In 1601, Captain James Lancaster experimentally proved the value of lemon juice in preventing scurvy, a consequence of vitamin C deficiency. One crew of four ships received lemon juice daily and three did not. The death rate was zero versus 110 of 278 on the other ships. 264 years later the British Board of Trade mandated a change in dietary guidelines.
That's how I feel about most players' response to instruction about playing defense - ball pressure, ball side and post denial, and weak side help in the paint (ideally near the split). It takes a long time to implement change.
Matthew Syed has compared the autopsy to the aviation "Black Box" in assessing failure. We have a black box available routinely in basketball - game video. Many us remember watching grainy 8 mm black and white film...seeing yourself give baseline, overcommit to a shot fake, or pass into traffic. Bob Knight's Power of Negative Thinking had very specific, graphic meaning. The CEO of Virginia Mason Health said, "you can have he best procedures in the world but they won't work unless you change attitudes toward error." Progress demands learning from your mistakes.
- This begs the question, "within my program, how much training is provided for error discovery and correction?"
- "One mistake - bad play, second time - bad player, third time - bad coaching." We have an 'accountability rule' agreed upon by all players, that if you make three mistakes, then you must come out.
- Football uses quality control coaches extensively. "You're an analyst. You're a guy that checks for potential landmines for things that might go wrong." I need a quality control coach.
- I don't have the resources (time or money) to break down practice and/or game film to reduce mistakes. But there's a lot of quality free information and video on the Net.
- I'm not sure that our players have the spare time to invest in watching other people's technique and/or mistakes. It's worth the effort...and the Aristotelian persuasion inputs (ethos-credibility, logos-evidence, pathos-emotion). You can't do it WELL unless you know how do it RIGHT. Correction is not criticism. My job is translating "Know That" (I KNOW THAT, Coach) into "Know How". When I see a shooter's elbow fly out over and over after I've reviewed it fifty times and why that leaves shots wide and/or short, I know that's bad coaching.
Distill the game into its practical essence.
