"Everybody knows that." I assure you, that is untrue.
Don Meyer is among the greatest coaches whom many do not know. He described coaching progression from blind enthusiasm to sophisticated complexity to mature simplicity.
Simple doesn't mean useless or easy. In fact, many 'biddy basketball' lessons translate to the highest levels of basketball. Constantly remind players about core concepts. Say it, say it again.
"Layups and free throws win games." Basketball enthusiasts with any empathy had to feel something for Nic Claxton who missed ten consecutive free throws on a national stage. "You cannot defend free throws" got lost in translation.
"Movement kills defenses." The most fundamental movement plays are:
With a new group of sixth graders years ago, I noticed our opponent align in a spread offense (5 out, 50, Spread, Wide, Texas, whatever) and yelled, "give and go" and I might as well have called the play for our opponent. Two points.
"Cut urgently." Lazy cutting is a major cause of failed execution. Jay Bilas' Toughnessadvice to 'set up your cut' is another pivotal execution mantra. It's part of Billy Donovan's '95' of what you're doing during the 95 percent of the time you don't have the ball.
"Don't play in the traffic." Great players win in space. Great players win in space. Traffic creates turnovers and low percentage 'contestedness' shots.
But "draw two." LeBron drew a crowd and hit an open Danny Green who didn't knock it down. That doesn't make passing a bad decision.
"The ball is gold." I don't miss hearing, "I know, I know" or "my bad" or worst yet, "it's okay." Turnovers and bad shots are not "okay." In a sport where roughly a third of games at most levels are decided by two possessions or less, giving the ball and easy shots away are mortal sins.
"Technique beats tactics." As Pascal Meurs says, the big shares on the basketball Internet are plays designed to get open shots. Don Meyer asked, "would you rather have two better players or two better plays?" Dave Smart admonishes us, "every day is player development day."
"Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson Excellent teams have shared vision, shared goals, shared sacrifice, and distributed leadership. Share the ball. Nobody loves a ball hog. Nobody wants to play with a selfish player. And nobody cries when the lazy employee quits. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Everyone can't be a great player, but everyone can be a better teammate.
"Be good at what you do a lot." Dave Smart also reminds coaches to be good in transition (defense), in the half court (offense and defense), and at pick-and-roll (offense and defense). See the corollary below.
"Kill your darlings." If it doesn't increase our chance of winning, dump it. Brian McCormick says, "no lines, no laps, no lectures."
Here's a repost of his Table of Contents from Fake Fundamentals.
Lagniappe. Two simple horns actions...Horns elevator drive. This action creates either a 3 off the elevator screen or a pick-and-roll.
Lagniappe 2. Horns DHO (simple but effective) and occupy weak side defenders
Add more tools to our metaphorical toolbox. Ryan Holiday examines principles of stoicism to help us build better habits, become more efficient, and achieve more.
1. Show up daily. "Find a way to make it fun."
"Play" basketball. Make the experience memorable.
Drills like dribble tag use a kid's game to make it fun.
Jumping rope helps build stamina and athleticism.
2. Establish clear systems.
Get everyone on the same page with your philosophy. Sweat the details.
"This is how we will get more and better shots than our opponents."
Clarify responsibilities, especially in offensive and defensive transition (how many to the glass, who goes where?)
3. Don't be so reachable.
We can be 'too' available which allows distraction.
Have the 24 hour 'cooling off' period after games.
4. Face the dragon (deal with what must be faced).
Be professional before we are professionals.
Don't fear the difficult choices.
Have the hard conversations.
5. Stay in control.
"Control what we can control."
Control our ego.
Control our emotions.
6. Shake them up. "I can't want this for you more than you want it for yourself."
Complacency doesn't build ascension.
Does the work ethic match the dream?
"Don't tell me, show me."
7. "Don't drop the ball." The wolf is at the door.
We perform to the level of our training. "Player development is job one."
Make timely but not hasty adjustments.
Practice activities should impact winning. Don't pay homage to traditional activities that don't change outcomes.
Lagniappe. Read Coach Meurs's comments after the video.
This is reminiscent of Coach K's comment, "Make plays don't run plays."
Lagniappe 2. Build your skill set from inside out. Young players, learn to finish around the basket with either hand off either foot or both feet from either side of the basket. The better you finish, the more you'll score and draw fouls.
Lagniappe 3. Stuff 'works' with space and time and urgent cutting and passing.
Life is not a 'zero sum' game. An African proverb explains, "we can go faster alone but farther together." As coaches, work to create more 'relationship wins'.
It's not easy. In post-War Iraq, the "recovery program" sought to increase fairness in energy distribution. The urban hub, Bagdad, got less and the rural areas got more. But everyone was dissatisfied, city dwellers disenfranchised and others feeling they still had inadequate power.
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream tried to achieve win-win by assuring that top executives were compensated at seven times the average worker.
From Benefitnews.com
Chris Voss of the Black Swan Group, a former FBI hostage negotiator shares a MasterClass on negotiation. "The art of negotiation rests on finding common ground with others, making concessions, and demonstrating emotional intelligence and tactical empathy."
We 'hear' about situations where a player attends a college and he and/or family get compensated beyond "legitimate" expectation. The player benefits and the college benefits. But that tilts the playing field for other teams. Win-win is complicated.
Geno Auriemma said he has heard from dissatisfied families that their daughters should play more. The eleven time National Champion coach asks rhetorically, "whom should I sit so your daughter can play more?" It's hard to rob Pietra to pay Paola.
The Ben Simmons - James Harden trade was designed to create a win for both teams. Early on, Philadephia got the edge with Simmons unable to play. But trade outcomes take time. This reminds me of the market adage, that "in the short term, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine."
Stephen Curry returns from injury, moving Jevon Looney to the bench. GSW gets a future Hall of Famer back full-time and Looney responds professionally, telling the coaching staff that he has their backs. Ego control creates win-win.
Recently I spoke with a coach who preached team play and unselfishness. He shared an experience where his team trailed by a point with under ten seconds remaining. His team passed to an open player whose shot missed. After the game, parents of the star player (who was double teamed) asked why their son didn't get the final shot. "With all due respect, that's not how we play." Even had they won, a parent would have been dissatisfied. No win-win was possible.
As an assistant years ago for my friend, I got to work player development, teach the game, develop relationships with players and families, and didn't make substitutions or impact game management beyond suggestions. That was win-win for me.
Later the Rec Department asked me to take my own teams for a more efficient use of coaching resources. That exposed more players to differing coaching philosophies, which as Metallica shared in MasterClass, was "whatever's best for the project."
Middle ground is available if we choose to occupy it with intent and integrity.
Lagniappe. Player development moment. Coach Castellaw shares.
"Possession and possessions" win games. Get the ball and be productive during possessions.
Be specific during every lesson.
1. While teams can improve rebounding, some rebounders have a "nose for the ball" that can't be taught. Get one or two of those guys.
2. Defensive rebounds: emphasize positioning and toughness.
3. Players, find what works for you: block out or "hit and get"
4. Hands up: "no alligator arms"
5. Tip: stationing a guard near the foul line yields about three rebounds per game.
6. Offensive rebounding: anticipation and quickness play
7. Tip outs: if you can't get the ball, keep it alive and a teammate might and occasionally you'll have a 'tap pass' for an assist.
8. Poor situational rebounding (e.g. free throws) will make us crazy. Sandwich the best offensive rebounder.
9. Fake. On the offensive boards, applying some hand pressure to one side of a box out can influence the defender's movements and allow misdirection
10. Be sneaky. When the defender's hand is down, the offensive player can (sometimes) forcefully raise his arm and displace the defender's arm.
Bonus: if the defender is too deep (close to the basket), block her in and get the longer rebound.
Lagniappe. "The zone hates 3 or 4 at the rim." Rebounding is an exploitable weakness of zone defense.
Lagniappe 2. "Player Development moment...develop your philosophy based on surveying teaching.
Lagniappe 3. One common question (on every basketball site) is "what offense should we run for __th graders?" An answer is, "we can't run it if we can't run it" because execution (making plays) defeats strategy (running plays). Study FAILED SETS not just success.
The best rebounding treatise is Coach George Raveling's "War on the Boards"
"No thinking, that comes later." - Sean Connery in Finding Forrest an epic basketball movie
Humans succeed in part because of our ability to use analogies. Analogies bathe us in the light of possibility. I shared this piece recently on analogies that impact winning. This summarized:
Summary:
Playing hard is a skill
Basketball uses military tactics.
Every organization has its DNA.
"There is always a pecking order."
"The ball is a camera."
"The ball has energy."
The great inventor Thomas Edison relied on analogies for his creations. "The bridge that allows us to come up with new ideas is usually an analogy: a way of looking at two things in your memory or in the world and seeing the similarity in their underlying structures."
Daily life immerses us in basketball analogies. Find a few that work for you.
"Work in progress" or "Rome wasn't built in a day..." It takes years to assemble the pieces in a puzzle.
CornerstoneEveryone searches for foundational pieces. Industriousness and Enthusiasm are the cornerstones of Wooden's Pyramid of Success.
Dribble tag is a children's game that serves as an outstanding warmup drill for evasive dribbling under control.
Touchdown passes. Fall in love with easy by looking down the floor for uncontested layups.
Lightning rods Coaches attract criticism for personnel moves, player development, assignment of roles, and strategy.
Lunchpail guys/putting on the hardhat. We celebrate not only the stars but players doing the grunt work.
Hardware/software upgrade. We upgrade the hardware (athleticism) by training and the software (decision-making) with instruction and film review. Mindfulness upgrades BOTH hardware (brain density in memory and learning centers) and the software (focus and decision-making).
Elevator or sandwich screens. In 'a game of movement" combine movement with screening for separation.
Magicians. Magic wasn't the only ballhandler who performed his magic act.
Snipers. Everyone digs the long ball.
Hoover or Windex. Rebounds equal possessions by vacuuming or 'cleaning the glass.'
Glue guy or straw that stirs the drink the former helps the team connect and the latter energizes.
Cancer. Being disruptive can be a good thing unless you're disrupting your own team.
Energizer bunny. Some guys keep 'going and going'
Hair on fire. We hear about 'high octane' players or a guy who plays so hard he seems like he's on fire.
Black hole Matter disappears in a black hole... pass the ball in to some guys and it never come out.
Craftsman, butcher, bricklayer? Players can play with unusual finesse or something less.
"Lightbulbs" Pete Carril guys who light up the court as lightbulbs.
Renaissance Man. Some players (e.g. Bill Bradley, Jaylen Brown) or coaches (Popovich) have a myriad of interests.
Hears a different drummer. Unconventional thinker? Kyrie Irving hears a different drummer.
Force of nature. LeBron, Giannis, Luka, KD. At times these guys are otherworldly.
Harder to fool than sneaking the sun past a rooster. This applies to the wily veterans like Chris Paul.
Does everything in the gym except sell popcorn. The All-Everything guy...
"Coach killers." Bo Schembechler talked about not getting certain guys, who might beat you once a year instead of every day because of their character.
Play chess while others play checkers. Second-order thinking shows unusual clarity of thinking or anticipation.
Cliches...such as "going toe to toe." Announcers analogize from other sports.
Dead man's defense... I use the defensive slander to mean playing six feet under the ball handler. That is also "area code defense."
Ripple effects (e.g. of injury) have extensive and long-lasting impact.
Scylla and Charybdis create difficult decisions (whirlpool or monster) deciding what to take away, how to play closeouts, go big or go small.
Lagniappe. "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." That applies to basketball via older stars or salary caps and so forth. In player development, find multiple ways to get your three-point shot.
Read, read, read. I believe that teaching sports teaches life. Jealousy, envy, selfishness...they destroy teams. Sharing, caring, and team spirit enlivens them.
If you never read anything about basketball, read and embrace Carril. I can't reread these enough. And I suspect many of us say precisely the same things.
Whatever you emphasize and to the degree that you do, you get better at it.
There's a tendency for players to believe that because the coach is talking to someone else, they don't have to listen. If they're all listening, the coach won't have to repeat the same thing to the guys who weren't involved.
The quality of their work habits can overcome anything: praise, criticism, good or bad coaching.
I can check the level of your honesty and commitment by the quality of your effort on the court. You cannot separate sports from your life, no matter how hard you try. Your personality shows up on the court: greed, indifference, whatever, it all shows up. You cannot hide it.
Passing makes everybody feel a part of the game, a part of the team. No single aspect of basketball does more to develop good team play than passing
The essence of character is what I call mental and physical courage. Everybody has the potential for courage, but some people -- because they have had to demonstrate it all their lives -- are good at it, whereas others are not until the need suddenly arises and they have to learn to react. Basketball brings out the need for courage.
Defense is the heart of our game. Good defense is recognizable even when you're losing.
When you demand a lot, my experience has been that you get more.
Size is not the most important thing about rebounding. Knowing how to use your body, seeing where the ball is going, that's what counts.
Pivoting is one of the most underrated techniques and skills, and when you go to teach it, someone always asks, "Why bother?"
Fakes are like lies. The first thing I tell anyone about faking is that if you're going to fake, your move has to look like the real thing.
How do you know if your team has camaraderie? I can tell by the way they walk off the floor at the end of practice. You can feel their happiness vibrating; you can see how they work out together.
When players who have had good high school coaching walk on the floor in college, there isn't much that a coach has to do.
I don't recruit players who are nasty to their parents. That shows they are giving less than they can give and can't forge the bonds essential for a good team. I look for players who understand that the world does not revolve around them. There are so many things that don't show up on the stat sheet, or in the win and loss column, that no one can explain, but you see them and they affect the outcome of games.
Use your assets: You have to take advantage of what you have. Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren did that, and we do it, too. If you have a fast team and you don't run, you're being stupid. And if you have a slow team, you must take the run out of the game.
Lagniappe. "Beware players cutting to the basket in short clock situations."
Lagniappe 2. Screen the zone. Teach a mnemonic - DR FlaPS
D - Drive into gaps
R - Reverse the ball
Fla - Flash to open areas
P - Post up
S - Screen
Drive looking to pass. Teammates remember "the ball is a camera." Move to be seen.
Lagniappe 3. Player development. Self-flips. We can't always have a workout partner. These actions force us to move, balance, find the target quickly, and make shots.
Why write 3000 posts? Maybe I was a pioneer, never playing with or against another Asian-American kid.
Basketball is timeless. Basketball informs highs, lows, and relationships. The journey matters, personal, vivid. This post examines more than half a century of basketball memories - fan, player, parent, coach, and writer.
As a Celtics fan, I remember April 15, 1965. I know Philly fans remember, too.
I shot hoops against a wooden backboard on a tree in the back yard. "3, 2, 1...Sam Jones makes the shot."
A sixth grade game left me with a split lip. Who won? I didn't. Basketball leaves scars.
Freshman basketball at Watertown...during winter vacation, 1969. The gym was so cold that Coach Kelley insisted we wear winter coats on the bench. You could see your breath as though playing hockey. I made three perimeter shots off the wooden backboard. Coach asked, "were you trying to do that?" C'mon, Sam Jones was my idol...
As a sophomore, I went to Winchester to watch two future NBA players from the Middlesex League collide as Lexington's Ron Lee faced off against Bob Bigelow. Lexington built its tradition upon Rollie Massimino's coaching from 1963-1969. The game seemed bigger than life. Lee won. The following season, I took a pair of charges from Lee, the bug to his windshield.
I won the free throw shooting championship at Sam Jones' basketball camp in 1972. My strategy? Go first. Knock down ten in a row outdoors and few kids can make ten straight under pressure.
Years later as a counselor at the camp, I picked up Doug Collins at Logan Airport as a guest. He said his hands weren't big, so he learned to cup the ball against his wrist. I later heard him say the last song he heard before the Olympic loss to the Russians was, "What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted?"
Improbably in the 1972-1973 season, my teammates voted me Captain. I preferred to be called Team Representative. In the "Tech Tournament" (what Massachusetts called States), we overcame a 26-12 second quarter deficit with a 23-0 run against St. John's Prep (22-0) whose star became a Celtics late-round choice. The next round, our Wakefield team beat Lexington (Lee had graduated to Oregon) in overtime at Boston Garden to win the Division I sectional title (below).
Yeah, the shorts...does anyone wear wristbands anymore?
My Harvard basketball highlight was a lonely one, sinking 144 consecutive free throws alone in the Indoor Athletic Building. That eclipsed my one inning of Division I baseball pitching.
Years later our intramural team at BU School of Medicine lost to undergraduate 'gym rats' in the University finals. We lost a 6 point lead in two minutes in the first half when I got in foul trouble. Whatever. My friend Bob Hansen had played for Brown and Pete Seymour was a former tight end from Stanford.
During my decade in the Navy (1981-1991) at Bethesda Naval Hospital, I didn't play or watch much basketball. I played enough to help the doctors' team win a Base championship and got an ACL repair for my trouble. Basketball leaves scars.
From 1999-2002 I coached my identical twin daughters in travel ball. Because they didn't 'make the cut' for the local "A" or "B" teams, I trained the "C" team, not sponsored by Chico's Bail Bonds but you get the picture. I trained Paula as a point guard (she ended up over 5'11") because everyone needs to learn passing. And be sure, there were a lot of bad beats along the way.
The Melrose 2006 team had their moments.
Melrose celebrates a sectional championship 68-54 win over Masconomet as a pair of 22-0 teams squared off at Tsongas Arena in March 2006.
The twins did well over four varsity seasons, going 90-6 and becoming All-League players. Having future WNBA player Sheylani Peddy for three seasons meant a ton for them and to me. As I did, they got to play twice at 'the Gahden'.
Paula (above) and identical twin Karen each have a daughter of their own now. I hope I live to see those little girls on the hardwood someday.
After the twins graduated from high school, I resumed coaching Middle School girls with the goal of maintaining a winning tradition. The results proved especially challenging in the COVID era. Every coach has our list of mistakes, regrets, and opportunities to do better. As Brad Stevens said, "I'd be happy to share it, but we don't have time."
A former player earned a scholarship to Illinois for next fall. Another was tabbed North Shore Player of the Year and named to the Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic teams as a sophomore this season. Both ranked among the top players in New England by a ratings service. Player development pays for those with extreme commitment to excellence.
Now, I read, study the game, and write to give back for those memories given me. As Coach Stevens says, "Coaching gives us so much more than we give." There's no greater term of endearment for me than "Coach."
Lagniappe. "Learning how to write copy that moves the reader to act is essential if you want to ascend to higher levels in your career." - Sam Thomas Davies
Lagniappe 2. Shooting off the dribble.
Lagniappe 3. Xs and Os. A different Celtics Handback Backscreen Lob
Lagniappe 4. Dave Love discusses which finger leaves the basketball last.
Lagniappe 5. Players, do you know what coaches care about? Will you be an asset or a headache?
Tend our metaphorical garden. Present our best self every day.
I have no idea what you’re talking about; my general view is that people who meddle with politics usually meet a miserable end, and indeed they deserve to. I never bother with what is going on in Constantinople; I only worry about sending the fruits of the garden which I cultivate off to be sold there.’ Having said these words, he invited the strangers into his house; his two sons and two daughters presented them with several sorts of sherbet, which they had made themselves, with kaimak enriched with the candied-peel of citrons, with oranges, lemons, pine-apples, pistachio-nuts, and Mocha coffee…‘You must have a vast and magnificent estate,’ said Candide to the turk. ‘I have only twenty acres,’ replied the old man; ‘I and my children cultivate them; and our labour preserves us from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.’ Candide, on his way home, reflected deeply on what the old man had said. ‘This honest Turk,’ he said to Pangloss and Martin, ‘seems to be in a far better place than kings…. I also know,” said Candide, “that we must cultivate our garden.’ - from Candide, Voltaire's philosophical novel
Basketball is the drug that pulls us back in with intoxicating victories and soul-crushing defeats.
"The Red Vineyard" Van Gogh's only sale in life
Commercial success may not reflect artistic merit. Van Gogh sold one painting (among 900) during his lifetime. It took eons for people to recognize his talent.
1. Follow our why. "Every day is personal development day."We are learning machines. Track progress through journaling with a commonplace book, playbook, and drill book.
2. "The magic is in the work." Invest the unrequired time and stay focused. I never started a game as a junior and played seven seconds in one. In a sectional championship game as a senior, I played all 36 minutes.
3. Share specifics. Obsess the details. Leave a legacy. A few words will change lives and we never know when.
4. Positivity unlocks doors. Negativity closes them. Stay positive and show players appreciation for hard work. Be a gratitude champion.
5. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence. "Find a mentor and become one. Think in terms of probabilities. What if? What next?
6. Reinvent our world. Revise. Simplify. "Kill your darlings," eliminate dated or trite material.
This reverse layups line drill develops versatile finishes.
7. Genuine inspiration requires discovery. Artists triumph with imagination and freshness. Inspiration is all around us.
8. Own our mistakes. Players respect humility and honesty.
9. "The game honors toughness." Be tough to play against (screening, first to the floor, cutting urgently, blocking out) and easy to play with (spacing, communicating, passing unselfishly).
10. Catch people in the act of doing well. Use the magic words. "I believe in you."
Recap:
We are learning machines. Become our better version.
Leave a legacy.
Show players gratitude.
Find a mentor. Be one.
Use the magic words. "I believe in you."
Lagniappe. Xs and Os. This spread offense video is worth more study.
Lagniappe 2. Translate from other domains. Someone asked Helen Mirren what it takes to succeed in her business. "Be on time. Don't be an A*hole."
Lagniappe 3. Xs and Os moment. Horns PnR Downscreen
Lagniappe 4. Player development moment. Advice for point guard development...the hardest position to develop in my opinion...
• Focus on the inches of the game – one inch can cause a miss • It is important for kids to stop shooting from their hip – “Your two legs are stronger than one arm” – jump into your shot • You should have a pocket between the ball and your fingers – this is true on both hands • He gives players “homework” assignments to improve their shooting • He wants to have light grip pressure on the ball • Exaggerate your shooting arc in practice • One-foot layups should be shot underhand • Do not dribble at the foul line – dribbles are a variable • The only difference between a free throw and a 3-pointer is the jump • “Work with the kids who deserve it”
When dinosaurs roamed (1970s), dribble handoffs (DHOs) weren't a thing. Times change and in a screening world, DHOs are everywhere.
A regular theme here is, "basketball is a game of getting and preventing separation." Some teams underutilize the DHO but it's a versatile action in "great offense is multiple actions." See if a couple might be right for you.
First, a drill to practice. Casual driving gets casual results.
Hand off "on a platter."
Drive hard downhill (drive or kick)
Relocate.
Be aware that the DHO begins with "dribbling at." If there is overplay, the handoff receiver can backcut for a bounce pass and layup.
Clear and DHO. Simple works. This could play at almost any level.
DHO LeBron.
DHO Backscreen Weak.
Core DHO and second screen from 5 coming across. This challenges defensive decision making.
DHO Backcut weak.
DHO Spain PnR
"It's the execution."
Lagniappe. Sixers Elbow DHO. The play design is to 'draw 2' with the help on an anticipated drive off the DHO...and then kick out for a three.
With time running down, it's unclear whether the long 3 was intended.
Lagniappe 2. DHO video from Basketball Immersion
Some teams use "Pistol action" (e.g. combining a DHO into a PnR) as early offense.
