Coaches are smoothie baristas. I don't like bananas. But the first 'smoothie' I had during college was a "banana sun," a frozen concoction of orange juice and bananas. The small cafe on Cambridge's Arrow Street served a potassium bomb. I couldn't afford to go there often.
Our blend sums size, athleticism, skill, knowledge, toughness, resilience, teamwork, and more. And when the drink refreshed and satisfied you, did you credit the blender, the ingredients, the milieu? Would you accept one poor quality ingredient and expect great taste?
Few players have it all. Manufacture better players.
- Do we fit players to a system or our system to the players? It's a matter of taste. Small, quick players control the middle of the court. Giants control the ends.
- How much offseason contact/coaching is permissible? In our state (MA), at the high school level, it's been none. Post-COVID, adjustments were made, subject to league approval (and disapproved by our league). It's still none.
- What "minimum" personnel requirements are needed for antifragility? I contend that we need at least two ball handlers, three scorers, and two rebounders along with credible defense.
- Share our teaching video library with players.
- Encourage players to study video for at least fifteen minutes a day. Chris Oliver, Coach Zak Boisvert, Coach Nick, Coach Daniel, TeachHoops, and many others share outstanding videos either on their own platforms or YouTube.
Lagniappe: Share several of the best-written books you have read, books compelling us to reread part or all. In no particular order:
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
“The word 'experienced' often refers to someone who's gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have.”
― Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
The Boys in the Boat by Dan Brown
“It is hard to make that boat go as fast as you want to. The enemy, of course, is resistance of the water, as you have to displace the amount of water equal to the weight of men and equipment, but that very water is what supports you and that very enemy is your friend. So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them. —George Yeoman Pocock”
― The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais
"The college kids stroll down the main drag, South Pleasant Street, with an air of entitlement; souls afloat in the ocean of knowledge." - Madeleine Blais
The Peregrine by J.A. Baker
― The Peregrine