Legendary Coach Don Meyer kept three notebooks. He kept a basketball information notebook, a general info notebook, and a gratitude notebook that he gave to his wife each year.
Learn every day. EDIRx5 (explain, demonstrate, imitate, repeat times five). Consider teaching offensive principles beginning with video. Regardless, it's individual skills and execution that score. I share excerpts from the video and my notes:
This HoopVision video shows the evolution of "Five-Out" (50, Open, etc.) offense with exceptional clarity. Last season Dallas scored 1.16 points per possession, an NBA record. Rick Carlisle refers to the Triangle Offense (winner of double digit titles), "that offense is extinct." Eleven titles of Triangle Offense paralleled the greatness of Jordan and Kobe.
We teach offense as the synergy of spacing, cutting, screening, and passing.
The NBA narrows the gap with college basketball in three-point shots.
The video illustrates the edge of "opening the paint" and how some squads curl off helpside screens to create layups. Back cuts are another popular action from top to wing cutters.
It shows alternatives to the curl or flare, including direct slip (2:40)
5-out offenses naturally flow from "pace and space" (3:50)
Change in style doesn't guarantee immediate success (4:15)
Isolation tends to reduce length of possessions (4:40)
Basket cuts are especially effective (5:10) via an open lane.
Other popular action(s) is ball reversal and double stagger away (6:15)
With cutters, empty ball screens are defensive challenges (6:55)
"Split" sets up "empty ball screen." And reversal to the "exiting" cutter creates a "help or stay" dilemma for the low defender. (7:05)
Recognize tradeoffs. Skill, manifesting as high shooting percentage and fewer turnovers (Richmond ranking above), may not translate into physical rebounding and drawing fouls.
"Not every big should be facilitating." (10:55)
As coaches, discern what we can do. For youth/inexperienced teams (low skill), expecting high performance (strong shooting, few turnovers) will disappoint...a lot.
Lagniappe. This is not a political statement, it's medical. As a physician for forty years, I'm in my lane. COVID fatigue is understandable. I'm sick of double masking for seven to eight hours a day.
We've had 112 patients in our practice test positive, at least five deaths, and we usually have at least one patient seriously ill in hospital. We also have 10-15 percent of COVID-19 patients chronically ill with fatigue, cough, or shortness of breath for months.
Believing we can dictate to a virus is the height of vanity. The most common spread of coronaviruses is via the airborne/aerosol route. Distancing, handwashing, and masks reduce our chance of contracting or spreading the virus. Need proof? Influenza cases are down OVER 90 percent this season. Remember 3 W's (wash hands, wear masks, watch your distance).
It won't matter how much we love basketball if we're not healthy to enjoy it. Stay safe.
Lagniappe 2. Pindowns into DHO actions are an NBA staple.
Lagniappe 3. The Power of Meaning, from book summary by Sam Davies, The Power of Moments, by the Heath brothers. Meaning increases our work duration and accuracy.
"On one study by Adam Grant of Wharton, lifeguards voluntarily signed up for 43% more hours of work after reading four stories about other lifeguards rescuing drowning swimmers. The stories had increased their interest in the work.
When radiologists were shown photos of the patients whose X-rays they were scanning, they increased both the raw number and the accuracy of their scans. When nurses, assembling surgical kits, met a caregiver who would use the kits, they worked 64% longer than a control group and made 15% fewer errors. Connecting to meaning matters."