Poker players look for tells. Coaches look for 'tells' that reflect a thoughtful process.
I recent watched a Netflix series, "The Inside Man" starring the estimable Stanley Tucci. He pointed out that answers arise not only from what we see, but what we don't.
In other words, we have expectations, Bill Walsh's "Standards of Performance." The following is lifted from the reference:
- Exhibit a ferocious and intelligently applied work ethic directed at continual improvement.
- Demonstrate respect for each person in the organization.
- Be deeply committed to learning and teaching.
- Be fair.
- Demonstrate character.
- Honor the direct connection between details and improvement; relentlessly seek the latter.
- Show self-control, especially under pressure.
- Demonstrate and prize loyalty.
- Use positive language and have a positive attitude.
- Take pride in my effort as an entity separate from the result of that effort.
- Be willing to go the extra distance for the organization.
- Deal appropriately with victory and defeat, adulation and humiliation.
- Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive.
- Seek poise in myself and those I lead.
- Put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own.
- Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high.
- Make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark.
All well and good, but how does that apply to watching a basketball game?
1. Is there 'ball pressure' or dead man's defense, six feet under the ball?
2. What individual or team actions do we see to create separation? Do we see on and off-ball screens, DHOs, urgent cutting, or does the action seem random and casual?
3. Are teams denying transition, stopping the ball, and denying dribble and pass penetration?
4. Are multiple defenses present or absent?
5. Does the team "give up the body" setting and fighting through screens, blocking out, going to the floor?
Expect to see elements of "toughness" and 'playing the right way'. If not, we make negative inferences about the players and/or coaching. Somebody still has to win, reflecting the talent disparity or relative poverty of coaching.
The next time we watch a game, look for both the seen and the unseen.
Lagniappe. Remember the organization of development:
- Skill
- Strategy
- Physicality
- Psychology
Individual separation (skill).
Lagniappe 2. Physicality
