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Monday, March 9, 2026

Basketball - Simple Is Better

"Good artists borrow; great artists steal." - Picasso   

Become a great artist and steal something to help your process. 

Legendary Coach Don Meyer said that coaching evolves through three stages - blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity.

Where can coaches simplify and profit? 

Player Development 

Teach players their "four ways to score." At a minimum, that entails developing "separating footwork" from the wing, the post, or both, versatile finishing around the basket, free throws, and age-appropriate shooting range. More advanced players find ways to score off the pick-and-roll, in transition, playing off the dribble, and more.

Box drills with defense


Ball containment

Effective defense starts with containing the ball. When teams can't contain the ball, it puts the defense into help, rotation, and scramble and allows offenses to penetrate and score or pass to open perimeter players. 
Efficiency

The "Achievement Equation"  ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE x TIME

Better practice, better performance and better time use. Upping practice tempo and rapidly transitioning from activity to activity, raises achievement. 

Condition with the ball. Use shooting and passing drills that incorporate conditioning. 

3 x 3 x 3 shooting

Tongues look like neckties if players 'go hard' in this drill. Encourage communication as passers must call out the shooter's name.

"No laps, no lines, no lectures," originally by Dr. Ron Quinn and popularized by Brian McCormick. 

Divide and conquer

Use resources better with practice with multiple baskets and coaching for each group. 

1) More touches, more shots

2) Small-sided games simulates game play, adds defense, competition

3) Applies formation, spacing, and core offensive strategiesLessens criticism of "My kid isn't getting coaching or touches." 

4) Lessens criticism of "My kid isn't getting coaching or touches." 

Priorities and emphasis

"Do well what you do a lot" and become exceptional at your core elements.

  • Defeat pressure.
  • Win special situations.
  • Master delay - offensive and defensive delay games.
Defeat pressure with "advantage-disadvantage" full court pressure 5 versus 7, initially with a constraint of no dribbling. This teaches cut and pass or failure ensues. 

We excelled at special situations by finishing practice with 15 minutes of "three possession games" starting with either ATO, BOB, SLOB, or free throws. 

Cross-Screen Slip (Lion with "cub" option) 

This evolved from "Tiger" which was a back screen with players alined along free throw line...first saw in 1968 in middle school.

Delay games help control/combat tempo. When leading, shorten the game into fewer possessions. When trailing, accelerate tempo to increase possessions. Here's a classic example: 

Lagniappe. Winning is a habit. So is losing. 



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Sunday, March 8, 2026

Applying Basketball Quotes from the Greatest Detectives

Simplify. Winning basketball follows winning principles. Less successful basketball reflects losing habits. Learn from some of history's great detectives. 

"The likeliest explanation is always the simplest." - Sherlock Holmes

Basketball:

  • Excellent teams win by executing fundamentals not trickery. 
  • Win the one-on-one battles - defending, separating, rebounding. 

“It’s always the little details that give you away.” - Colombo

Basketball: 

  • Get everyone on the same page. "Trust but verify." Knight would teach a play and then ask players to diagram it. 
  • Share Bilas's "Toughness" details with players. Quiz them. "Set up your cut." 

"I couldn't help but notice." - Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote)

Basketball: The game reveals itself to those who study. Share these.

  • "Attacking the front foot/hand" creates advantage.
  • "A good shot fake is a shot not taken."
  • "Think shot first." - Don Kelbick


One must seek the truth within–not without." - Hercule Poirot

Basketball: The answer often emerges from brutal self-examination, honesty, and intellectual pursuit. 

  • "After Action Review" - what won or lost each game? 
  • Video is "The Truth Machine." It's not optional. 

"It’s always the person you least expect." - C. Auguste Dupin

Basketball: "Think again." 

  • Dean Smith always credited reserves who helped define victory. 
  • Remind players that the game is about more than scoring. Teammates impact winning in a variety of ways. 

"This killer is smart." - Miss Marple

Basketball: Don't insult or discount athletic intelligence.

  • "1:02 to 1:03" - Chris Paul informed players that getting a shot in this end-of-quarter timeframe often led to "3 for 2" possessions. 
  • Dean Oliver revealed that this season team performance in winning the "two-point" shot battle had edged ahead of the "three-point" margin. This will take longer to sort. 

"Love triumphs over hate every single time. - Father Brown

Basketball: Recognize the power of the human heart. 

  • Shaka Smart used to keep a sign on his desk, "Love." 
  • "Basketball is a game of relationships." 
Summary

Winning basketball follows simple, durable principles. Truths often hide in plain sight: execute fundamentals, win the one-on-one battles, and align along the details. The game reveals itself to those who study it - attack advantages, use the shot fake, think shot first, and learn relentlessly from film, the sport’s “truth machine.” Honest reflection after every game exposes what really wins or loses, while humility reminds us that victories often come from the least noticed contributors. Respect players’ intelligence, search constantly for small edges, and remember the real engine of success: relationships and the human heart.

Lagniappe. Structure, concepts, tendency, anticipation. 

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Saturday, March 7, 2026

Basketball - Leadership Principles from Another Discipline

Learn across domains. What is the definition of leadership? There is no universally accepted definition. Above all, leadership is influence - leading both ourselves and others. 

In "Hal Moore on Leadership," Lieutenant General Hal Moore emphasizes competence, judgment, and character. He believed that most failures were not of competence but of character and judgment. "Toxic leadership is not acceptable." 

Basic Principles

1. Three Strikes and You're Not Out

"Begin with the end in mind." Resilience has to begin at the beginning with determination and will to prevail. Demonstrate belief and positive attitude. Have unwavering commitment to excellence. 

Basketball - Stay in the fight. In a 1973 postseason game against the sectional top seed (22-0), we trailed 26-12 in the second quarter. The coach took a time out and asked what we wanted to do. "83" - the UCLA three-quarter court press. We went on a 23-0 run over the next 8:35 and won. 

2. There's Always One More Thing You Can Do

  • Get the job done. 
  • Plan ahead - essentials versus extras and "what if?"
  • There will always be constraints (especially time and money)
  • Control and protect your "Center of Gravity" (people or other)
  • Innovation
Basketball - In highly contested (close and late) games, have functional offensive and defensive delay games, and situational "answers" - ATOs, BOBs, SLOBs, and "best action" versus man and zone. 

3. Complacency Kills - When There's Nothing Wrong, There May Be Something Wrong
  • Many examples exist...Pearl Harbor could "not be attacked" but the Japanese figured a way. 
  • The New York Jets were a 21 point underdog in the Super Bowl III against the Colts. Joe Namath promised victory and won 16-7. 
Basketball - Never underestimate an opponent. Gregg Popovich says that in every season, you'll have eight games where you can't do anything wrong and eight where you can't do anything right. How you do in the rest defines your season. Prepare for the worst. 

4. Trust Your Instincts

The leader must make it happen yet "face up to reality." "If there's doubt in your heart, don't do it." Exceptional leaders have risen because of their ability to lead themselves first - discipline. 

Basketball - You're the head coach, the leader because someone thinks you'll present solutions. "Don't think, just do." 


Simplify and restate these...our acronym is RICE. 

R - Resilience. Never give up.
I - Innovation. What else can we do?
C - Complacency kills. Prepare for contingencies.
E - Ego. Look inward for solutions while seeing reality. 

SUMMARY:

Leadership is influence - first over ourselves, then over others. Its foundation blends competence with character and judgment. As Lieutenant General Hal Moore warned, most failures stem from poor judgment or weak character. In basketball and in leadership, these principles demand perseverance, preparation, creativity, and self-mastery. Critical habits allow a leader to influence outcomes when pressure is highest.

Lagniappe. AI (Claude.ai) suggests another Moore principle, echoing Pete Newell's. 

Explain the "Why" — Never Just Give Orders

Leaders must establish clear intent — the "why" — along with the end state, and articulate them clearly. Moore argues that if you can't justify the rationale of an order to yourself, you shouldn't make your subordinates carry it out.

Lagniappe 2. Why am I making this choice? Keeping a journal or records about why we make decisions we make can help us improve our process and therefore our results. 

Example: Many years ago in a big non-league game, leading by ten, the coach sent a star player to the scorer's table. The game proceeded without a play stoppage and the lead evaporated to zero. Taking a timeout or even a foul would have been strategic. The team lost by two. 


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Friday, March 6, 2026

Basketball: From Sherlock Holmes to Captain Kirk - What Fiction Teaches Us About Leadership

Life imitates art.

Which legendary fictional characters provide the scaffolding for a composite portrait of leadership and coaching?

Fiction gives us a laboratory of human behavior. In novels and films we see character revealed under pressure, motives tested, and high stakes decisions. Those same forces shape coaches and leaders.

Authenticity

Fiction gives us memorable examples of authentic, demanding leadership.

Gene Hackman’s Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers gets a second chance in small-town Indiana after a personal failure at Ithaca College. Dale is unapologetically “old school,” demanding that Hickory play the game his way. Discipline comes before popularity.

Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own begins as a hard-drinking former star pressed reluctantly into service as a manager. Yet he becomes an uncompromising teacher of fundamentals, delivering one of the great coaching lines:

“There’s no crying in baseball.”

Authentic leaders do not always begin as polished mentors. Often they grow into the role.

Morality and Ethics

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is hardly a model of personal balance. Brilliant, eccentric, occasionally reckless, Holmes pursues truth with relentless logic.

But Holmes’ partner Dr. John Watson provides the essential counterweight.

Watson asks the questions that must be asked. He represents loyalty, humanity, and moral grounding.

Holmes demonstrates analytic brilliance. Watson reminds us that leadership requires empathy and perspective.

Watson’s admiration for Holmes’ reasoning appears in a simple phrase:

“It is simplicity itself.”

Character - Reality, Not Reputation

In The Jungle, Jurgis Rudkus begins life in America with physical strength, optimism, and relentless work ethic. The brutal conditions of industrial labor expose his vulnerability and lead him to despair, alcohol, and crime.

Eventually, purpose restores him.

Leadership demands the same truth: character is not reputation. It is revealed through struggle and recovery.

Leaders must possess purpose - and the ability to nurture and share it.

Passion - Purpose and More

Great coaches possess and transmit extraordinary passion for their craft.

Few fictional leaders embody this more boldly than James T. Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek. Kirk commands not just the mission but the entire welfare of the ship: operations, training, safety, and morale.

There is no day off from leadership. Leaders accept constant responsibility and accountability.

Vulnerability - Leaders Confront Challenges

Few situations expose vulnerability more starkly than a struggle against nature.

In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago battles the great marlin, the sea, and his own exhaustion.

At one moment he reflects:

“He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now.”

Great leaders do not always win.

But they demonstrate persistence, resilience, and relentless effort.

Competence - Motivation and Effective Action

Kirk inspires because he acts.

He leads from the front and carries responsibility for outcomes. Whether confronting tribbles, the Gorn, or the mysterious V’Ger, he remains accountable for the fate of his crew.

Leadership requires more than rhetoric. It requires competence and decisive action.

Lessons from Fiction

When we list real-life coaching models, we often overlook deserving women and men, minorities, youth, and experience. Fiction allows us to explore leadership without those constraints.

Through stories we encounter loyalty, courage, resilience, and judgment in every form.

Reading allows us to travel anywhere - past or future - and to borrow the best qualities of literary leaders as we shape our own.

Lagniappe. Under construction. 

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Thursday, March 5, 2026

Basketball - Repeat and Repeat, "Don't Beat Yourselves"

"Stuff" goes wrong 

Don't beat yourself.  Everyone knows that "it's a make or miss game." That's partly how Villanova upset Georgetown in the 1985 NCAAs.


Villanova shot almost 79% from the field and made 16 more free throws than Patrick Ewing's Hoyas. 

Players think about how to win. Coaches try to immunize teams against the myriad paths of self-destruction.

Offensive "Controllable" Problems

  • Poor shot selection
  • Turnovers (decisions, execution, or both)
  • Free throw differential
  • Rebounding 
  • Miscellaneous (space, pace, situational play, fouls)
Defensive Mistakes and Errors
  • On-ball issues (containment, challenging shots)
  • Off-ball issues (denial, cuts, help - cover 1.5)
  • Missed assignments including bad transition
  • Communication 
  • Focus - "not playing harder for longer"
  • Fouls 
Three of each to target...

Offensive Corrections 

1. Track turnovers - number and type. Find low hanging fruit (e.g. stop driving or passing into traffic). "Winners are trackers." 

2. Extra possessions - each quarter offers a possible "two for one" situation. In the NBA, at about 1:02 to 1:03 teams sets up a "three for two possession advantage")

3. "Shot turnovers" - I watched a high school game recently where in the first quarter, the team shot 1 for 9 on threes with three airballs. "You get what you accept."

Defensive Corrections

1. Defense starts on the ball. Don't "open the gate." Stop blow bys. Pressure the ball - "nose on the chest" or "crawl up into them."

2. "Cover 1.5" - yours and half of another player. "See both" the ball and your assignment. 

3. Communication. Excellent defenses talk. Bad defenses often don't. 

3b. Follow your rules. If the opponents are perimeter threats, then decide whether you'll help off corner threes. If the opponent bigs are good
passers, do you want to risk doubling high and opening short roll passers?  

Your attention to detail, across sports, determines your ability to compete. 

Lagniappe. “Two words changed my life: Nobody cares. Nobody is looking at you. You are in control. So go do the thing.”
— Sahil BloomLagniappe 2. "Learn every day." Keep a notebook (a blog, journal, commonplace book) where you record useful information. 


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Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Basketball - Where Character, Culture, and Competence Intersect


My opinion doesn't matter. Outsiders don't matter. Years ago, I had a chance to talk briefly with Coach Ed Beattie who led Winnacunnet to seven state basketball titles. Most impressive? He said, "The deal is between the players and me."

He meant that what matters most is "in house." You play for each other - not for a community, a school, or your family. Beattie acknowledged that New Hampshire allowed for coaching outside the season, which creates a different dynamic. 

In the video, Kerr emphasizes, "protect the team." What coaches and players do outside the practice facility and games matters. "Represent." 

Sport and life distill to "character and competence." Because of the intensity of competition in both sport and life, it's hard to be "low character, high competence." 

Here's Chat GPT Plus (AI) enhancement:

Character vs Competence Matrix

High CompetenceLow Competence
High CharacterHigh Character / High Competence
Reliable leaders who elevate teams.

Examples often cited:
• Tim Duncan
• Drew Brees
• Maya Moore		High Character / Low Competence
Excellent teammates who work hard but may lack elite ability.

Examples might include:
• End-of-bench players known for culture and leadership
• Walk-ons who become team captains despite limited playing time
Low CharacterLow Character / High Competence
Talented players whose behavior damages teams.

Examples often debated:
• Antonio Brown
• Kyrie Irving (sometimes cited due to team disruption debates)		Low Character / Low Competence
Players who neither help performance nor culture.

Examples would include:
• Fringe professional athletes later convicted of serious crimes
• Players removed from teams for disciplinary issues

Leadership Interpretation (How Coaches Think About It)

Coaches generally handle each quadrant differently.

High Character / High Competence

Build the program around them.

These athletes:

  • set standards

  • model behavior

  • influence teammates

They become culture carriers.

High Competence / Low Character

Short-term temptation, long-term risk.

Teams sometimes tolerate these players because of talent, but they can:

  • fracture locker rooms

  • undermine accountability

  • destabilize leadership hierarchy

Many championship coaches eventually remove them.

High Character / Low Competence

Culture builders.

These players often become:

  • captains

  • glue guys

  • future coaches

They raise practice quality and team cohesion.

Low Character / Low Competence

Easy decision.

These players rarely last long in strong programs.

As the saying goes:

“If someone hurts both the culture and the scoreboard, the decision makes itself.”

A Simple Coaching Rule

Many successful coaches quietly follow this principle:

CategoryCoaching Action
High Character + High CompetenceBuild around
High Competence + Low CharacterManage carefully
High Character + Low CompetenceDevelop and value
Low Character + Low CompetenceRemove

A Line That Fits Your Coaching Philosophy

You could summarize the matrix for athletes this way:

Talent may win games, but character determines how many you can win together.

Talent wins games, but character determines how many you can win together.

Lagniappe. Save for deep contemplation to help understand human nature...which is embedded deep within sports.  

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Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Celtics Run Spain Actions, You Can, Too

Run "hard to defend" actions to boost your offense (1). "Spain" action distills to "backscreen the roller defender" or "ball screen plus backscreen (2)." Watch video daily (3). 

The Celtics have use Spain as an important adjunct to be among the NBA leaders in offensive efficiency, "points per 100 possessions." That adjusts for pace. For example, the Celtics are 26th in the NBA in transition points but fifth in transition points/possession. 

The Boston Celtics are currently ranked 2nd in the NBA in points per game, averaging 115.0 points per game during the 2025-26 season. In terms of points per 100 possessions, the Celtics are performing at a 1.21 points per possession rate, which ranks among the top in the league (4). 


Buffett's former partner, Charlie Munger says, "Don't rediscover the wheel (5). Use what others have already learned." Study video of Celtics' Spain:



"Spain" creates many options and even when not run crisply can confuse defenders or create 'traffic' (6). 


Even when teams know it's coming, it's hard to stop. Here's a longer video with more examples. 



Lagniappe. "Urgent cutting" plus "on time, on target passing" equals beautiful basketball (7). Jaylen Brown (eight assists) delivers to Hugo Gonzalez. 


Lagniappe 2. Why do ball screens fail? In high school games I watch, the screener doesn't make contact (head hunt) and the handler doesn't rub her defender off the screen. 



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Monday, March 2, 2026

Basketball - Buzzwords and Sound Bytes

Joe Mazzulla fills up the postgame statsheet with buzzwords and bytes. Extract value from his lessons and those of the best. 

Give credit to the players. 

Coaches know that their livelihood depends on the players. Excellent coaches inhabit the "give credit" realm.

Never become complacent. 

The Celtics won three games in four nights, including Monday night's win in "Cream City" (Milwaukee). When asked about that, Mazzulla responded, "We'll see how it goes Wednesday." Everyone in sports gets judged by the next performance and you have to be willing to put it out there. 

Process...process...process

Mazzulla said that it starts with the Front Office. "Brad" finds guys with "competitive character." Rookie Hugo Gonzalez, playing a few minutes a game for Real Madrid last season, got a start and delivered tough defense (+27), career highs in points (18) and rebounds (16), three steals and two blocks. 

Competitive Character (An AI digression)

Doing What Wins - Not What Impresses

Competitive character means:

  • Valuing the right shot over your shot

  • Sprinting back on defense when tired

  • Screening with force even if you won’t get the ball

It’s substance over style.

Stevens has often emphasized that the game rewards people who focus on “winning behaviors” - the unglamorous details.

2️⃣ Emotional Control Under Stress

For Stevens, competitive character includes:

  • Responding to adversity without drama

  • Playing the next possession

  • Not letting officials, mistakes, or momentum swings dictate effort

It’s poise without passivity. Competitive character shows up most when things go poorly.

3️⃣ Consistency, Not Spikes

He has repeatedly valued:

  • Daily work habits

  • Film engagement

  • Practice intensity

In his programs, talent alone was never enough. The question was: Can you bring the same competitive edge every day?

This echoes your “rare is dear” theme - consistency is scarce.

4️⃣ Team-First Accountability

Competitive character includes:

  • Accepting hard coaching

  • Telling the truth in film sessions

  • Taking responsibility for breakdowns

It’s the opposite of blame-shifting.

Stevens’ Butler teams weren’t the most athletic, but they were famously connected and disciplined. That wasn’t accidental — it was cultural selection.

5️⃣ Competing the Right Way

He has described competition as:

  • Guarding the ball

  • Rebounding

  • Executing late

  • Trusting teammates

This translates to "our deal":
  • "Win this possession."
  • Choose the high percentage action.
  • Play with poise. 
  • Protect the team standard.
None of this is 'secret sauce' or 'proprietary'. Coaches with great relationships and players who care enough to buy in, commit, and compete can do this. 

Lagniappe. Execute. 

Lagniappe 2. Improvement. 

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Sunday, March 1, 2026

Basketball - The Three F Method"*

*Inspired by Cal Newport's MasterClass (Newport is the author of Deep Work)

Each of you has an overwhelming amount of work, distributed across home, school, coaching, and work (if you're not a full time coach).

Cal Newport, father, podcaster, author (Deep Work) shares how his process has improved. I've renamed it the 3F Method - Focus, Fewer, and Fabulous. 

Focus

Focus means full engagement without Zoom meetings, email, texts and high-touch, low output work. During COVID, meetings increased 2.5 times without a reduction post-COVID. "There is never just one cockroach." 

If you lead your organization, control and streamline your process. 

Removing distractions matters, regardless of the problem to be solved.

Without focus, identified problems, e.g. turnovers, shot selection, transition or half-court defense, won't get solved. 

Fewer

Less is more. The volume of nonproductive work can be overwhelming. Decide how many offenses, sets, defenses, special situations (e.g. BOB, SLOB, ATOs) you need. 

Prioritize ways to win games that are close late.

  • Offensive and defensive delay games
  • Foul shooting 
  • Strategic fouling 
  • Special situations (create and practice from your list, e.g. leading by three without the ball, 9 seconds remaining...foul or not?)

Fabulous 

Quality is our top priority. What have you done for me lately?

What matters is the quality of our work not the quantity. CEO of Spanx, Sara Blakely, put it simply, "Obsess the product." 

Choose and solve your emphasis. Presume your top priority is improving your half-court basketball defense. Within that area, decide what elements to work on. 

  • Contain the ball. 
  • Improve your pick-and-roll defense. 
  • Challenge shots without fouling. 
Lagniappe. Sets to study and share. Find a few that resonate. 


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Saturday, February 28, 2026

Basketball Bingo and Tectonic Shifts

Res ipsa loquitur, "The thing speaks for itself." Having a "keen sense of the obvious" creates winning basketball. 

Steal something today. Coaches will say, "Everyone knows that." Watch most high school games and see that everyone doesn't. 


Many more elements belong on our bingo card - making free throws in the clutch, attention to detail, communication, controlling tempo, strategic timeouts and so forth.

Key Point Expansion: 

PnR: underrated actions
  • Rejecting ball screens
  • Slipping screens
Spacing: 
  • Use the three-point line as the spacing line
  • Never cut to an occupied post
Value the ball: 
  • "Turnovers kill dreams"
  • Live ball turnovers are worst - high points/possession
Quality shots: 
  • Track "shot turnovers" e.g. three-point airballs and glassballs
  • "The quality of the pass impacts the quality of the shot
Range:
  • Track player range, if you can't make threes in practice, you won't make them in games
  • Shot charts are invaluable. The Knight quote applies, "Just because I want you on the floor doesn't mean I want you to shoot."
Watch any high school game and identify:
  • Why teams and players excel
  • Why teams self-destruct
  • A team's "offensive and defensive intent"
Why Teams Excel 

The best players make those around them better. They are mentally and physically tough, make good decisions, and play both ends of the floor. 

Excellent teams are "hard to defend." Passing the ball around the perimeter until someone jacks up a three isn't that. Good teams pressure the ball, take away the pass, and contest those shots without fouling. 

Why Teams Self-Destruct

Unsuccessful teams lose possessions by 1) Taking bad shots, 2) turning the ball over, and 3) not spacing, cutting, and passing effectively. Defensively, they don't contain the ball, can't deny penetration, and don't control the boards. 

Great Habits Create Great Systems

Strong teams have clear intent to "win possessions" and "get more and better shots than their opponent." They apply and handle pressure, get key scores and stops, and have a mindset of "whatever it takes." As Coach Dave Smart says, "they play harder for longer." 

In close games (two possessions or fewer), attention to detail and the "abundance of little things" separate champions from others. 

Think about the Celtics clip above:
- Queta locks in and gets a hand in the passing lane (possession ender)
- Hauser starts the break and advances the ball
- Hauser puts it into another gear and Scheierman ends "give-and-go"

As James Naismith said, "Basketball is an easy game to play and a difficult one to master." 

Lagniappe. The "Dean" of analytics notes a tectonic shift in basketball. 




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