Unwelcome Coaching Advice, Positioning, "Curry Pivots", Horns Core Series and More

“Brain Trust” - truth or oxymoron...

“There’s nothing cheaper than free advice.” When a coach asks, “what do you think about _______,” we're not giving gratuitous advice on personnel, technique, or tactics. Separate picking a coach's brain and picking on him. 

When asked about a former player, look for context. Are we asked about her or her family? What is she like as a person? Is she wondering about commitment, skill, effort, maturity, or resilience?

Coaches want players who do what we teach, the right way, at the right time.

Defensive positioning. 

• Containing the ball starts with arrival. Move on the pass. When watching defense, does the color (defense) arrive with the ball? #Proximity
• Load to the ball. Be responsible for 1.5 players - yours and help. 
• Drop to the level of the ball. If an offensive player wants to stand in the parking lot, let her. 

Drill. "Curry pivots." Nobody will throw excellent players at us. Build our own. 

Start with self-flips to get into pivoting. After the pivot - work shots, shot fakes, jab step, negative step, and rip through. Do not travel. Add defense to simulate game actions.

Set Play. What core (series) actions belong in our playbook to teach young players? Simple actions, well-executed, yield quality chances. Examples: 

• Pick-and-roll (ball screens)
• Off ball simple screens (cross, down, back, flare)
• Off ball complex screens (stagger, screen the screener, screen the roller - Spain pick and roll)
• Simple cuts (e.g. back cuts)
• Give-and-go 

I teach players, "bigs away will come back into play." 

Lagniappe (something extra). Sherri Coale gets players to find, talk, and scramble.