Basketball: Should the Shot Clock Be Universal?

Our opponent played a passive 2-3 zone for twenty-nine minutes. We played man defense. With three minutes to go, I signaled the players to hold the ball out. The opposing coach screamed, "Play Basketball." After about a minute, he abandoned the zone. It didn't matter. 

The shot clock began in the NBA during the 1954-1955 season and in the NCAA in 1985. The NBA adopted the shot clock at the behest of the Syracuse Nationals which lost to Boston in a four-overtime playoff elimination game. Bob Cousy, who scored fifty points, dribbled until fouled and converted 30 of 32 free throws. 

Only eight states mandate a shot clock for high school basketball and in 2020, the NFHS voted down a proposal to require it. 

During an international panel of coaches I participated in last night on how to "Make Youth Basketball Fun" last night, all coaches agreed on the value of shot clocks. The shot clock has numerous merits:

1) Speeds up the game

2) Allows for more possessions

3) Encourages teams to get into offense more quickly

4) Rewards excellent defense

5) Neutralizes "stall ball" 

Opponents argue that it removes strategic delay and has costs. 

What is the cost for shot clock equipment? Examine the individual and aggregate costs, "Not to mention the cost of shot clock installation running no less than $1.5 million, combined, for every school in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and the difficulty in finding a reliable person to run the apparatus." 

"Daktronics is one of the nation's leading distributors of scoreboards and shot clocks, and a spokesperson said that each shot clock typically costs $2,000 to $2,500, and with installation, the total cost can range from $5,000 to $10,000."

Unscientific polls have shown that over eight-five percent of participants want shot clocks. Many coaches also favor the 'reset' that after regaining possession (e.g. an offensive rebound), that the clock be reset to fourteen seconds as in the NBA. 

If not now, when? 

Lagniappe: Why do we coach? Coaching allows us to help young people grow. Every day isn't as momentous, but last night I shared in two achievements:

1) Former player Victoria Crovo received acceptance into Veterinary School. 

2) High school freshman Cecilia Kay earned her first varsity win, leading her team with 26 points and 15 rebounds. A "straight A" student, the fourteen year-old is the best age-matched player I have coached in over two decades of coaching. 

She scores the opening hoop last night. 

Basketball: Fun Actually

Spoiler alert! Tonight I'm on a panel discussion about Making Youth Basketball Fun. Does anyone set out to make youth basketball No Fun?

"Are you going out to practice, Susie?" "No, Daddy, I'm going out to win, to beat the other girls into submission, to exert my will and to make them cry." "That's my girl." 

Here are just a few of the thoughts I've picked up during half a century of basketball.

Be positive. Kids aren't moved by cynicism, sarcasm, or cruelty. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar," is what Dad always said. 

Before tryouts last season, a little girl came up to me and said, "Hi, Coach. My name is Naomi, and I'm REALLY EXCITED to be here." That's what I'm talking about. 

Bring energy. Driving the bus doesn't entitle anyone to throw kids under the bus. Keep Jon Gordon's rules from The Energy Bus mentally posted. We transfer energy. Princeton coach Pete Carril discussed feeling the joy that radiates from players who enjoy being with each other. He also talked about lightbulbs, players who light up the court with their presence. Be that person and create those players. 

Remember, it's not about you, it's about them. We're either playing basketball or we're working basketball. It's practice, not a chore. Don't punish by conditioning. Condition within drills and scrimmaging. 

Get 'em going. Warmups can be fun with jumping rope, dribble tag (six players within the arc, vary the dribble rules), or capture the flag (movement without the ball). 

They're always listening. Sometimes we wonder whether they're paying attention to our crazy sayings. They are. 

T.I.A. "Teamwork, improvement, accountability." 

Share the game. I hand out laminated materials to players, Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" and Jay Bilas' "Toughness" rules. 

Lauren's Mom told me Lauren carried the "Pyramid" in her gym bag every day in high school en route to being a three-sport captain. 

We're building relationships. I'm joyful at the success of players and anxious for their long-term success. I look forward to seeing Lauren when she graduates from Annapolis this summer. And I hope Victoria gets into the Veterinary School of her choice this spring. You'll see Samantha on television in a couple of years playing Division I ball. You've watched Sheylani in the WNBA. Here's a brief note that I got from Cecilia, a high school freshman averaging 17.5 ppg, 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks after sending her annotated clips. 

"Thanks so much Coach! You know I’m always open to more coaching and your insights are particularly helpful! It’s been fun playing varsity and hopefully my team can get a win under our belts soon!"

"It's not a job, it's an adventure." We make it what we choose. Ten years in the Navy, forty in medicine, and over fifty in basketball teach lessons worth sharing. 

Lagniappe: "Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out." - John Wooden

It won't always go how we planned. 

Basketball: Redesigning Players, Just Two Things

Given a choice of adding two great plays or two all-state players, we know the answer. But nobody drops star players into our laps. Design and build better ones. 

Some coach and practice based upon our early experiences. The great Pete Newell commented that often produced "a poor copy of the original." 

Each dawn awakens us with a dynamic toolbox. Reading, observation, and study refresh us. But two obligations challenge.  

• First, what do remove - baggage, outdated, or ineffective methods? 
• Second, what do we add? 

Addition by subtraction. Limfac. Limiting factors include player personnel, time, assistants, and our personal portfolio of skills. 

• Redeploy the people. 
• Eliminate drills and teaching that don't advance the story. 
• Reduce physical errors (e.g. turnovers, fouls, bad shots) and emotional setbacks (e.g. negativity, fear, lack of confidence). Tracking can change behaviors. 

Change is hard. Like weeds, dissatisfaction grows in less fertile soil. Our humanity says we are capable; our methods are sound. Our ego compels confidence. Results may or may not reflect that reality. 

Don't hoard junk. Consider posting a practice schedule for critique, asking peers what doesn't belong. Be open to feedback. 

Growth and Innovation. 

Samin Nosrat says a great dish comes from salt, fat, acid, and heat. The most basic bread arises from flour, water, salt, and yeast. What belongs? What ingredients are we missing? 

How do we take players beyond? 

Teach players to see the game in terms of geometry not just functional options. Attacking space with skill translates across team sports (soccer "through" pass, backdoor cuts/attacking the front foot, hit-and-run, crossing and delay routes).

"Basketball is a game of symmetry." Practice 'reading/executing situations' while growing individual talent. 

• ***Defeat and apply pressure. 
• Run and stop transition.
• Score at three levels (we can argue about midrange scoring) and defend it. 
• To win in the halfcourt, see what works - exploit or contain it.
• Have a delay game and a plan to fight delay.  
• ***Play longer and harder than opponents (implies physical/mental edge). 

The Future. Deep understanding of cognitive-behavioral development is the key to developing playmakers. Great "trainers" and coaches will study and translate cognitive-perceptual growth. Unlocking playmakers using specialized cognitive training at all ages is in its infancy. This is the future. 

Key concepts: 

1) Remember the two things.

2) Assess our subtraction and addition.

3) Embrace a cognitive-perceptual model of pattern recognition. 

Lagniappe. Dallas Offense from SVG.

Lagniappe 2. Building Focus

Thomas Frank shares focus concepts. Make a short list:

1) Put the phone aside.

2) Make a distractions list (things to avoid, e.g. watching TV while reading)

3) “Intention is the bouncer of your attentional space – it lets in the productive objects of attention and keeps the distractions out.”

4) He advocates for a timer (e.g. a chime) to ring at intervals as a focus check 

5) Mindfulness, avoid judging. 

Basketball: All Three Point Shots Are Not Created Equal

Don't cite the Declaration of Independence about your shot selection. Three-point shots are great (or terrible) shots depending on situation and skill. 

All shooters are not created equal. 

2019-2020, NBA three-point percentage leaders off the catch, minimum 150 attempts (from NBA.com)

All shot situations are not the same. NBA fans will debate the merit of LeBron James' decision to pass to Danny Green for a potential game-winning three. 

I thought it was a good decision considering LeBron's angle of attack, the degree of "contestedness," and Green's proficiency. Here's Danny Green's 2019-2020 shot chart. FWIW, Green's three-point percentage from the top of the arc was 21.4% on a small sample size.  

And all three point shots are not alike. Some examples include:

1) Catch-and-shoot threes

2) Off the dribble threes (lower percentage than off the catch)

3) Pump fake threes (my gestalt is that it's much lower, but replaced by SDT)

4) Side-dribble/one dribble threes (SDT)

5) Coming off downscreen catch-and-pivot threes

6) Below and above the break threes 

The one-dribble three is becoming a weapon. 

The "side-dribble three" has become a force unto itself.

Of course, Steph Curry doesn't play for us. 

The corner three is fundamentally different than the above-the-break three with a higher point per possession rating. "Teams have realized that they can improve their offense by simply changing their shot selection. Take more threes and score more points...In addition, spacing the floor with 3-point threats provides space for players to drive, cut, roll, and post-up."

Above everything, all three point shots are not created equal. 

Lagniappe: Empty the lane for a back cut using screens

Thad Matta's Ohio State used this against us on a foreign tour to Windsor. They ran this cut out and decision-making read to a skip, curl or flex cut. It was hard to guard because of the decision-making. pic.twitter.com/6eDl419dNT

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) December 23, 2020

Lagniappe 2: Chris Webber on rookies, "You have to show your value by doing the little things." 

Lagniappe 3: The end of the Celtics game. 

 

Basketball: Success Begins with Spacing.

Ted Lasso reminds us that player-led teams have power. He uses the example of  Meg in A Wrinkle in Time, struggling with the mantle of leadership. Coaches get players to embrace leadership. 

“That it has to be me. It can’t be anyone else. I don’t understand Charles, but he understands me. I’m the one who’s closest to him. Father’s been away for so long, since Charles Wallace was a baby. They don’t know each other. And Calvin’s only known Charles for such a little time. If it had been longer then he would have been the one, but—oh, I see, I see, I understand, it has to be me. There isn’t anyone else.”  - A Wrinkle in Time. 

We can't discuss spacing enough. Spacing doesn't guarantee good offense. Poor spacing guarantees bad offense. Watch any NBA game and learn spacing. Teams fill the corners and make the defense defend the whole court. They use spacing to create driving lanes and passing lanes. 

Watch how Michigan uses solid execution via the short roll and spacing. They get dunks off spacing. Commonly in the NBA, teams get open corner threes. 

Great spacing confounds doubling and trapping. 

What spacing concepts must players own? 

• Chuck Daly's "Spacing is offense and offense is spacing." 
• "Winners win in space." 
• Bigs with perimeter skills add great value (KD, AD). 
• Defense use symmetry principles. "Shrink the court." Strong defense compromises spacing...load to the ball, drop to the level of the ball. 

As a player, you space to give energy or subtract it. 

• Poor spacing drains energy. 
• The ball has energy and cannot move in a crowd. 
• Ball and body movement extracts energy from defenses. 
• Ball reversal with spacing forces long closeouts. 

Great offense improves spacing. 

• Outstanding perimeter shooting enhances spacing. 
• Players who "draw 2" create spacing. 
• Packed defenses are vulnerable to spacing (UMBC beats Virginia) 

"Draw 2."

Lagniappe. You won't find many Youtube videos with a like/dislike ratio of 463/1. 

Lagniappe 2. Bad basketball. 

A Pakistani doctor shared a fable about his country. A young man was poor and miserable, seeking wisdom from a guru. He walked miles and climbed a mountain to meet him. The guru said, "I see you are poor, miserable, and depressed. I have good news. It will last only another seven years." And the young man replied, "and then I'll be rich and happy?" "No, you'll be used to it." 

Don't accept bad basketball. We can't become used to it. 

Lagniappe 3. More spacing magic. 

The Double Gap Drive concept is taking over college basketball

Down 1, Ohio State went to it as a clearout, with a low-post seal, to try and take the lead. Quality look pic.twitter.com/QAkLucbkXH

— Adam Spinella (@Spinella14) December 26, 2020

Basketball: 10 for 21, Ideas for Next Season. Copy Success.

"If you're lucky, you can imagine the truth." - Salman Rushdie 

Ascendant results demand novel approaches. 2020-2021 is my "couch coach" season as youth basketball is shut down. Time is opportunity for reading and study. I'm reading The Playmaker's Advantage, which is highly geeked up science for performance enhancement. You're warned. 

Here are ten ideas, many shamelessly stolen from other coaches. 

1. Warmup efficiently. "Lithuania Layups" / speed layups. 

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

2. Model what you want to see. "Leave the best version of yourself" on the floor every day. Children don't feed off sarcasm, putdowns, and cynicism. Frustration is our companion but not our friend. When it arrives, resort to "always do your best." Don't feed the monsters. 

3. Improve timeout organization. Doug Brotherton lines up the players in the game 1 through 5 left to right. With youth teams and everyone getting minutes, sometimes in different spots, it can get confusing. Simplify. 

4. Listen to Helen Mirren. In her MasterClass, she explains career success. 

• "Show up on time."
• "Don't be an a*hole." 

5. Play more small-sided-games. SSGs allow more touches and coaching focus on player and team needs. Add constraints (space, dribbles, start from BOB or SLOB). Creativity begins in small spaces. 

6. Study more video. What makes players and teams tick? YouTube videos such as those from the NBA itself are invaluable teachers. Copy success. 

7. Self-assess. If we "know our NOs" do we hold ourselves to them? Do we contain the ball, contest shots, deny the paint, avoid bad fouls? Self-assessment translates to "do more of what works and less of what doesn't." A high school player turned down an open three and her father wailed. I told him, "she made a better play. She's 1 for 19 on threes this season." 

8. Take better shots. Be specific. T.J. Rosene's clinic reminds us to "Get 7s."

9. Take care of the ball. "The ball is gold." Zak Boisvert breaks down turnovers. Education changes behavior. Don't beat ourselves. Remind a child what their parent did, "don't play in the traffic." The pain trade is giving games away. How many times can we watch a player catch the ball out of bounds? 

10. Be more efficient. Use time wisely. Up the tempo and as Mano Watsa shares, "Don't major in the minors." Don't spend time on areas that won't transfer to games. It's one thing to pull a player aside with a tip. It's another to spend ten minutes. 

Lagniappe: Poking the bear. Or maybe a "unicorn." Possibility is the bridge between skill and talent. 

Basketball: Christmas Wishes Under the Tree and A Bit of What Works

Coaches aren't born, we're made. The simplest coaching loaf emerges from flour, water, salt, and yeast. But vive la difference! Mentors and discovery produce a unique flavor, style, and substance. Spend a moment thinking of the coaches who put metaphorical presents under our tree. Let's unwrap some presents.  

Here's a shiny one for coaches - excellent health, warm hearts, and good crunch time execution. And maybe sunny dispositions. A day coaching is better than a day doing almost anything else. Except an understanding spouse. 

Over there, another bauble, players physically and mentally well, able to play chess when others play checkers.  

In the back, there's a set of Russian dolls. May our relationships with administrators, assistants, players, and families become a lifelong fellowship. Russian dolls and onions, layers. An open door and open ears can't guarantee open minds in our swirling universe.

Let sportsmanship be an integral part of our agenda. Respect the game. Look carefully, it's hard to find under some coaching trees. 

There's an ornament shaped like the Greek letter omega. "Never be a child's last coach." 

Look, inside that soft package, there's a tee shirt.  Play smart, play hard, play together. That shirt fits. 

Help players "fall in love with easy." Don Meyer explained that our coaching evolves from blind enthusiasm, to sophisticated complexity, to mature simplicity. An 'easy button' belongs on every desk. 

Motivational posters make good gifts when matched to individuals. Help players develop a culture of teamwork, excellence, and accountability. 

Books make wonderful gifts, especially witty ones with pithy messaging. Some must be read, like Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning or James Kerr's Legacy. 

It's fifty years since Bouton's masterpiece. He wraps it up, "You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.”

Shopping solutions for dreamers are never easy. What we want the most, we can't have. The wanting is in the not having. 

Merry Christmas. 

Lagniappe: UCONN rolls against Nova women. 

4 UCONN starters had seventeen or more points. The Huskies shot 54.7% and 29% from three. Freshman point guard Paige Bueckers played forty minutes. 

Sure, they're highlights but why does it work?

- Spacing

- Body and Ball movement

- Quality shot selection

- Awareness, alertness, aggressiveness

- Unselfishness

Lagniappe 2. Villanova men versus zone...screening and ball reversal. 

I'm not sure how this kept working for Villanova tonight against Marquette, but it did. Screen the inside of the top of the zone, then overload it. I would guess most of you do something like this already. If not, super simple. #XsOs pic.twitter.com/TW1wftdCnN

— Coach Tony Miller (@tonywmiller) December 24, 2020

Basketball: Fast Five, Thoughts from Five Great Books for Basketball Coaches and Holiday Shoppers

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." - John Wooden 

"The differences between the person we are today and whom we become in five years are the people we meet and the books we read." 

The death of expertise should terrify us. Twenty-five percent of Americans never read a book. If we get all our content from Fox or MSNBC, we're missing out. I can't force players I coach to read; I want to inspire them to read. 

Readers unearth new worlds and unimagined possibilities. Excellent coaches like George Raveling, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Kevin Eastman, and Mike Neighbors are voracious readers. 

What we don't know literally can kill us. I hope to whet your appetite with a few suggestions, chosen for content and writing quality. 

The Positive Dog by Jon Gordon. Gordon extols the virtue of positivity via a heartwarming story. “Being positive won’t guarantee you’ll succeed. But being negative will guarantee you won’t.”-- Jon Gordon It's appropriate for ten-year-olds and octogenarians. 

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Hardy informs us how productive habits, like study or saving, become magnified by compounding. "Small choices + consistency + time = significant results." The one sentence I remember from the book is, "winners are trackers." 

Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Gonzales shares the many dangers that can befall even modestly adventuresome people. I didn't think snorkeling in the Caribbean would put me face to face with a shark. And mountaineers who rope themselves together for safety are more likely to die. Did you expect that hiking could put you face-to-face with a bear? In the heat of battle, tunnel vision can kill us or someone we love. The information transfers to basketball. The strongest swimmers are more likely to drown because of overconfidence. "Winners win in space." 

Give and Take by Adam Grant. Be a giver. Phil Jackson could sum up the book with his quote, "Basketball is sharing." 

I'd be shocked if Jaylen Brown hasn't read Grant's book. 

Jaylen Brown: "Marcus Smart may not get the credit, but he kept us together. The pace he played with, the control of the game. I'm looking forward to him in that role."

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 24, 2020

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown. Brown weaves three great stories together, the suffering of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany in the early 1930s, and the origins of the US Olympic crew team which competed in 1936. 

Brown shares our finest and basest portions of humanity and how we can triumph together. 

Looking for last minute gifts? Any of these books fill the bill. 

Lagniappe: Want something more expensive? Ask for a MasterClass subscription. It's not cheap at 180 dollars a year, but you get the Curry course included. I'm currently taking Salman Rushdie's writing course and Apollonia Poilane's bread baking course. 

Basketball: Microaggressions, "Racism without Racists"

"I didn't mean it like that." What we say, what we do, and what we ask all leave an impression. 

Microaggressions are the everyday slights, indignities, putdowns, and insults that  people of color, women...and those who are marginalized experience." They occur because "they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator." Some have called this "racism without racists." 

And they leave scars or open wounds that we don't know exist. 

What words trigger us? When I was in the Navy making rounds at Bethesda Naval Hospital, a few patients asked, "what country are you from?" Nowadays, I might answer, "The People's Republic of Massachusetts" but then it was just "Massachusetts." Everyone makes assumptions that may have no factual basis. 

When people call me, "Mister" Sen, that's no problem. In fact, many patients call me "Ron," except for people who knew me as a youngster, who might say, "Ronnie." The opposite of a microaggression occurs, too. One parent, who played professionally overseas, always called me, "Coach." 

Minorities and women have faced microaggressions since...forever. When I hear someone called "articulate" then I think that presumes they shouldn't be. Microaggressions happen in multiple settings. 

Here are excerpts from a paper on classroom microaggressions:

• Failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce the names of students after they have corrected you. 
• Scheduling tests and project due dates on religious or cultural holidays. 
• Setting low expectations for students from particular groups, neighborhoods, or feeder patterns. 
• Assigning student tasks or roles that reinforce particular gender roles or don’t allow all students flexibility across roles and responses.

Racial microaggressions are legion. 

• "I don't see color." 
• "I have black friends." 
• Blacks being followed by security in stores (presuming criminal intent).
• "All lives matter" has become a recent example. 
• At a postseason game over a decade ago, opposing fans chanted "you can't read" at a black girl on our team. 

In the Navy, Sexual Harassment Training was "mandatory." I'm not sure what percentage of us ever attended. Some notoriously needed none. Gender microaggressions are more readily recognized as people add pronouns to their identity. Psychology Today shares some gender and sexual orientation microaggressions.

• An assertive female manager is labeled "bitch," while her male counterpart is described as "a forceful leader."
• Whistles or catcalls are heard from men as a woman walks down the street.
• A young person uses the term "gay" to describe a movie she didn't like (Being gay is associated with negative and undesirable characteristics.   

In coaching, we've heard or seen examples. Patriots coach Bill Parcells famously called the late receiver Terry Glenn, "she." My college baseball coach asked (about afternoon labs at Harvard), "are you serious about baseball or are you here to study?" Putting a player in the "doghouse" is a form of microaggression. 

Microaggressions can have negative health outcomes - impaired immunity, worse physical and cognitive performance, and mental health problems like anxiety and depression. 

We exert unconscious bias in coaching. During tryouts (middle school), I look to project what players could become (future) based on their size, athleticism and skill (now). As discussed in The Playmaker's Advantage, the difference between skill and talent is untapped potential.  Bias is at work. 

Implicit bias is everywhere and unrecognized. We can take implicit bias (implicit association) tests as part of a Harvard study. 

What should we remember? See and confront bias. Know that microaggressions say everything about the source and nothing about the target.

Lagniappe: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”- Alvin Toffler

Lagniappe 2: Scout with Bryan Nets Preview

Basketball: "Enduring" Lessons from Cartoons to Champions

Cartoons are not children's stories. They reveal innovation and choices, our heroic and baser nature. Comedy imprints truths.

They impose defining memories about folly and wisdom. 

Dump old mistakes. 

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance has players read, The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem. A memorable introduction asks four pivotal questions about an experience: 

1) What went well?

2) What went poorly?

3) How can we do better the next time? 

4) What is the enduring lesson? 

Enduring means lasting and persisting through hardship, resilience. People, seasons, stories, games, and books leave indelible lessons. 

1. Women compete. Go to 3:25 of the video (above), the 1996 Olympic Volleyball semifinal Cuba versus Brazil. Amidst ferocious play and fiercer trash talk, Cuba, led by Captain Mireya Luis, fashioned a comeback victory and triggered a fight. 

2. Mindfulness is for champions.

 

Take a mindful breath today. LeBron has. 

3. Foreign players proved tough enough for the NBA wars.

 

Manu Ginobili demonstrates. 

4. It's not all about athleticism. Footwork, fundamentals, and BBIQ matter. 

Chauncey Billups breaks down Luka Doncic skills. 

5. Women get separation off the dribble, too.

Lagniappe. 

Your why matters. 

Lagniappe 2. Vinay Bhavnani breaks down how NBA stars get explosive separation with footwork.

 

"Every day is player development day." 

And footwork...

Basketball: Chris Oliver/Dennis Gates Podcast Notes, Teaching and Learning

Coaches shape events. As a player, fashion your game via your habits and learning. Do not become a victim. Be present and engaged, leaving an impression, depth. 

Education changes behavior. Chris Oliver hosts Cleveland State Coach Dennis Gates discussing education methods. Coach Gates has a Masters in Adult Education. I share excerpts below. 

"You have to have a learning primer" to absorb information. It's the "ability of the young people to absorb" that matters. The Coursera course, "Learning How to Learn" shares worthwhile exercises. 

"Learning is permanent change." - Chris Oliver

Coach Gates advocates for finding solutions...

No one way to learn. "Visual learning" through social media drowns out basketball teaching. Players may grasp a concept via a clip more than on a board. (Youtubetrimmer.com allows us to extract clips as short as five seconds from a YouTube video.)

Players make us better coaches by showing us what they do or don't understand. Either I lacked the ability to teach run and jump to middle school girls or they couldn't grasp "trap and go." 

"Come to me with a solution." - Chris 

Coach Gates says, "H.O.T." meaning higher order thinking, analogous to a quarterback's progressions. (Young people must learn how to learn, how to grow, how to resolve conflict, how to overcome disappointment. Not all adults have these skills.) 

"Inquiry-based learning" expects players to learn by exploring. Knowledge builds instincts. 

Gates says, "you are a participant in your own rescue." The danger is being on the bench. 

"Discussions can motivate athletes to be prepared..." Coach Gates hopes that players will apply lessons learned on the court throughout their lives. 

Not enough to understand but to understand why...

Reflective learning. Relate learning from your lives into the game. Reflective learning prevents recurrent errors...learn from other's mistakes. Coaches have reflective learning as we rewatch games finding what we can do better. 

Film study. Translate what you see into future actions. (UNC soccer coach Anson Dorrance shows positive clips because he believes negative clips hurt his players.)

Player-led learning. Assign players to supervise the learning/self-teaching. Mistakes in practice are valuable, replacing mistakes in games. 

Develop leadership. Program has a sports psychologist. They have a "Freshman Captain," and teach conflict resolution and other skills. 

Freedom. Learn through experience. "We don't experiment in games." 

Affirmations. Hard for young men to trust. Positivity helps confidence. He touches players (e.g. on the shoulder) while building trust. Chris mentions wording, "why are you late" can become, "I'm happy you're here." 

Correction. Feedback is necessary. It can't always be positive. But we can frame an action as a better choice or action. 

Fixing body language. Do you choose, "bad shot" or "how can we do it better?" There is a growth expectation to overcome bad body language. (Pat Summitt and other coaches filmed the bench to measure engagement and body language.)

Observation. Note how actions impact situations and help the team succeed. It might be learning from models. 

Discipline. Coach Gates sees it as a branch of knowledge. Discipline is also behavior choice for the benefit of the individual and the team. 

Lagniappe. From the Knicks to the 2019 Champion Raptors with Scout with Bryan

"Pascal Siakam will get MVP votes." 

Lagniappe 2. Another valuable resource for teaching comes from Doug Lemov in Practice Perfect.  

"Practice, in this framework, is perhaps defined not as a series of drills and activities and scrimmages but as the opportunity to invent or reinvent ourselves in whatever way we wish, by repeatedly doing these activities with strategy and intentionality."