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Friday, November 3, 2023

What Is the Problem Statement?

Coaching and diagnostics overlap.

"What is the problem statement?" - Rosalind Brewer, Fortune 500 CEO 

Consider defense.

  • Symptom - allowing too many easy shots
  • Sign - too many mismatches, 2 on 1s, easy shots. Is there ball pressure and containment, ball penetration, too many second shots?
  • Test - review film 'the truth machine'
  • Treatment - "do it better, do it harder, change personnel, '$&%* it ain't working' (change tactics)
For my last team the 'root cause' defense issue was inability to contain the ball. That led to needing too much help and rotation, which wasn't great. 

Ultimately, we had to change from 'individual assignment' (man) defense to a hybrid defense, asking the guards to stop open threes and our interior defense to challenge the inside scorers (we had two shot blockers). 

I didn't do that until late in the season, because I believe developing players outweighs winning. 

Dave Smart emphasizes being good at critical areas:
  • Half court defense
  • Half court offense
  • Defending transition
  • Defending and executing the pick-and-roll
For youth coaches, players need to:
  • Learn fundamentals
  • Reduce turnovers
  • Learn shooting, shot selection
  • Handle pressure, especially against teams whose primary focus is winning
For high school coaches, watch and ask:
  • What's the philosophy?
  • What’s the culture, the ecosystem of training and performance?
  • What's the intent of these or those actions?
  • How do you get more scores and stops?
  • How does the team play close and late? (Special situations, delay offense and defense, pressure free throws for a few)
  • How do teams stop beating themselves (Four Factors failures)?
As teams stand at the cusp of new seasons, think about how to change or sustain behaviors whose footprints are losses or success.

Lagniappe. There's always another Horns action. 

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