Coaching: Balance Structure and Emotion in Practice and Play with Specific Suggestions

In his MasterClass, cellist YoYo Ma discusses the challenge and need to balance structure (technical skills) with emotion (creativity) in playing both historic and contemporary works. 

Have you gone to an event where you buy raffle tickets and distribute them among potential prizes? Do you want a chance at the autographed basketball or the high-tech blender? 

Coaches and players confront the same issues in everyday work. How much time belongs to individual skill, strength and conditioning, team offense and defense, video study, and so on? 

Full on structure (technique) may limit creativity. But with too much priority on creativity, errors bleed into execution. Sometimes we hear the 'good angel' and the 'bad angel'. My high school coach would tell us to keep the lid on the behind-the-back dribbling and passing. But the second assistant would whisper in our ears, "you know you have that in your game." And rarely, the Fancy Dan stuff leaked out from beneath the curtains. 

And within the division of labor, define how much time to devote to teaching new material versus refining or correcting the existing 'knowledge base.' With a new team, I presume that we know nothing. 

It's a daunting task. 

Rank our priorities (e.g. 1 to 5+) and prepare implementation.

1. Individual skill development (50%) "it doesn't matter what we do if we can't do it." 
2. Defeating pressure defense. If we can't handle pressure, we'll struggle. Practice against disadvantage (2-3, 4-5, 5-7) and with constraints (e.g. no dribbling)
3. Half court offense (we cannot win 0-0)...combine with shell principles
4. Pick-and-roll (offense and defense) 
5. Zone offense (a necessity because that's how teams play)
6. Special situations (BOB, SLOB, ATO)

Efficiency suggestions: 

• Set high expectations about tempo
• Get into and out of drills quickly
• Condition within drills (I'm not a track coach) with a ball
• Take free throws during "rest" periods (after high intensity play)
• Shoot, shoot, shoot... every player should be getting many (e.g > 150) shots
• Use as many hoops as possible

Racehorse. Change passers every one minute. Crisp passing. Make layups. 

3 x 3 x 3 full court shooting. Track makes. Passer must call out shooter's name to encourage communication. 

Kentucky layups. Track makes. Speed dribbling. Speed layups. 

Lagniappe (something extra). Transition has variable degrees of structure. 

There's no "only way" to get into your offense...but value may come from a healthy blend of structure and emotion (read what's in front of you). 

Lagniappe 2. Getting your shot off. "Basketball is a game of separation."