Lessons that Transfer from Medicine to Basketball Plus Lagniappe on Great Offense, Practicing 3s, Scouting

Learn across disciplines. Learn dos and don'ts. Forty years in medicine taught and retaught indelible lessons. We don't have to be a naval officer or doctor to benefit from these lessons. These are all first hand accounts. 

A distinguished National Institutes of Health doctor presided over an Infectious Diseases conference. He asked the fellow (senior trainee, a doctor with about five years of experience) about the speciation of a fungus. The fellow answered, "I don't know." The senior physician answered, "You don't know because you don't care." The audience of maybe thirty doctors fell silent. LESSON. Fame doesn't mean you're entitled to be rude and demeaning. Driving the bus doesn't permit throwing passengers under it. "Don't be an a*hole." 

Medicine is tough, imperfect, and we can go off track. Mentor CAPT T.E. Walsh would counsel us if he thought we were going astray, "You're following a lit fuse." LESSON. "Don't follow a lit fuse." 

Sometimes our work will earn us nicknames, like it or not. Here's a Wikipedia excerpt about "The Fat Man" from The House of God (focusing on the psychological harm and dehumanization caused by their residency training). "He begins the year on a rotation supervised by an enigmatic and iconoclastic senior resident who goes by the name The Fat Man. The Fat Man teaches him that the only way to keep the patients in good health and to survive psychologically is to break the official rules. The Fat Man provides his interns with wisdom such as his own "Laws of the House of God" (which amount to 13 by the end of the book). One of his teachings is that in the House of God, most of the diagnostic procedures, treatments, and medications received by the patients known as "gomers" (see Glossary, below) actually harm these patients instead of helping them." I never used the term "Gomers." Anyway, two nicknames I got from trainees included "The Fat Man" and Skywalker. LESSON.  "Teach. Do the work. Keep it simple."

Five answers that plebes learn quickly at the US Naval Academy also work in medicine and sport. "Yes, Sir. No, Sir. Aye aye, Sir. Right away, Sir. I don't know but I'll find out, Sir." LESSON. "To earn respect, show respect." 

The senior Captain presided over a Department of Medicine meeting with well over fifty attendees. Another senior Captain asked a question about the wisdom of a department policy. The Chief of Medicine answered, "Captain, if we want your opinion, I'll ask for it." LESSON. "Know when ideas are likely to be embraced or rejected." Steve Kerr took videographer Nick U'Ren's idea to go small (replacing Bogut with Iguodala) against the Cavs and won a title. 

Called to a cardiac arrest by the "Code Beeper" at about 3 A.M. I sprint to West 4. The nurse tries to do CPR and the patient is holder her off. LESSON. "Make the diagnosis." Solutions come after identifying the issue. 

The smartest doctor I ever met didn't diagnose the woman's pregnancy. No harm, no foul. Some of his detractors wanted to lord it over him. Puh-lease. LESSON. "Nobody is perfect, even the smartest guy in EVERY room."

As a medical student, I was five minutes late for a rotation at Malden Hospital. I don't remember why - traffic, car trouble, whatever. The doctor absolutely crucified me for it. Yet, I don't think it was personal. Phil Ford set his watch ten minutes early to be on "Dean Smith Time." LESSON. "Be punctual." 

The patient was admitted to the Bethesda ICU with weight loss and neurologic symptoms (upward gaze defect) and I was the intern. I discovered an abdominal mass. Ultimately he had a germ cell tumor (pinealoma) and was in hospital for nine months with the biggest chart I'd ever seen. He survived the ICU, chemotherapy, and other misadventures. As the resident, I had to dictate the discharge summary. LESSON. "No good deed goes unpunished." Sometimes we're the window and sometimes we're the bug. 

Forever ago, the nurse called me into the ICU late at night to evaluate a patient with post-operative unresponsiveness. Vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, respirations, temperature) were normal. The patient appeared well but looked exactly like a mannequin... no hair, no eyebrows. The game was afoot. I opened the eyes, which snapped shut. I held a mirror in front of those opened eyes and the patient didn't look at the mirror. Standing behind the patient's bed, I pretended to be a bug (walking a finger across the neck lightly) and there was no flinch. I didn't try any "painful stimuli." Finally, I lifted the right arm above the face. If (s)he were comatose or neurologically impaired, it would fall directly onto the face. Instead, when I released (s)he slowly relocated it to the side. The nurse rolled her eyes. I told the patient, "I'm not sure what's wrong, but you'll be okay." No lab, no CAT scan, but a Psychiatry consult to follow. Happy ending. LESSON. "Pay attention to the details but trust your gut."

Summary:

• Don't be an A*hole.
• Don't follow a lit fuse.
• Teach. Do the work. 
• To earn respect, show respect. 
• Know when ideas are likely to be embraced or rejected. 
• Make the diagnosis.
• Nobody is perfect, not even the smartest guy in the room.
• Be punctual. 
• Pay attention to the details, but trust your gut. 

Lagniappe. Study this video with a myriad of lessons!

Observations: (too many actions for most teams to execute) Juwan Howard's Wolverines use variety and execution to become a title threat. 

• Ball movement
• Baseline drive, cutter fill
• Five-out back cut
• Pistol
• DHO into ball screen
• Helpside multiple actions
• Thru (partial) into ball screen
• Ball screen (roller dominant action)
• "Traditional" post play (71% scoring)
• Paint touch/ball reversal (5:04)
• "Catch on the move" (accelerated rim attack)
• BOB, Triangle, Downscreen, Drive (7:14) 
• Spain PnR (7:43)
• Horns stagger

Lagniappe 2. "Initiating the 3." Practice how you will shoot the 3. 

• Catch and shoot
• Side step one dribble 
• Jab step and shot
• Step back 
• Off the dribble (e.g. in transition) 

Lagniappe 3. Bookmark guys who help, e.g. @DougBrotherton Yes, execution matters AND scheme can help. 

Another way to "steal points through scouting" is to have script plays. When you know what defense you will see, be prepared with sets to generate easy baskets. You can use them to open the game or coming out of halftime.#ScoutingTips #ServeCoaches#GrowTheGame🏀 pic.twitter.com/sCLMgbv5wT

— Doug Brotherton (@CoachBrotherton) February 27, 2021

Lagniappe 4. Defining moments. We all have positive and negative "defining moments" throughout our lives. Create positive defining moments for others, the "I believe in you" moment that sticks. The Heath Brothers' fourth book, "The Power of Moments" suggests how. As an older coach, I want only to help others achieve their dreams. 

 

Basketball: Your Subscription Box? Plus Lagniappe on Continuity Ball Screens and More

Keep open minds to possibility. Got a basketball nut in your family? 

What belongs in their monthly subscription box? Not sure I know where to begin. Establish a price point and work it? Take one from column A, column B, column C, et cetera? Mix and match both classic and contemporary items? Expect four to six items per month which could come from any team anywhere? 

Obviously, copyright and patent issues abound. 

You could include subscriptions to sites like True Hoop as an alternative as part of your annual "box" subscription.  

No, I'm not developing a business, just spitballing possibilities. 

Lagniappe. "Continuity Ball Screen" Reminder, regardless of what we scheme, what matters is our capacity to execute. 

Lagniappe 2. “When you’re younger, you work on explosive things and as you get older your focus shifts to preventive measures. The only aspect that can’t change, though, is that obsession. You have to enter every activity, every single time, with a want and need to do it to the best of your ability.” 

“The message was that if you want to win championships, you have to let people focus on what they do best while you focus on what you do best. For him, that was rebounding, running the floor, and blocking shots.” - Kobe Bryant in Mamba Mentality

Basketball Friday: Kondo Time (Basketball Minimalism)... Concepts, Drill, Set Play, and More

ACCEPTANCE means RECOGNITION not RESIGNATION. Accepting that a problem exists is not resigning ourself to its permanence. Acceptance begins transformation. I need more skill, athleticism, patience, knowledge. 

Kondo not Rondo. Marie Kondo sparked the minimalism, decluttering movement of KonMari.  

Irrelevant? Hardly. Alabama Coach Nick Saban has long preached, "clear the clutter." Stick to what works. 

Don Meyer discussed the evolution of coaching, "blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, mature simplicity."

The protagonist of Redbelt knows the value of simplicity. 

But Jon Kabat-Zinn, teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction reminds us of the dichotomy in Beginner's Mind. He quotes Suzuki Roshi, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's there are few." Expertise can limit our vision. The known blinds us to discovery. Kabat-Zinn tells us, "why didn't I see that?" Knowing prevents openness to learning. Don't allow experience to shut us down. 

Apply the principles of KonMari to basketball. 

1. Eliminate or restructure activities/drills that do not advance game play. Brian McCormick emphasizes random versus block practice. How useful are traditional layup lines, three-man weave, and punitive running? McCormick adds, "no laps, layup lines, lectures." 
2. Pass more; dribble less.
3. Every player needs "go to" and "counter" moves. 
4. Teach scoring on one dribble from outside the arc. 
5. Do not habitually catch and put the ball on the deck. Preserve your options. 
6. Be "shot ready" on the catch. 
7. "The ball scores." Stop scoring; play 1.5 (your man and half of another). 
8. Reduce fouling. As Kevin Sivils says, "foul for profit." 
9. Cleaners need game winning moves. What's yours? 

Shooting drill. Eldon Campbell '25'...make five in a row and advance to the next spot. The goal is to take only 25 shots. Add difficulty with a time limit. 

Set play. Lakers SLOB. What's the plan? LBJ back cut? Pin down? SLIP? Do-si-do? 

Lagniappe. Loyola knows defense. 

Lagniappe 2. Experiment. Last night I made no-knead bread, but deviated from the recipe. I combined three cups flour and one teaspoon salt. But instead of adding the yeast and the (1.5 cups) water together. I separately activated the yeast (0.5 teaspoon) in lukewarm water for five minutes. I then combined the mix and allowed it to rise for 2.5 hours in the oven (with the light on). We were rewarded with the best outcome to date through experimentation and patience. 

Basketball: Defense Mechanisms, The Cult of Denial and a Separation Workout

Truth is hard. The pitcher allowed a leadoff homer. A celebratory cannon fired. The next hitter went yard. Boom! The third hitter followed by leaving earth. Ka-Boom! The pitching coach came out to talk to the pitcher. "Look, I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me." The coach answered, "I didn't say there was. I'm giving the guy time to reload." 

Defense mechanisms protect us from harmful "events, actions, or thoughts." Rather than accept reality, we fabricate a fiction of stolen victory. "The refs took it away from us." 

1. Denial
2. Repression
3. Projection
4. Displacement
5. Regression
6. Rationalization
7. Sublimation
8. Reaction formation
9. Compartmentalization
10. Intellectualization

Denial is the clubhouse leader among defense mechanisms. Artificial reality avoids discomfort. We deflect to avoid the pain of loss or mediocrity. Instead of recognizing our limitations, we blame the weather, field conditions, the officiating, bad luck. 

Former NFL championship coach Bill Parcells says, "You are what your record says you are." Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden said it another way, "Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses." 

Athletes deny injury. We cared for a severely injured player who wanted to play in a traditional college football rivalry game. He said he would get a waiver from his coach or family. We explained that as gatekeepers of health and his subsequent military career, we wouldn't release him to play. He sat. 

Coaches and players may not have a shared reality. "It's the scoreboard, not the scorebook." As parents, learn to accept the reality of our child's athletic prowess. Loving him more doesn't make a more accomplished player. 

"Coach picked Susie over me. I'm better." Coaches make mistakes. But we often make decisions to make ourselves look better by putting the player we believe will help us win on the court. 

Athletes deny personal problems. Hack Wilson, National League single-season RBI leader (193) had a drinking problem. His coach provided a lesson, "dropping a worm in a wine glass filled with vodka." The worm shriveled and died within seconds. "Hack, what does that teach you?" "Coach, I'm never going to have to worry about worms." 

Teams won't cut or trade an overpaid player or failed high draft choice. Sometimes it's denial ("we made the right choice") and sometimes it's loss aversion via "sunk costs." They already spent the draft choice and the money.

Projection displaces our thoughts or feelings upon another. Instead of recognizing negative feelings within ourselves - arrogance, envy, laziness, selfishness - we attribute them to others. "Crooked Calipari?"

Rationalization justifies thoughts or actions with facts supporting our benefit. We vacate disciplinary actions against a player because we need him to help us win. We deplore "one-and-done" recruiting and then do so because it works. Coaches "protect" players from academic scrutiny or accused of criminal actions. We cheat because "everyone does." 

Reaction formation. We behave in a manner opposite to how we feel. We're upset and negative but respond with positivity and optimism. Ted Lasso fans note the struggles he undergoes both in his personal and professional life. We could argue whether it's reaction formation or just authentic incurable optimism. "It's a beautiful Navy day." 

Honest self-assessment of strengths, weaknesses, and reality is tough. But finding solutions comes with the cost of objectivity. 

Lagniappe. Explosive separation is a must for stardom. 

Basketball: Urgency, from the Comanches to the Court

Game tied. Our ball, ten seconds left in regulation, what do we do - ATO, BOB, SLOB, versus man, versus zone? Most teams understand the urgency of winning time. Far fewer live that urgency on the opening tap, the first possession, each defensive series. Win each possession and each quarter; play harder and longer than opponents. "Play the possession like getting a stop earns you a pair of Jordans." 

Return to that "game deciding possession," and have a quiver of arrows (actions) that work. 

In Empire of the Summer Moon, S. C. Gwynne explores the technological dominance of the Comanches, the horse. Comanche warriors attacked on horseback, wheeling around and delivering twelve arrows within a minute against an immobile (on foot) adversary with a single shot. Ironically, new technology, the Colt revolver undid their equestrian reign. 

Execute via 1) skill development and 2) coordination of multiple actions. Excel at what we do a lot. 

Dave Smart listed what a team has to be good at to win consistently and in the postseason. It makes perfect sense. Good teams disallow easy baskets and battle with full-throated effort at both ends in the quarter court. 

What's our early offense? Do we operate from a 5 out motion, 4 out 1 in framework, horns, something else? No answer generally means no plan. 

What lens examines play? Watching a team, I look first at spacing offensively and blended ball containment and help defensively. Which team is more aggressive? (At 1:03 of the video, there is no 50-50 ball for daughter Paula). 

After spacing, study the urgency of cutting and passing (player and ball movement), paint touches (penetration), ball reversal, and shot quality. 

Playing in the pre-shot clock era, our mantra was getting a good shot each possession. In a post-season game (1973) against a team that had won seventeen straight, we made 22 passes before scoring on our first shot of the game. In a 57-37 win, our club shot 23-43 from the field. Our "urgency" was patience. 

Modern basketball and rules rendered that style of play obsolete. The game wasn't better just different.

Urgency means being fired up and ready to go at practice, Urban Meyer's "crossing the red line." 

Urgency means Jay Bilas's "Play so hard the coach has to take you out." 

For Kevin Eastman in Why the Best Are the Best, urgency prioritizes now. 

Even children know urgency in Frozen. 

Urgency means now. 

Lagniappe. Chris Dorsey shares. 

Need a set that creates...
🎯 Spacing
🎯 Movement
🎯 Scoring options

Check out this👇🏽breakdown on how to seamlessly flow from Chin into Point & get a 🗑 pic.twitter.com/7zYOQZmLBv

— Chris Dorsey (@GentsCoachD) February 23, 2021

Lagniappe 2. Dave Smart wisdom. "Be comfortable with your own philosophy, know what you are doing and why you’re doing it."

 

Basketball: Coach-Killing "Rock in the Shoe" Problems and Player Development Tips

A rock in the shoe is inevitable, unless you have no shoes. Coaching, teaching, or mentoring expose us to rocks. 

CAPT Tom Walsh warned us if we strayed off course, "you're following a lit fuse." Players have endless ways to deposit rocks in our metaphorical shoes. Here are a few. 

1. Academic troubles. "There is no ability without eligibility." Do the work. If you're smart enough to learn basketball, you're smart enough to learn geography. Cras is the Latin word for tomorrow. Don't proCRAStinate with your studies. 

2. Substance abuse. "There's nothing else to do." Alcohol and drugs torpedo too many lives. Amidst a world of infinite knowledge, you won't convince me that getting high became the best option. They don't call it DOPE for nothing. 

3. Deconditioning. Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut train by gorging on hot dogs. Other sports? Not so much. Serious athletes know that body maintenance is a year-round job. 

4. Boys and girls. "If the Navy wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one." That's high school relationships for coaches. Develop healthy relationships but when you're on the court, be fully engaged with basketball. 

5. Party animal instincts. Party animals combine the worst of the above - delay, distraction, sloth, sleeplessness, self-absorption. Thirst for greatness or THE LIFE? 

6. Shot selection. I've seen many players who lived "my turn" or "personal shot clock" shots that often ended up as "shot turnovers." If I could write "HATE" on every Saharan grain of sand, it wouldn't be enough. STOP IT. There are no MY TURN shots. Years ago we had a freshman take NINE threes in her first varsity game, making ONE. After the game, the team reeducated her about her role. 

7. Paid by the dribble. "Are you getting paid by the dribble?" Reductionist teaching states, "if you can't do it in two dribbles, then you can't do it." You're not James Harden. "Good players need two dribbles, excellent players need one. Elite players don't have to dribble." Dribble with a purpose. 

8. Bakers. Turnovers turn coaches prematurely gray. Bad teams give games away with poor decisions and failed execution. The airline industry has a global reporting system to reduce error. NASA oversees the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) that confidentially reports near misses and latent problems. Basketball teams need their own ASRS. I report Marcus Smart's calf injury as early warning for the Celtics' decline. "Other industries who have modeled similar systems on the ASRS include the rail, medical, firefighters, and off-shore petroleum production."

9. Buddy running. Sprint back in transition. "Shape up" until the defense is set. Establish position while alert. See the ball, head on a swivel. The star 'ran' back and the pass whistled past her ear to her assignment who laid it in. An 'easy' steal turned into two for the opponent because our girl couldn't turn her head around. 

10. Complacency. Aesop knew complacency. The rabbit sped around the course but got complacent and napped. The tortoise chugged along and won the race. If you're going to keep all your eggs in one basket, watch that basket. Win every possession. 

Live a life of achievement not of grievance. 

Lagniappe. Muscles are dumb. There is no 'muscle memory' only depositing myelin in the brain to increase the speed and accuracy of nerve transmission. 

Nobody gets to the rim one hundred percent of the time.

Lagniappe 2. "Be great in your role." 

Immutable Truths About Coaching, Writing, or Creation and a Special Treat

Bad basketball scars our souls. Bad writing hurts more. Teaching both requires clear thinking and clear communication. 

Have an idea folder, notebook, Commonplace Book or treasure chest for storage and retrieval. Clip, save, and redeem those green stamps. 

Ted Lasso shares the Walt Whitman quote above (and hates tea, "brown water").

Ideas, plays, recipes, music, quotes or whatever need safe storage. When information becomes outdated or disproven, move on. 

Laurie Kilmartin shared her "transitions list" with us. Thanks, Laurie for the mindstuck get out of jail free card.

Develop a writing plan, place, and time. Write with purpose. Inspire. 

Bob Woodward includes a minimum of six key points to share with readers per piece. He doesn't club readers with the boldfaced highlighting. 

First drafts are meant for revision. Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird) reminds us they're supposed to be shitty. (Inconceivable. The first was worse?) "One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to do things, to go places and explore. Another is that writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around."

"Kill your darlings." VERY and REALLY make really, very poor writing. "Shave syllables." Coaches and writers are editors. 

To write better, to communicate better, keep sharing. 

Lagniappe. MasterClass. Steph on shooting off the catch

 

Lagniappe 2. "This could be the best day ever." Over six million people watched this. Why not you? 

"If it's someone else's problem, you probably don't have the answer anyway." 

"I was deteriorating faster than I could lower my standards."

"Tell us about ___________ in your own voice. 

"Try to do a little better." 

"If people want you to write more warmly about them, they should have behaved better." 

 

Basketball: The UTAH Advantage and a Bonus Recipe from Quin Snyder

Enjoying cooking doesn't mean easy reproduction of another's gourmet recipe. The viral "Feta Pasta" is as good as it gets. But you have to like feta. 

Basketball is about creating advantage (offense) and taking it away (defense). Which begs us to examine Quin Snyder's "Advantage System" which he began over four years ago. Remember, we don't have to adopt an entire system. Choose what works for our players. 

Here's the original Zach Lowe breakdown with ample video. "Utah's players need a head start -- an advantage." Snyder's system runs so that whenever a player catches the ball, he has one. If your premium is speed, then you probably don't emphasize ball screens, handoffs, and off-ball screens. But if you're more plodding with shooters, you do. 

Before reading, think about how to create advantage via personnel, system, and physical and mental training. 

Coach Daniel examines the Jazz offense. 

1. Spacing is always vital and NBA spacing usually is exemplary. 

2. NBA fans know that filled corners are expected, flattening the defense.

3. The Jazz take advantage of cuts from the corners. 

4. Gobert creates mismatches with screens and has a high shooting percentage and elite rebounding rate. 

5. The Jazz are efficient in the pick-and-roll using a variety of usual actions including Spain action (screen the roller). 

Don't take my word for it. Among high volume (possessions) rollers, Gobert has a high points/possession 1.38 and is in the top 10 by percentile. (Data from NBA.com)

Coach Nick did his own breakdown of the early origins of the Snyder system. 

There was plenty to like including the old Spurs (Daly Pistons first) "Loop", horns actions, double stagger screens on the helpside, and even homage to the ancient Celtics high post split. 

We can't duplicate their system and shouldn't try. Our edge might depend on personnel. If we have a threat of the corner cut, then that might hold the defender allowing paint touches and drives. If we have a strong roller, that might invite drop coverage, opening up foul line jumpers. If we have excellent passing bigs, then maybe we get inside-outside actions for perimeter shots. It's not about a one-size-fits-all approach. 

Lagniappe. Slappin' Glass shares high level actions to create separation.

Lagniappe 2. Quin Snyder Ice Cream Pie. You might forget the wing ball screen into reversal and roll, but you won't forget Quin's cuisine. 

Basketball: Culture and Teamwork Are Levers Not Just Words (& Lagniappe on 3-Point Shots and More)

"Fight for your culture every day." - Doc Rivers

Can a transformational approach outperform a traditional one? It can't be an excuse for underachievement. 

Transformational approaches are long-term. Winning becomes the byproduct. Long-distance runner Deena Kastor set a plethora of Master's records, using a different personal culture. Her ten tips:

• Live a Quality, Purposeful Life
• Live with an Attitude of Gratitude
• Practice Positivity and Purposefulness 
• See Challenges as Opportunities
• Focus on Your Passion
• Live with Continuous Improvement
• Be Excited about Life
• Get Enough Rest
• Turn Nervousness into Excitement
• Take Things One Step at a Time

Some remind me of Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry in Performing Under Pressure and their "COTE of Arms" - confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm. They emphasize excitement over nerves and breaking bigger tasks down into pieces. 

The podcast hosts discuss results-oriented process versus great, fun, and memorable experiences. "Let's create a place where everyone wants to be."

After a state tournament, fans gave the underdogs feedback about freedom and enjoyment as their lower rated team reached the finals. Culture accelerates progress. 

"Our objective is to win, but that's not our purpose." Winning became the byproduct of having great culture. 

As an exercise, they ask each player about their favorite and least favorite teammate (ever) and the adjectives and behaviors that made it so. "When you feel confident and energized, how do you play?" Being a great teammate helps others achieve more. "How we treat others...impacts the quality of our play." 

Lagniappe. It takes more than great culture to win. It takes talent, teamwork, good decisions, and execution. One effect of that is quality shots. 

"ROB" shots are in range, open, and balanced. Is this a "great" open shot? It missed. Last night the Celtics were 14-35 (40%) and the Hawks 10-30 (33%). Making or missing 3s (at extremes) define outcome. 

Teams making half their 3s are 48-5. Teams making under 20 percent are 1-21. There's even more data about which shooters add (or subtract) the most points per 100 shots. Bad shooters taking poor shots obviously are a negative. 

Lagniappe 2. From Dave Smart via BBallImmersion - Teams need to compete and fight right to the end (take advantage of a team that is ahead and starting to feel comfortable with their lead) – concept of being competitors and NOT feeling sorry for themselves.

Lagniappe 3. NBA teams take advantage of the short roll. 

The short roll creates a four-on-three which pressures the defense. 

Basketball: "Winners Do the Hard Things." Details and More

Winning is supposed to be hard. Sacrifice is not natural. Thus, the dilemma, finding players willing to do the hard things. 

Can we predict what players sacrifice to attain skill and will? 

We guess which athletes care enough about their athletic identity to sacrifice what less committed participants will not.  

"While athletes may experience specific sacrifices such as pain and injury, there are some sacrifices that appear to be shared between these different groups: sacrificing family activities; sacrificing social activities not related to sport; sacrificing school/professional activities and; having a strong sense of belonging to an exclusive and privileged group."

Academics partially predict commitment. Brad Stevens remarked, "In 11 years, never had a player in the program that worked his tail off on the defensive end that wasn’t a great teammate/student." 

In high school, I played on two summer baseball teams, a summer basketball league, and summer soccer workouts. And during the day, I worked as a playground supervisor at the park with the town's best outdoor basketball court. I never considered it sacrifice, as selfishness about athletics came into play. My adult children gave me a t-shirt once, "the older I get, the better I was."

The best players and the best teams willingly do the hard things. There are prices to pay for some (arthritis, chronic pain, CTE, etc.). Athletes seldom mention sacrifice and regret together. 

Drill. Superman. "Development is an everyday job." 

Nature or nurture? I believe rebounding entails both. Don't leave points on the floor because of inefficiency. 

Set Play. Execute hard to defend actions... pick-and-roll, hard front and back cuts, screen-the-screener (including Flex action), screen-the-roller (Spain action), staggered screens, "get" action. 

"Great offense is multiple actions." Basketball is a game of separation. 

Steph Curry sets a cross-screen and gets a downscreen. 

Lagniappe. More hard things. I've seen more high school basketball this year because of live streaming. Teams lost practice time because of quarantines and COVID-19 infections (our high school girls had at least four infections and three shutdowns). What are the biggest issues?

• Shot selection. Somewhere between a third and forty percent of threes are airballs. Stop. TAKE BETTER SHOTS. Bad shots come from low skill, poor decisions, and ego. 
• Turnovers. You can't commit twenty-five turnovers a game and hope to win. It's a mixture of both poor decisions and poor execution. "TAKE CARE OF THE BALL." Elite notes from Zak Boisvert. 
• Poor passing...leads to both turnovers and poor shots. PASS BETTER.

It boils down to "possession and possessions." Do the hard things. Get more possessions and stop wasting possessions." 

Basketball: Setting the Table and 1-4 Low BOBs

Author Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code) says "the difference between good writers and bad writers is that good writers know when they're bad."

Brown is a prisoner of process, writing from 4 A.M. to 11 A.M. in a distraction-free space...no phone, no email, no Internet. Playwright David Mamet wrote, "A man distracted is a man defeated."

He describes "setting the table," leaving off one day's work by starting the next chapter the previous day. I started today's piece yesterday before leaving for work. 

The blank page challenges every author. I think of set plays like some writers see the blank page. It's opportunity to steal, to edit, to throw junk in the rubbish. 

Don't settle on offense. Attack. Too many teams content themselves with getting the ball in play. Challenge the defense continuously. 

Some of my best ideas come in the shower while listening to MasterClass via a bluetooth speaker. Multiple actions. Cross-screens (small to big) create mismatches against switching. 

1. Put your best big on the opposite block during a SLOB. 
2. Space your '3' on the helpside wing. 
3. Locate your '2' on the ballside block and your '1' at the elbow. 
4. Use zipper action to inbound the ball to '2'. 
5. Bring the inbounder in to screen for the '2' while '1' screens across for the '5'. 
6. Pass from 2 to 5 on the block after the switch. 

Lagniappe. 1-4 Low inbounds plays (below) from Basketball Immersion. 

Below would be a great "short clock" action.

In the Celtics-Hawks game, this BOB began with a 1-4 low set leading to a Tatum fallaway off of a screen. They used to run this with IT4. 

Lagniappe 2. Mindfulness connects us without ourselves. It's for sensitive people, like LeBron, Kobe, KAT, Phil Jackson, and Olympic champions. Jon Kabat-Zinn shares. Paying attention, on purpose, in the present, non-judgmentally (Lesson 2). Mindfulness helps us to awareness. "Awareness is a human superpower." Mindfulness helps us 'come to terms' with things as they are. 

As coaches, we build relationships, with the game, fellow coaches, and players. 

Take one mindful breath today and then build on that. 

Basketball: Growing as a Coach

Popeye, by Jeff Koons

"An artist that's really committed to their work, they get better (with age)." - Jeff Koons

Being different doesn't make us right or wrong in matters of taste. Every day gives us a chance to grow, whatever our age. Find the buttons to push to motivate ourselves and our players. 

The pandemic is both danger and opportunity. Become a learning machine. Let's review some tools available to us. 

• Find a mentor. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." In his MasterClass, Usher discussed learning from his mentor's mentors. He learned not only from Michael Jackson but from James Brown. Rick Pitino has a Personal Board of Directors to share input. 
• Be a mentor. Share knowledge and experience of what went well or poorly. Ask "what if?" Be willing to drop a "truth bomb" on our mentee.
• Read. Read basketball, history, psychology, literature, poetry. Discovery doesn't obligate us to use the new information. File it away for review. Basketball is about space and time. 

"To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heav'n in a wild flower. 

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour." - Blake 

• Write. Write about basketball or another domain. Write truth or fiction. Write a thank you note, a few lines to a former player, a note to your younger self. Writing every day teaches me how much I don't know. 
• Build your teaching skills. Skim Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. 
• Create a teaching film and clip library. Google Drive is a great storehouse. 
• Watch film. Services like Coaching U offer great teaching video but the Internet (e.g. YouTube) hosts an abundance of free video from FIBA and the Cross Canada Coaches Clinic among others. 
• Expand your coaching source library. Build your Drill Book, Practice Plans, adding new and editing outdated material. 
• Edit your play library including base offenses, set plays, ATOs, SLOBs, BOBs, and Game Winners. 

• Go nuclear. What's your best 5 package - best ATO, SLOB, BOB, Man play, Zone play? Even better, have your best five of each.
• "Say YES." When someone asks for help, carpe diem. 

Think. Ask ourselves, "is coaching making me a better person" and "is coaching helping make my students better?"

Give it our best. "Make the big time where you are." 

Lagniappe. Frank Martin shares his insights into the youth sports culture and dysfunction. It's worth the few minutes.