Basketball Monday: Make Music to Fit Your Ability and Mood

Reba McEntire says there's a time and a place for a song. It's the same way for sports as we leverage strengths and adjust to limit opponents. 

As we connect with artists (players), we need a message that resonates throughout the team. Some players "tune us out" if dissatisfied with their role. 

Coaches are lyricists, using stories to teach. Love your losses by learning from them. 

Select a "song" (play). As a youth (developmental) coach, prioritize skill development and "core" actions that work for you. 

• Pick-and-roll - PnR (develops offense and defense)
• Drive and kick
• Cutting (give-and-go, back cuts) 
• Off-ball screens 
• Screen-the-screener
• Screen combos (Iverson, Spain PnR, Corner Rip - serial screens)

GSW/Corner Rip (serial screening) 

I won't say we executed them to my satisfaction, but the players going into high school can't say, "I never heard that tune." 

Reba says, "If your gut says this is a good song (play), then it's a good song." In practice, the analytics should define "quality shots."

Relatability. A song (action) should play for an audience (team). Lob plays at the rim don't belong in our palate. Plays defined to combat switching only work if the mismatches are viable. 

Adapt what we see and what we hear to our domain and beauty emerges. I worked with a coach who told players, "I want to be entertained." Amen. 


Lagniappe: "It's not the world that needs to change, it's me that needs to change." - Larry, contestant, History Channel, Alone, Season 2. 

Lagniappe 2: An efficient scorer is not a selfish shooter. Volume shooting doesn't make someone a scorer. 

Lagniappe 3: NBA Teaching Highlights 



Two intriguing actions on this play. First, the split of the PnR and second a sidestep stepback on the Conley three. 



We share a lot of friendly debate about shooting mechanics. Five seconds of Jamal Murray's off-the-bounce three - hop step, turn, and dip are all part of his process. 


BTL (between-the-legs), BTL, stepback, three. 

Jerami Grant is a 34.7 career three-point shooter, but upped that this season to 38.9% and went 4-7 yesterday...fans can see hard work paying off. 



...a game of separation. With ever-increasing reliance on defending the three, players need to escape by practicing side-dribble threes. 

Basketball: Shared Consciousness (Teamwork) Means Opening Silos, Barriers and Opportunity

“Use good judgment in all situations” reads the small card handed to all Nordstrom employees. Strong management wants decentralized decisions when possible to satisfy the customer. They understand that success can't happen if management and workers inhabit different silos. When companies lose touch with frontline employees, customer service suffers. 



Dave Carroll and his guitar flew United, but the guitar didn't make the trip intact. In a highly-connected world, customers punch back. Carroll released the video above, lampooning United Airlines' ham-handed customer service. The video has over twenty million views.

The count was two-and two, two outs, runners at the corners. Protecting a 4-1 lead late, I faced a right handed slugger who had reached Double A. The catcher called for a curve away. I shook him off. He threw down the index finger and I threw a fastball inside corner above the waist. Strike three swinging. The pitcher has the final say, "extreme ownership." 

In Team of Teams, General Stanley McChrystal notes that empowering troops was tough, but on time, frontline decisions were better. "We found our estimates were backward-we were getting the 90 percent solution today instead of the 70 percent solution tomorrow." Silos fell, performance rose. 

Coach - Player silos. Every play involves judgment. Players and coaches sometimes live in separate silos. Some players misunderstand the importance of the scorebook versus the scoreboard. They may not grasp how pieces fit together on the board. Claiming a bigger role only works with the skill and will to fill it. 

Coaches remember Bill Parcells' truth, "I can't think for everyone." Coaches can't micromanage real-time action. 

Player - Player silos. Players may have different agendas. Some seek exposure, numbers, and publicity over teamwork and winning. That dog won't hunt. The coach holds the ultimate tool, minutes. The bench beckons, "that is not how we play." 

Organization silos. Some communities have integrated programs from elementary school through high school. Others run independently. It makes sense that unified philosophy and teaching leads to better results. 

Players own many developmental decisions that go astray: 

• Shot selection
• Player and ball movement (cutting and passing)
• Setting and using screens
• Pace
• Conversion and transition
• Defensive coverage and protection

In a given offense, they should know "the merits of an early possession open shot," motion, sets, and bail out offense. Young players mostly lack the practice time (games emphasis?), experience, and video education to make consistently good choices. 

How many individual conversations have we had with players, reviewing film, discussing shot-by-shot decisions and quality? I don't mean a "are you kidding me" glance or general conversation. 



"See one, do one, teach one." Get players to teach. 

And Zak Boisvert classifies turnovers as either decision-related or execution-related. 

The long-term answer blends education, communication, and time.  

Lagniappe: These Guys Are Good (Storm-Sky) 



The Storm run the pick-and-roll to perfection. 



Cut hard and throw crisp passes.



"You own your paycheck." Breanna Stewart earns 2 by running hard. 



Horns-like action where gravity pulls defenders (draw 2) and the Storm get two. 

Lagniappe 2: Slow motion, hot Curry. 


Lagniappe 3: Nate McMillan Quotes 

Basketball - 50 years Distilled to Ten Enduring Lessons

A lifetime around the game teaches lessons. What are yours? Find one message to steal.

Never give up. 



"Teach your philosophy and stick with it." Teams win with many different styles. If a team lacks an obvious strategy, they probably don't have one. 

• "Get more and better shots than your opponent." - Pete Newell; Get quality shots and force one bad shot. 
• As a team, be exceptional at a few things (e.g. transition defense, half court offense, defending the pick-and-roll)
• "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

"No ability without eligibility." The best high school girl I saw in person earned a full ride to a Big East school. She didn't have the grades and never enrolled. Take care of business with your grades. 

"Ego is the enemy." Players win the games. Like life, the game humbles us. What we learn today changes tomorrow. Keep learning.

"Invest our time don't spend it." The video explains. 



An old German proverb says, "the child whose brow taste salty when kissed will soon die." That is the old cystic fibrosis story. Boys have enjoyed a better prognosis. But other factors, including gender-related differences in infection, hormonal effects, and activity levels could contribute. The median survival age of CF has nearly doubled. 

"Let it go." Earl Weaver told baseball writers, "You're never as good as you look when you win or as bad as you look when you lose." I coach kids. Young players are up and down. We think they've turned the corner and then a mean reversion "stinker" shows up. Don't crucify kids on the altar of wins and losses.  

"Yelling louder won’t make us more right." If screaming defined better coaches, ADs would carry decibel meters. As a young coach, I yelled. Yelling was a poor substitute for knowledge and experience. 

Get smarter by listening. The first price for growth is paying attention. Teach players to listen and focus. One popular teaching phrase is "eyes on me" with or without 'call and response'. Mindfulness increases focus and attention as early as in grades one through three. Jordan, Kobe, and Olympians use mindfulness for sustainable competitive advantage.

"Fall in love with easy." Young players are easily confused. Some have learning disabilities (ADD, dyslexia). They don't come with warning labels. Embrace Don Meyer's "mature simplicity." Fight the temptation to add more plays and more drills. Edit and refine our catalog of plays. Study and replace. 


Zak Boisvert shares Mavs' BLOB series including the "easy" stack above. 

Leave a legacy. When asked about his team, Amos Alonzo Stagg replied, "ask me in twenty years." We can't know our players' future. Remind them that we are here to assist with recommendations, letters, and phone calls. 

Lagniappe: We know that Dort and Harden have watched this. Why don't we? 

Basketball Friday: 1-3-1 (Drill, Concepts, Play) - "Getting the Most Out of Our Instrument"

In the latest MasterClass, Jake Shimabokuro (never heard of him) offers us instruction in "Playing the Ukulele." In his introduction he offers to help us "get the most out of our instrument," a metaphor for life. 

Basketball Friday examines one drill, three concepts, and one play. Today, I'll share a pressure drill and sideline out of bounds plays (SLOBs). 

Drill: Carolina (Sylvia Hatchell) works to handle pressure. 

"Carolina" uses pressure plus "advantage-disadvantage." The coach (C) hands the ball to 1 with the initial x1 and x2 defenders one step away. 1 has a live dribble and players must relocate to receive the pass and the "trappers" must disallow escape. 

Concepts: Sometimes it's not enough to get the ball inbounds and other times that's exactly what we need, clinging to a small lead with little time left. 

Our seventh grade girls led by one with five seconds remaining with the ball at half-court. The priorities were getting the ball inbounds, running clock, and doing so far away from our own basket. If things went wrong, the opponent would need to score on the "long field." The other coach was knowledgeable and I expected him to "switch everything" (he did). I was looking for a "good hands" player to receive and a good free throw shooter. 

We entered the ball to the corner and unfortunately it turned into a held ball. With no time outs and a couple of seconds left, the opponents never got a shot. We earned a road upset win over the top-ranked team without our top player. 

1. Find a reliable inbounder with the quarterback instincts (vision, decision-making, and execution) to make on-time and on-target passes. Poor personnel choices sabotage the best play. 

2. Understand what you're looking to get from the play. Most of the time, we seek a scoring opportunity. Need a 3 point shot? 

This creates multiple options for three-point shots, starting with screen-the-screener. 

3. Make the defense make "hard choices" about where and whom to defend. 

Screening the middle of a zone can challenge defenses. 

Play. Here's video evidence of something that worked. 

The players improvised here with a zipper cut (base action), give-and-go pass, and seal with post entry. 

Lagniappe: Practice finishing off two feet for better base, balance, and bounce. Video from Coach Giesbrecht. 

More examples and explanation. 

Basketball: Finding Tools for Student Achievement Is Part of Our Job

"The difference between who we are today and whom we become in five years is the people we meet and the books we read." I encourage readers to read How to Remember What You Read. Coaches model behavior; education changes behavior. Encouraging high academic performance is part of our job. Share tools that students can use. 

Excerpts:

• Quality matters more than quantity. If you read just one book a week but fully appreciate and absorb it, you’ll be far better off than someone who skims through half the library without paying much attention.
• Don’t read stuff we find boring. 
• Finishing the book is optional. You should start a lot of books and only finish a few of them.

Reading an excellent book multiple times is better than reading many bad books. Sometimes we must abandon a read. 

Author Matt Haig wrote, "the plot of every book ever can be boiled down to ‘someone is looking for something’.” And remind players that how you play reflects how you live. Do you prepare, study, invest your time or spend it? 

Sport is a microcosm of life. Where in life or in basketball do you want to be in five years and what are you doing today to advance your chance to arrive there? 

Playwright David Mamet says storytellers ask, "Who wants what from whom, what happens if they don't get it, and why now?"  (This applies to the news, too.) 

Who wants what? As a player, when you "cross the red line" for practice or games, what is your level of commitment to your teammates? Don't play for the community, the school, or the coach. Play for your teammates, the group living shared sacrifice. When you have wants and desires, the magic is in the work. 

What happens if you don't get it? Sulking will not make you better, not endear you to coaches or teammates, or get you more minutes. Work harder, work smarter for more opportunity or go home. Never stand in a doorway with one foot in and one foot out. 

Why now?  Life is short. Your athletic career is shorter. NOW means playing present, having a sense of urgency, "making the next right play right now." Now because if not now, it may be never. 

What's the work product? A chosen few leave a legacy. Short-term leave an impression and impact the game. Longer-term make memories for teammates, coaches, and yourself. 

Lagniappe: Spurs SLOB with Flex-like action (multiple off-ball screens) into a DHO



Lagniappe 2: Dan Shaughnessy writes about the Celtics' historic role in seeking equality, from drafting Chuck Cooper, to starting the NBA's first all-Black five, and having the first African-American coach of the four major sports. It hasn't been perfect. 

Fast Five: Basketball and Physics - Gravity, Force, and Energy Matter

Core concepts in big domains translate to basketball. What does that mean for physics, the study of matter and energy? 

The ball has gravity. We could also argue that the ball has magnetism. 

Defensive gravity is great, creating an edge. We use alternative terms, "load to the ball" and "helpside I" but it's gravity. 

Offensively, gravity is a negative. 

• Offensive gravity opposes spacing. 
• "Don't cut to an occupied post." 
• Don't obstruct a driver. 

Friction is resistance of one object's motion relative to another. We want "frictionless" implementation of our systems. We impose friction with ineffective teaching or suffer it with player inattention or lack of focus. I've been guilty of this by prioritizing family and school, so players miss practice for grandma's 80th birthday or extra study before a big test. 

But players have the responsibility to "take care of business," investing their time to complete their homework and chores while being able to attend and engage practice. 

Momentum is the product of mass times velocity. We build figurative momentum through either mass (personnel), velocity (skill), or both. The global pandemic has reduced momentum. 

Force is interaction with an object that changes its motion. Players apply a variable degree of force. A player could have more "mass" yet play with little force. Skill is separate from force. Two very different players with high force are Goran Dragic and Marcus Smart. 

Energy. A system that has energy can do work. Energy comes in multiple, multiple forms, kinetic energy (energy in motion) and potential energy (conferred by position). We have higher and lower energy players. But energy depends on multiple factors including motivation, training, rest, sleep, and nutrition. Coaches assess the "energy state" of our team and decide what our team needs now and for the longer term. Sometimes less is more.

Summary: 

• Use concepts across disciplines.
• The ball has gravity and energy. 
• Basketball gravity can be positive or negative.
• Play with force.
• Recognize the obligation to supply and monitor energy. 

Lagniappe: repackaged "Five Pillars" which originated (I think) with Don Meyer. My mnemonic is PUSH-T ... passion, unity, servant leadership, humility, thankfulness. 

Lagniappe 2: "What's our vision of how the game should be played?" Player and ball movement... a few NBA Nuggets-Jazz moments as the best players from the best league in the world show why. 


"The ball has energy." 




Gobert "resets" the screen to free Mitchell. 


"Situational awareness" means that five seconds is a long time. Conley relocates and rewards his team for his trouble. 




"Great offense is multiple actions." The Nuggets set a high ball screen and Jokic rolls. Utah helps on the roller and Porter, Jr. "lifts" from the corner ("the ball is a camera"). Splash. 



On the baseline drive, bigs should look to dive to the middle. 

Lagniappe 3: Patrick Lencioni's Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team will get more thorough treatment in a future post. Do we have trust, conflict management, commitment, accountability, and focus on results? 

Basketball: Tit for Tat, Not All Battles Are Fought on the Court Plus Heat/Pacers Lessons

"Learn and share every day." 

Success demands understanding ourselves, organization, and relationships. I never heard of Anatol Rapoport until recently (my loss). Here's a quote about him: 

"Known for formulating the “Tit for Tat” strategy, his approach to game theory reflected a nuanced understanding of knowledge, wisdom, and ethics; the differences, for example, between modeling behavior—what works as an algorithm in a structured game—and solving complex human social interactions."

Rapoport began as a musician/mathematician, earned a doctoral degree and became an international expert on Game Theory, peace activist, and Professor at the University of Toronto. 

He won an international competition in Game Theory to solve the "Prisoner's Dilemma." His simplest of solutions found that repeating your opponent's last move was a winning strategy. His four lines of FORTRAN code read, "cooperates on the first move, and then does whatever the other player did on the previous move. It has a long history, since it can be identified with the ancient lex talionis (law of retaliation) or an eye for an eye.” Players do best through cooperation. This has also been called, "conditional niceness." 

Translation? Over the breadth of "competition", cooperation is favored. But if our competitor defects from competition, changing strategies to noncooperation until they cooperate is better. Be a welcome mat not a doormat. 

Envision how this works for team communication, contracts, and resource disputes (e.g. scheduling, practice time, budget). This strategy doesn't always win, but performs well over time in varying conditions. 

Lagniappe:  Today's Menu, Miscellaneous Highlights 

The Heat defense - ball pressure, nail covered, Helpside I, and ballside help that can still react to the corner. 

But NBA skill can overcome good defense as shown by Victor Oladipo. 


Cutting produces the highest NBA points per possession. 

And can it be an accident that the Mavs (Doncic) and Lakers (LeBron) are near the top? 



The Butler did it. "Basketball is a game of separation." Butler shows the head-and-shoulder fake to shake free. 



Iverson cut turns into "different" action with an off-ball screen and roll. Beautiful. 

Basketball: Adapt to Change, Stop Fighting the Last War

Successful coaches adapt. Ask yourself, "am I fighting the last war?" Am I coaching in the past? 

During the 1930s, France constructed the "Maginot Line," a series of obstacles and fortifications designed to deter German invasion. But during WWII, Germany skirted it with technology, Panzer divisions and Luftwaffe attacks, rendering it obsolete, leading to occupation of France within two months. 

Is our program adapting to change? .

• Analytics drive an emphasis on threes, layups, and free throws. 
• Many defenses switch seamlessly to combat tactical change.
• Is our team adapting to offensive and defensive evolution? 

Offensive assumptions: Get better shots. 

• Every possession generates an "expected point value." (EV)
• It's never going to be 3.0 (nobody makes 100 percent of threes in competition routinely) and turnovers won't be -3.0 for the same reason. 
• A "generic" shot depends on the shooter, shot type, range, openness (contestedness), and balance. A "good player" taking a highly contested, off-balance shot will have a low expected value. It may be ZERO (shot turnover). 
• Player development offers better quality and better average expected value. 

We can assign an 'expected point value' to every shot. For example, our best middle school (girls) player shot about 30% on threes. An open three would therefore have an expected value of 0.9 points. If a player shot 60% on free throws, the expected value of two free throws is 1.2 points. Expected values on layups depends on the player, the degree of difficulty, and "contestedness." Are we doing enough finishing drills to increase our layup expected point value?


The idea isn't making players robotic or constraining freedom but to help them understand "shot quality" objectively. Get 7s is simple, powerful advice. 

Defensive assumptions: (assumptions are NOT always right)

• Man-to-man is our primary defense for developmental purposes.
• We prefer tight man to sagging man/pack line.
• Switching well allows fewer uncontested layups and open threes. 
• We have enough size, athleticism, and communication to switch aggressively.

Adapting to change. What should we consider? 

• Drive hard closeouts (if our attack EV is greater than our perimeter EV)
• Set up mismatches off cross-screens and back screens
• Use the short roll against aggressive PnR coverage
• Rescreen and snake dribble actions against PnR drop coverage

Lagniappe: Educational plays from the Mavs - Clippers

The Mavs set a high wing ball screen and the Clippers are aggressive on the ball. Predict the outcome and watch the next clip. I "read" it right. 

The screener defender is high and pays the price. 




Doncic is dangerous penetrating, perimeter shooting, and passing with paint touches and ball reversal (above). 



Doncic on the pick-and-roll with exceptional patience waiting for Boban to uncover. 




Lou Williams knows patience, too, with a hesitation into an explosive finish. 



Kawhi penetrates and capitalizes when the Mavs help off the corner 3. 

Lagniappe 2: From Brian Robb, "Boston Sports Journal"

"Warriors general manager Bob Myers summed up everything you need to know about the NBA postseason back at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2019. “The playoffs are nothing like the regular season,” Myers explained. “They are two completely different sports…In the playoffs, (a player’s) first move is gone…whatever they know he does well, it’s gone."

Basketball: Fast Five - "Think Like a Freak." Hollywood Lessons.

The Freakonomics guys, Dubner and Levitt, wrote Think Like a Freak. What does that mean for coaches/teachers? 

Know what they need. My son said about one of his basketball player sisters, "somebody needs to hit her in the mouth to get her going." The Bruce Banner method. 



1 "I don't know."  Admitting ignorance is hard. What I don't know fills libraries. But we can learn. Coach Daniel fills in one gap. 

Celtics executing the “steer” switch. Hopefully you can hear Brad Stevens here.

“Steer switch Jayson, steer switch and get him weak.” “Weak” pic.twitter.com/scKne060sC

— Coach Daniel (@CoachDaniel21) August 6, 2020

Turn up your volume. Stevens calls for Jayson Tatum to switch off the curl and force the ballhandler "weak." 

But another important principle is "staying in our lane." Freaks know their limitations. You don't want me fixing your car. 


2 "What's the problem?" Solutions need clarity. Players and coaches must "figure it out" to make adjustments in pace and tactics. Then "do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked to discuss a scientific mission to Saturn and to justify its three billion dollar cost (over twelve years). Having prepared, he countered that Americans spend about that annually on lip balm.



3 "Think like a child." Benefit from approaching problems like a child, using our "beginner's mind." Ask how and why things work. We coach a children's game; they should enjoy the experience and their teammates. Jealousy, selfishness, and anger don't belong in a child's lexicon. Nick Saban says, "clear the clutter." 


4 "Understand game theory." David Lee Roth gave contractors a massive agreement with detailed concert stage and backstage requirements, including a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed. Upon arrival, he checked the bowl, because if the M&Ms weren't right, how could he trust the stage construction, sound, lighting, et cetera? 

After a timeout, coaches often change offenses and defenses. Experienced coaches expect that. Players need regular schooling about time, score, and situations. 


Always know the rules. 

5 "The art of persuasion." - Coaches are communicators, illustrated in this two minute 




clip about Henry Finkel from Tom Heinsohn's induction as a coach into the NBA Hall of Fame. 

Doctors communicate to put patients at ease. Another doctor sent Henry across the hall looking for a flu shot. I greeted him saying, "It's great to meet you Mr. Finkel. I've never met an office furniture magnate," which made him laugh. 

Lagniappe: lessons from yesterday's best NBA game. 



Don Kelbick reminds players to "think shot." Rivers "draws 2" and dishes to Jeff Green. When are you most open? On the catch. Never mind. 




"Basketball is a game of matchups." Harden - Adams. 


"Basketball is a game of separation." Pindown, DHO, pass into shot fake against the flyby, with a resetting side dribble into a three. 


"On time and on target." There's no replay here, but Green was wide and Harden "looked ahead" and led Green to the basket, passing to where Green needed to be. 


"Doctor Pick-and-Roll." Note Adams hiding out near the dunker spot. CP3 uses the high ball screen, separates, draws 2, and dishes. 

Basketball: Fast Five, Coaching That Never Gets Old

"Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output." - Simon Sinek

Coaches communicate verbally and non-verbally. Players know where they stand even when we say nothing, perhaps moreso when we say nothing. 

What messages never grow old? Greet each player by name upon arrival. Ego and confidence link to our identity. 

1 Show that we care about the person and the player. "How are things going for you at home and at school?" What are you reading? 

2 "How can I help you do your job better?" Find ways to develop a "performance-focused, feedback-rich" culture. Give players a means to expand their trust and to feel valued. 

3 Be specific. Telling a player to "work harder" isn't direction. "Work on your ball-handling with your non-dominant hand to increase your role." Even a strong player can add more through becoming a better leader. 

4 "Always do your best." Remind ourselves every day. We will never regret giving our best effort, although many times we won't be satisfied with the outcome. My coach, Sonny Lane reminded us, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." 

5 "I believe in you." Some confidence arrives via external sources. 

Lagniappe: 5 to 10 second teaching clips ("Great offense is multiple actions")


Walker 1) rejects the screen, 2) finishes off right foot 


Marcus Smart doing Marcus Smart things (potential six point swing)


More Smart being Smart. 

Screen shot from video above: Celtics double Embiid in the post and have the "Helpside I"  defensive alignment BUT with a Horford/Smart "mouse in the house" mismatch with the open corner 3. 

Lagniappe 2: Devin Booker    Hat tip, Brook Kohlheim 

"As cliché as it sounds, I know everybody says it, but my main objective is to win and make the right play every time down court.”