Our "design intent" should be obvious. The outstanding Georgetown teams exerted relentless pressure. The Showtime Lakers sparkled in transition. The 1986 Celtics pinballed the basketball. "This is what we do; good luck stopping it."
Architect Frank Gehry accepted the challenge to create a design for the Bilbao Hotel Marques De Riscal...(above) with the design impact of the Sydney Opera House.
When someone watches our teams, do they see design excellence? Be our best and challenge ourselves to Wooden's "make every day your masterpiece."
Be inspired. The cheetah earns its success not only through its remarkable acceleration (zero to sixty mph in three seconds), but through its craft.
DaVinci and Michelangelo (Moses, above) practice their art more in the folds than in the faces. Strive to study and master the 'folds'.
We learned to play basketball not five on zero or even five on five. From our earliest days, we played one on one and two on two. Our craft developed small. When building our "homes", humankind learned to keep the rain out. A leaky lean-to meant misery for our ancestors. Our teams keep the rain out by taking care of the basketball, minimizing turnovers.
"Invert, always invert." What does our best work look like? As Coach Wooden remarked, "basketball is a game meant to be played fast." If we have suitable people, we play full court, full denial defense, face guarding the inbound receivers. The cheetah finds the most susceptible prey. So should pressure.
Spacing sets the framework for the "movement kills defenses" intent.
Offensively, we want defense to create offense via turnovers and transition. Offensive players should have a pass and cut mentality, evolving from two-on-two basketball. Set offense (intent) includes core actions that will play at the high school level:
Isolation
Face and back cuts
Give and go
Ball screens
Simple off ball screens
Complex screens (staggered, screen-the-screener, elevator, screen-the-roller)
Exposure to these concepts includes teaching defense against complex offense (see lagniappe below).
Execution improves with recognition, athleticism, and experience. Everything starts with winning individual battles possession by possession. That translates to "possessions and possession," more possessions and better points per possession.
Losses never look pretty. But our play should reflect intent and over time show physical and mental growth.
Lagniappe: Current state champion Pentucket beat our local team in 2018 in the sectional semifinals with superior execution of a pair of Iverson cuts late in the game.
