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Saturday, October 15, 2022

Basketball: Transparency as a Coach (Post 3198)


Coaching 'survival' comes easier as a volunteer. Not everyone will like us, but you can't beat the price. 

Basketball thrives in the public domain. Great info is widely available free and paid. I believe in coaching transparency - about philosophy, communication, playbooks, drill books, anything. 

People don't stop going to The French Laundry because Thomas Keller shares how he pan fries salmon. Green Bay won championships with Vince Lombardi despite knowing the Packers would ram the ball down their throats with the Packer Sweep. 

Success in coaching or most professions never required the most information but the ability to organize, teach, and refine along with the talent and operation to execute. 

If we choose transparency, how do we apply it? 

  • As a disclosure, I've always coached middle school girls.
  • Share philosophy (written) - teamwork, improvement, accountability
  • Communication always runs through the parents (email or phone). 
  • Share philosophy about playing time (everyone gets in twice each half, but playing time is not equal). Life rewards unrequired work. 
  • If there's controversy, always have the conversation with another adult present (there's no "but the coach said...")
  • Open practice (most parents will never come for more than a few minutes)
  • Open pregame and postgame meetings (hallway game commentary)
  • Give periodic individual (email) updates with strengths and areas to improve
  • Share information. If Don Meyer could share anything and everything with amazing success, we can share, too. 

When I coached Cecilia, we ran '15' a lot on the BOB against the 2-3 zone. Opponents probably should have just doubled her and made anybody else shoot, but that's another story. We didn't have fancy hand signals, colors, or exotic play names. Here it is, come and get it. 

Lagniappe. I haven't digested this, but here are Coach Hackenberg's "Shooting Drills." 


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