Study other teams and it's not "personal." The same concepts appear over and over. Learn and avoid repeating others' mistakes.
1. "Contest all shots without fouling." In a 2-3 zone, white surrenders an uncontested three off a SLOB.
2. "Technique beats tactics." Off an inbounds play, white sets up a ball screen. Fortunately, the ball handler rejects the (illegal) screen and black prevents white from getting advantage. Cecilia (32) defends with more bend, knowing "low man wins."
3. Conceptually sound design - "overload" versus zone. 1-4 high goes to 1-4 low freeing up a corner three. Rebounding advantage nets two.
4. "Pressure the ball." Pressure generates mistakes. "Nose on the ball" or "crawl up into them."
5. "You can observe a lot by just watching." - Yogi Berra Note how a player (10) avoids using her left hand. That's exploitable defensively with hard overplay.
6. Hand discipline..."Foul for profit" not from lack of discipline. "Show your hands." This is the type of play the coach would run back-and-forth asking what kind of defense do you call that?
7. "Win in space." Great players take advantage of spacing to get separation. Play in traffic and get burned.
8. "Look ahead" and "water the flowers." Cecilia gets the rebound, the big runs, and the flowers get watered.
9. "Numbers game." White breaks the press, gets a 3-on-2 and finds the open man. Good execution.
10.Feeding the post. Spacing, creating advantage, and exploiting it. The passing angle is not favorable. The wing could improve it with a dribble but it's a lost possession.
11.Finishing tough. Scorers have a variety of finishes. Cecilia finishes off two feet with a baby hook en route to 21 points, 13 rebounds, 8 blocks, and 3 assists in 22 minutes.
12."Mouse in the house." Identify advantage. Black has a mismatch in the post and chooses an open corner three as an alternative. Each player has to make an instant calculation about edge. There isn't always a clear edge.
Lagniappe (something extra). Player and ball movement create separation and scoring options.
Lagniappe. Study the game. How can I watch six quarters of high school streams and see ONE pick-and-roll?
Brog-done. Change of pace to separate and use versatile finishing.
Multiple actions...that man again. Get the angle. Draw 2. Find open man. "One more" pass.
Play beautiful basketball. "Set up your cut." Pass. Hand back. Pass. Tatum fakes coming off the high screen and cuts backdoor for a slam.
