We can all con ourselves. Our inner voice doesn't necessarily give a true representation of 'what is'? Last night I spoke briefly to the team about the difference between THE BEST and YOUR BEST. "It's unessential to be THE BEST, but if we consistently apply OUR BEST, we will experience more success at sport and in life...at school and with your family."
1. Am I bringing energy? We can energize or enervate our team. The coach and the point guards always have to engage. That's a conscious choice. Energy is contagious.
We can't feel sorry for ourselves and have to stay in the fight. "Am I going to give in and give up, or get in and get up?" I started practice by asking the girls to repeat "the game honors toughness" and then asking them what that means.
2. Is it simple? Do our player have a 'feel' for the game?
I talk about VDE - vision, decisions, and execution. But are we teaching players 'are you giving instructions or teaching?' It's great to see a 'finished product', a player developed and making good decisions and executing. The 'queen' can move in any direction in chess and basketball.
3. Am I giving them what THEY need? Do they need conditioning, rest, praise, focus, position-specific practice? To give them what they need, I have to know and teach.
4. Are you expanding THEIR role? Offensively, you begin as 'The Fool'. But the power comes from becoming more, a screener, facilitator (passer), or scorer. Every player should improve with the synergy or our teaching and their 'acquisition'. Last night we spent much of the practice on shooting. We had a five minute segment of "Bill Bradley" (Beat the Pro). In "Bradley", you score one for a make and "Bradley" scores three for your miss. To win you must make 11 and miss 3 or less. My players will seldom win but it allows them to compete, as we play with a rebounding partner. Because we had an uneven number of players, I played (only took one shooting round) with a partner. But I showed her that you can win...and she can expand her role (she's more of a screener than anything else now).
5. Do they understand what separates them from a better team? I asked them why the stronger teams score. They knew they're scoring inside (and we're not). So during parts of 3-on-3 inside the split and 4-on-4 no dribble half-court, I added the constraint of ONLY LAYUPS score. Also, we played some "Commando" with groups of three...in "Commando" (you may call it something else)...it's one on one on one, with all rebounds (including made baskets) live. "The game honors toughness."