"One man's meat is another man's poison." We are all teachers and this piece informs points I want to prioritize.
About Justice Sandra Day O'Connor:
"When she wrote separately, concurring or in dissent, she stated her disagreement directly and professionally. She avoided castigating colleagues' opinions." Disagree professionally. Social media is landscape pitted with hostility and recrimination. Is that who we want to be?
From "Numbers Game"
Celtics '32'. Miniature version of Pitino 'quarters' drill. Five 'radians' with three shots along each radian, 3, 2, and 1 point. Finish with two free throws. That makes 32 point perfection on seventeen shots. Score your personal best.
Great for "Camp Driveway" or the playground with a partner.
From "Better Basketball Branding"
Simplicity. Great writers like Ernest Hemingway use more small words and shorter sentences. Legendary Coach Don Meyer said coaching evolves from blind enthusiasm to sophisticated complexity to mature simplicity. Here's a passage from Hemingway,
“How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think than in all other time. I’d like to be an old man to really know. I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time.”
"Simple is hard."
From "Impact Winning"
- warmups (e.g. Villanova Get 50)
- core drills
- small-side games
- competition with conditioning
- strategic practice (e.g. defeating pressure, special situations)
Be humble to find better ways to practice, to teach, to comfort
From "Who Speaks for the 12th Guy?"
Don't have a 'dog house'. You've seen it. Some coaches bury players, ostracizing or isolating them. Why? Perhaps they hope the player will quit in frustration or act out giving them an excuse to cut them. Does anyone think that's leadership?
If we're going to bury people, work in a cemetery not as a coach.
From "What's in our Coaching Philosophy?"
Coaches need a clear, consistent, coherent philosophy. When parents ask our philosophy, respond with core values (e.g. teamwork, improvement, accountability). Simplify our absolutes, such as making the team better and making our teammates better on and off the court. In an era where parent authority over coaching selection has grown, the best philosophy, intent, and even execution won't assure retention.
"Coaching Lessons to Use Everyday"
She always was the first at middle school workouts and the last to leave. Tell her something once and it stuck. She became a three-sport captain at a private school, earning a coveted spot at Annapolis. Now she's a naval officer. Thank you for your service, Lauren.
What kind of fruit falls off our coaching tree?
From "What's in Our Learning Culture?"
Learn better with proven techniques.
- Pomodoro technique - Study 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off
- Spaced repetition - circle back to material studied previously
- Self-testing - what key points have I learned?
Trust the protection. Solid teams manage the pick-and-roll.
Defense is like the burger joint, 5 Guys...coverage and protection. At least the noise level is 85 decibels in 5 Guys (yeah, I measured it).
Be on the same page. Communication intimidates and builds trust.
From "Abusing Officials Has to Stop"
What does study of high level play officiating show? "We analyzed referees’ calls in 250 such incidents, taken from an entire season of the Israeli Basketball Super League, and we found no evidence for favoritism. That is to say, although the situation of potential offensive fouls should be prone to refereeing biases, in our sample the reputation of the players and the teams, the issue of home vs. away teams, and the players’ physical size did not significantly affect the frequency of calls for an offensive foul."
Lagniappe (something extra). Jay Wright teaches post defense. Perimeter pressure is critical to prevent passes over the top to the highly skilled post player.
Jay Wright teaches post defense: pic.twitter.com/4q9elPSbPA
— Jay (@novashot21) July 13, 2022
Lagniappe 2. Performance rating system... quantify performance. Players who score with 'volume shooting' don't always score high. Possession positive plays earn points. Efficiency earns points.
