People seek comfort. Basketball excellence demands physical and mental discomfort. Players must learn to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Pete Newell's admonition to coaches is "teach players to see the game."
Assumption: young players don't know what questions to ask.
- Where do points arise?
- Where do opponents points arise?
- How do we get more of the former and fewer of the latter?
Points come in transition, from sets, and from application of concepts in 'free play' whether we call it motion, dribble drive, or something else.
Players need knowledge AND imagination. Combine film, diagram, and practice to expand the chunking (data sets/variations) possibilities.
"Offense wins games." If you want to believe that something exists, the burden of proof is on the believer. My lying eyes tell me that our outcomes paralleled 1) relative talent, 2) offensive execution, and 3) sporadic failure to take away specific types of easy baskets (transition, open 3s, back door cuts).
Relative talent. If their Jimmies and Joes are dramatically better than ours, the die is cast. Beating "poor talent" is meaningless. Competing against "better" talent shows progress.
Offensive execution. Scoring sums many inputs, critically movement, passing, turnovers, and shot selection. The quickest path to improvement is better shot selection.
The Easy Paradigm. Excellent teams find ways to fall in love with easy, easy scoring and disallowing easy scoring. If I'm coaching again, I will emphasize the "easy paradigm."
Lagniappe: "Repetitions make repetitions." The Kemba, Curry, and more. You've got nothing but time with no school for the near future. Get a sibling or parent to take some cell phone video now and compare with video of the same action in 2-4 weeks.
