Twitter and retweet a Play of the Day in order to be added to the list. Once you are added, you will receive a new play every day delivered to your FastTrade Manager in FastDraw.
Haven't signed up for FastTrade yet? You don't want to miss this! Click here for details.
Webinar Series Kick-Off with WBCA: In the Huddle
18 Nov 2010Atlanta, Ga. (November 18, 2010) -- The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) is proud to announce Fast Model Technologies as a Premier Partner and presents their first collaboration, the "In the Huddle" free webinar series.
The kick-off speaker for the e-learning series is Marynell Meadors, head women's basketball coach and General Manager of the WNBA Eastern Conference Champion Atlanta Dream. She will present "Building a Team for Success" on Friday, November 19, 2010, at 11 a.m. ET. Click here for registration information.
"Our goal is to provide the very best educational experiences for our coach-members, and when we can partner with extraordinary companies like Fast Model to create that programming - both throughout the season and during the National Convention - we all win," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass.
In addition to the webinars, the alliance also includes discounts for WBCA members on Fast Model products, an online archive of plays for WBCA members and a luncheon held during the 2011 WBCA National Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. (April 1-5).
"We are incredibly excited to be working with the WBCA. Our goal has always been to provide great software to coaches at all levels to further the game. There is no better place for us to push this goal forward than with the WBCA," said Ross Comerford, CEO of Fast Model Technologies.
About Fast Model Technologies
Fast Model Technologies provides easy-to-use software for coaches at every level to draw plays, track stats, scout players & teams and to share information seamlessly with their staff and players. Fast Model Software is an independently held company founded in 2001 by Ross Comerford. Used by thousands of coaches and players at all levels of basketball, their products include FastDraw, FastScout, and FastStats. Be on the lookout for our new product FastPlan in the Spring of 2011. For more information about Fast Model Software, please visit www.fastmodeltechnologies.com.
About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the WBCA promotes women's basketball by unifying coaches at all levels to develop a reputable identity for the sport and to foster and promote the development of the game as a sport for women and girls. For additional information about the WBCA, please visit wbca.org.
Computing, Straight from the Bench
30 Mar 2010**The following is a re-publish from Luke Winn at the Tourney an SI.com blog.
For more information on this post visit: http://tourney.si.com/2010/03/19/computing-straight-from-the-bench **
NEW ORLEANS - When Texas' desperation heave missed the rim at the end of overtime on Thursday night, much of Wake Forest's bench cleared to mob point guard Ish Smith, who'd hit the game-winner with 1.3 seconds left. Mike Lepore, the Demon Deacons' assistant director of basketball operations, nearly joined that mob; he'd made a similar sprint off the bench last season, when he was a senior walk-on and James Johnson hit a last-second shot to beat Duke.
''My first instinct was to chase Ish,'' Lepore said. ''But once I got to halfcourt, I started worrying about my computer.''
Lepore did a 180 and went back to the sideline. He had to enter the details of Wake's final possession into his IBM laptop. His in-game responsibility is to log every possession-the situation (transition or halfcourt), the play-call, the defense, and the result-into a program called FastStats, which provides on-the-fly reports of play efficiency, as well as plus-minus ratings for every player and lineup.
FastModel, the company that makes the software, lists more than 100 college clients on its Web site, but the Deacons are the only one SI has seen in the NCAA tournament that actually has one of its bench coaches using a computer throughout the entire game.
Lepore generally occupies the last seat between the staff and the players, and stays focused on the computer screen while the rest of the team reacts to game action. This is not easy, given that Wake regularly plays 70-plus-possession, up-tempo games-said Lepore, ''I'm constantly having to tap people on the left and right to ask, 'What just happened?' ''-but it leaves him at no risk of ever drawing a referee's ire. When the Wake bench was warned by an official to sit down with 35.4 seconds left in overtime, Lepore was the only coach already seated.
He brings a printer along on every road trip, and produces custom halftime and postgame reports for head coach Dino Gaudio, who implemented the stats program this season on recommendation from the Demon Deacons' women's team. Keeping accurate data requires having someone at the keyboard with an encyclopedic knowledge of the playbook, and Lepore fits the bill due to the four years he spent at Wake as a non-scholarship guard. Gaudio does, however, question the former walk-on's sanity for taking the job. ''He already has a business-school degree from Wake,'' Gaudio said. ''I don't know why he's trying to get into coaching.''
But thanks to Lepore, Gaudio left New Orleans Arena early on Friday morning with a set of detailed, color-coded printouts in his briefcase. They outlined the Deacons' most effective plays, players and lineups-all information that would be part of the equation in planning for another athletic, man-to-man team: top-seeded Kentucky. Smith and John Wall, two of the country's fastest point guards, will be off the races in that game, and Lepore will be on the laptop, trying to keep up.
NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE EXPANDS USE OF FASTDRAW DIAGRAMMING SOFTWARE
24 Mar 2010NEW YORK, March 23, 2010 - Fast Model Technologies, a New York limited liability company, which has provided all 16 NBA Development League (NBA D-League) coaching staffs with access to its exclusive play diagramming FastDraw software for the past two seasons, has expanded its line of available programs to include FastScout, the latest addition to the FastFamily of products, to NBA D-League coaching staffs for the first time.
Throughout the remainder of the 2009-10 season, NBA D-League coaching staffs will have access to FastScout providing coaches with an improved and more efficient scouting process including organized, professional, and streamlined scouting reports for each opponent, a software that is fully integrated with the FastDraw program. FastScout is an alternative to hand written, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and/or any other scouting report, saving users countless hours.
"FastDraw has proven to be a useful tool for our coaching staffs, who are constantly returning to the drawing board to come up with new and innovative plays to win games and make it to the next level," said Daniel Reed, President of the NBA Development League. "It's easy-to-use format and online capabilities have saved our coaches time and space by replacing traditional hand-written playbooks and allowing them to archive plays and make modifications with the touch of a button."
"FastDraw provides me and my coaching staff with a unique opportunity to enhance our ability to experiment with and diagram offensive and defensive sets, along with player development drills and routines for our team," said Quin Snyder, head coach of the NBA D-League's Austin Toros. "In addition to utilizing FastDraw, my staff and I are looking forward to integrating FastScout into our game preparations going forward."
"We are thrilled that the NBA Development League has been using products from Fast Model Technologies. This just proves that Dan Reed is committed to keeping this league at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and providing his coaches with every possible resource to build winners," said Ross Comerford, CEO Fast Model Technologies.
The NBA Development League players and coaches work hand in hand with their NBA affiliate teams to develop and improve the level of talent in both leagues, including the promotion of coaches and players to the NBA. A proven developer of talent, 20 percent of players in the NBA at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season boasted NBA D-League experience while 22 NBA D-League coaches have earned places on NBA benches since the league's inception in 2001.
Fast Model Software
Fast Model Technologies provides easy-to-use software for coaches at every level to draw plays, track stats, scout players & teams and to share information seamlessly with their staff and players. Fast Model Software is an independently held company founded in 2001 by Ross Comerford. Currently FastDraw, FastScout, FastShare and FastStats are used by 600 NCAA basketball teams, 25 NBA teams the entire NBA Development League not to mention the thousands of high school teams using FastDraw. FastDraw and FastScout will be available for additional sports in Spring of 2010. For more information about Fast Model Software please visit www.fastmodeltechnologies.com.
NBA Development League
The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA's official minor league whose teams have direct affiliations to NBA franchises. For the 2009-10 season, the league will feature 16 teams - including the debut of the Maine Red Claws and the Springfield Armor. A proven developer of talent, 20 percent of players in the NBA at the conclusion of the 2008-09 season boasted NBA D-League experience, while the league continues to develop coaches, referees, and front office staff for the NBA and its teams. In fostering the league's connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout the season fans can watch all NBA D-League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.
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Contact:
Aubrey Eblin, Fast Model Technologies, (619) 279-2539, aubrey@fastmodeltechnologies.com
NCAA Tournament with FastDraw and FastStats
17 Mar 2009Congratulations to all of the teams that are part of the 2009 NCAA Tournament play. We're so proud to have such a large number of Fast Model Software customers using FastStats on the bench during the games and using FastDraw to prepare for their big match-ups. We'll be heading out to both the Men's and the Women's Final Fours and we hope to see you there and give you a sneak peak at our new software FastScout.