Work out with a partner - camaraderie, competition, defense, and a rebounder for shooting drills.
Key example 2
Warm up - (Get 50)
Key example 3
Increase your percentage "Beat the Pro" a.k.a. "Bill Bradley
Game to 13, each make counts for one point and a miss is three for Bill Bradley (the pro). In this "easier" version, you must make thirteen before missing a 5th. 13/17 = 76.47%
Key example 4
Strength and conditioning. These volleyball exercises work for basketball, too.
We also used to jump rope for five minutes (in 1972-1973) before practice.
Key example 5
Attack the basket (Pierce wing series)
Key example 6
Footwork. Box drills. Even better...do them with defense.
Key example 7
Championship 38
Shooting drills like "Championship 38" (18 shots, including 3 free throws) are highly competitive and easily tracked. Add constraints like time or number of shots allowable to meet your goals.
Key example 8
Beucker's "Grab and Go" from Chris Oliver
Key example 9
Pitino 168 "a.k.a. Quarters" - 84 shots, 168 possible points (42 points per quarter)
Key example 10
Separate off the dribble...misdirection initiation
Key example 11
Misdirection "float" Durant dribble
Key example 12
Develop your mental game. Mindfulness is a proven technique used by most professionals and Olympians to improve focus, reduce anxiety, reduce circulating stress hormones, and improve sleep (also known to improve athletic and basketball performance).
You say, "I'm not into that stuff for soft guys." Soft guys - like Kobe, Lebron, Phil Jackson, and others.
Nothing worse for an offense than negative plays,” McDaniels said. “They put you in bad situations, and we saw that last year. When that happened to us, it’s hard to overcome those things.- Mike Giardi in Boston Sports Journal
Negative plays fall in the essence of Coach Knight's The Power of Negative Thinking.
For simplicity, let's start with the four factors and simply list a few under each category.
Dean Oliver's original four factors distill to:
Shoot it
Protect it
Rebound it
Get fouled
Winning the "differential" (Team A versus Team B) extends the concept
EFG % (Shoot it)
Bad shots
Bad shooters
Allowing easy shots
Sound byte: "More and better shots than opponents" - Newell
Turnovers (Protect it)
Bad decisions
Poor execution
Inability to force errors (Defensive issues)
Sound byte: "Turnovers kill dreams."
Rebound
Low percent defensive rebounding (want > 75%)
Low percent offensive rebounding (want > 30%)
Sound byte: "Rebounds end or sustain possessions."
Fouling
Foul for profit (Kevin Sivils)
Get fouled (live by the three, die by the three)
Make free throws
Sound byte: "Fouling negates hustle."
GIGO (garbage in, garbage out)
What are we tracking?
Decide how to present? (Young players, team stats, older players can break out individual stats)
Be specific and explain the why. "...a game of winning possessions."
Lagniappe. Ball and player movement challenge the defense forcing them to manage cuts and closeouts.
🚨 STICKY WORDS Sunday 🚨
HOOP = HELP
~ 27% of High School possessions, have no paint touch and no reversal. ~67% have 0 ball reversals + 1 paint touch. MOVE THE NEEDLE ON THIS.
Every coach develops a philosophy, intentionally or habitually. Mine is imperfect and still evolving, but these are the principles I work on.
1. Coaches are truth tellers. Our responsibility is to tell players what they need to hear, not simply what they want to hear. Growth begins with honest feedback delivered with respect.
2. Coaches and players succeed together. A coach depends on the performance of individual players and the team. The notion that a coach wants a player to fail rarely survives even a moment of honest reflection. When players improve, everyone wins.
3. Coaching is a privilege. Brad Stevens said, "Coaches get more than we give." The opportunity to teach, challenge, and encourage young people is an honor. The greatest rewards often come years later when former players return with gratitude and stories about lessons that lasted.
4. Speak greatness. There is a profound difference between saying, "You did well, but..." and "You did well, and..." One language closes the conversation. The other builds on success while inviting continued improvement.
5. Correct without discouraging. John Wooden often placed correction between genuine praise - a "sandwich" of encouragement, instruction, and confidence. Players should leave a conversation believing they can become better.
6. Build with positives. Research consistently shows that healthy relationships require many more positive interactions than negative ones. Coaching should challenge players, but should also create confidence, hope, and belief.
7. Coach with conviction. Bob Knight famously observed, "If you listen to the fans in the stands, soon you will be up there sitting next to them." Coaches should listen thoughtfully to others, but decisions must ultimately rest on principle, preparation, and judgment.
8. Coaches do have favorites. Not favorite people - favorite habits. We naturally value players who arrive early, work hard, compete relentlessly, accept coaching, and place the team first. Those behaviors are available to everyone.
9. Never underestimate encouragement. Few moments are more satisfying than honestly telling a player, "Good job,""Thank you," or, on rare occasions, "You're one of the best I've ever coached." Authentic praise endures.
10. Trust determines opportunity. Talent matters, but trust determines who is on the floor when the game matters most. Reliability, discipline, and good decisions earn opportunities.
11. Never be a child's last coach. Every athlete should leave your program believing that sports enriched their life, regardless of playing time or wins and losses.
12. Accept that criticism is inevitable. No coach will be universally admired. Leadership requires difficult decisions that cannot satisfy everyone. If you need unconditional approval, coaching is the wrong profession.
13. Remember the Prime Directive. Parents naturally place the well-being, role, recognition, and playing time of their own child ahead of the needs of the team. Coaches must respectfully acknowledge that reality while remaining committed to what gives the entire team the best chance to succeed.
14. Protect everyone. When difficult conversations are necessary, have another adult present whenever appropriate. Document important discussions and decisions. Transparency protects players, families, and coaches alike.
15. Ask the hard question. "What does it feel like to be coached by me?"
Players deserve honesty, accountability, respect, and hope. Coaches should continually seek feedback, reflect on their methods, and strive to become better teachers and better people.
Coaching is ultimately about relationships. Wins matter. Championships matter. But years later, players rarely remember every score. They remember how sports challenged them, how coaches treated them, and whether their coach cared and helped them improve as a player and person.
Learn every day. Teach what you know. Leave every player better than you found them.
Art imitates life. I've shared the narrative archetype previously. With the release of the movie, "The Odyssey," it's worth reviewing Odysseus's values that helped him survive the two decade-long ordeal.
Loyalty
Odysseus endured trial after trial to return home to Penelope after a full two decade absence.
Basketball - different types of loyalty occurred. Jerry Tarkanian stayed at UNLV for less than half the money he was offered to coach the Lakers. Finding his agent murdered in the trunk of a vehicle sent a powerful message to "The Shark." Jay Wright was offered big money to coach in the NBA but stayed at Villanova.
Wisdom
Odysseus had to navigate tricky waters despite hearing Siren calls and escape from the Cyclops. He told the Cyclops that his name was "Noman." After Odysseus had put out the Cyclops' eye, when the Cyclops called for help blaming "Noman," he got no assistance.
Basketball - wisdom manifests in many different forms in the game. Some programs are smart enough to hire a top coach (e.g. Geno Auriemma to UCONN in 1985). Coach Mike Krzyzewski always advises, "Surround yourself with great people." Impose discipline. Every great coach such as John Wooden, Bob Knight, or Pat Summitt, keeps players in line, one way or another.
As players went off for the summer, Wooden gave them a new basketball. It had better not return in mint condition after summer play.
Piety
Odysseus knew enough to pray to the gods for both mercy and assistance. On multiple occasions, they intervened on his behalf.
Basketball - Don't dismiss divine intervention, looking through the prism of history.
Perseverance
Twenty years away from home, yet Odysseus remained undaunted in his homeward bound mission.
Basketball - some forget that John Wooden won his first National Championship at UCLA in his 16th season. It took Dean Smith even longer, 21 years at North Carolina. Some called him a loser, but Smith said, "I never felt like a loser."
Justice
Odysseus had his vengeance upon legions of suitors and a dozen corrupt servants who inhabited his home.
Basketball - Dean Smith was a social justice pioneer. In 1964, he integrated a segregated Chapel Hill restaurant by dining there with a Black theology student and a local pastor. He later broke the ACC color barrier, recruiting Charlie Scott.
Title IX is another example of basketball justice. Enacted in 1972, it prohibited sex-based discrimination in education. This changed the landscape of basketball by requiring that schools provide equal opportunities, funding, and facilities to female athletes.
Summary
Trends in the arts often overlap with societal change, not always for good. Propaganda in film accompanied the rise of fascism in the early 1930s, well-documented in The Boys in the Boat.
Be on the lookout for 'teachable moments' for our student-athletes.
Lagniappe. Be coachable.
LEnacted in 1972, this federal law prohibited sex-based discrimination in education, fundamentally altering the landscape of basketball by mandating that schools provide equal opportunities, funding, and facilities to female athletes.
Coaches are often "rule followers" although everyone's rules are different. Worthy ideas repeat over millennia.
Here's a list from Threads poster "Traditionalmasculinity." Find some to share with our student-athletes.
21 Rules a Dying Swordsman Left Behind
A week before his death in 1645, Miyamoto Musashi - undefeated in more than 60 duels - wrote 21 principles ("The Way of Walking Alone") for his student.
Musashi developed "two sword fighting" and is considered by many to be the greatest Samurai ever. 60-0 in fights to the death deserves note. I add some basketball annotations in black:
Accept everything as it is. Don't argue with reality; adjust your understanding of the world to match it. "Control what you can control" or in market language, "The market is always right."
Don't seek pleasure for its own sake. Satisfaction is a byproduct of purpose, not a goal in itself. Wooden, "Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable."
Never act on a half-conviction. If you're not sure, you're not ready.
Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. Ego clouds judgment. Take our job seriously but not ourself. People are thinking about us far less than we think.
Be detached from desire throughout your life. Attachment makes you easier to control.
Never regret what you've done. Learn from it, but don't dwell on it. If we "Always do our best," that leaves less room for regret. Also a restatement of Rohn's, "There are two types of pain - the pain of discipline and the pain of regret."
Never be jealous. Jealousy punishes the one who feels it.
Do not be saddened by separation. People come and go—that is the natural order.
Resentment and complaint help no one. Wooden's "Don't whine, don't complain, and don't make excuses."
Don't let lust or love govern your decisions. Strong emotions can distort judgment.
Have no fixed preferences. Stay open and adaptable.
Be indifferent to where you live. Contentment comes from within, not from your surroundings.
Don't chase fine food. Eat to live, not live to eat.
Let go of possessions you don't need. The lighter your burden, the easier your journey. "Simplify." Revise our teaching, our playbook, our drill book.
Think for yourself. Don't follow tradition simply because it's customary, and don't reject ideas merely because they're unconventional.
Don't collect more tools than you'll master. Depth of skill is better than accumulation. "Excel at what we do a lot."
Do not fear death. Fear weakens judgment and action.
Don't hoard wealth for an uncertain future. Be prudent without becoming consumed by accumulation.
Respect the divine, but never depend on it in place of your own effort. How many times we were taught, "The Lord helps those who help themselves."
Guard your honor above your own body.
Never stray from the Way. "We make our habits and our habits make us."
Final Reflection:
Musashi wrote these principles near the end of his life, refining his own philosophy. The work of self-improvement is never finished until life is over.
Lagniappe. Coach Lync shares a list of situations.
Coaching lessons surround us...if we're open to seeing them. The 1993 comedy, "Dave" shares an abundance of valuable lessons and standards.
"I want you to do this because it's the right thing to do."
The authentic President violates every principle of integrity in the interest of politics. He's the antithesis of principled. For him, it's all about him.
Be willing to help.
The Secret Service tells Dave they need him as a double for the President for the good of the country.
Fake it until you make it.
We sometimes lack the skills or the experience to execute a tough job. Leverage our skills to upgrade our capabilities and succeed.
Be adaptable.
Dave has to "become" instead of impersonate the President. He has to grow rapidly into a job that requires him to navigate waters he has never even imagined.
Play the part.
In his "day job," he acts as a celebrity impersonator. Sometimes leaders feel the weight of "imposter syndrome," feeling underserving of the assignment. Dave works on mastery.
Surround yourself with capable people.
Dave literally is in the midst of a palace coup. He enlists assistance from a trusted friend and earns the respect of his Secret Service.
Dave knows nothing about tripartite government or how the Executive functions. He gets a crash course and gets up to speed.
Everyone won't like you. Deal with it.
He quickly learns that there is plenty of opposition (and support) in Washington. He's developing a thicker skin while in the job.
Authenticity helps - if you're not a jerk
Authenticity cuts multiple ways. If you're authentically selfish, lazy, and soft, others see it. But if you're intrinsically honest, kind, and a sharer, you gain allies.
"When you hurt someone intentionally, that is not a mistake."
He's caught up in forces beyond his control, sometimes ignorant of policy that would offend anyone's sensitivity. His action or inaction harms a cause of The First Lady, who calls him out. He learns more about the issue and becomes a problem solver, stepping on toes.
Resource management is on you.
Dave quickly understands, "The buck stops here" and the 'lightweight' learns that he can throw his weight around via title and power.
Public relations matters
Leaders may be 'performative' - shaking hands and kissing babies. His humanity and sincerity shine through in how he treats others.
Share.
In the White House kitchen, he prepares a midnight snack, an oversized sandwich. He cuts it in half and shares with his Secret Service agent (Ving Rhames), who sits down to eat with him.
Have a big picture plan.
Dave's 'handlers' in the palace coup have a plan, but Dave has other ideas. He genuinely has the interest of the country at heart, despite being an unelected imposter.
Develop new ideas
In his day job (employment agency), he sees the joy and fulfillment of clients who get work. In a classic "Chekhov's Gun" moment, he proposes a National Employment Act, seeking full employment.
"You don't know how much you can do until you stand up and decide to try."
Coaches have enormous influence as teachers, mentors, and leaders. Understand how one person can make a world of difference.
Be worthy.
"Dave, I would have taken a bullet for you."
The 'job' of leadership has many parts - student, teacher, decision maker, advocate, judge, 'director', etc. Embrace Dave's genuine decency, capacity for growth, and integrity.
Find the coaching and leadership lessons that inhabit everyday life.
Lagniappe. Gregg Popovic says, "Don't ask for minutes. Make me play you." JVG tells players to take a hard look in the mirror (sound quality fair).
“Stupid, soft, selfish”! Every parent that complains about PT, Every “inner ⭕️ ” guy that sites politics, & every player that says “coach hate me” should all take a hard look at where they might rate in these areas before anything else. https://t.co/CC9BAfuQHJ
"There are still so many players we must protect. I had a different goal from yours, It wasn't winning the championship. It was to have a team that hates to lose, then goes out to win the next day. To become a team that plays persistently hard, to wear out the opponents even when it loses big time." - Operations Manager Lee in Hot Stove League
Giving anything less than your best should be anathema for you. Part of giving your best includes protecting the team.
In Win Forever, Carroll reduced team culture to three rules:
Always protect the team.
No whining, no complaining, no excuses.
Be early.
Bill Belichick's rules similarly revolve around the team:
Know your job.
Do your job.
Pay attention to detail.
Put the team first.
Passion
"Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm." Passion is a critical component of performance, wanting to excel.
Pride
Great advances in history occur through collaboration. Team accomplishments always mean shared success.
Professionalism
Professionalism includes promptness, preparation, and focus. Attention is a skill. Hard work is a skill.
Professionalism appears in the weight room, the practice field, and in the training room when rehab is needed.
Professionals protect the team on and off the court. They do the work at home, in class, and aren't involved in off-field incidents.
Professionals protect the team. You don't have to be an adult to be a professional.
Protect the team.
Lagniappe. SSGs were a regular part of practice - creating communication, competition and more touches.
Coaching lessons seldom come cheap. "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." Can the ambitious coach accelerate the coaching process?
1. "Look for the Helpers." - Mr. Rogers
The Internet has a firehose of information. Among the most useful are YouTube videos and FIBA resources. They share coaching clinics, player development videos, and much more.
2. Watch game video.
Condensed game highlights, including NBA Summer League are available on YouTube. Learn to watch video.
3. Coaching anthologies
Among the best is the Netflix series "The Playbook" which profiles five well-known coaches including Dawn Staley and Doc Rivers.
4. Mentoring (Find a mentor)
"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence."
Become a volunteer assistant. Study great coaches applying whatever standard you use. Among the best (alphabetically):
Red Auerbach
Geno Auriemma
Phil Jackson
Bob Knight
Mike Krzyzewski
John McLendon
Etorre Messina
Pete Newell
Zeljko Obradovic
Gregg Popovich
Dave Smart
Dean Smith
Dawn Staley
Pat Summitt
John Wooden
Here are some I've profiled. Don't confine yourself to basketball. Other legendary coaches/educators include Bill Belichick, Jack Clark, Anson Dorrance, Ed Smith, Bill Walsh.
5. Podcasts
There are too many to mention. Chris Oliver has hundreds that are excellent.
A defensive strategy used by the late-1980s/early-1990s Detroit Pistons against Michael Jordan.
The famous book The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith about the early championship-era Chicago Bulls.
For coaches, the defensive rules are usually what people mean.
The Core Idea
The Pistons concluded:
"Jordan can score 40. What he cannot do is beat us with 40 while making everyone else better."
Their goal was not necessarily to stop Jordan. Their goal was to stop the Bulls.
Key Jordan Rules
1. Force Him Left
Jordan preferred attacking to his right.
Defenders shaded him left whenever possible.
Not because he couldn't go left, but because it was slightly less efficient and more predictable.
2. No Clean Drives
Whenever Jordan penetrated:
help came early
help came hard
help came from multiple defenders
The Pistons wanted him seeing bodies.
3. Make Every Touch Physical
In another era, the Pistons were notorious for:
bumps
holds
body contact
hard fouls
The objective was cumulative fatigue. Not one hard hit. Hundreds of small ones - trying to wear him down.
4. Trap in Specific Areas
They often trapped Jordan:
near the baseline
in the corners
near the sideline
The sideline became an extra defender.
5. No Layups
Perhaps the most famous rule. If Jordan got to the rim: Make him earn it at the free-throw line. Easy baskets were unacceptable.
6. Force Others to Beat You
The Pistons were willing to live with:
John Paxson jumpers
Bill Cartwright touches
role-player shots
They were not willing to allow Jordan to dictate everything.
Why It Worked
The strategy helped the Pistons eliminate the Bulls in 1988, 1989, 1990 before Chicago finally broke through in 1991.
But there is an important coaching lesson: The Jordan Rules did not ultimately fail because the defense got worse. They failed because the Bulls got better.
Under Phil Jackson and the Triangle Offense, Chicago developed:
better spacing
better ball movement
more offensive balance
Jordan evolved from:
"I must beat you" to "we will beat you."
Coaching Takeaway
One of the great lessons from the Jordan Rules is:
Every dominant player eventually forces opponents to choose between stopping the star and stopping the team.
The best players are not merely great scorers. They become so dangerous that defensive attention creates opportunities for everyone else.
That's a principle that applies equally to basketball, volleyball, and virtually every team sport. The ultimate counter to a "Jordan Rule" is not individual brilliance—it's collective execution.
Maybe you’ve heard them. Maybe not. Advice that works. Find some that will work for you.
1. Better shot selection is the quickest path to improvement. Showing grainy, black and white film, Coach Ellis Lane called them, "Sh*t shots." After a film session, players better take fewer the next game.
2. Better late than early off a screen - Say, “Wait, wait, wait.”
3. Big reasons why offenses fail is lack of urgent cutting. In a set play, you might not have much initial choice. Your effort is your choice.
4. Turnovers kill dreams. We learned, “The ball is gold.”
5. "Spacing is offense and offense is spacing." The three-point line is the spacing line. Bad high school teams often have bad spacing.
6. "Shout praise and whisper criticism." We choose whether to lose games and lose players who tune us out.
7. “The ball is a camera.” If it can’t see you, then it can’t find you. And if the ballhandler can't see you, your cut won't help.
8. The ball is the smartest thing on the court. It finds scorers, rebounders, assist guys, shot blockers, and defeat who get deflections and steals.
9. Find guys who prioritize the scoreboard over the scorebook.
10. Fouls negate hustle. Kevin Sivils preaches, “Foul for profit.”
11. “Think shot first.” - Don Kelbick The shooter is most open when she first catches the ball.
12. “What does it feel like to be coached by me?" Parents aren’t always wrong…if we "bury" a player in a doghouse, do we expect praise?
Lagniappe. Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly said, "I'm a salesman." We sell every day at home, at school, at work, on the court, in print. If we don't add value, that's a hard sell...
Coaching Interview Strategies
1. Don’t mention your AAU or JV record; sell your philosophy. 2. Make "eye contact" with every single person in the room. 3. State realistic goals; promise improved play, not championships.
What can we learn from from a "how-to-book" from the greatest Samurai warrior? Process. Education, training, application.
Miyamoto Musashi literally wrote the book (The Book of Five Rings) about the Way of the Sword, about four hundred years ago.
Key lessons resonate.
Self-control
Emotion can fuel victory or out-of-control defeats. Musashi fought sixty times with a 'final' outcome of victory. He believed most warriors lack strategy, lack self-discipline. Attitude matters. Respect all opponents, fear none. Compete relentlessly, focused without distraction.
Anticipation
He believed that he could 'see what happens before it happens'. Charles Barkley showed clips of former player Zach Randolph who always went left. Randolph deserved credit for using his strength, but Barkley felt "dummies" didn't know that it was coming.
Breathing
Controlled breathing reduces stress. It allows suppressive signals to flow from the frontal cortex to the stress centers (amygdala).
He advocated for a four second inhalation, a short pause, six second exhalation, and short pause.
Breathing as part of mindfulness is known to reduce circulating stress hormones (cortisol).
Purpose (some say passion)
Sports facilitate competition and the ability to demonstrate where we lie on the "mastery" scale.
I counseled players not to play for the coach, the community, or your school, but the girls next to you - the teammates with shared mission, shared vision, and shared sacrifice.
The training needed to become an exceptional player is rigorous and exhausting, especially in summer heat. Special players find the intrinsic motivation to do what it takes.
Lagniappe. Many players return. Others are on the competitive cusp. There aren't "minutes" for all players, so "Stay Ready Players" have to work hard and long (temperature and time) without any guarantees of regular minutes.
I have boatloads of respect for the player who shows up and competes hard every day. During her freshman year at American, Cecilia had a teammate who had been an All-State player and played little. But the player told her that she would show up every day and 'bring it' because she earned her scholarship and she owed the team her best. That's professionalism.
Lagniappe 2. Ultimately, you become "your own coach" as a player, a spouse, parent, entrepreneur, etc. You own your role.
20 years as a head coach will teach you things no clinic ever will.
Maybe one sticks.
28 Lessons Learned.
1. Coaching is all about relationships. Work to build relationships with your players.
2. Play the long game with culture. There are no shortcuts to success.
Who wouldn't want a simple, concrete, credible, and accurate "number" to attach to a player? This can’t resolve controversy but might enlighten it.
The Holy Grail (HG) would reflect contribution to winning, impact on teammates, team offense and team defense.
It would not 'curve fit' to stratify players to conform to an analyst who "likes" someone's game and has misgivings about someone else's. And it won't say whether so-and-so is the fifth best guard in a league or the tenth.
The supporting cast also impacts a player's effectiveness. If you're on the floor with better cutters and shooters, then you might have more assists. If you're on the court with 'selfish players' then you won't get as many touches. Offensive and Defensive ratings depends on those on the floor with you as well.
As a basketball analyst, I'd rather have 2026:
On/Off data
Assist-to-turnover data
TS%
Defensive rebounding
Steals
and minutes played
than a single 'contribution' number. That partially reconstructs the "scores and stops" framework.
Let's use a concrete example, Jalen Brunson, NBA Finals MVP and LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets.
I asked ChatGPT Plus to develop a tabular comparison:
Category
Jalen Brunson
LaMelo Ball
Scoring Volume
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Scoring Efficiency
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐
Playmaking
⭐⭐⭐⭐½
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Turnover Control
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐
Rebounding
⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Offensive Impact
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Defensive Reliability
⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐
Decision Making
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐
Availability/Durability
⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐
Coach Trust Factor
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐
Overall Total Contribution
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Usage measures responsibility, not selfishness. It also impacts the usage of other players.
There's no precise "apples to apples" comparison available but analytics staffs are working on that.
One statistic I'd love to invent:
Knowing your interest in "Coaches' Total Contribution" and holistic evaluation, I'd create a metric called Possession Value Added (PVA).
Rather than asking: "How many points did he score?," I'd ask, "How much better is every possession because this player was involved?"
