Basketball: The Big Idea

What is our Big Idea? Secretariat was perfection. Baseball has the perfect games. In basketball, we want to play the highest quality basketball. We're not close. 

The highest quality I viewed was the Winnacunnet (NH) girls program of Ed Beattie. How dominant were they? "Over the final six seasons, with teams that included such headlining stars as Abigail LaRosa, Tiffany Ruffin and Kirsten O’Neil, Winnacunnet went 119-3 overall, including a 75-game Class L/Division I win streak." They had brilliant transition, spacing, movement, and finishing, winning five consecutive state titles. As I recall, he said they had nine-high school All-Americans and twenty-one Division 1 players. 


Years ago, at a (random) summer tournament, I briefly chatted with Coach Ed Beattie. He explained that the team was together all year...no offseason practice prohibition. "It's between the girls and me." He also explained they finished every practice with each girl making two consecutive free throws...making over twenty consecutive free throws AS A TEAM. 

Make signature moments - multiple actions (offense), multiple efforts (defense), and sustained effort by talented players. 

Coaches impose schemes, themes, and storylines...seeking solutions, the dominance of a group or the emergence of reserves. We suffer defensive lapses, cold shooting, fluctuating intensity. How do we elevate the quality of play and limit the downside?

"Stops make runs." Runs make success. What transforms ordinary into extraordinary? The magic of 372...three consecutive stops, seven times a half, both halves. 

Replay your last game in your mind. What went well or poorly and why? Expecting consistency from young players is a fool's errand. But it's fair to expect effort and fair to ask for it. 

Reimagine sequences that worked or failed. What players think is pressure defense differs from what coaches think. We and they need to have the same mental images? With unlimited resources, I'd film practice and games and have a library of clips of ideal and defective play. 

Recall your personal experience, watching yourself or your team on video or grainy 8 mm black-and-white film. Video reality restricts denial and self-deception. Make the Big Idea come to life. 

Lagniappe: via Frank Martin...closeout, containment, competition