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Sunday, November 6, 2022

Basketball: What Would Douglas MacArthur Say? Plus a Drill and a Zone Set

Study leaders and their speeches, what they said and how they said it.  

"You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope as old as your despair." Every new season is about hope. 

"I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." Special teams have special culture. "Fight for our culture every day."

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." We can handle losing. Many factors cause losing. Quitting is entirely about us. 

"Duty, Honor, Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be." We cannot control whether we become the best; control being our best.

"A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him." The game is about the players. "Every day is player development day." 

"I have known war as few men now living know it. It’s very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes." Our prosperity depends on our collaboration with others. Collaboration is communication. 

"In war, you win or lose, live or die – and the difference is just an eyelash." Sport isn't war, it isn't life or death. But focus and attention to detail on each possession separates winning and losing. 

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others." Hard decisions lead to hard conversations. If we won't have the latter, we won't make the former. Sometimes courage means walking away. 

"I had learned one of the bitter lessons of life: never try to regain the past, the fire will have become ashes." Always do our best today because we can't get back the last game or the last play. 

"Have a good plan, execute it violently, and do it today." Most sports reward aggressive play in the context of good decisions. Aggression that violates rules or probability are the exceptions. 

Lagniappe. Duncan Robinson drill. 

Lagniappe 2. Have plays to screen the middle of the zone.  

Teach players the mnemonic to break zones: DR. FlaPS

D - Drive into gaps to pass

R - Reverse the ball

Fla - Flash into open spaces

P - Post up

S - Screen 

Lagniappe 3. From "Spaced Out" by Mike Prada

Three phases exist on the path to scoring:
  • Setup 
  • Advantage creation (Individual or team)
  • Advantage exploitation (Execution) 


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