"I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." - Ellis (Sonny) Lane, New England Basketball Hall of Fame
Christian author Matthew Kelly urges us to become "our best version of ourself." That doesn't mean perfection. Kelly also challenges us to invest ten minutes of every day with a good book. Compile a list of books worth ten minutes of your time.
What's your improvement process? That includes allocating time, organization, study (reading, watching, listening), practice, review (of the process), and refinement. I think writing also belongs in that process. Study Mental Models.
Bobby Knight reminds us that basketball is a game of mistakes. We don't need inspiration to limit and reduce mistakes. Commit to consistency to "fall in love with easy."
Don't give away points. We surrender points with bad fouls, bad transition defense, poor help ("the help can never get beaten"), and bad shot selection. Two underrated forms of bad play are poor pass selection and poor reception.
Bad fouls. Bad fouls include fouling low percentage shots, jump shots, and especially fouling three-point shots. Watching professional games, we see an epidemic of fouls on three-point shooters.
Bad transition defense. Failed transition defense leads to easy baskets, often layups, fouls, and worst, layups with fouls. It demands a plan (a minimum of 1s and 2s getting back), basket protection, beating your player to half court, communication, and sprinting - "basketball is a sprinting game not a running game."
Bad help. It's not enough to stop your assignment. "The ball scores" and you have to help the helper and help and recover.
Bad shot selection. Every player should know their good shots and the good shots of every teammate. Challenge players to improve shot selection by tracking field goal
percentage.
Bad pass selection/reception. Don't pass into traffic. Pass away from defenders. "Shorten the pass" by coming to the ball. Value the ball.
Becoming better means improving our process, working purposefully, and reducing mistakes. Bet on yourself.
Lagniappe:
Good stuff from FastModel including a UCONN backscreen out of 1-4 high and ball screen against the 2-3 zone.
