Keep it simple.
- What does our team need now?
- Do well what we do a lot.
- Do more of what works and less of what doesn't.
Our coach, Sonny Lane used to give us a mimeographed game plan/scouting report before each game with a list of three "keys to the game" (with a drawn picture of a key).
We knew the game plan because we grew up together, accountable to each other.
What are our three specific, 'durable' aims?
1. Get quality shots via spacing, screening, cutting, and passing.
2. Allow "one bad shot" - ball containment, no middle, contesting shots without fouls
3. Take care of the basketball.
As a player, know your job, do it, and be accountable* to the team. And your first job is working to improve every day.
*ACCOUNTABLE - holding yourself to a high standard
Lagniappe (Something extra). All good teams handle pressure.
Within sport, offenses seek to create space, defenses seek to condense it. The same occurs in life. Early man went to Australia about 45,000 B.C. Within two millenia, 22 of 24 animals over 100 pounds became extinct... because man "clear cut" territory with fire... making space. War, "Manifest destiny", space exploration are about territorial expansion.
Lagniappe 2. Match how we play with our personnel. We might "want" to play a certain way but not have the right size, athleticism, knowledge, or skill to play that way. The art of coaching is to make lemons into lemonade. It took John Wooden sixteen years to win a championship at UCLA. Excellence takes time.
Lagniappe 3. Advice for first time coaches. Listen to other coaches and decide what to adopt and what to discard. What's your advice?
I liked this message. "What is the point of this?"
