"What idiot directed that scene?" - Ron Howard on self-assessment
Coaches seek challenges. Sometimes we get the bear and sometimes the bear gets us. Here are a few painful lessons where the tuition got paid in full. Bill Belichick says, "No team can overcome bad coaching."
1. "We're not ready." We had a new team (sixth graders), a couple of practices and got invited to play a more experienced team. Our girls had not played travel basketball. Our opponents came out in a spread (5 out option) and abused us with give-and-go and backdoor cuts. It was like high schoolers playing middle schoolers. We lost by at least 35 points.
We beat them the next season.
2. "The game honors toughness." We played a small and uber-aggressive team. Their constant in your face play and double teams flustered the girls, despite our superior size. You react or you respond. We didn't respond and lost by a point.
We played them a second time at home, working on ball movement and playing strong with the ball. We led 20-2 at the half. According to my wife, the opposing parents complained that we had new players.
3. "Take your lumps." We had won the "B" league the previous season (going 24-3) and moved up to the "A" division. A week before the season, we lost our big girl to a season-ending knee injury (the girl with double digit D1 offers). We went into the tank and won 3 games. The kids played hard but were out of our league.
4. "I'd do anything...but I won't do that." When I was assistant, we were losing by 17 at the half and the head coach asked me to take over. I changed the rotation, the tempo, and even went "offense defense subs" down the stretch, tying the game in the last minute. But the playing time was manifestly unfair. I put the girls who had played less in during overtime and we lost by two. I told them that we proved our point and that I wanted to be fair as much as I wanted to win.
5. "Never underestimate your opponent." We came out pressing and the extended defense was obviously a mistake, leading to a timeout down 6-0. We took off the press. Our opponents clearly had four of the top five players in the game. We got down by fifteen in the half. Although we battled back to within six in the second half, we couldn't overcome a bad start. I told the girls that my poor coaching put them into a deep hole.
6. "See things as they are." We struggled to contain the ball and I stubbornly persisted in playing 'man' defense. We lost a number of close games as on-ball defenders got beat, the help rotated, and middle school help the helper usually isn't great.
I still believe that individual assignment defense is the way to teach. Finally, late in the season we switched to a hybrid defense to compensate. Guards were to stop the three-point shot and interior defenders take away the basket.
As Kevin Eastman says, "Do it harder. Do it better. Change personnel. #$&%, it ain't working." We beat our arch-rival for the first time in the playoffs.
7. Basketball is not everything. One season, three-quarters through the season, we had a tragic illness in the basketball family. The girls focused on supporting each other off the court and fell apart on the court. I couldn't reach them. The whole experience was deflating but I appreciate how the girls took care of business off the court.
Lagniappe. "Repetitions make reputations." Make it simpler. Bring it closer and advance as you improve. "Every day is player development day."
Lagniappe 2. Everybody runs some screen-the-screener actions. I like to include at least one for teaching purposes.
Killer screen-the-screener BOB. Better if it's previously setup with simple backscreens.
3. Create advantage. We find edges with athleticism, conditioning, focus, skill, knowledge, toughness, teamwork.
- Athleticism - individuals own strength and conditioning...own the jumprope
- Conditioning - condition within drills, practice with high tempo
- Focus - up our focus game with mindfulness; train ourselves to be here now
- Skill - "every day is player development day" use competitive individual and small-group drills and track your personal best
- Knowledge - read and watch video every day...be specific...ask "what am I doing today to improve?"
- Toughness - "Do five more" five more reps, five more sprints, five more pages of reading, five more minutes of study
- Teamwork is the "Third Wave" of growth after commitment and individual development
