Whether you're coaching your child and their peers or at the NBA, how do you measure the effectiveness of coaching? This article discusses whether Doc Rivers is an elite coach.
You can't coach sixth graders the same way you coach the NBA or college. The bottom line is the bottom line in professional and most college basketball. You win or else. I coach in a developmental league. Players must build individual and team skills while learning the game and maturing physically.
I hear an argument all the time from coaches about 'talent', as in they can't win without 'any' talent. Did the coaches get the most from her players? The coach's job is taking players where they can't go by themselves.
My team had defeated a more talented and far taller team last year and the opposing coach said, "you were lucky, we didn't make shots." I didn't say, we scored seven points on five possessions using 'Horns' sets that freed up our players. What's the point? Plenty of coaches can't win with talent. I like the statement about Bear Bryant, "he can take his'n and beat your'n or your'n and beat his'n."
Is the coach using players in situations in which they can flourish? Ask a shooting guard to be the primary distributor (point guard) or a post player to score when they should defend/rebound/screen and you're not matching skill sets to assignments. Coach Bob Knight had a saying, "passers pass, shooters shoot, and everyone plays defense." The complement to that is "just because I want you on the floor, doesn't mean I want you to shoot." My saying to players is, "Become more to do more. Do more to become more." Roles change.
Jay Bilas describes shot selection in another way in "Toughness." He writes, "it's not your shot, it's our shot." That doesn't mean players are ever banned from shooting. Every player should know not only what is a good shot for her but for every player on her team. High-quality shots miss and poor shots (Doc Rivers call them "shot turnovers") rarely hit, but we should recognize the difference between process and outcome.
Even in the context of wins and losses, there are subtexts and measurables. We should be able to trend points scored and allowed per possession, turnovers, rebounding percentage, and monitor assists to see how effectively our players are sharing the ball. Watch a high school game where one team has less than five assists for the game. You won't wonder which team succeeded.
At my level, I don't have the statistical/video power to track results by lineups, or groups of players. I rely on that crudest of all tools, the 'eyeball test'.
What happens when you have tryouts and there are far more "prospects" than spots? That happens all the time. You cannot punish a more accomplished player by selecting a player whom you can envision as having a high ceiling. Encourage the players not selected to work to grow their game and find alternative playing sites.
Don Meyer described three phases to coaching, "blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity." At the end of the day, find solutions to put the ball in the hoop and keep them from doing the same. Expecting everyone around you to understand the game the same isn't realistic. But it's still fair to ask "would I want my child to play for that coach?" Another saying reflects on the experience, "Never be a child's last coach." Bottom line? "You've got to please yourself..." while working to become your better version.
