They say that joke writers in Hollywood spend their time shaving syllables. Every word trends toward the punchline.
We haul baggage - physical and mental. The Marie Kondo method advises us to shed the unimportant. Basketball baggage weighs unsatisfying wins, painful losses, outdated drills, tired strategies, sadness and bitterness.
How do we know?
1. Joy is simple yet powerful. (Care for our teams.)
2. There are different ways to bring joy. (Find solutions.)
3. We don’t hang on to things; we hang on to emotions attached to those things. (Abandon arrogance, false pride, envy, selfishness, and greed.)
4. Fewer things you love is better than many things you kinda like. (Less is more.)
5. It’s not about what others think. (We do what we do.)
**Does it make our team better?
Roster. Sometimes we play teams with rosters of eight or ten players. If their top eight play against our twelve, they usually have advantage. Small rosters get more repetitions per player during practice ceteris paribus.
Lineups. Many teams shorten rotations during playoffs. Better players get more minutes.
Recruiting. In his book Players First, John Calipari acknowledges that he's only recruiting from the top fifty prospects. Focus on a smaller set allows for more intensive recruiting of those targeted.
Drills. Many coaches keep a drill book. As you find "better" drills, replace less effective drills. Brian McCormick's Fake Fundamentals series challenges traditional ideas and emphasizes the advantage of small-sided games. McCormick disdain's lines, laps, and lectures.
Pete Carril's concept of conditioning within drills makes abundant sense. Filmmaker Ron Howard tells us, "the movie is made in the editing room."
Tactics. Surprise or sustained execution? It's not either or but asking younger players to master a plethora of offensive and defensive strategies reduces quality. Be very good at what you do a lot. Coaches who discipline ourselves to limit the playbook (Don Meyer's mature simplicity) are less likely to sow the seeds of confusion.
Exceptions prove the rule. During the regular season, Bill Belichick's Patriots install a pair of two-point conversion plays. During Super Bowl LI, the Patriots practiced three and needed two to defeat Atlanta.
Lagniappe: Create multiple options
Lagniappe 2: From "Teach Like a Champion"
Technique Eight: Post It
Roster. Sometimes we play teams with rosters of eight or ten players. If their top eight play against our twelve, they usually have advantage. Small rosters get more repetitions per player during practice ceteris paribus.
Lineups. Many teams shorten rotations during playoffs. Better players get more minutes.
Recruiting. In his book Players First, John Calipari acknowledges that he's only recruiting from the top fifty prospects. Focus on a smaller set allows for more intensive recruiting of those targeted.
Drills. Many coaches keep a drill book. As you find "better" drills, replace less effective drills. Brian McCormick's Fake Fundamentals series challenges traditional ideas and emphasizes the advantage of small-sided games. McCormick disdain's lines, laps, and lectures.
Pete Carril's concept of conditioning within drills makes abundant sense. Filmmaker Ron Howard tells us, "the movie is made in the editing room."
Tactics. Surprise or sustained execution? It's not either or but asking younger players to master a plethora of offensive and defensive strategies reduces quality. Be very good at what you do a lot. Coaches who discipline ourselves to limit the playbook (Don Meyer's mature simplicity) are less likely to sow the seeds of confusion.
Exceptions prove the rule. During the regular season, Bill Belichick's Patriots install a pair of two-point conversion plays. During Super Bowl LI, the Patriots practiced three and needed two to defeat Atlanta.
Lagniappe: Create multiple options
Lagniappe 2: From "Teach Like a Champion"
Technique Eight: Post It
"Be sure your students know your objective for the day by posting it on the board."
**As a developmental coach, I preach development and winning is desirable but secondary to preparing players for high school play.