"Little things make big things happen." - John Wooden
Attention to detail separates the best from the good. Coach Wooden said Bill Walton's greatness followed willing work on details like footwork that others find tedious.
"Show your hands." Make it harder for officials to wonder whether you're holding, pushing, or reaching in. Too many teams (including some of ours) don't avoid needless fouling. Fouling hurts teams in multiple ways - high points/possession, foul trouble for key players, allows defenses to set up, clock stoppage for opponent comebacks.
"Set up your cut." Jay Bilas reminds Toughness readers to use deception to create advantage against defenders. Change direction, change pace, and time cuts so passers see you (and defenders don't) giving you a sustainable edge.
"Load to the ball." Cover 1.5 (your man and half of another). Helpside defenders (two passes away) should have at least one foot in the paint.
Woods's Advanced Basketball Defense is a keeper.
"Sprint." Basketball is not a running game, it is a sprinting game. About a third of games are decided by two possessions or less. The one time you give submaximal effort in transition could be that possession.
"See both." Mindfulness Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn says in his MasterClass, "Awareness is our superpower." It's not enough to be on the floor if we're mentally disengaged. Locate your man and the ball.
"No middle." If we allow the ball into the paint, bad things happen - layups, fouls, and inside-outside passes for open threes.
Get more from screens. The screener is the second cutter. Look to get positional advantage on the roll from an off-ball screen. Screen selfishly.
Lagniappe. Tom Thibodeau was an early proponent of "Icing" ball screens. For every better mousetrap, a better mouse evolves. This video deserves study.
