Chris Oliver interviews Bill Wuczynski, Boston College assistant.
Here are some highlights:
Value unstructured possessions (freedom)...go, flow, moving, and executing
Emphasizes the FLOW, "unstructured situations" including the play after the play (doesn't work)...dedicates 20 minutes of practice to this...tracked 23.6 possessions/game after misses (includes advantage situations, e.g. 5 on 4)
GO: After a steal, BC wants to score within 7 seconds (they believe in 'early and opposite' re: ball reversal)...a.k.a. "two-sided fast break"
MOVE: have to initiate offense with 4s and 5s because they don't have the wings of some of the elite ACC teams
EXECUTE: emphasis on finding mismatches or best player possessions
Unstructured play cannot be scouted
Winning with Less Talent: "You have to score...if you don't average over 71 points per game in the ACC, your odds of winning are less than 25 percent."
Player development...BC can't compete with some ACC schools (Duke, Virginia, UNC, Louisville, for the same talent...coaches stay to work with players 1 on 1
Make the defense shift (ball reversal); take advantage of 'unconnected defense' as everyone teaches loading to the ball
Recruiting...looking out of the box (hidden gems) as rankings aren't always right...they will have to find guys who really love the game (kids won't love the game if your staff doesn't)..."chip on their shoulder kids"...they had a kid whose only offer was BC, who is now their all-time leading freshman rebounder
Basketball IQ...need players who can AND will run complex stuff.
Fit...don't want players who don't feel good about your process
Energy...will to improve and compete because talent level not equal to Dukes and Carolinas
Structure
They only run about 20 sets, evaluate by points per possession (they want to know what actually works for them)...has to get to at least 0.9 points/possession
Wants to know how often they get a quality shot or get fouled (constant editing)
Uncommit to actions disproven by their analytics
You can't always run your stuff. Have to adjust to some teams (e.g. Syracuse, Virginia)
Introduce new plays easily if your players know how to play
Has "families of plays"...wrinkles are simple
Importance of simple hand signals (hostile arenas, verbals won't work)
"Playcalls are playcalls." It's about the execution not deception.
