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Sunday, July 12, 2020

Basketball: Transferrable Lessons from "Gridiron Genius"

Michael Lombardi wrote Gridiron Genius to share his experiences over thirty years with iconic football minds - Al Davis, Bill Walsh, and Bill Belichick. Many lessons transfer across disciplines. 

Here are some quotes and applicable comments:

"In any successful business the most important ingredients are a sound culture, a realistic plan, strong leadership, and a talented workforce." 

"If we are all thinking alike, no one is thinking." (This relates back to Alfred P. Sloan and to Eric Spoelstra discussing a culture of disagreement.)

"Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high." (Inability to engage a process and problem fully usually turns out badly.)

"Walsh opted for less experienced men who shared his curiosity and displayed a willingness to learn his system and methods." (Curiosity is an undervalued skill in my opinion)

"Coaches are first and foremost great leaders." 

"Belichick's car is always the last to leave the parking lot." (The magic is in the work.)

"He (Belichick) is not worried about where an idea comes from; he cares only about whether it makes the team better." 

"Playing favorites poisoned the Falcons' locker room..."

(The Vienna Problem) "Vienna would never win a Super Bowl. This little-of-this, little-of-that approach has a very slim chance of overall success." 

"If someone needed to be critical of a player's talent, he was to keep it professional." 

"Proper, successful evaluation has to include dozens of factors, countless hours of film study, and real-time confirmation from as many sets of eyes as possible."

"Confirmation bias is absolutely insidious in my field...Never begin with the end in mind."

"Everybody on every team knows who the good players are, who the bad players are, and who the team's favorite players are." ("You can't fool kids, dogs, and players.")

"The best teams force players to prove their value." (Draft value is not equal to performance.)

"Belichick is a teacher...taking the lessons from the meeting room to the classroom to the field."

"Each player retains information differently, and it's the coach's job to determine the best way to instruct him." (Big problem with youth, especially with the prevalence of learning disabilities from ADD to dyslexia. My sense is that these are increasing.)

"Get your shit on and get out there." (Belichick does not care about weather!)

"It's not the strength of the individual players; it's the strength of how they function together." - Belichick (Obviously, Red Auerbach said the same thing, it's not the five best players but the five players that play best together.)

"Walsh's passing game was essentially the triangle on turf." (Space and time)

"Walsh coveted accuracy from his passers." (Getting the ball to a scorer isn't enough. She needs to be able to maintain momentum to attack or to shoot quickly. The quality of a pass incorporates more than getting the ball there.)

"Belichick walked into the Browns' headquarters and declared we would adopt the Skins model: core plays disguised with various looks and personnel groups to create confusion." 

"Take away the player who can hurt you." 

"A fast-thinking, fast-moving defense and I will show you harder hits, more balls on the ground, and more wins." (When players think too much, it slows them down.) 

Summary: 

Foster a culture of disagreement.
Be curious.
Think for ourself (avoid confirmation bias).
The right pass finds the open player where she can use it.
Create confusion for the opponent.

Lagniappe: 
What are we going to do (or not do) differently if we have a season? 

Lagniappe 2: Box out! Via @Coach_DeMarco 

Here are five suggestions to improve boxing out: 
  • It can’t just be once in a while!
  • Practice it!
  • Emphasize it!
  • Track it!
  • Accountability!  
We sent a game into overtime because nobody boxed out the 5 on the miss.


Lagniappe 3: Fun with FastModel (would this work?)


Horns fake cross-screen, curl to basket (left)
Horns fake cross-screen, opens gap for drive, drive and kick 3s

 "What's your biggest fear?"