Basketball: Fast Five - Questions and Answers

Nobody wants to get worse at (fill in the blank). "Gee, I wish I could shoot free throws worse," said no one never. So, invert. What offers improvement and works across domains? 

1. How do I smooth the path? Ryan Holiday discusses the anteambulo, the person clearing the way. As coaches, adding value, connecting players with opportunity (and sometimes colleges), we clear the way. Clear our own path by building better habits, reducing obstacles. Keep reading materials nearby to read more. Ration distractions. 

2. What is my self-assessment? Am I getting better? This is my process. These are my results. Does it need tweaking or an overhaul? 

3. What does my team need now? Is it personnel, technique, tactics, training, video study, conditioning, rest, motivation? 

4. "What are the FIVE MORE?" The most disciplined among us fatigue and lose focus. Dan Pink suggests we commit to "five more." Write five pages, lift five more reps, take five more shots, watch five more video clips. Go beyond. 

5. "What am I missing?" Zelnick Media Group CEO Strauss Zelnick asks, "What am I missing?" And replies, "Listen to the answer." 

That favors a digression to LessWrong.com 

"LessWrong is a place to 1) develop and train rationality, and 2) apply one’s rationality to real-world problems."

We misjudge; we fail. The site reminds us, "Blindly following our intuitions can cause our careers, relationships or lives to crash and burn, because we did not think of the possibility that we might be wrong."

Lagniappe: The Pistol Dribbling Drills

How can 'this' help my game? 

Lagniappe 2: Defending the pick and roll the Spurs' Way from Coach Daniel. 

Their key points (against downhill attack)

1) Force ball handler weak 

2) Fight over the screen

3) Drop the bigs

Lagniappe 3: Restaurants and Coaching (Summarized below)

Connectivity - the reach of an organization extends across a country or the world and becomes our legacy. 

Memories are our product!

We nurture people...both employees and customers through culture.

Results reflect ingredients (sourcing and quality) and execution (skills, teaching, training, and teamwork) and mentoring

We are part of a huge network, creating new standards and evolving. 

What drives him and his employees? Desire > passion

Basketball: Aging As a Coach. Ways to Limit It and Stay Relevant

Years ago, Celtics' play-by-play announcer Sean Grande commented about an aging Shawn Kemp, "It looks like Father Time has finally caught up with him." Cedric Maxwell quipped, "more like Aunt Jemima." 

Father Time always wins. Yet, coaches stay in the game longer parlaying experience into longevity. 

"Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, Miami’s Jim Larranaga and North Carolina’s Roy Williams don’t look or sound poised to exit...Boeheim is 75, the oldest ever to coach in Division I men’s basketball. Krzyzewski is 73, Hamilton 71, Larranaga 70 and Williams 69. They are the five oldest head coaches in ACC men’s basketball history."

A few years ago, the average age of the coaches in the Men's Final Four was 62.5 years. This isn't unusual. Luigi "Geno" Auriemma authored eleven titles on the women's side and is 66 years old. Pat Summitt coached at Tennessee for thirty-eight years, winning eight championships before developing Alzheimer's disease, succumbing at 64 years old. 

Amidst the pandemic, the NBA shared risk concerns about their oldest coaches. Gregg Popovich entered the bubble at 71 years. But the NBA chose no special accommodations after pressure from the NBA coaching community. 

Age-related physiologic changes and illness are inevitable. Hearing and vision decline. Our muscle mass and strength wane. Joint pain becomes more prominent. Our ability to demonstrate many basketball technique abates. And mental faculties require attention with benefits from more sleep, dietary adjustments, exercise, and mindfulness training. 

Interventions are inevitable. Krzyzewski had hip and knee replacements. But the issue isn't age as much as desire, the ambition and energy to prepare, recruit, and compete at a high level. 

We become set in our ways. Rules and players change. Leadership expert Jeff Janssen explains that millennials are different. He lists seven differences:

1. Special

2. Sheltered

3. Confident

4. Team-oriented

5. Conventional

6. Pressured

7. Achieving

He also outlines eight coaching messages worth delivering. 

1. Help your Millennials understand that adversity is inevitable, temporary, and helpful in the long-term. 

2. Help your Millennials understand that getting better is a long-term process. 

3. Understand that there are dozens of things that compete for your Millennials' attention and time.

4. Don't lecture - Edu-tain. 

5. Provide opportunities for young Millenials to engage in free athletic play. 

6. Develop your parents into allies, not adversaries. 

7. Help kids fight their own battles. 

8. Remember that people are people. 

Brain fitness gains increasing attention as society ages. In addition to the sleep, diet, exercise, and mindfulness guidance above, a new book, The Ageless Brain, emphasizes additional tips. 

Challenge yourself. Leave our comfort zone.

“Retire to something, not from something.” Stay relevant. 

Learn something new every day. "We make our habits and our habits make us." 

Stay connected to others.  We are social animals. The coaching community offers a diversity of opinions and opportunity. 

Find your balance. They recommend tai chi for sustaining balance. 

Adapt or fall behind. When I left the Navy nearly thirty years ago, an older physician reminded me, "we all run out of silver bullets." Choose to make more. 

Lagniappe: A grandfather was dismayed to see his grandson sitting on the front steps in tears, watching older children play. "What's wrong, Jimmy?" "I can't do what the big boys do." So the old man sat down and cried, too. 

Lagniappe 2: Coach Castellaw breaks down what works for Tyler Herro. 

Basketball: Learning - Stories, Notes, or Both Plus the Davidson Offense

Tough losses leave indelible lessons. What imprints memories? Emotion. Love our losses; they stick with us. 

Decisions Determine Destiny

• About a third of NBA games are decided by six or fewer points. 
• In our youth games, about half were. 
• A two possession swing often defines victories and defeat.
• Games are won and lost in the first minute and the last. 
• Each end-of-quarter is an opportunity for a six point swing. 

Excerpt from Reddit on NBA margin-of-victory from four years ago. Those brief notes didn't feel "made to stick." 

In March 2010, Melrose looked to avenge an EMASS final 2006 defeat to Oliver Ames in the Boston Garden. Melrose held an eight point lead, 15-7 with the ball and twenty-five seconds left in the first frame. They took an early shot with about ten seconds left and the Lady Tigers responded with a three-pointer at the buzzer and a hoop to open the second quarter. A possible double digit lead evaporated to three in thirty seconds. Oliver Ames ultimately claimed victory. 

The Lexington girls hadn't beaten Melrose in...forever. On the opening two possessions, Melrose didn't block out and Lexington scored a pair of put backs to lead 4-0. Melrose didn't score on the final possession of the contest and Lexington escaped with a single-point victory. 

"Possession and possessions" decide basketball games. Get the ball and do something good with it. Paraphrasing Pete Newell, "more and better possessions." The pair of learning stories share indelible memories of execution gone wrong. Learn to play longer and harder than our opponent to earn the right to win. Possession by possession. 

Which brings us back to "learning notes" or "learning stories." The New Zealand Education Hub informs the merits of learning notes:

Strengths of learning notes 

• Ease of use   The thinking behind learning notes is one that teachers naturally follow when working with and observing children, often in an informal way. 

• Speed    Learning notes provide a more immediate form of assessment, as the note form makes them relatively quick to produce. This means that the assessment is recorded relatively soon after the event, making a delay between writing up and analyzing the event less likely, and so plans for following up the learning event can be quickly implemented. Teachers may be able to complete several learning notes for each child per week. 

• Enabling additional interpretations    Because initial observations are (ideally) written without interpretation, they can be shared with families and colleagues to gain further interpretations. It can be harder to facilitate this when the teacher’s interpretation is interwoven into the account of an event, as with a narrative form of assessment. However, more detail in the ‘describe’ section will be required to gain rich and varied interpretations from non-observers.

Homer Simpson says informs his choice: 

Lagniappe: Watch film every day and take away positives. Davidson offense 

Coach Pyper links to his Coach's Breakdown within and explains the core actions 

• Spacing with rim running and filled corners
• Early trailer options 
• Off-ball screening leading to a lot of three-point shots. Some are "flexish." 
• Sharpshooting is a priority in their system. 

Even though we don't have the talent, we can learn from the concepts. 

Lagniappe 2: Excerpt from Seth Godin 

If Harper Lee had written To Kill a Mockingbird today, there’s no doubt that the salesforce and the marketers would have pushed for a catchier title, probably with better SEO (search engine optimization).

What would happen if instead of taking elements out of our work in order to make the product cheaper, we put things in instead? What if we made it better?

It’s tempting to race to the bottom. The problem is that you might win, and then you’ll have to stay there. 

Linkbait is a trap, because it brings you attention you actually don’t want.

What would happen if you made something important, breathtaking or wonderful? The race to the top is not only more satisfying, it’s also more likely to work, (with) work you’re proud of, without excuses.

Basketball Friday: Emphasis on Tryouts...Information Coaches and Players Can Use Today

Basketball Friday surveys ideas that coaches can use today. 

In The Russell Rules, Bill Russell discusses the value of curiosity. But being judgmental (fundamental attribution error) comes easier than asking questions and seeking motivations. 

To earn superior results, we need better approaches, evolving methods.

Rebounding Drill. Coach Hurley teaches blocking out from fronting the post, prioritizing communication.

 

Concepts. With basketball starting later in many areas because of the pandemic, players have more time to prepare. What do you advise players trying out?

Stand out. With limited time, attitude, communication, and effort have to be obvious. 

• Maximize your attention when the coaches are speaking. 
• Don't cut corners. 
• Add value by executing the details - defensive stance and position, blocking out, cutting, screening, playing unselfishly. 

Leave an impression. Your best version has to be good enough. Remember the parable of the lion and the gazelle:

“The gazelle knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle— when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

Be a great teammate. Coaches see everything. 

• Help set up and break down any equipment. 
• Recognize the passer. 
• Congratulate teammates on good plays. 
• Clean up the bench area after tryouts. 

Set Play. In Massachusetts this season, high school will not have baseline out of bounds plays, entering the ball from the sidelines instead. Finding scoring options from SLOBs could be a significant edge in close games. Modify this play by entering the ball from the sideline from 2 to 1 and returning the ball. 

Lagniappe: Nick Nurse created a SLOB with a sandwich screen on the help side for a three and a ball side post up.

Lagniappe 2: Coach Pascal Meurs breaks down Campazzo defending the ball screen. 

Basketball: Art Imitates Life, "It's the Hope That Kills You."

Coaching isn't a matter of life and death. It's a lot more serious than that. But, as Brad Stevens says, "we get more than we give." 

Coaching movies come in many flavors, triumphant as Herman Boone in Remember the Titans, redemptive in Hoosiers, biographical as in Glory Road. Ted Lasso shares few soccer lessons, but a wealth of messages about coaching and humanity. 

Great stories share the Heath Brothers' elements of SUCCESs - simple, unexpected, credible, concrete, emotional, stories. And Apple+ TV blends freshness, humor, and pathos with its series about Ted Lasso, American football coach imported to coach the Richmond Greyhounds soccer club. Jason Sudeikis, as Lasso, knows nothing about soccer, but a lot about people and psychology. 

Lasso understands. "For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field."

Lasso accepts his limitations, "I think I literally have a better understanding of who killed Kennedy than what is offside. (Long pause) It was the mob." 

He has no delusions about the task being easy, "Hey, takin' on a challenge is a lot like ridin' a horse. If you're comfortable while you're doin' it, you're probably doin' it wrong."

The coach's worldview reflect his homespun experience, but isn't wrong. "Roy, I learned two pretty big lessons on the rough and tumble playgrounds of Bookridge Elementary School. One, if little Ronnie Fouch offers you a candy bar, you immediately say no and get the hell out of there cause there's a good chance that little son of a gun has pooped inside of a Butterfinger wrapper. No one ever saw him do it, but a couple people ate it. Number two, teacher tells a bully not to pick on someone, it's just gonna make it worse."

Lasso's perspective is distinctly American:

Coach: "Manchester United. Super rich. Everyone either loves them or hates them." 

Lasso: "Dallas Cowboys." 

Liverpool: "Used to be great. Haven't won a title in a long time."

Lasso: "Also the Dallas Cowboys." 

The Richmond owner, Rebecca Welton on decades of mediocrity. "Coach Lasso may not have the CV that you all find acceptable, but he does have one thing this club doesn’t: a trophy from this millennium."

Players wrestle with his persistent positivity, "I have a real tricky time hearing folks that don’t believe in themselves."

Lasso understands that reaching the team passes through club leadership, "First domino that needs to fall, right inside that mans heart."

Management isn't easily convinced. But gradually, the Lasso Way begins to take root. "If the Lasso way is wrong, it’s hard to imagine being right."

Lasso isn't a fan of excuses or negativity. "You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t want to hear it."

"Every disadvantage brings an advantage." Think out of the box. Find edges out of necessity. Collaboration between coaches and players makes both better. 

His wisdom about teamwork isn't all unconventional, "I promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad. And that is being alone and being sad. Ain’t no one in this room alone."

Yes, there's more entertainment than 'football' in Ted Lasso, but the first season shares the wins. losses, and (ugh) draws that sport brings. 

Lagniappe: "Alley Drill" 

1) Every day is player development day.

2) If we can't contain the ball, we can't play defense.

3) Fouling kills us as self-destruction.

Lagniappe 2: 100 Lessons Learned from Coaching College Basketball

"If you stat it, chart it, or emphasize it, it will be important to your team (deflections, charges, turnovers)"

Basketball: Analyze Your Own Games, Wisdom from World Champion Garry Kasparov

"You have to analyze your own games." - Garry Kasparov

Learn across disciplines. Chess sets fly off the shelves and 62 million households have watched Netflix's Queen's Gambit. What can former World Champion Kasparov teach us about basketball? 

"It's the ultimate inspiration...find out the nature of your mistakes...and good moves." 

"You have to be honest, brutally honest, relentlessly honest." Execution begins with decision-making and completes with skill.

"Don't look for excuses." Find answers, not excuses. 

"Better that you understand the nature of your mistakes." Don't repeat mistakes. 

"Find your mistakes immediately." (We lost one game last season because I didn't adjust our defense quickly. An extended defense against a more athletic team was a rookie mistake. Sometimes we can't recover from a mistake. See the off ramps.)

"Analyze your game while it's fresh in your mind." 

"If you won the game, it doesn't mean you didn't make mistakes." (Who doesn't remember the black and white, slow motion, back-and-forth rewind of allowing dribble penetration, committing a bad foul, or not blocking out?)

"The greatest mistake is gravity of your past success." Humility punishes arrogance. 

"Analyze the masters." 

"Studying classical games always helps."  

"You have to learn from all these games...trust me, your chess (game) will be more creative."

"It will help you at the crucial moment." (Brad Stevens studied the final minutes of over a thousand games looking for edges. Unconscious competence takes years of training.

Lagniappe: "You can't fool dogs, kids, and basketball players." Truth matters. Great players thirst for coaching. They want edges. 

Lagniappe 2: from Haruki Murakami 

Lagniappe 3: Calipari "Perfection" (We can't do this but maybe you can.)

Basketball: Ways to Overcome Time Wasting

Make time our ally. We invest it or we spend it. Efficiency is unappreciated. Get more accomplished in the time available. 

1) Mano Watsa reminded us, "don't major in the minors." Don't invest mission critical time in non-critical activities. 

2) Accelerate the practice tempo. Run drills at more hoops at a higher pace. Make it the expectation not the exception. Watching a Coach Auriemma practice opened my eyes to the possibilities. 

3) Don't indulge Brian McCormick's three L's: lines, laps, and lectures. 

4) Names are shortcuts. Getting into named drills encourages efficiency. Lithuania layups, racehorse, continuous 4 on 4, et cetera. 

Speed layups for warm-up via the Lithuania team at the #JonesCup. I like it because most of warm-up IMO is about getting shots as we shoot more than we get layups in games...the other part is a short burst of energy & enthusiasm so this would take care of that. pic.twitter.com/UQXy7w1Ozg

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) July 29, 2018

5) Timed practice schedules help us focus on "what our team needs now." 

6) Efficiency includes timeouts with numbered seating or standing, as outlined by Doug Brotherton, so we know immediately who's the 1 through 5. 

7) Shoot, shoot, shoot. Our goal is to get at least 125-150 shots per practice per player with high volume, competitive, partner drills.  

8) "Kill your darlings." Efficient coaches replace a drill with a better drill. Revise a set or action to improve it. Your "drill book" is a living document not stone tablets. 

9) Always start on time. I can't control when a player (dependent on parental transportation) arrives, but I can start practice on time. 

10) Small-sided games get more touches. Brazil soccer rose to prominence via futsal small-sided games in small spaces demanding high skill development. 

Save the link for your drill file. 

11. Condition within drills. Establish offseason conditioning expectations. 

12. Need a break? Combine free throws with water breaks. 

13. Get more eyes. 👀👀👀If I held the reins at a program, I'd want more assistants and student managers. Our student managers were vital to our success almost fifty years ago, keeping stats and shot charts and helping at practice. 

14. Help players establish great habits. James Clear is a habit guru. It's worth reading Atomic Habits or at least understanding the principles. Make good habits easier and bad ones harder. Win the day by winning the morning. For example, my morning routine includes writing, reading, watching MasterClass, and Continuing Medical Education. 

Lagniappe: "Great offense is multiple actions."

Dribble handoff, post entry, wing back cut. 

Lagniappe 2: 

Basketball: R & D Principles, Language, and More

"Imagination leads to innovation, leading to differentiation." - Bill Russell

Great companies thrive by competing and leading in R & D, research and development. During the great pandemic of 2020, basketball advanced online education, playoff innovation with the Bubble, and Zoom conferences where players, coaches, and others shared knowledge. 

Transformation is no accident. 3M allocates employees protected creative time. "Post-It Notes" originated as a failed glue that wasn't good enough. Great recipes begin with mastering techniques and tools of refinement. "Perfect" scrambled eggs begin with melted butter, whipped eggs filtered through a "China cap," and salting after the initial cooking has begun (to lessen dehydration). Simplicity wins. Naismith improved on his peach basket by cutting out the bottom. 

Development is purposeful. A coach (researcher) saw a high school player (developer) working on his game thirty minutes before AAU games, before camps. The player worked on his handle, catch-and-shoot, and stepbacks. Alone. Over and over and over. The coach knew this kid would be special. The prospect? Steph Curry. 

R & D wears many hats. Watching video is research. Read and study clinic notes. Practice plans, drill books, and blogging are development. I consider MasterClass on many subjects R & D.

Grow across disciplines. In his first MasterClass, Michelin 3-star chef Thomas Keller informed essential principles including, "balance a sense of urgency with finesse." I think of Chef Keller as the Bill Walsh of cooking, preaching excellence through precision. 

• Awareness - of the team, ingredients, the cooking process
• Interpretation - which spawned the cornet, an ice cream cone-like appetizer including the tuna or salmon filling
• Inspiration - which stimulates progress
• Evolution - of our knowledge and techniques

Keller discusses shared language. "Jimmy" refers to needing cleanup (as in Buff-it). If a sous chef calls for a baseball, he's asking for a clean towel. Basketball has its own language - thru, bury, blitz, ice, get, Spain, lock and trail, and more. 

Ask ourselves, what's in our R & D program? 

Lagniappe: Close but no cigar? 

Lagniappe 2: "Be good at what we do a lot." Transition defense... @PickandPopNet

DRILL: 2️⃣v2️⃣ Build Walls.

🛑 | Building walls around the ball is 🔑 in transition.

🏀 | Here’s a quick drill we use before getting into competitive transition situations. pic.twitter.com/vAmzBv5riC

— Xavier Newsletter (@XUNewsletter) November 18, 2020

Lagniappe 3: Watch video every day. "Get a screen, set a screen, roll and score." 

Basketball Champions League
Nymburk ATO - Down 2
Another jewel from coach Oren Amiel pic.twitter.com/ul8XohN2c3

— MaxFrontini (@MaxFrontini) November 22, 2020

Basketball: The Russell Rules

Younger fans have heard of Bill Russell but fewer know the details - 11 NBA Championships in 13 years, 2 NCAA titles at USF, and an Olympic Gold Medal, 14 titles in 15 years. 

Russell was also an elite high jumper as was Wilt Chamberlain. Russell cleared 6' 9 1/4" and was ranked second in the US and 7th in the world in 1956. This was during the scissor-kick technique, supplanted by Dick Fosbury's "flop."

Here are a few quotes from The Russell Rules. 

"A great team is like a five-pointed star; each game, another player can be the reason for victory." - Bill Bradley 

John Wooden called...me "the most important college player and pro player of all time."

"I don't believe there was better basketball player and human being than the man I called Norman (his middle name)." (Wilt)

"...basketball court was a place where I could bring my thoughts and my understanding of psychology, physiology, mathematics, and most important, human values." 

"On those rings are two words - teamwork and pride."

"We tried to win games one quarter at a time." 

"...the most important part of winning is joy." 

"All winning streaks begin with a single victory."

"...Basketball is what I do, it's not who I am." 

"Rule One: Good questions are more important than easy answers."

"Rule Two: Curiosity is a process." 

"Rule Three: Curiosity should always be challenging and always solidify a sense of commitment." "How does this work?" "What do I do?" "What happens next?"

Bill Russell 21-0 in winner-take-all games: All NCAA games, Olympic medal round, best-of-5s, best of 7s. Greatest resume of anyone. Period.

— Bob Ryan (@GlobeBobRyan) February 12, 2017

Lagniappe: As a child, Russell studied Leonardo and Michelangelo paintings. He noted the detail and tried to draw them from understanding. 

A BOB from "Twitter Bob" reminds me of what I tell the kids, "Bigs away come back into play." 

Lagniappe 2: Coming soon to an NBA city near you. Passing is beautiful. 

Lagniappe 3: Watch video every day. The Heat 2-3 zone is not invincible.

Basketball: Coach, How Can I Contribute More? 12 Ingredients

Why do we coach? Messages from a former team (7th grade girls) found on office cleaning. TIA - teamwork, improvement, accountability. 

You want to make the team, earn minutes, contribute on the floor. But you haven't. Don't ask for more minutes. Earn them. Ask how to fix the problem. Do you care enough to change? 

1. Play harder. "The magic is in the work." Win every sprint. "Don't cheat the drill." 
2. Take better shots. "Kill your darlings." Improve immediately by not shooting bad shots, forced shots, "my turn" shots, $h*t Shots. Take ROB shots (Range, Open, Balanced). 
3. Cut urgently. Don't stand. Don't drift. Separate with change of direction and pace. 
4. Play smarter. You don't know the offensive and defensive techniques and tactics; you have no claim on minutes or role. 
5. "Winners want the ball." If you can't handle pressure, you will stand out...in the wrong way. Good teams apply and withstand pressure. 
6. Become more skilled. There's only one way to build skill...quality repetitions. 
7. Adapt. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Change our attitude, choices, effort, and process to increase the chance of changing results. What are you prepared to sacrifice for your dream? 
8. Write out your plan. Pick it, stick (to) it, track it. "Winners are trackers." 
9. Be specific. "Shoot better" isn't a plan. Prioritize the drills, time, and followup on results. Yesterday, I shared the "Celtics 32" drill. Do it, again and again; set your "PR" (personal record). 
10. Get help. Find a mentor, the only shortcut to excellence. Whether you adopt the Mr. Rogers, "look for the helpers" or more, do it.
11. Invest time don't spend it. It's going to cost you time and sacrifice. 
12. Think for yourself. Each of us becomes our researcher and coach. 

Lagniappe: Fat. Salt. Acid. Heat. There's a lot going on here, like my roasted butternut squash and onion into pasta (spinach ravioli) with plain yogurt sauce with cumin, topped with diced tomatoes and garlic oil drizzle. Hint: roast the vegetables 35 minutes at 450 to caramelize! 

Three concepts that are hard to guard all in one play.

1) Handoff into ball screen
2) Flex cut @ same time as ball screen
3) Roll man setting down screen for hit back

(Video via @XUNewsletter)#PlayoftheDay #HardtoGuard pic.twitter.com/bwKtz9dw3J

— PGC Basketball (@PGCbasketball) November 20, 2020

Lagniappe 2: I know this as the "Hoiberg Speed Drill." Every day is player development day! 

“Indiana Drill” Two Minutes. Goal is 25 makes. Our team high is 28. #RepTheM pic.twitter.com/5k4Xa7Uf36

— Scots Basketball (@MCMensHoops) November 18, 2020

Basketball Friday: Drill-Concepts-Set Play; SIMPLE Works on Many Levels

"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

Basketball Friday focuses on a productive drill, time-honored concepts, and a set play. 

Steal from other disciplines. Learn from education, science, dance, psychology, journalism, and more. 

Drill. "32"  There is no substitute for shooting. Compete at three scoring levels with yourself and teammates. Work with a friend adds competition (and rebounding). Five radians with 6 points (3-pointer, pullup, and layup) and finish with a pair of layups. Track your personal best and add time limits for difficulty. 

 

Concepts. "Easy does it." 

Cut urgently. "Basketball is a game of separation." Drifting, "banana cuts", and standing don't separate. "Give-and-go" often fails because of lack of deception (set up) or lack of sharp cutting. UCLA cuts are a prime example of give-and-go, abetted by a high post screen. 

Make it beautiful. 

Slip screens. The pick-and-roll challenges the best defenders. When the screener defender becomes overextended, "slips" create great opportunity.  

Screen-the-screener. Screening is opportunity, first, as "the screener is the second cutter." Flex is the classic screen-the-screener action. "Set one, get one." 

Cut against head turners. "Out of sight, out of mind." Catch defenders ball watching. 

Screening against zones. 

Drill and run 3 v 3 against the top of the 2-3. 

Michigan State uses an "X" action to open penetration from outside the high slot. 

Set Play. Penalize aggressive defense with screens and back door cutting. 

Coach Oliver shares a variety of actions. Above, an Iverson cut morphs into a back screen, requiring solid timing.

Lagniappe: Gordon Chiesa reminds us how top defenders set up the offense. 

Disciplined "on ball" guardians remain true to their D technique. These protectors are staying down and not, wildly, gambling. Timely, defenders set up dribblers, 4 steals by 1) ball containing, B4 utilizing strike hands.

— Gordon Chiesa (@gchiesaohmy) November 19, 2020

Basketball: Ten Concepts for Watching Video

"I learn something from everyone I meet. From most people, I learn what not to do." - Abraham Lincoln 

Coaches tell players, "play purposefully" or "play intentionally." Watching bad shot selection, east-west dribbling, and lazy transition defense drives us batty. If you have special expertise, share because nobody sent me stone tablets. 

Ergo, watch video with a purpose. Where to begin? 

1. Watch video every day. Something new is always over the horizon. Video is the truth machine. But there's also 'screen fatigue'. Doc Rivers limits the clips to thirteen. 

2. Find video analysis. Many coaches share their observations and experience. Chris Oliver (Twitter @BballImmersion), Coach Daniel (YouTube channel), and ScoutWithBryan are three excellent examples.

 

3. See the big picture. Don't focus on the ball. Remember Billy Donovan's "95" rule that 95 percent of the time, you won't have the ball. 

4. What is each team trying to accomplish? If you can't tell, then is it you or does each team have a coherent plan? Is the team trying to win the ends or the middle of the court? Are they more of a transition or half-court team? 

5. Assess the spacing. NBA spacing is elite. They fill the corners and look to take advantage of defenses that "overhelp" especially opening corner threes. 

6. Assess defensive proximity. Are defenders arriving at the ball rapidly, color on color? Do they close out with good technique or get blown by? Is the ball pressure accompanied by enough lateral quickness to control the ball? Is the help side defense loading to the ball? Are defenders dropping to the level of the ball? 

7. Look for excellence. "Great offense is multiple actions" and "great defense is multiple efforts." You know it when you see it. 

8. Play the "what would I do?" game. Think along with the coaches and players with time and score. Will the team default to an isolation play with their best player or change it up? If you have the personnel advantage and an opponent switches everything, what will you do? Have in mind an ATO, best BOB, SLOB, and actions against man or zone. 

9. Use film to help learn to anticipate. We teach players to "fall in love with easy." The simplest actions challenge defenses. "Movement kills defenses." 

An opponent's first trip down the court sets up with the coach calling, SPREAD, 5-0, 50, or OPEN or otherwise telegraphing their intent. On the pass, the ball defender has to think 'jump to the ball' and the nearby defender be alert to a quick backcut or on the helpside an off-the-ball screen. As Brad Stevens told my aerospace engineer wife, "it's not rocket science." If you can't think the game, you can't stay on the floor. 

10. What's the pick-and-roll coverage and protection? Quin Snyder said it succinctly, "if you cannot defend the pick-and-roll, you will be looking for another job." We need a clear philosophy, everyone on the same page, and consistent communication? Historically, hedge, show, or Coach Krzyzewski's term "fake trap" is the default. But switching, trapping (blitzing), or playing under are among the many alternatives. When the PnR is working, ask why. 

Lagniappe: Strong teams create edges - personnel, technique, unselfishness. This clip illustrates. 

LOVE possessions where all 5 touch the ball, move it unselfishly, and make plays for one another !! pic.twitter.com/IkP7PqbPeW

— John Leonzo (@John_Leonzo) November 5, 2020

 

Basketball: "A Coach's Life," Excerpts from Dean Smith (Plus 2 Videos for Study)

Every coach owns authenticity. Among the best was Carolina Coach Dean Smith, sharing wit and wisdom in A Coach's Life. Smith wrote books that coaches could study, not self-aggrandizing biographies. 

Today's missive brings excerpts from the chapter entitled "The Carolina Way."

"Each year we had the same goals: ) Play together, 2) Play hard, 3) Play smart...unselfish, effort, execution."

He hated showboating. "Try to act like you've done this before." 

One writer labeled Carolina "the IBM of college basketball." 

"To make winning an end in and of itself seemed neither realistic nor good teaching."

1) Were we unselfish?

2) Did we play hard on every possession?

3) Did we execute the basic fundamentals well offensively and defensively?

"There was a fourth principle at work in our program : to have fun."

"Basketball is a game that is dependent on togetherness."

"A demanding teacher is quick to praise action that deserves praise, but will criticize the act, not the person."

"Caring for one another and building relationships should be the most important goal."

I didn't remember that he had lost Tom McMillen to Maryland because his parents wouldn't sign his grant-in-aid papers.

Their practice sheet started with a Thought for the Day, like "You can tell more about a person from what he says about others than what others say about him."

"The EMPHASIS OF THE DAY was a basketball thought..." like "sprint back on defense" or "catch the ball with both hands if possible."

He shows a couple of practice plans with words we've said a thousand times...

Emphasis of the Day: Offensive: NO UNNECESSARY DRIBBLE!

                                   Defensive: PRESSURE ON BALL-DON'T FOUL DRIBBLER!

He talks about the numerous college coaches who came to visit, watch, and talk basketball. He makes the point, "the NBA and college basketball are two entirely different games." 

Reading takes us to different worlds, to meet people from all walks of life. 

Lagniappe: I like to watch film daily, for both review and exposure to new ideas. Coach Daniel's breakdown always reinforces core principles. 

Key points from Lakers-Rockets video include the pros and cons of personnel change, specifically going smaller. It improves the spacing, perimeter defense, opportunities for three-point shooting, and in the Lakers' case ball movement. 

Lagniappe 2: Doug Brotherton's HS club executes horns via a stagger with options.

We ran "Horns Triple" as a sequence ATO tonight, to open the second half with back-to-back baskets. Great execution from our team. Double stagger, into a DHO for our best shooter. Slipped the second screen the next trip.#XsAndOs #GrowTheGame🏀 pic.twitter.com/kGp5Scp3oN

— Doug Brotherton (@CoachBrotherton) November 18, 2020

Lagniappe 3: Dribbling Drills 

Basketball: The Personal Journey to Confidence and Thoughts on Baseline Out of Bounds Plays

"It's been such a long journey." - Parris Goebel

We are choreographers - planning, creating, executing. Parris Goebel? Never heard of her. That's on me. At fifteen, she left school in New Zealand and committed to a career in dance. Figuratively, as did Hernan Cortes, she burned the boats. 

"I wasn't sure how I was going to make it, but I knew I was going to make it."

"You can control seeing it and believing in yourself...belief in yourself will take you there." 

"Inspiring me...to open a studio...that can become a home for other kids like me." She opened a dance studio at seventeen. She felt it was her destiny. In 2009 her all-girl dance troupe won a gold medal at the World Hip Hop Championships. 

Running a studio, competing in multiple divisions, "taught me how to work," leading to her "first big break," choreographing for J Lo's world tour. 

"Once you get your foot in the door, more doors start opening." 

"When you're unique and have something fresh, everyone wants a piece of that."

If you have something special, be brand aware, "protect your magic." 

Did you ever have a "belief" moment? I've had a few. In high school, Coach Kelley told me, "you're going to start, not because we like you more, but because you earned the spot." 

During medical school, an intern, Dr. Ann Knowlton shared, "you have to speak up. I can tell from your charting, that you know a lot. You have to show it."

And during medical training, Dr. John Minna, a senior Oncologist from NIH told me, you're the second best intern I've ever had, after Bruce Chabner (a world famous oncologist). 

When I tell a patient or a player, "I believe in you" it's a powerful motivator, not words tossed around. 

Confidence balances doubt and arrogance. Find balance and share. 

Lagniappe: What about BOB? Chris Oliver shows some BOBs. 

 

Who doesn't love BOBs? What are your core principles, offensively and defensively? 

• I tell the girls, "bigs away come back into play." 
• Get the ball in safely FIRST. 
• Whenever possible, we're looking for layups and easy shots. 
• Watch out for "America's Play" (boomerangs to inbounder for corner 3 off screen)
• When we've screened well, look for slips on repeats.
• Run the same play from different sets and different plays from the same sets. 
• Doug Brotherton's "automatic" call based on clock (even, odd, zero) is genius. 

Basketball: Villains

If you want to be a villain, then own it.

 

Sports like pro wrestling have defined villains. The NFL had authentic villains like Jack Tatum and Vontaze Burfict. The NBA, NCAA, on down have misanthropic amateurs by comparison. 

Don't say there's no place for toughness. We know "the game honors toughness." Forget about "fake toughness," the "hold me back," snarling, "I'm calling my big brother" imitation. 

There's "losing your mind" one-offs ("that's not who I am"), competitive cauldron blowoffs (chair throwing, clipboard smashing), and a few bad actors with personality disorders who shouldn't be playing or coaching. 

Unchecked parts of the problem are "enablers" who worship money (e.g. the NCAA) and winning (most of us). Enablers let outlaw programs off the hook over and over or find scapegoats. Enablers at "basketball royalty" schools let player discipline infractions slide, because they can. We know who they are. It's a devil of a problem. 

Be aggressive, not dirty. Flying elbows, moving screens, and 'dead legs' aren't part of the game. Not saying an opposing coach taught that, just tolerated it. "Keep hitting her, the refs can't call it every time." Outstanding life lesson for your players, Coach.  

Poor sportsmanship is a form of villainy. Run it up by pressing with big leads with your starters against reserves. That's rank not earning ranking. Lose graciously. "We would have won if we made shots." So would we. 

Rarely, there's officiating villainy, like Tim Donaghy. 

I've heard of an official carpooling members of the home team and I've seen officials on a local youth basketball team go full on "homer" by allowing egregious violations and fouls. The opposing point guard went full on "Heisman" to push defenders away with no calls. And the officials told me to "sit down and shut up" afterwards. 

Don't be an accidental villain, diving at a player wiping out an ACL in the final seconds of a blowout (seen that). 

Lagniappe: Kids, don't listen to me. Listen to him.