Teach teams the painful paths to defeat. Use the mental model of inversion to overcome. Experienced coaches have suffered each of these.
1. Force shots. Out of range, contested, off-balance, and 'my turn' shots lose. Pete Carril says, "bad shooters are always open." Everyone doesn't get the same amount of ammunition.
2. Turn the ball over. A turnover is worse than a zero percentage shot because you can't rebound a turnover.
3. Commit bad fouls. Bad fouls create high percentage, uncontested shots (free throws), and add to player and team fouls. Don't "double down" with a dumb foul after a bad shot or turnover.
4. Don't communicate. "Silent teams lose."
5. Don't get back. Bad transition defense equals easy shots for opponents. Easy shots translate into losses.
6. Squander timeouts. Whether needed for rest, substitution, organizing a play, or stopping a run, timeouts are crucial. We won a game because the opposing coach used all his timeouts in the first half to avoid five second calls. When he needed them late, the cupboard was bare.
7. Miss free throws. As Tom Hellen says, "teams that can't shoot free throws last as long in the postseason as dogs who chase cars." We can't erase those memories.
8. Play "Night at the Opera" ball... me, me, me. Selfishness decreases effort (why should I run?), shot quality ("quality of the shot relates to the quality of the pass"), and lowers energy. "The ball has energy."
9. Disengage. Everyone needs full focus in practice and on every possession. One play at any time can sabotage championship dreams.
10. Play one. "The ball scores" so defenders have to play 1.5 players, their own and help if off the ball. Failure to help and rotate aren't lessened by "my guy didn't score." The Navy SEALs say, "two is one and one is none."
11. Be soft on the glass. Poor rebounding results in fewer possessions for us and more for opponents. Poor position and lack of toughness deny defensive boards. Lack of anticipation or aggressiveness stop offensive rebounding.
12. Play in traffic (space jam). Poor spacing shrinks offensive areas. Driving or passing into traffic risks turnovers and creates lower percentage shots because of "contestedness." Win in space.
Because one or two possessions decide many games, don't give away games with a handful of bad possessions.
Behavioral studies show that losing feels about twice as bad as winning feels good. Make avoiding bad plays a priority.
- Force shots.
- Turn the ball over.
- Commit bad fouls.
- Don't get back.
- Miss free throws.
- "The ball has energy."
- Play in traffic (Space Jam)