Basketball: Three Key Elements of Servant Leadership

Don Meyer modeled basketball excellence and championship character through servant leadership. 

Servant leadership. What does it mean? How does a servant leader differ from traditional leaders? 

From DailyManna2017.com

Let's drill down to its essence, instead of a laundry list. 

From Matt Rocco

1. Service. It's about us, not about me. "Are we building a statue or a program?" Humility not ego drives the process. 

2. Leadership. Servant leadership empowers others instead of concentrating power.

3. Community. It enriches knowledge, character, and craft - family, team, organization, city. 

Servant leaders model shared goals, shared sacrifice, and shared credit. Their process grows individuals and teams, raising new, selfless leadership. 

Key points: 

- Look to the name (service through shared leadership)
- Humility drives the process.
- Leadership empowers others. 
- The whole community reaps the benefits. 

Lagniappe: (from the playbook) Horns Criss-cross

Lagniappe 2: (? Dean Smith) "The greatest compliment a team can be paid is when another coach tells his own team that if the effort is not there tonight we will lose because they play so hard." 

Lagniappe 3: Humility is hard to achieve. Ben Franklin said, “There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive. Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."

Lagniappe 4: Mental model, Occam's Razor: "Never multiply things beyond necessity." 

Basketball: Innovation, Teaching and VTA, the World After COVID-19

"Imagination leads to innovation leading to differentiation." - Bill Russell

Where will innovation arise in a COVID-19 world? Obvious early answers include "virtual" individual and team training. 

ZOOM took the early lead but Facebook responds with a virtual platform. Other free alternatives will emerge. Technology-challenged coaches and players need to catch up. 

Coaches responded to the lockdown with virtual Masterclass clinics. A modest investment (contribution to charity) reaped long-term access to premium basketball education. 

Team members can organize voluntary 1) virtual education and/or 2) virtual practice. I don't know where the next technological breakthrough will arise, but suspect it will be from Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, or Twitter not ZOOM. 

Drop knowledge via a virtual platform to create competitive advantage. 

I don't consider this comprehensive or a model for virtual team activities (VTA), but rather a springboard for discussion. 

1) Program philosophies - servant leadership, teamwork, accountability
2) Player presentations - players assigned detailed presentation (e.g. PnR coverage)
3) Strength and conditioning ideas (as simple as jumping rope)

4) Individual workout activities from the warmups like the Villanova GET 50 (form shooting, Mikan/Reverse Mikan, Bradleys, 1-2s), to the Curry warmups, box drills, Pierce wing series, etc. The virtual group leader can explain, demo, see the imitation, and repetition. 

5) Group film review from last season (presuming program film available for breakdown). The goal isn't "gotcha" but "got your back" reviewing everything from transition to half court defense, PnR defense, stance, positioning on the ballside and helpside, etc.  
6) Group teaching using other video (FIBA, etc)
7) Study a player. Watch video of an exceptional player and focus on how they excel.

8) Team bonding. Be inclusive. Feelings are easily hurt (GOK). 

9) Innovative resilience education (e.g. Mindfulness).

10) Group book review (everyone has a chapter to summarize, e.g. Jay Bilas' Toughness

11)Virtual guest speakers (other coaches, player development person, sport psychologist). Well-connected players could arrange outstanding guest speakers to discuss specific player development concepts, team offense or defense, special situations, and so forth. 

12) Virtual "competition" (free-throw and shooting contests, weight training, etc.) 

The possibilities are limitless. It's unfortunate that coaches can't participate because we can learn from group dynamics as well as what players know and don't know through Socratic teaching. 

"Leaders make leaders." 

Lagniappe 1: "Rebounding comes down to one basic fact of life - how much do you want the ball." - Coach George Raveling, War on the Boards

Lagniappe 2: Ball fakes. Cultivate a few.

Basketball: Billy Donovan, Basketball and Life Lessons, and "95"

Here are notes from the Coaches Clinic, Billy Donovan (OKC), Offensive Philosophy. His advice extends beyond basketball. 

Every coach figures out what she believes matters for her team. As a youth coach, I expose players to different actions and philosophies. Get kids ready to compete and contribute as soon as possible for high school. Donovan lucidly explains his approach. 

- believer in player and ball movement

- get everyone involved, yet maximize individual talents

- great players won't be great without spacing (we all tell young kids DON'T PLAY IN TRAFFIC)

- what actions or locations work well for your personnel?

- "level of sacrifice" (guys understand their roles)

- learn as much as you can about analytics (a good shot is what is team efficient)

- "there is an analytic component" linking players to effective actions (without taking away a guy's game...uses Chris Paul as example)

- Highly contested shots produce a big drop off versus "Chris Paul open midrange shots" 

- You're not going to get exclusively layups and threes... what is a good non-paint two?

"What is your offensive and defensive identity?" 

- Non-efficient shots become efficient IF superior offensive rebounding and get fouled (uses Thibodeau T-Wolves as example)...this also speaks to what Muffet McGraw pointed out (where do our points come from against good teams and in close games?) 

- Each player needs an understanding of their efficiency in different actions. Young NBA players have become more cognizant of this.

- Close to the basket, most shots will be highly contested (contestedness and who's taking those shots?). (I had a team that was awful close to the basket because of lack of size and degree of contestedness. We had a better chance with mid-range than contested layups.)

Review: 
- Is our team good in transition?
- Are we good in the half-court? 
- What moves the needle? 

Real time: 
- How fast are we playing?
- What shots are we getting?
- How many "potentially assisted shots" do we get? (My high school coach felt the two stats that led to our success would be assists and rebounding). 

CREATE UNCONTESTED SHOTS 

What is your players' feel and understanding for the game? IQ also depends on your knowledge of your strengths. It takes time. 

What is good spacing? "HOLD BOTH corners to flatten the defense." Point guard can't create without filled corners. For OKC, centers likely either trailing or rim running. 

What is the risk-reward of aggressive offensive rebounding? Personnel-dependent. 

Donovan respects the experience and knowledge of those around you (NBA veterans have a wealth of knowledge.) A veteran might have played (against e.g. Spurs) 30-40 times. Lean into that experience. You will be humbled. 

What are players least prepared for as newcomers? 

- Players have a lot of tricks.  

- Guys also need to find a niche. 

- When to shoot, pass, drive is the biggest learning challenge for new guys. 

How randomly can you play? NBA scouting compensates for innovation. Flowing into random offense is critical. 

"Run for others." Create chances for other guys.

"Space for others." 

What works for a player in college may not work at the next level. (Darwinian) flexibility adjusts to impact winning. Your job may not be to score. Your job is to adapt to changing circumstances.  

Humility is vital - to listen, to learn, to grow,  to be consistent. 

"Study every guy that you may be expected to guard." 

Value comes from your ability to impact the group (re: winning).

Getting better. Want to learn. Don't take disagreements personally. As a group, each much share their convictions. (Personal note, there's a saying on Wall Street, "discipline is more important than conviction.") 

"Adversity is an opportunity to grow..." and unavoidable. Slumps happen. "You gotta figure this out." Each of us owns our confidence. 

"Active spacing" means other players adjust (to altered geometry..."open window")...our "the ball is a camera" teaching. 

The NBA is a different game because players are so skilled and so smart. Be willing to see the game from players' viewpoint as well. They want to win. At lower levels, we don't have that luxury. That's okay. 

Summary (key points):

- Teach your spacing. (Each level has different geometry.) 

- Link analytics (what works) to your players' skills. Efficiency is relative. 

- Work on your habits to REINFORCE YOUR IDENTITY.

- Roles and sacrifice matter. Communicate and collaborate with professionals.

- CREATE UNCONTESTED SHOTS.

- WHAT MOVES THE NEEDLE for your team?
- Overarching lesson is "Darwinian response to change." 

Lagniappe:                          95 PERCENT

Basketball: Ten Truths About Shooting

Shooting is the least taught, most important skill in basketball. It's what putting is for golf. 

In Moneyball, Michael Lewis quotes Billy Beane, "if he’s that good a hitter why doesn’t he hit better?" That's how I feel about coaching shooting. Sure, we have some influence. Our top player finished second in Massachusetts in the Elks Hoop Shoot. That's not on me; that's on her. But we all have our pet peeves.

- The "no warm up' approach. Come out and jack up threes. "Warm up your shot." 
- The "I have to bounce it first." Defenses don't allow that in a game. 
- The "upright on the catch." Be shot ready. 

Where do shooters go right or wrong? 

1. Have an 'acceptable' arc. Basketball nerds (count me in) like Larry Silverberg have analyzed this to death. Conventional wisdom says shoot at a 45 degree angle. 

"Study recommended a "launch angle of 52 degrees, three revolutions per second of backspin, and aiming for a spot 7 centimeters (2.8 inches) back from the center of the basket, toward the back of the rim. With backspin, if the ball hits the rim or backboard, the contact deadens the ball," said Silverberg. "That means it comes off slower, stays closer to the basket and is more likely to fall in."

Excellent shooters have more shots toward the back of the goal. 

2. Have a consistent target. In John McPhee's A Sense of Where You Are, Bill Bradley discussed free throw shooting at the center of the four bolts holding the goal to the backboard. Unless we're ancient, that means nothing to us. 

Tip: Aim at the word on that plate (e.g. Spaulding, Draper) does the trick, too.  

Steph Curry uses the flanges (hooks) on a basket to target his shot. 

3. "Push the button, drop the parachute." No good shooter has a bad follow-through.  

Tip: Line a player up to the side of the backboard and have them shoot at the side. When you miss left or right, you chase (disincentive). 

4. "Release the ball with your elbow above your eyes." To reinforce, take a knee on the block and shoot. If a player has a flat shot from a low release, she can't score. 

Tip: "Chair shooting" is another option. 

5. Which finger should touch the ball last? This isn't the Hatfields and the McCoys, but there are several answers. I taught the shooting fork, the ball coming off the second and third fingers. A video from Ed Palubinskas convinced me to practice shooting off the index finger. Ultimately, do what works. 



Medical tip: From the video, Ed has osteoarthritis, with telltale Heberden's nodes. They don't always cause pain.

6. "The bank is always open." Great shooters use the glass well. Larry Silverberg studied that, too. "There are large, identifiable areas on the court where a bank shot can be up to 20 percent more successful than attempting a direct swish." 

Inside of twelve feet, angled shots often favor using the glass. That only applies with practice. Devote specific practice segments to bank shots. 

7. Check out Ed Palubinskas' free throw shooting myths. 

Example: Myth: Breaking out of a shooting slump.

The whole world is in a permanent shooting slump, and the only reason for this is poor shooting mechanics due to lack of scientific information. Great shooters rarely have slumps because they have great shooting mechanics.

8. "Teams that can't shoot free throws last as long in the post-season as dogs that chase cars." - Tom Hellen 

9. "Trackers are winners." - Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect   If you want to excel, measure. Shoot with the shooting fork and off the index finger and see which works best for you. Adopt what works. Track progress in your shooting workouts. 

10. 1-2 step or the Hop? The hop gets the shot off quicker (see video). That's different than making more. Go here for more background. 

Knight was right. "Just because I want you on the floor doesn't mean I want you to shoot" and "poor shooters are always open."  

Lagniappe: Coach Castellaw Tips for Making Layups




Lagniappe 2: "In offensive transition, teach your players to drive at the player's body and BY the defender's shoulder." - Tom Crean

Basketball: Video Review, Mental Loading Workout

New video from Basketball Manitoba (Intense shooting workout) 

Coaches coach everything including individual development. Social distancing has changed the offseason. Players seeking excellence will find alternative training of body, mind, and skill. 

Make players uncomfortable with "mental loading" of consecutive makes. Coach/partner emphasis on proper technique and "eyes up." Proper technique sets up cuts and explosive action. Develop GO TO and COUNTER action.

1. Curl off screens into catch-and-shoot jumper (technique plus 3 consecutive makes)

2. Bump off screen as "defender goes under" 

3. Catch, rip-through into one dribble shot

4. Catch, fake rip-through, return to opposite side

5. Wing catch on the move, rip-through one-dribble pullup 

6. Counter, catch, jab baseline and middle attack, pullup

7. Wing catch, attack into layup (1) or pullup (2) (must make five consecutive) 

8. Catch, open hips into 3-point shot 

9. "Range finder" - 3 in a row from three different distances (must start with a change of pace to achieve separation)

10.Lafayette - Elbow to elbow curls then middle

11.Lafayette - Extended range, maintain low hips 

12.Lafayette - Countermoves - through-the-leg, crossover

13.Five-shot replacement (make 5...of 3s, pullup, layup) 

Lagniappe: "Two truths and a Lie"

Basketball: Specific Examples of Simplicity

Simplicity rules. Show me. 

Take care of the basketball. Leading by one, five seconds to go. Most teams will switch everything. Great. Screen small on big to look for a mismatch, a capable free throw shooter, and keep the ball farther from the opponent's basket. Remind players NOT to foul. 

Bad transition defense is a killer. Define who goes to the offensive boards and who doesn't. The 2008 Celtics didn't want to surrender transition baskets and usually sent only two to the offensive boards. 

Leverage small edges. Stationing a guard at the free throw line for a defensive rebound statistically gets three rebounds a game. 

Free throw rebounding. We can't allow offensive rebounds against free throws. 

"Sandwich" the opponent's best rebounder. 

Shot turnovers.  Doc Rivers calls bad/forced shots "shot turnovers." Emphasize quality possessions through basketball "symmetry." 

A great defensive possession forces "one bad shot." A quality offensive possession gets us a "7" shot or better (7/10). 

Immediate upgrades. Players ask how they can get more minutes. Make an immediate impact. Nobody can increase skill overnight. 
- Play harder. Check the film and look in the mirror. Were your stance and positioning consistent? Did you always sprint back in transition? Be hard to play against. 
- Play tougher. Block out, set hard screens, no "alligator arm" rebounding. 
- Talk on defense. Don't let a teammate get blown up on a screen. 

Lagniappe: Engage at all times. "A man distracted is a man defeated." 



Lagniappe 2: NOT OK. "Kids play offense when they have the ball and defense when their man has it." - Larry Brown   

Basketball: Friday 1-3-1 - Drill, Concepts, Play (Episode 3)

Friday is one drill, three concepts, one play day. The 1-3-1... 

"Education changes behavior." Find ways to get players' attention. Bob Knight took a timeout in practice, explaining a play to his team. He then distributed paper and pens and asked them to reproduce it. Paying attention is the first price of knowledge. 

Drill:  Volleyball Lines

Kirby Schepp teaches players to get open within the constraint of the volleyball lines. 

Concepts: Coach Knight wrote, The Power of Negative Thinking. Don't drive coaches insane with mental mistakes. Here are three: 1) allowing the ball to advance up the sideline against the trap, 2) traveling on the perimeter when not a threat, 3) wing-to-top stolen passes.

Stop throwing "steal me" passes. Don't confuse great defense with bad offense.

Greenlight shot selection. 

You know the "3 R's." But basketball has the "4 R's" - range, rhythm, room, and right (situation). Alex Sarama calls them ROB shots (range, open, balanced). Kevin Sivils uses range testing for players to "show me" your range. If you can't make sixty percent, you're not in range. 

"Only the penitent man will pass." Teach the Princeton Pete Carril quote,
"The quality of the shot relates to the quality of the pass." Cutting and passing create great shots. 



Play:

Lagniappe: One of my pet peeves is players not "warming up their shot." Guys go out and start jacking up threes. 

Steph Curry warms up his shots by making a hundred, starting in close. What would he know? 

Lagniappe 2: (via Alvin Gentry):

1) Focus - "Choose 2 or 3 things defensively and get good at them"
2) "Don't let great players catch the ball." 

Lagniappe 3: from Ron Finley (MasterClass)... it's gardening season. 

Fundamentals. "If it's organic matter, you want it in your compost pile." 

Basketball Coaching Profile: Muffet McGraw

Ann "Muffet" McGraw (@MuffetMcGraw) hangs up the whistle after a distinguished career. "Muffet" came from Little Miss Muffet, but is now her legal name. 

Achievements: While at Notre Dame, she earned a 848–251(.772) record, leading her team to nine Final Fours, seven championship games, and a pair of titles. She was the AP College Basketball Coach of the Year four times, three time Naismith Coach of the Year, and elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. Her teams won thirty-one twenty win seasons. 

She passionately supports gender equality for women coaches. Any discussion of her career is incomplete without this emphasis. Leaders make leaders. 



"We don't have enough female role models. We don't have enough visible women leaders. We don't have enough women in power. Girls are socialized to know when they come out, gender roles are already set. Men run the world."

"When you look at men's basketball and 99 percent of the jobs go to men, why shouldn't 100 or 99 percent of the jobs in women's basketball go to women? Maybe it's because we only have 10 percent women athletic directors in Division 1. People hire people who look like them. And that's the problem."

She doesn't believe in early sport specialization and thinks sports teaches valuable life lessons. “You learn so many things playing different sports. You may play something where you’re not the best player on the team. You learn what it’s like to be in that situation and how to handle it. It can help you down the line.”

Coaching Philosophy: She borrowed Joe Maddon's "never let the pressure exceed the pleasure." She remarked, “Where is the fun? Where is the excitement? Where is the joy? And we lost that.”

Coaching Notes: Spread Triangle Offense 

Key point: "Rewatch video of big games and/or games lost. How did we score?" 

Video: Shooting drills (corner-wing and elbow-elbow) 



Trapping the post: (We've had an elite post defender for three years, so never trapped the post.)



A few Notre Dame sets:

Iverson second cut. 

Horns bury, side PnR slip. 

Basketball: Fast Five - What Can You Do During a Lockdown?

Control what you can control. David Thorpe interviews Brad Stevens and asks "what can you do during a lockdown?" It's a great question. 

What separated success and failure? Find solutions during the lockdown. Coach Stevens wants everyone to take ownership. 

Our young players need global growth - body, skill, game vision, and maturity. Develop your growth mindset. Compete for a role at the next level through your work today. Have a TODAY plan. 

Whether basketball is your primary sport or not, get stronger, quicker, and more agile. You won't regret becoming a better athlete. Do sprints, pushups, strength training, endurance training. Jump rope. Make nutrition and sleep priorities. 


Stack presents a variety of weight training exercises. 
Become your own coach. Create a shooting and ball handling routine. It should include a warmup, inside finishing, mid-range scoring, and perimeter shooting. 

Inside finishing. "The closer to the rim, the higher the jump" and Kevin Eastman's "eyes make layups." Villanova's Jay Wright "Get 50..." Form shooting, Mikan, reverse Mikan, Bradleys, and longer 1-2s. Work your front and reverse pivots.


Mid-range attack. Box drills against defense...




...and Paul Pierce wing series. Pick a couple to master. 

Perimeter (Mixed, three-pointers).

Build and track your range. 


Our body is constructed to walk (leg extension strength) and to get food to our mouths (arm flexion). Shooting range requires a mixture including elbow extension (triceps) and wrist and finger flexion. Pushups will strengthen triceps but shoot regularly.



Coach Castellaw discusses leg drift. I have no experience with this... Find mentors. Ask a parent, friend, and coaches for suggestions and help. The Mister Rogers Rule, "look for the helpers." 
- Practice with a partner (rebounder) to get more done.
- Track your progress. "Winners are trackers." - Darren Hardy
- Analyze your video (cellphone). Check your footwork, release point and follow-through. 

Develop your mental game. There's an abundance of options online. Watch a favorite player, a favorite team, and different philosophies. Watching your favorites, see what they do without and with the ball, how they use time and space, footwork, the dribble, screens, fakes, and cuts to get separation. How are they using and defending ball and off-ball screens?

Summary: 

- Take ownership and become your own coach.
- Get quicker, stronger, and more agile.
- Develop scoring at all three levels. 
- Track everything. 
- Find mentors. Use the Mr. Rogers Rule, "look for the helpers." 
- Study the game.

Lagniappe: Know our Xs and Os. BBallBreakdown with 2014 horns sets


Lagniappe 2: Coach Daniel breaks down the 2017 Spurs Defense



Matchups, selective switching, scrambling, occasional zone, and execution key their success. Having the elite defense of Kawhi Leonard helped, too. 

Basketball: Small-sided Games from @CoachFernandez1

Notes from Aaron Fernandez and CoachesClinic: I steal, I share. There is a lot to digest here. 

Director of Player Development/Video coordinator (Davidson)

Free shooting is unrelated to shooting against a hand up, a closeout defender, coming off a screen, or one-on-one. 

Be creative while coaching one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. (Constraints that work for your style... constraints of space, dribbles, time.)

The doghouse is in the middle and the coach decides on "incentives" or "training" in the doghouse, like pushups. 

This is a "laddering" drill for one-on-one. 

Each "team" has their own goal (first basket determines which). 60 second games. With four baskets, we could rotate players between 4 on 4 at one end and sideways at the other. 

Too chaotic? 

Subs are behind. We usually station the sub group at half court. 

Whenever possible, we don't want players in lines, so maybe not for us. 

3 on 3 on 3

Davidson "advantage-disadvantage" drill 

Lagniappe: Hyperfocus on our business... advice from Starbucks' Howard Schultz

and his MasterClass workbook

Lagniappe 2: WNBA first draft choice Sabrina Ionescu discusses 3-on-3 with good video clips.