“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households." - Socrates
Adults have always lamented the perceived shortcomings of youth. The present mirrors the past.
When 'old guys' say that young players don't understand the game, what specifically might that mean? Most of us acknowledge the superior athleticism and skill of the next generation. Is the criticism of youth merely grousing and envy?
What might we mean?
The Paper Chase. Some players are chasing scorebook (stats), publicity, and scholarships. Team achievement becomes secondary to individual results.
Shot selection. Every player should know what's a good shot for herself and each of her teammates. Ideally, the team self-regulates shot selection. "That is not how we play," when players violate team standards, becoming unaccountable. Dean Smith sometimes had 'shot selection' scrimmages where the shot taken defined the score.
Watch a lot of high school basketball games and watch perimeter passing leading to missed three point shots. Players may not understand that 'analytics' are about layups, free throws, and threes...not just three after three-point misses.
Teamwork. "Basketball is a game of cutting and passing." Do players have a team-first attitude and chemistry or are they 'me first' guys? Do they talk on defense to help and to protect teammates?
Playing without the ball. "The ball has energy." When teams don't pass, cutters become less urgent. When guards don't 'water the flowers' to running bigs, they stop running.
Defense. With athletic, skilled ball-handlers, ball containment has never been harder. Do players know the integration of defending the ball, help, rotation, and recovery?
Situational basketball. Players need to understand what opponents want to do. Who are the scorers, the passers, offensive rebounders, and actions that teams like to run? Where are their weaknesses to allow creating and exploiting edges? Video study is critical. Shutting down an opponent's SLOBs and BOBs might define victory.
Game understanding. Defenses want to set their defense. Do teams realize the need for a running game to force scrambling and attacking zones before defense becomes established? If we extend our defense are we creating pressure or weakness against an athletic team?
Apples and oranges. In our area (Massachusetts), the top teams (Prep/Privates) assemble all-star teams which overwhelm opponents with talent. When out-of-area players assemble to create "Superteams," the post-season becomes non-competitive in the finals. For example, Malden Catholic beat a well-coached Norwood team 95-40 in the State Championship. Who wants to be the punching bag for an elite travel team? The results only reflected an imbalance of talent, not of effort or coaching.
Lagniappe (something extra).
Hoops a tough sport for players, parents/guardians etc...only five play at a time, unskilled are exposed quickly (no place to hide), stars dominate the ball. Soccer,lax, even football have big squads... parents happy to have their kid on the field.. easier to hide
— Michael Atkinson (@atkinson_one) November 18, 2022
Lagniappe 2. Play the game by possession. Play longer and harder.
“Every possession matters.
— Drew Maddux (@DrewMaddux) November 16, 2022
Take pride in every possession. It’s a game of possessions.
It’s also a game of will.”
— Pat Summitt
pic.twitter.com/nGVrhSzSMR
Lagniappe 3. How do you build confidence? Improvement demands investment.
