Basketball: Engrave and Test Explicit Themes

From MasterClass, Martin Scorsese Teaches Filmmaking, Editing

"What matters is what appears on the screen." 

1 Games turn on the smallest decision, simplest play. Don't overindulge personal wisdom. Share overarching themes to inform our basketball story. 

Do our players understand our core philosophy? Even though we know what we want, they won't unless defined and tested. 2 "Say it, say it again; tell them you said it." 

Pete Newell said it best, 3 "Get more and better shots than our opponents." How?  4, 5

In ball denial, full-court pressing, I want players fronting (6 chest-to-chest) the receivers. The second line defenders are to play as far off their assignments as they feel they can play, looking to 7 deflect or steal passes over the top. We call this hawk defense. It pressures both the inbounder and the receivers. Players trap opportunistically. It's a learning process. If the press is broken, sprint back and pick up. 8 "Basketball isn't a running game, it's a sprinting game." 

Teaching a solid press teaches twice...those pressing and those under pressure. 

Lagniappe: via Coach Gordon Chiesa @gchiesaohmy

Don't pile on after hard losses. Corrections can wait. We can and we will come back.