Basketball Friday 1-3-1. Drill, Concepts, Play. Episode 9. Performance Rating System

"Measure a thousand times, but cut only once." - Turkish Proverb

It's the Friday 1-3-1, sharing a drill, at least three concepts, and a play...and more. 

No one number defines excellence. Find ways to measure and trend performance. As a child, I rated baseball players simply, "Runs + RBI - Homeruns." I didn't need a computer. 

My formula yielded these 1965 NL numbers. 

Mays - 178
Aaron - 166
Williams - 189
Robinson - 189
McCovey - 146
Santo - 166
Allen - 158
Torre - 121
Johnson - 190
Callison - 162
White - 131
Wynn - 141
Pinson - 169
Stargell - 148
Rose - 187

The "usual suspects" appear on most lists. Good players have good stats. We'll get to that in the Concepts section. 

Drill. Play 2-on-2 with space and dribbling constraints. It develops pick-and-roll and other key actions. 

Concepts. 1. Lee Rose developed his Performance Rating System (PRS) to promote objective evaluation, competition, and fairness. Positive actions add points and negatives subtract. 

2. I used my own modifications/simplifications. I'm not saying they're the best way, just one that worked for me. I charted them real time. 

The higher your score, the better. The best middle school score I charted as an assistant was 26. Scores in the teens indicate a strong overall performance. Last season I had a player who routinely accumulated PRS scores in the mid to high twenties. 

Players contribute in big ways without scoring. Coaches know it when we see it. Sometimes film review surprises us when we see "quiet contributions" that gain possessions or lead to scores (e.g. hockey assists). 

I never shared individual statistics with middle school players but emphasized team statistics like improving field goal percentage and reducing turnovers. 

3. Players who are not "scorers" earn points in many ways. Effective players often pile up rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. The surest negatives follow turnovers and poor quality shots. 

Play. SLOB Curls Fake Handoff

This SLOB sets up multiple possibilities. 

Lagniappe: Coach Mason Waters breaks down Luka Doncic actions. Young players can learn a lot by studying the fundamentals, vision, and execution in his videos. 

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Is asking a player to spend 15-20 minutes on a video too much? They decide how important investing in their game is.