Basketball: Head, Hands, and Heart in Action with BOBs, "Legacy" Tips, and More

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma emphasizes head, heart, and hands. He shares a joke. A man opened his lunch bag on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, each time saying, "Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, again." His coworker says, "why don't you tell whomever makes your lunch that?" He answers, "I would, but I make my own lunch." We craft our reality... and our sandwiches.

My ambition is sharing ideas not owning them. 

At its best, basketball is art. Structure and emotion blend with power and grace. If it were easy, then we would see art all the time. 

Head. Coach Bob Knight argued that basketball is eighty percent mental. Young players have many needs - athletic development, skill, game knowledge. Let's focus on BOBs here, deviating from the approach of one formation and multiple movements. 

With a capable 1-5 combination, "15" creates opportunities for both and a possible pass for a three point shot coming off the screen.

Against man-to-man, "Orbits" creates deception and opportunity. 

Out of the Box? WHAM. Stress the low zone defender with choices and the middle defender by screening. 

"The head" comes into play continuously during vision, decisions, and execution. In Legacy, James Kerr shares the importance of having a blue head (cool, controlled) under pressure as opposed to the red head (heated, overwhelmed, tense) of the stressed athlete. 

Heart. Metaphorically, we refer to 'heart' as a proxy for toughness, effort, and resilience. All are skills. Train competitiveness with competition during practice...shooting contests, scrimmaging, situational competition, and attempts to beat teammates and your personal best. Confirm 'victory' by making a pressure free throw. 

Many of the Jay Bilas 31 "Toughness" examples illustrate heart, such as:

• "Get on the floor"
• "Run the floor"
• "Play so hard, your coach has to take you out."

I hand out laminated copies of the Bilas Toughness 31 to new groups. 

Hands. Your whole body is an instrument and we do so much with our hands. 

• Direct traffic/positioning
• Signal offenses and defenses
• Disrupt dribbling and passing
• Fake offensively and defensively
• Exhort teammates or the crowd
• Pick up a fallen teammate
• Thank the passer
• Congratulate or console a teammate

Summary: 

• Head, heart, and hands are driving forces
• Basketball is a mental game. 
• Cultivate the "blue head" of calm and control under pressure.
• Metaphorically, we describe heart as toughness and resilience. 
• Many of the Jay Bilas "Toughness" qualities relate to heart. 
• Hands are versatile tools for play and communication. 

Lagniappe: "...every minute of every day." Set expectations high. 

Lagniappe 2. From FastModel Sports a "ball reversal and paint touch"

 

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