Sunday, July 26, 2020

Basketball: Lessons Learned Last Season Plus an Action, BOB, and SLOB

Mike Dunlap asks, "what did you learn?" Mistakes are our teachers if we embrace them. "Make a mistake ONCE." 

Organize our lessons? I'll steal from Michael Useem in The Leadership Moment. 
  • What went well? 
  • What went poorly?
  • What could we do differently? 
  • What are the enduring lessons? 
What went well? 
  • Most players improved. In the context of "teamwork, improvement, and accountability," that's progress. The goal is to get players "varsity competitive" as freshmen. Several are. Maybe others are working on their game. 
  • We were second in the twelve team league in scoring. 
  • We won a playoff game for the first time in three postseasons, beating a club we had not defeated over a three-year span.  
What went poorly?
  • We couldn't contain the ball. No defense is good without ball containment.
  • We were in the bottom third of the league defensively. Why? See above. 
  • We didn't defend the three-point line consistently. 
  • We had poor participation in the offseason program. Everyone decides (appropriately) where basketball fits versus other sports. 
What could we do differently?
  • Our offense had poor balance. We had an exceptional player that scored over half of our points.
  • It's impossible to work on fundamentals enough with young players. "Every day is skill development day." - Dave Smart
  • We should have pressed even less as extended defense wasn't our forte...bad coaching...
  • We had to change to zone and hybrid defenses (triangle and two) to cope with our ball containment problems and perimeter defense problems. 
  • Would a more balanced offense have scored more? I don't think so. 
What are the enduring lessons?
  • Having an exceptional player creates challenges and opportunities. As Herb Welling reminded me, "when you have "the kid" you have to take care of her." 
  • There's no 'forcing' a system on personnel not well-suited to it. 
  • Tactics cannot compensate for technique (fundamentals).
  • Be grateful for the game; the pandemic took a lot of it away. 
Lagniappe:  "Fall in love with easy." Via @GentsCoachD

Dribble at and use the back cut. 

Lagniappe 2:  America's Play Post Option

Lagniappe 3: Indiana Fever SLOB Zipper Curl 
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