Basketball: The Sacred and Profane of Fundraising, A Problem During a Pandemic

I hate fundraising.There's sacred and profane domains. If I could write "hate" on every grain of Sahara sand, that wouldn't be enough. If it costs 225 bucks to play in a preseason tournament, I'd rather pay the money myself than nickel and dime the parents who are already paying for uniforms and participation fees. 

During the pandemic with economic displacement and families struggling to pay rent and avoid hunger, fundraising takes a back seat to basic needs. Better to fundraise for food pantries or shelters than basketball this season. 

I'll list some of the ways teams have raised money with the caveats above. Let's hope that some semblance of normalcy returns soon. Always check local rules, legality, and tax implications (if any). 

Still, some fundraising coordinators have demonstrated rainmaking success with these approaches.  

Car washes. Patrons give a donation for a free car wash. This has often been combined with raffles in the "two birds with one stone" approach. It's a team building activity that doesn't require an enormous capital outlay and is conducted in the school parking lot. 

Canning. This is the equivalent of panhandling... not a fan. The girls deploy around the community (permit required?) in team gear with coffee cans. 

Comedy club night (portion of sales go to the team). We had several area comedy clubs which fundraisers could reserve for meal service and comedy. It's a more expensive night out and completely driven by parental (and other booster) attendance. 

Food and beverage stands/sales during games. With a newer gym, the only sales allowed are bottled water and candy. Again, this is often coupled with team gear sales and sometimes raffles (lottery ticket "trees" seem popular). 

Poker nights/casino nights. I've only attended one. I am among the world's worst poker players. Outside vendors and facilities ("Community clubs") are needed as well as registration as a charity, police presence, and more. This is an expensive, labor intense way to go. As I recall, the cost was around $100 an entrant. 

Program book/Team Guide. The "program book" is a giveaway that is printed with pictures of the teams, players, and advertisements. The cost of advertisements varies with the size and location. For example a quarter page ad costs less than a half page and the back cover is the most expensive. It means soliciting businesses and organizing "the book" for printing by a printing company. Some families also buy ads to support "Susie" or "Johnny" and the team. My wife served as a coordinator for several years and fortunately has gotten off the meds needed to survive. 

Raffles. Only your imagination is limiting.  

Restaurant discount cards. Team members have modest discounts from restaurants (e.g. $5) and group them (e.g. ten restaurants) and trade the cards for 10-20 dollars. Everybody gets something - the team, the restaurants (business), and the buyers (if they use the cards). It's based on the "reciprocation principle" from Robert Cialdini's "Influence" for those academically inclined. 

Restaurant night (guests designate small amount of sales at a restaurant for a defined two or three hour period). Again, raffles often accompany. 

Team merchandise sales (hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts). How much demand has there been for team merchandise? At one point, it was a lot when the local girls team won ten consecutive league championships including five undefeated seasons. 

Youth basketball camps (e.g. holiday break camps run by players and coaches). This lucrative fundraiser has become beyond onerous as directors now need a medical advisor, a massive handbook of policies and procedures, and proof of immunization of participants (in Massachusetts). 

There's value beyond fundraising with team-building among parents and boosters. But it's not all sunshine and roses. Rivalries and competition among players can spill into booster clubs. 

Lagniappe. Coach Castellaw always with good stuff, here on shooting. 

Basketball: Harsh Truth to the Unwise, Your Grades Define the Death of Dreams (Plus Carleton Lagniappe)

"There is no ability without eligibility."

Nobel Laureate Danny Kahneman and deceased colleague Amos Tversky pioneered the concept of loss aversion. Losing feels twice as bad as winning feels good. Coaches easily embrace that. 

Part of helping players succeed is connecting them with colleges that fit athletically and academically. It's sad when bad grades kill dreams. 

Years ago, my daughters played AAU against the best high school player I had seen. She played like an NBA point guard, over six-feet tall, athletic, skilled...scored outside and inside, a female Iverson. Twenty points for her was child's play. She earned a slot on a major east coast college and never enrolled. I'm guessing she never played college basketball because she didn't have the grades. She was inducted into her school's athletic Hall of Fame. She dropped off the radar. 

When I've written about players to coaches, one of the first questions they ask is whether the player will qualify academically. Some volunteer that a player may not qualify at their institution. And when my daughters played high school sports, multiple coaches volunteered they were sorry that their school's academics wouldn't attract my girls.

Recently, I stumbled across a letter that shared that the school would be delighted to have a player in their program, but their combined GPA and test scores made that impossible. 

Players need to know early that a lack of focus and effort in the classroom may cost them a chance to fulfill their athletic dreams. I'm not saying that a talented athlete needs to know the definition of assiduous. But I'm concerned if they come upon a word they don't know and don't care. Curiosity is a quality of excellence. "How do I improve? Why did that (not) work?" 

Don't let dreams die. 

Lagniappe. Take away easy passes. "If you can't pass at a high level, you can't play." - Dave Smart

Don't suffer from parochial thinking about a global game. 

The Carleton defense. It combines several core concepts: take away what players and teams do well and deny space (one core teaching across many sports is to attack space - under coverage routes in football, through passes in soccer, hit-and-run in baseball)

Basketball Friday: Textures, Where Points Come From, Empty Horns, "Attack Space" and More

Have an identifiable texture like 70's Indiana, 80's Georgetown or UNLV, "Forty Minutes of Hell," or the forever Orange of Syracuse and their 2-3 zone? Great coaches win with different styles. 

What do you want from your program? We don't always get it.

1) Play fundamentally well at both ends.

2) Be efficient...take care of the ball, take quality shots. 

3) Compete every day on and off the court. 

4) Never quit. 

5) Learn life lessons to apply going forward. 

Of course, collegiate coaches recruit to their system while others construct their program around their available talent. 

Which raises the question, how do you develop and practice? 

Drills. DHO Continuous. 

If one favors DHO actions, then continuous DHO offers player and ball movement. We can add a weakside post which offers both a past and secondary screening option.

Key points: 1) Handoff on a platter. No fumbles. 2) Receiver attacks downhill. 3) TTF (take the first option - drive or kick).

Adding defense is the next iteration. 

Concepts. Self-scouting. 

• What works?
• What doesn't work? 
• What can work with our personnel?  

From Nylon Calculus 2020

Almost every team (not the Knicks) score the highest points per possession on the cut. Yet many teams emphasize less efficient (for them) play types (Celtics, above). The NBA champion Lakers had the highest play type bubbles for spot up and transition (below). 

If we want to maximize our offense, "do more of what works and less of what doesn't."

Where will our points arise? 

• Transition (particularly defense into offense)
• Perimeter game (3s)...if so, off what actions (e.g. penetrate and pass, passing out of the short roll, designed plays)
• Set plays looking for layups
• Offensive rebounding
• Free throws

Set play. "Empty Horns" 

Lagniappe. Concepts from BOBs or SLOBs can also play in half court sets. Fast Model shares NBA SLOBs.

Lagniappe 2. Good players separate to attack space and finish. "Win in space." 

I encourage my former player, Cecilia (#45) to exploit her midrange game more. The five second clip shows part of what the six-foot freshman has. 

Use Your Unique Experience to Run Your Show

Think about your team as a drama. Your experience is unique. As a coach/"show runner", you own the writing, the editing, the rehearsal, and production. 

What philosophy do you embrace and why? What inspires or saddens you? Find more inspiration (e.g. teamwork, separation, transition) and less sadness (selfishness, sloppiness/turnovers, play in traffic, bad or forced shots). 

Story. Character. Dialogue. Conflict. Stakes. Coaching is a miniseries. We are complexity not stereotypes. 

What story does our team tell? When we watch a game, each team tells a story.

• Speed to control the whole court
• Size and toughness owning the paint at both ends 
• Aggressive individual defense
• Separation with player and ball movement
• Defenses morphing into multiple configurations
• Intelligence and controlled offense
• Blends among the above
• Disorganization, diffidence, indecision

Characters. Do we have leadership, willing supporting cast, role players who know their lines? What actors drive the plot and how? Are they getting it done? Are there subordinate characters whose ethos, actions, lines, and progress foreshadow bigger roles? 

 

Dialogue is underrated. It's everything said on and off the court. It's practice, communication, and media interactions. Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott shares, "I don't believe that playing video games in the locker room is part of earning the right to win."

Conflict isn't de facto bad or good. It may drive competition which is vital to progress in the competitive cauldron of team development. But it may harm a team if players refuse to play together. I saw a game (live streamed), where it was apparent one player refused to pass to another. What's the source of conflict and who addresses it? 

In a drama or novel, stakes drive interest. What is the coach's future? Is there a "ticking clock" that the heroine must defeat? Skin in the game matters.

The game is the show, a hit or a bust. We don't see everything when we watch, who has a sick sibling, borderline or exemplary grades. Rewrite a better narrative every day. We are the keeper of the story. 

Lagniappe. Make the defense cover the whole floor by spacing. 

Basic video of '5 out' concepts. We know this; our players may not. 

Your Coaching Story: Conflict, Grievance, Resolution

Feel the perils of leadership. The new CEO sat at his desk and found three envelopes labeled "Open in One Month," "Open in Three Months," and "Open in Six Months." After a frustrating first month he opened the first, with a card reading, "Blame your predecessor." He called a staff meeting and explained they faced a tough challenge because the previous administration hadn't dealt with the problems. Morale improved a little bit, but no turnaround. At three months, he opened the second letter, which read, "REORGANIZE." He called another meeting and laid out his plan to reshape management. Things improved briefly, but at six months problems remained. He opened the final envelope, which revealed, "PREPARE THREE ENVELOPES." 

Coaches usually aren't awarded perfect situations. The "last guy" might have retired, found a better job, but probably fell short of expectations and got sacked. The Athletic Director is only dating not marrying. 

As a result of imperfect, problem-laden jobs, we live with conflicts and grievances. 

• The Old Way, New Way, and Better Way.
• Does Seniority Matter?
• These Players Aren't Skilled.
• The Ricky Nelson Phenomenon.
• The Elephant Graveyard. 

The Way. You remember the scene in Hoosiers when Coach Dale meets George (above). Conflict is inevitable because there is no One Way. Experienced coaches know that the Way evolves. A coach lambastes another whose philosophy is one-and-done...and then adopts it. We revise ideas because of the game, the players, and we change. 

Seniority System. 

Are you playing the "best players" or rewarding seniority? The girls 2-20 year growth chart (above) shows the conflict. By age fifteen, most girls are close to peak stature. We assess the triad of size, skill, and athleticism. Many freshman girls are physically ready to compete with or surpass older players. Some parents and older players question whether younger players have paid their dues. A new coach may feel pressured to yield to seniority instead of rocking the boat. That may result in sailing a leaky boat. 

Carl Pierson's The Politics of Coaching shares pitfalls coaches encounter, including parents undermining opportunity for younger players. 

Conflict occurs among players. Erik Spoelstra's truth rankles some, "there is a pecking order on every team." We may hold a player in higher personal regard than her game. 

Never Enough. Unless we recruit, our players will rarely be as skilled as we want. Which is why Dave Smart's "Every day is player development day" is a priority. Whatever your system, smarter, more skilled players execute it better. As a player, own your development. Kevin Eastman says, "you own your paycheck," which may be minutes, money, recognition. 

Frustration with the talent won't improve it. That's unrequited grievance. Living our lives through grievances makes us pitiable not pitied. 

Ricky Nelson Way. 

But it's all right now

I learned my lesson well

You see ya can't please everyone

So ya got to please yourself

Coaches, not parents, own our results. We are hired to be fired. Take extreme ownership of results. 

The Elephant Graveyard. You think you know about the elephant graveyard. You don't. The old elephant wanders off to die. But his friends come, bring him some branches to eat, and kick him, "get up." We get suggestions and pushes and maybe we rise up. But even the Lone Ranger runs out of silver bullets. 

Lagniappe. Scout Bryan shares why the Nets won - switching, high hands, verticality, and more. 

Lagniappe 2. Horns give-and-go blast. 

Basketball: A Dozen Ways to Be Hard to Play Against

“What was addressed after the second period was essentially, ‘We’re too easy to play against offensively.’ We’re hard to play against defensively, I think we’re willing to play the right way. But offensively, we’re too easy to play against,” Cassidy said. (Boston Bruins coach)

What teams were hard to play and hard to coach against? Why? That's the team that we want to become. 

1. Relentlessness. "They run the floor hard every time." 

2. Communication. ELO. Early. Loud. Often. "Silent teams lose." With no fans, we can hear NBA defenses. Last night against the Bulls, you could hear a Celtic defender tell a teammate guarding an iso, "You're all alone." No screener to worry about. 

3. Maturity. Strong teams don't beat themselves with bad shots, foolish turnovers, and breakdowns in transition defense.  

4. Connection. Teamwork. Collaboration. Unity. Ubuntu. Being on the same page. "Circling the wagons." 

5. Skill. There's no unitary statistic for skill but shooting approximates. Tough teams often shoot a higher percentage via skill/shot selection. 

The "Lady of Victory" rewards many of the top shooting teams. 

In the Celtics win last night, they shot over 50 percent from the field and on threes. They won the rebounding battle (by 3), the turnover battle (by 6), and made more free throws (16/20 versus 4/10) than the Bulls. 

Basketball IQ. "It's like having a coach on the floor." The player who reads the play and makes the best decision at the right time earns time and respect. The Playmaker's Advantage suggests playmakers often (6) "take the first" good choice they identify, (7) attacking space to create advantage. Remind players that excellent players win in space.

8 Capitalize on mistakes. Teams commit mistakes and make errors of omission. 9 Turnovers are lost opportunity AND often become opponent easy shots. Bad and excessive fouling reward opponents. 10 "Shot turnovers" are no different than regular turnovers. 

11 "Play longer and harder." Teams with great intensity string together stops and make opponents work for every opportunity. A combination of conditioning, resilience, and knowing how to stay engaged defines them. They maintain focus on winning this possession.

12 Ball pressure. Win the one-on-one matchups starting with ball pressure leading to ball containment. 

None of these are secrets. How many define us? 

Lagniappe. Ball movement. Multiple actions. Own the zone. 

Herd Mentality and Basketball

Follow the crowd or take another path? Often we find safety in numbers. 

Other times the loner escapes. Smoke jumper team leader Wagner Dodge set an "escape fire" at his feet to act as a fire break against a wildfire at Mann Gulch (1949). Most of his men who fled perished. 

Where is the truth? It's complicated. The medical team on a vital mission rehearsed the mission day after day. One day the refrigerator on the rescue chopper was stocked with blood. Go time. That was their only notice. 

Sometimes truth splits hairs. 

One game? Should we have standards across the world? There’s no big push for international goaltending rules, court size, three-point lines, and other rules. 

From FIBA.com

It's about time. Eight states mandate the high school shot clock. The shot clock speeds up the game and rewards persistent defense. It prepares the best players for shot clocks at the next level. The NFHS doesn't concur. 

Zone defense in youth basketball? Nobody disagrees about the value of zone defense in helping defend the pick-and-roll, contain star players, protect players in foul trouble, and force perimeter shots. In our experience, the top girls high school programs in Massachusetts "raise their young" on man-to-man defense. They 'graduate' into mixed and hybrid defenses later. 

The "best" offense? As a youth coach, I believe in exposing players to concepts of space, time, screening, cutting, and passing. Let them discover what's hard to defend when properly executed - transition, pick-and-roll, urgent cutting, direct drives with penetration-and-passing. Teach "how to play" with small-sided-games with constraints of space and time. 

Popularity contest? Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success reminds us that basketball development takes faith and patience. Youths are migrating to volleyball, soccer, and lacrosse. Should we care? 

Say anything. Criticizing LeBron James became an industry after "The Decision." Aside from winning four NBA titles, being the third leading scorer in NBA history, becoming a major philanthropist, an advocate for racial justice, and a successful actor (Trainwreck), he's done nothing. Bill Gates didn't graduate from college either. Don't even start with Tom Brady. 

The other side of the trade. If parents don't advocate for their child, who will? Disagreements about role, minutes, and recognition happen. That doesn't make great parents bad people. Endowment bias distorts our view of our children. 

Positive or negative? "Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm." Coaches have to bring positive energy. That doesn't excuse lack of commitment, poor effort or bad execution. But we can't ignore Coach Bob Knight's belief that "basketball is a game of mistakes." 

On balance, I argue the positive side. 

Lagniappe. Sometimes it feels as though Horns can morph into anything. 

Use Horns to flow into floppy. pic.twitter.com/n9gVQfZOsO

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) January 24, 2021

Practical Tips to Sleep Better

 *Adapted from Matt Walker, MasterClass

The goal is to achieve seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night. 

"Regularity is king." Habits (sleep hygiene) impact our sleep. 

He advises a pre-sleep routine, which could include stretching, bathing, reading, or meditation as a "wind-down" routine. 

He advocates to keep a journal before sleep as a "worry release journal." You can include positives and needs. 

"Keep it cool...the optimal temperature for sleep is about 67 degrees Fahrenheit to facilitate a drop in core body temperature of about two degrees. 

The "warm bath effect" increases skin blood flow which cools the body. 

Decrease light intensity before sleeping as the brain receives signals to release melatonin to help sleep. If you have to use your devices, decrease the light intensity, especially the blue light. Here's a link to blue light filtering software. 

Avoid stimulants like caffeine and nicotine in the afternoon and evening. Do not go to bed "tipsy" which will impact your sleep. 

Sleeping pills (sedatives) don't produce natural sleep and can impair learning and memory. He advises discussing medication with your doctor. 

If you can't 'catch the sleep train' he recommends leaving bed after 25 to 30 minutes and do something else. Break the association between bed and wakefulness or eating. Return to bed when you are sleepy. 

If you have a sleep disorder, they need special treatment (sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome). 

More sleep leads to greater productivity and ideally companies would recognize this. We see movement in schools which are opening later to accommodate the sleep needs of students. 

Dr. Walker calls sleep the "Swiss Army Knife of life" and advises us to become a sleep ambassador to share our collective knowledge. 

Lagniappe. A competitive drill that players enjoy.

Looking for a drill to build rebounding, chemistry, energy, toughness, etc? #courtsideclips #courtsideconsulting pic.twitter.com/ksK2XFrulp

— Coach Cascio | Courtside Consulting (@coachcascio) January 24, 2021

Lagniappe 2. Villanova 1-2-2 press. Some call it a "safe press" because you have more guys back. 

Sleep and Athletic Performance

LeBron James. Roger Federer. Two athletes who prioritize getting a minimum of ten hours of daily sleep. 

What are some consequences of inadequate sleep for athletes? 

• Reduced vertical jump
• Reduced peak weight lift
• Reduced handgrip strength
• Reduced endurance 
• Increased formation of lactic acid (creates shortness of breath and muscle cramps)
• Increased inflammation (via upregulation of genes controlling inflammation)
• Increased injury
• Reduced formation of motor skill memory (occurring during sleep)

"It's almost as though sleep deprivation shuts down your memory inbox." 

Effective sleep acts as a "file transfer" mechanism that secures information.

Daylight savings time never hurt anybody...except for the 24 percent increase in heart attacks the next day after a one hour (spring forward) sleeplessness experiment. This drops 21 percent in the fall when we gain an hour. 

A single night with only four hours of sleep drops natural killer cell (immune) activity by 70 percent. "The shorter your sleep, the shorter your life..."

A mere one week of sleep reduction (to six hours) increases activity in genes favoring cancer, heart disease, and inflammation. 

Dr. Walker recommends: 

1) Regular sleep patterns

2) Reduction of room temperature to about 65 degrees as reduced core body temperature (2-3 degrees) induces and maintains sleep.

"Sleep is a non-negotiable...life support system." 

Sam Ramsden, Seattle Seahawk Director of Player Health and Performance adds, "Sleep is a weapon." 

Summary: 

1) Sleep is essential to optimal mental and physical performance.

2) More sleep produces better speed, strength, and endurance. 

3) Sleep deprivation results in worse learning, memory, and immunity. 

4) Regularizing sleep patterns and environmental cooling help. 

5) Less sleep produces shorter life expectancy. 

Lagniappe. Science of Sleep e-book

Lagniappe 2. Villanova "time and space" LOGO cuts. 

Basketball Friday. Coaching: What Do You Want? A Drill, Concepts, and Set Plays

"What do you want?" Fulfill existential and practical needs. 

Celtics' coach Brad Stevens says that we get more out of coaching than we give. Coaches shape lives. For today, share a drill, three concepts, a set play, and a few extras (lagniappe).  

Drill. "Villanova." Drive, pivot, and pass. 

"Penetrate and pass" actions open perimeter shots. 

Concepts. 1 In stock trading "mean reversion" is an important observation. "Overbought" stocks can work off extended conditions via "price" (falling) or "time." The chart of Tesla (TSLA) shows this phenomenon as time works off high prices. 

We see something similar in training and in games where "plateaus" occur before advances. There is a natural tendency to "let up." 

2  Academics. "There is no ability without eligibility." Set high expectations for learning both on the court and in the classroom. Model lifelong learning and study for our players. 

Teach study methods like the Feynman Technique. Name, explain, research, and simplify the topic. This applies whether it's Newtonian physics or defending the pick-and-roll. Teach process and details. 

Basketball's Newtonian equations, ACHIEVEMENT = SKILL x TIME

Play with more force. Newton's second law, FORCE = MASS x ACCELERATION.  To play with more force, apply more explosive play. 

3 Sleep. Young people require at least eight hours of sleep each night. Sleep extension improves both speed and shooting skill, verified experimentally. Short-term sleep deprivation increases our susceptibility to cold viruses and decreases antibody responses to influenza vaccine. 

Set Play. Attack the defense at every opportunity. 

This SLOB uses a cross-screen for entry, then a DHO with a second screen to set up an open three. 

Lagniappe. Avoid the "Killer S's - sloth, selfishness, softness."

Lagniappe 2. Another set play. Horns, "Cinderella" (Glass Slipper) 

Lagniappe 3. Review. Hubie's absolutes. 

Basketball and Frontier Neuroscience - tDCS, Microdosing, Sensory Deprivation

"The mental is to the physical in basketball four to one." 

Novel techniques like transcranial direct stimulation, microdosing, and sensory deprivation inhabit the nearby horizon. 

Scientists study how the brain reacts to external stimuli using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Fans construct a mental image and prediction of games' outcome, just as statisticians like Ken Pomeroy do. During surprises fans experience pupil dilation and shifts in high level frontal cortex activity. 

So what? Show me something useful. 

NBA players believe in the "hot hand." The graph above shows the likelihood of taking a three-pointer with the next shot DEPENDS on the results of previous shots. The top blue line shows that a players on a three-point streak reinforces the likelihood of taking another one. The orange line shows the "cold" shooter is less likely to do so. Regardless of whether the hot hand exists, players believe. "Alas, this type of behavior does not help anything; a player who makes a 3 pointer is 6% less likely to make his next his 3 than if he had missed his last 3 pointer."

Elite players anticipate the next action because they predict the outcome of a shot better than coaches or novices. 

Can neuroscience tools effect change? A cyclist tried the Halo Sport transcranial direct stimulation tDCS headphones to see if he could improve his personal best at age 41. Mission accomplished. 

Halo Sport enhanced cycling performance and motor skill learning. 

Controversy surrounds the use of "microdosing" of psychoactive medications - marijuana, psilocybin, and LSD. Depending on your perspective, these lie on the "frontier horizon" or "whack job" science. There is research evolving assessing the benefits of microdosing on human performance. It often starts with the military. 

Steph Curry and other NBA players use "sensory deprivation tanks" to facilitate mindfulness training. 

Bottom line is for us to be aware of "frontier science" studied to improve human performance. They won't be available to every athlete. Well-conducted studies assessing the benefits and risks of individual and combined techniques invite investigation. 

Lagniappe: I'm a broken record on attack mentality to score off special situations. Amidst the pandemic, in Massachusetts, SLOBs replace BOBs, so coaches should consider the risks and benefits of SLOBs attacking both sides of the court. Here are the multiple actions magic from Zak Boisvert. 

Basketball: Player Development As the Holy Grail

Add value. Excellent players add value for teammates. Outstanding coaches add value for the players, assistants, and teams. But how?

What "secret sauce" goes into the competitive cauldron that brews success? Success elements include technique, tactics, physiology, and psychology. 

1. Sacrifice. What are you prepared to sacrifice? Everyone says, "I work hard." Few have the will to follow through on the routine, the monotony. 

But sacrifice can mean fewer touches, fewer shots, fewer accolades...and more wins. Teams that marinate in sacrifice reap the rewards. Will Durant, Harden, and Irving sacrifice like Pierce, Garnett, and Allen and capture the flag? 

Study trainers online like Drew Hanlen, Don Kelbick, and a rising cadre of others profiled on theringer.com. “If social media was prevalent around that time, the story would be not that [Jordan and Bryant] were working out, but it would be when they’re not working. Because if they would have posted when they’re working out, that would have been every single day,” Grover says.

2. Focus. The first price is paying attention. Fight distractions. Even a computer "multitasks" by imperceptibly switching between one task and another. Work or study or goof off. We can't have it both ways. 

3. Technique creates advantage, wins one-on-one battles. Separate and finish. High school players won't have the same depth of skill as higher level players. 

- Catch and shoot. (Add time constraints and competition in practice.)

- Catch and shoot against closeouts. 

- Upfake and drive (wing series).

- Face up and score (box drills).

- Score one-on-one (against same and better competition).

- Create two-on-two. 

4. Explore team tactics to create and limit advantage.

- Game understanding (video study)

- Scrimmaging/small-sided games 

5. Physiology. What does my body need? 

- Strength and conditioning

- Blend skills within training (e.g. free throw shooting as rest).

- Measure progress (e.g. completing 8 x 220 yds < 40 secs each with 120 second breaks between, vertical jump) 

- Get adequate sleep (minimum 8 hours)

- Nutrition... fruits, vegetables, hydration (nutritionists don't agree on much - but agree on fruits and vegetables, less sugar, and fewer processed foods)

Sargent jump test

6. Psychology. The ability to play longer and harder with less performance dropoff

- Mindfulness training (UCLA scripts)

- Build and track better habits (have a winning morning routine)

- Visualizations (Ten-minute toughness) 

   - Find solutions

   - Affirmations and visual highlight reel, "every minute of visualization is worth seven minutes of physical practice"

 

Lagniappe. Adam Spinella ATOs. How do actions work? 

 

Lagniappe 2. David Hemery's Sporting Excellence captures how champions think. When discussing courage, downhill skier Ken Read said it's about doing what must be done, staying in a tuck instead of throwing an elbow out that costs you a tenth. The video emphasizes that the Canadians coached each other. 

Basketball: How the Periodic Table Inspires Offense with Multiple Actions with Video Proof

Ideas mysteriously pop into our heads. 

Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev knew that elements were related and developed a "periodic table." The vertical columns also organized "similar" elements. And you thought high school wasted your time? 

How could we use the periodic table to generate offensive actions? We could lay out offensive actions on "cards" and shuffle them to generate multiple actions.

For example, include: 

• Pick-and-roll
• Give-and-go
• Backdoor cut
• Open a gap
• Off-ball-screen
• Dribble handoff (DHO)
• Multiple screens (e.g. screen-the-screener, screen-the-roller, Iverson cut)
• Inside-outside passing

Build two sets of cards. Shuffle. You get Pick-and-roll and Inside-outside passing.

Voila! You get the short roll pass (above). 

Next, you draw back cut and DHO. 

The Clippers oblige with a "5 out" set, cutter, and DHO actions. 

DHO into ballscreen with off-ball screen as an option? T'Wolves run it. 

Open a gap into high pick-and-roll from spread or horns? Heck, everyone operates that. 

Iverson "plus." BBallBreakdown shares how the Cavs create out of the Iverson base action. 

It's easy to be a "couch coach" but I love seeing coaches "shuffle the deck" to create open shots. 

Lagniappe. Excellent players want the truth. Tell it, take it, live it. 

1/ Gregg Popovich on players reacting to the truth. @spurs pic.twitter.com/B7aXziGQm2

— PGC Basketball (@PGCbasketball) January 18, 2021