Basketball: Find Edges. What Price Are You Prepared to Pay?

"Repetitions make reputations." 

Develop edges. Basketball Friday focuses on concepts, a drill, and a set play. 

1. Study. What can I improve this summer? 
2. Teach. How can I improve my teaching? 
3. Communicate. How can I share better? 
4. Develop. Where's the frontier? 

Reading and writing fill my "commonplace book" of progress. Most of us can refine our knowledge of every area. 

Lemov's "Coach's Guide to Teaching" informs our teaching and coaching. Can we "learn" enough to free working memory, can we "see" better, sharpen perception (e.g. less cellphone use), and help players "respond" automatically to specific situations?

Without a team for next season, my blog communicates daily messages. Work on clarity and simplicity. "A back cut goes to the ball and then away," a "back pivot has your back leading," and "your first thought is shot." Or defensively, each team defender should think, "no easy baskets." 

"Every day is player development day." Help players improve physically and mentally.

• Shoot off the catch, off the fake, off the dribble. 
• Attack off the catch, eliminate wasted motion.  
• Think better - shot selection, reading defenses, avoiding traffic. "Win in space." 

Superior material often prevails over superior coaching. Every player owns their paycheck - role, minutes, shots, credit. How are you helping yourself today? What price are you prepared to pay? "It's too much time, too much work, too much mental effort." 

Drill. UCONN 4 minute shooting. 

The UCONN women have a "four-minute shooting drill" at both ends. Managers track shots made. The Breanna Stewart-led first team made 175 elbow jump shots in four minutes. 

Set Play. Here are a couple of tap plays. 

Lagniappe. Chris Holtmann has been mentioned (who hasn't) as a possible Brad Stevens replacement. I doubt it. Here are some Holtmann-coached OSU horns sets. 

The video shares options on corner backcuts, cross-screens, and pindowns. 

Lagniappe 2. From Gary Washburn and The Boston Globe. "Seasoned head coach Nate McMillan has turned around the Atlanta Hawks after the Pacers fired him last fall. The common denominator is coaching acumen and relating to players. Stevens obviously plans to find a candidate who can fill multiple roles as a head coach and it’s refreshing to see that he is exploring coaches who may be able to do what he was unable in his final few seasons — reach the players completely and create a fruitful environment for rapid improvement."

Lagniappe 3. Mental models. Learn to think conceptually.

What two changes would produce the most change for our program? Better shot selection leading to improved effective field goal percentage and reducing turnovers.