Grab from other disciplines. Astronaut Chris Hadfield discusses astronaut training in his MasterClass. He explains that you begin as an Astronaut Candidate, literally an “Ass Can.”
His first day he’s sitting next to John Young (six trips in space, two to the moon) and another astronaut, a physician studying Russian for Space Station duty. He feels humbled, but then, as a test pilot, explains he must become a generalist.
He learns First Aid, weather, geology, electronics repair, survival training, and more. He trains in pools and weightlessness, in operating rooms, and an Emergency Department. In space, you don’t always have a consultant. You lose communications, you figure it out or suffer the consequences. No timeouts? You need to know what to do. No one can hear you scream in space.
Maybe you make part of practice silent. You describe the scenario and players solve it disallowed from speaking. They appreciate and value communication.
Players can’t be one trick ponies...you can’t choose not to care about defending complex screens, free throw blockouts, mastering cuts, reading defenses, or zone offenses. Or you can in which case you won’t grow, earn minutes, respect, and self-satisfaction.
Astronauts function as a team because survival demands it. You thrive as a team because success requires it.
Some players struggle to grasp Xs and Os. One coach gave them a test and told players the results determined who started. The players all learned the sets. If you can learn algebra, antiquities, and Italian, you can learn basketball.
As coaches, we create the domains and conditions to challenge players to grow. Spoon feeding works for babies. But as Jaylen Brown remarked, “the NBA has no time to babysit anyone.”
Keep our eyes 👀 open 24/7 for teaching and learning. You never know when understanding makes a Bask Can.
Lagniappe: How Utah grounded the Rockets
Length, effort, nose over toes...the EX factor