Analogies help us 'relate the unrelated' to increase understanding. Analogies prove useful in science and discovery. Thomas Edison discussed imagination, persistence and analogy as keys to inventing. They're everywhere in daily life. Apply some to basketball.
Military strategy and basketball offense. Historical military offense includes long-range artillery, the cavalry, and infantry. These relate to basketball as perimeter shooting, transition offense, and the power game inside.
The Chessmaster, alternatively The General. Although technique beats tactics, basketball tacticians get variously celebrated. I don't favor the grandmaster strategy because it reduces players to pieces. Numerous coaches, most notably Bobby Knight earned recognition as "The General."
Solving puzzles. Both coaches and players solve problems. South Carolina's Dawn Staley shares her love for solving puzzles. The media sometimes refer to an individual player as the "missing piece" of the puzzle, and 'misfits' like Dennis Rodman can be critical answers.
Frankenstein's monster. A player can look assembled with the best of many - intellect, size, athleticism, toughness, resilience, skill. Coaches, unlike Dr. Frankenstein cannot assemble the individual monster but sometimes make a monster of the parts.
Software and hardware. Players, like computers, are the intersection between hardware and software. Trainers and strength and conditioning guys work on the hardware (physicality). Coaches, sports psychologists, and trainers work on the software, constantly looking to upgrade to better versions.
Time bombs. All of us are time bombs ticking down in the big picture. Teams can be time bombs of deterioration (age, contracts) or dysfunctional behaviors or cultures.
By 'the book'. We celebrate conventional wisdom, until we don't. In Making Decisions, Ed Smith writes how 'old timers' are the first to criticize the failure of innovation or changing decisions. "The book" gives the high drift choice an abundance of chances. "The book" ends close games with isolation plays instead of higher points/possession play types. "The book" takes the field goal on fourth and one from the eight.
The Hatfields and the McCoys. Cross-town or intersectional rivalries get overstated in the manner of the nineteenth century blood feud. A more literary feud would reference the Capulets and the Montagues, the families behind Romeo and Juliet.
"See one, do one, teach one." Medicine is famous for teaching by demonstration, imitation, and education. We know Coach Wooden's recommendation for EDIRx5. Explanation, demonstration, imitation. repetition x five. As kids we heard, "monkey see, monkey do."
Lagniappe. "Every day is player development day."
Rewind of "Why Aren't We Scoring More?"
- Reduce turnovers.
- Pass better (the quality of the shot relates to the quality of the pass).
- Take better shots. Review shot charts.
- Shoot better (build skill).
- Make your free throws.
