Basketball - What Game Are You Playing?

"There are a lot of ways to skin a cat." None of this appeals to the proverbial cat. Analogy helps us. Edison believed the keys to invention were imagination, persistence, and analogy. Da Vinci believed in connessione, connections, tied to analogy. Da Vinci and Edison approaches argue for 'relating ideas'. 

Many successful, experienced people disagree on how to play. Here are a few samples:

"Basketball is a game meant to be played fast." - John Wooden

"Basketball is a game of mistakes." - Bob Knight

"The best teams play harder for longer." - Dave Smart

"Be curious, not judgmental." - Misattributed to Walt Whitman (nobody knows)

This quote from Morgan Housel's "The Psychology of Money" has merit.

Have clear intention about how to play and how to plan, to prepare, to teach, and to execute that style. 

Everybody likes to win. In the developmental space, winning came secondary...to development. That was "the game" and most of the participants (players and families) bought into it. 

At least half of practice was developed to "pure fundamentals," with additional time to applications (small-sided-games, press-breaking advantage disadvantage scrimmaging, and special situations scrimmaging). In the games that were close, special situations gave us an edge. 

A few general beliefs:

1. Condition within drills. Coach basketball not track. I don't believe in punitive running. 

2. Skill wins. "We can't run what we can't run." Teams that can't shoot can't win much. Volume shooting with 'pressure' constraints of time, defense, and competition all matter. 

3. Team first. To be considered an excellent player, you have to make others around you better. If you can't or won't because of selfishness, then you need a private conversation. Great 'numbers' on a losing team means you're not helping others enough. 

4. 'Doing it right' should be obvious. Ball pressure, deny penetration, help defense, "color on color." On offense, see spacing, player and ball movement, and open shots. 

5. Obvious effort. Effort shows in transition, on defense, and in movement without the ball (urgent cutting). "Trickeration" is not a plan. 

Lagniappe. "We make our habits and our habits make us."  

Ryan Day said, "If the focus is on the result...not good.
It has to be in the process.
It has to be on your habits.
If we are not getting better at our fundamentals, if we are not focusing on the process, it's gonna catch us."

Focus on the process, not the results. pic.twitter.com/XYxVbw1iXO

— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) January 6, 2025

Lagniappe 2. Find a few to embrace. Don't try to memorize long lists.  

17 Signs of High-Performing Teams pic.twitter.com/O59ieal3u4

— Dave Kline (@dklineii) January 5, 2025