Kyle Wiltjer has the prettiest shot chart in college basketball. (USATSI)
Kyle Wiltjer has the prettiest shot chart in college basketball. (USATSI)

Offensive strategy and shooting have always been an incalculably important part of basketball. However, with the advent of advanced statistics, it seems that the value on great shooting has even become more immense.

That's where analyzing shot charts comes into play. We can learn quite a bit from shot charts, like player tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, and overall team strategies. Yes, watching the games is most important and paramount above all other things. That's how you garner insight from what the shot charts mean. But looking at shot charts can help you find things to look for on tape, and can help you learn what to watch for in this coming NCAA Tournament.

Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops has created a service called ShotAnalytics.com that you can subscribe to in order look at graphical representations of shot charts for both individual players and full teams (quite similar to what Kirk Goldsberry does for the NBA on Grantland.com). Basically, they let you know how a player is shooting from a particular spot on the floor compared to his peers, and how efficient a particular shot is for a particular player. It's fully worth a subscription if you're interested in college hoops, as it's really an invaluable resource for those who want to learn more about player tendencies and values. 

I've parsed through many of the charts on the site, and here are some of the coolest, most important, and most interesting ones I could find, with some analysis on why they look the way they do.

Kentucky's Defense

One of the biggest storylines of this season has been the dominance of the Kentucky Wildcat defense. We know that John Calipari's team has been incredible defensively this seasons, but I'm not sure I've seen a better representation of that this chart. Here's how teams are shooting against Kentucky this season:

Man, they really need to shore up that right corner defense, huh? This is an absurd shot chart that really graphically shows how incredible this defense has been in 2014-15. Teams are shooting 49 percent at the rim against them, which isn't a surprise. But one other interesting thing is that it's said to beat Kentucky you have to make 3s. Well, good luck. The Wildcats, with all of their length on defense have forced teams to shoot 27.4 percent from 3 this season, second among all teams nationally. 

Iowa State Offense

Last season, a lot was made of Iowa State's pro-style, modern offensive attack that pretty much eschewed the midrange shot and only took 3-pointers and shots at the rim. This year is a slightly different story.

This season, the Cyclones have utilized the midrange much more often, going from taking 19 percent of their shots in the midrange in 2013-14 to 26 percent of their shots from the midrange in 2014-15. The reason for that is likely due to the different point guard. Monte Morris isn't the explosive, long athlete that DeAndre Kane was, and he gets to the rim less often. That doesn't make them a worse offense though, as their adjusted offensive efficiency per KenPom this season has actually jumped from 118.4 last year to 118.9 this year. An offense worth watching.

Wisconsin Offense

Bo Ryan's Badgers have the best offense in the history of KenPom's database, with a devastating 124.7 adjusted offensive rating. Here's how they attack and where they have been efficient:

Basically, the Badgers are efficient from every spot on the floor outside of the right corner 3. However, where they make the most hay compared to other teams is in the midrange, especially at the elbows. That's not a surprise. The area from the right block to the right elbow is Frank Kaminsky's favorite place to operate (as you'll see in a second). Nigel Hayes is also a terrific midrange player. Point guards Traevon Jackson and Bronson Koenig are both terrific from the left elbow. A bit surprising that such an efficient offense utilizes that area as much as they do, but ultimately all that matters is that they're effective there. One reason you won't see on this map as to why this is an incredibly good offense: the Badgers have the lowest turnover percentage in the nation at 12.4 percent.

Notre Dame vs. Gonzaga Offense

I've combined these two because they are Nos. 1 and 2 in the country in effective field goal percentage, with Notre Dame leading the way at 58.6 percent and Gonzaga following right behind at 58.4.

I show you these two shot charts to point out how similar they look (limited midrange shots, a lot of 3s, high percentage at the rim), but ultimately how different teams can have the same results using vastly different strategies. Notre Dame takes 38 percent of its shots from behind the 3-point line, but there's devastatingly effective near the rim and from inside the 3-point line, leading the country in 2-point field goal percentage. The reason they're so good around the rim is Jerian Grant. Grant's ability to finish at the rim (a ridiculous 76 percent for a point guard), as well as his ability to find his big men for dump offs and open looks (Zach Auguste makes 73 percent of his shots there, Bonzie Colson 77 percent) makes for their efficiency. 

On the other hand, Gonzaga does their damage inside the arc a different way. Instead of having a point guard that slashes and dumps off to big men like Grant (even though Kevin Pangos is fine at this, too), the Zags rely on their big men to create offense from inside of 10 feet. Domantas Sabonis makes 73 percent of his shots at the rim, Przemek Karnowski is effective everywhere inside of 10 feet, and Kyle Wiltjer can literally do it all from inside the arc (you'll see that soon). Two very similar shot charts, but two vastly different ways of going about getting their offense.

Ohio State Offense 2013-14 vs. 2014-15

The Buckeyes feature what has to be the most improved shot chart award. Check out the difference between this season and last season

The Buckeyes improved from having the 140th-best offensive rating in the entire country in 2013-14 to the 14th-best in 2014-15, largely on the back of better shooting, improved floor spacing, and better efficiency at the rim.

The biggest part of that is obviously replacing Aaron Craft -- an excellent overall player, but a substandard offensive one -- with D'Angelo Russell. That's helped the Buckeyes go from a 32 percent 3-point shooting team up to 37 percent. But the bigger leap is the efficiency around the rim. Craft couldn't make shots from outside of 10-feet, and that allowed the defense to pack the paint against Ohio State. But this season with Russell in the fold (plus increased playing time for Marc Loving) teams can't do that as much any more. Amir Williams has gone from shooting 62 percent at the rim this season to 70 percent. Sam Thompson's has jumped from 66 percent to 72 percent. Loving's gone from 44 percent to 59 percent (although that has as much to do with him putting on strength). 

Frank Kaminsky

The favorite for National Player of the Year, Kaminsky's shot chart shows how versatile he is, and how tailor made his game is for the NBA.

On offense, he does basically what every single NBA team would want. He's terrific at posting up from the right block and creating points for himself either via the drop step toward the rim or facing up and knocking down a midrange shot from eight feet. He generally tries to limit midrange shots, even though he's pretty effective at them. And then, there's the fact that he's begun taking more 3-pointers and knocking them down at a high clip. That's why Kaminsky is considered a potential lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. He has the exact floor-stretching skill set along with the ability to play in the post that NBA teams will want from modern big men.

It's also important to discuss how this shapes what Wisconsin does. His ability to legitimately make every single shot on the floor is extremely important to Ryan's swing offense. Becuase of Kaminsky's improved shooting skill, passing and mobility and Koenig's presence on the floor, Ryan genuinely has the perfect five-out roster to fit his swing offense for maybe the first time in his run at Wisconsin. Another set of reasons why this is the most efficient offense in America.

Jahlil Okafor

I'll show you the shot chart of his main competition for the award, as Okafor's is equally as efficient, although less diverse.

He's just completely and totally efficient from anywhere within five feet. It's also worth noting though that he's knocked down quite a few 10 to 15-footers this year, expanding his offensive game beyond just the rim. That will be important for his development in the future.

Kyle Wiltjer

For my money, this is the best shot chart in all of college hoops. Devastatingly efficient on high usage from nearly every single type of spot on the floor.

He's the biggest reason for Gonzaga's efficient shot chart. Need someone who can post up and get a good look from within five-feet? He can do that. Need a backdoor cut for Pangos to hit on the baseline? He can do that. Someone who can make pull-ups in the midrange on the baseline? He does it regularly. What about a guy who can come off of down screens and up toward the elbows for jumpers? Or even stretch that catch-and-shoot ability all the way out to the 3-point line? Literally, Wiltjer has every single trick in the bag offensively in the college game, and it honestly wouldn't surprise if he came close to replicating Doug McDermott's 2013-14 season next year.