Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Basketball: Urgency, from the Comanches to the Court



Game tied. Our ball, ten seconds left in regulation, what do we do - ATO, BOB, SLOB, versus man, versus zone? Most teams understand the urgency of winning time. Far fewer live that urgency on the opening tap, the first possession, each defensive series. Win each possession and each quarter; play harder and longer than opponents. "Play the possession like getting a stop earns you a pair of Jordans." 

Return to that "game deciding possession," and have a quiver of arrows (actions) that work. 

In Empire of the Summer Moon, S. C. Gwynne explores the technological dominance of the Comanches, the horse. Comanche warriors attacked on horseback, wheeling around and delivering twelve arrows within a minute against an immobile (on foot) adversary with a single shot. Ironically, new technology, the Colt revolver undid their equestrian reign. 

Execute via 1) skill development and 2) coordination of multiple actions. Excel at what we do a lot. 


Dave Smart listed what a team has to be good at to win consistently and in the postseason. It makes perfect sense. Good teams disallow easy baskets and battle with full-throated effort at both ends in the quarter court. 

What's our early offense? Do we operate from a 5 out motion, 4 out 1 in framework, horns, something else? No answer generally means no plan. 

What lens examines play? Watching a team, I look first at spacing offensively and blended ball containment and help defensively. Which team is more aggressive? (At 1:03 of the video, there is no 50-50 ball for daughter Paula). 

After spacing, study the urgency of cutting and passing (player and ball movement), paint touches (penetration), ball reversal, and shot quality. 

Playing in the pre-shot clock era, our mantra was getting a good shot each possession. In a post-season game (1973) against a team that had won seventeen straight, we made 22 passes before scoring on our first shot of the game. In a 57-37 win, our club shot 23-43 from the field. Our "urgency" was patience. 

Modern basketball and rules rendered that style of play obsolete. The game wasn't better just different.

Urgency means being fired up and ready to go at practice, Urban Meyer's "crossing the red line." 

Urgency means Jay Bilas's "Play so hard the coach has to take you out." 

For Kevin Eastman in Why the Best Are the Best, urgency prioritizes now. 


Even children know urgency in Frozen. 


Urgency means now. 

Lagniappe. Chris Dorsey shares. 

Lagniappe 2. Dave Smart wisdom. "Be comfortable with your own philosophy, know what you are doing and why you’re doing it."









 


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