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Friday, August 4, 2023

Basketball Scurvy: Deficiency of Vitamin C an Underappreciated Problem

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Ben Franklin

Without a diagnosis, cure becomes obscure. Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, it's estimated that two million sailors died from scurvy, a deficiency of Vitamin C.

Sailors developed gum pain and bleeding, weakness, joint pain, and skin bleeding. Eventually they succumbed to either infection or death, falling apart from defective blood vessels and connective tissue. Sometimes entire crews passed. In the mid 1750's James Lind was credited with the cure, a diet fortified with citrus. The British became known as limeys, although oranges contain more C and lemon rations were provided.  

What does this have to do with basketball? Vitamin C is coaching, the cauldron of communication and relationships, game knowledge, teaching, player development, game planning, and game management. 

Chat GPT describes poor basketball coaching: 

Poor coaching in basketball can have a detrimental impact on players and the team's overall performance. Here are some characteristics and behaviors associated with poor coaching in basketball:

  1. Lack of Knowledge: A poor coach may have limited knowledge of the game, its strategies, and fundamentals. This lack of understanding can lead to improper teaching of skills and tactics, hindering the players' development.


  3. Ineffective Communication: Communication is a vital aspect of coaching. Poor coaches may struggle to effectively communicate instructions, feedback, and game plans to the players, leading to confusion and misinterpretation.


  5. Negative Attitude: A poor coach may display a negative and demoralizing attitude towards the players, constantly criticizing and belittling them instead of providing constructive feedback and encouragement.


  7. Lack of Empathy: Empathy is crucial in coaching to understand the players' emotions and challenges. Poor coaches may fail to empathize with their players, disregarding personal issues and showing a lack of understanding.


  9. Favoritism: Poor coaches may show favoritism towards certain players, providing them with more playing time and opportunities, regardless of their performance and dedication.


  11. Inadequate Practice Planning: Organizing and executing effective practices is essential for player development. Poor coaches may not plan structured, engaging, and productive practices, leading to wasted time and limited skill improvement.


  13. Lack of Adaptability: Basketball is a dynamic game, and strategies must be adjusted according to opponents and players' strengths. A poor coach may be rigid in their approach and fail to adapt to changing situations during games.


  15. Absence of Team Building: Building team chemistry and unity is crucial for success in basketball. A poor coach may not invest time in team-building activities, resulting in a lack of trust and cohesion among players.


  17. Neglecting Player Development: Every player has unique strengths and weaknesses that require individual attention. Poor coaches may neglect the development of certain players, focusing solely on the star players.


  19. Poor Game Management: During games, poor coaches may struggle to make timely and effective decisions, such as calling timeouts, making substitutions, or adjusting strategies to counter the opponent.


  21. Lack of Support: A poor coach may not support their players during difficult times, both on and off the court, which can further harm the players' confidence and motivation.

Words don't adequately capture coaching. Many know 'good coaching when they see it' but recognizing its absence also matters. When Vitamin C is lacking, what is missing? 

1. Can you identify the overarching strategy, a team's intent to leverage strengths to play 'longer and harder' than opponents? Is the formula balance, offense, defense, pressure, transition, perimeter shooting, sets? 

2. How does a team get stops? Does it play tight or sagging man, zone defense, a blend, hybrid defenses, extended defenses with trapping? 

3. Where will the points arise? The UCONN women plan to score a third in transition, a third from sets, and a third on threes. You can't plan to score from the perimeter without recruiting or developing shooters. 

4. What are the coaches' motivational skills? Does the team "run through a wall" for them? At the highest levels, coaches have different opinions. Dean Smith taught, "I don't coach effort." If you don't show effort, then you didn't wind up at UNC. 

5. How good is the coach at player development? Most coaches lack the luxury of hiring an extensive staff. Do the players exhibit and follow through on the 'growth mindset' during their careers? If you complain about the talent pipeline, excel at development, or else.

6. I believe in transparency. It the game product is lacking, what was taught and how was it taught during practice? It's harder to criticize what you see on game day without seeing the 'production line' in practice. What's the curriculum, tempo, teaching, and energy level? 

But vitamin C isn’t all sunshine and roses. Too much can increase risk of kidney stones. They say that basketball is “over coached and under taught.” And like citrus, the content varies.

Lagniappe. A lot of coaches like 5-Out actions, often simple and effective when urgent cutting and on time, on target passing.  

Lagniappe 2. Teams run variations from different sets with a backscreen off the high post. 

 

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