Thursday, April 15, 2021

Fast Five: Basketball Snacks on Your Path to Success Plus Triple Lagniappe

"Run your own race." - Joe Holder, Fitness Guru

Everybody loves snacks. How about basketball snacks? It doesn't have to be huge. "I drank water instead of soda today" or "I skipped dessert." 

1. Larry Bird took 500 free throws before breakfast during high school. Can you take twenty-five or fifty? Track makes. 

2. Gimme Five. Joe Holder in his MasterClass says you could do five minutes of mindfulness or stretching even if you don't have time for a full workout. 

3. Breathe. Joe Holder's wristband reminds him, "BREATHE" to lessen stress. He borrows from James Clear's "Atomic Habits" by suggesting that we set up our environment to make goals easier and distractions harder. 

4. Pillow play. Spare the lamps. Don't break your parents' lamps with basketballs inside the house. Grab a pillow and practice pivoting, front and back (reverse) off both your non-dominant and dominant foot. Pivoting is an under-taught and unappreciated skill that creates separation. 

5. Lason's Law. Live it. 

Prepgirlshoop.com ranks players in states and regions. I coached the #12 ranked player (Samantha Dewey) in the New England region Class of 2022 and the #6 ranked player (Cecilia Kay) in the New England Class of 2024. They deserve the credit as they live improvement, gratifying to any coach. 

Lagniappe. "Every day is player development day." Chris Oliver has a great podcast with frequent interviews with top coaches. This week former NBA star and Vandy coach Jerry Stackhouse shares his clarity about how to defend actions. FWIW, Vanderbilt ranked 234 in NCAA scoring defense (136th in defensive rating adjusted for schedule by KenPom)

Some key points he made:
1) Great defense is about limiting mistakes.
2) High offensive rebounding percentage (30-35%) earns wins (ask Baylor).
3) Grant offensive freedom in exchange for defensive discipline. 
4) Learn from what you don't like to defend...
5) The value of balance appeared in the National Championship game
6) "See both..." be aware of the ball early as well as your man.
7) Defensively get the ball out of the hand from the best players
8) Against 5 out, "drop to space"
9) "Have a backup coverage." 
10) Doesn't like "chops" on closeouts. Get there to deter shooting. 
11) "There are only two ways...the right way and again."
12) When we don't do the right things, we lose. 

These philosophies mesh with the "possession ending" analytics of ending possessions with scores or stops. 

Lagniappe 2. Save seconds "low to high" from Kevin Eastman. 



Lagniappe 3. Leading a team. Doris Kearns Goodwin shares her experience studying Presidential leadership. Leadership matters in government, business, sports, and in every discipline. In her chapter on "Successfully Leading a Team" she makes some key points.
  • COLLABORATION is essential among leaders and followers
  • HUMILITY allows for better relations and productivity
  • RESPECT helps everyone feel better about the process
  • SHARED CREDIT (and BLAME)...great leaders like Lincoln forecast the "Give and Take" work of Adam Grant
  • TONE impacts those around us all the time. 




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