Basketball: My Practices Aren't Good Enough

We perform to the level of our training. Coaches want players to read situations and make the best choice...optimize VDE - vision, decision, and execution. But it begins with deciding (per Coach Oliver) 1) what am I going to coach and 2) how am I going to coach it? Within practice, we decide how much requires decisions. Getting more decision in practice takes coaching 'work'. Decisions obviously need offense and defense so more activities need both. 

Our offseason skill building sessions start after Memorial Day. Why? The current Boston temperature is 35 degrees. But preparation and improving their value are everyday tasks. 

"Everyone can be king." Every player becomes the quarterback responsible for decisions and accuracy. Yesterday, I shared a video from Chris Oliver on basketball decision training. Let's thresh this out with highlights from an interview with Coach Oliver. 

Coach Oliver discusses training the way the game is played, with "random practice." He uses "cues and signals" from the passer to train the shooter. The receiver must move her feet prior to the catch to simulate the game. 

"Floppy" like drill (ten seconds to glory) with defense trains reading and movement with off-ball screens. 

Zero seconds training implies playing without a pause. Be ready on the catch to shoot, attack, or pass. Coach Oliver says this maximizes players' freedom. 

We know that players are most open on the catch and scoring is higher within two seconds after the catch. Everyone isn't James Harden. Effective field goal percentage links to touch time...the possession time before a shot. 

This doesn't imply that everyone should shoot immediately after the catch. But the team with the shortest time per touch, not surprising, is Golden State...and the longest...is Houston. 

End-of-clock, quarter, or game "Five Seconds to Glory" drill, down 2 points. Take a three, a pull-up, or attack the rim?  

Spurs assistant Etorre Messina makes many points about attacking the zone to get early advantage. "...when ball is reversed and they are receiving ball and the defense is moving to them, try to break two defenders by going in between them. Try to break the line of defenders who are coming to you. If you do, for one second you have BIG advantage on other side of zone. IF ball is reversed and you just attack one player, you do not have same advantage. So do not dribble at the 1 player if the zone is moving to you. Dribble between them and try to “break the line and create big advantage doing this.”

Lagniappe: Italian 3 v 3 "unscripted transition"