Study winners. Examine their process. Sonny Lane was a great Wakefield High boys basketball coach, compiling a 276-111 record coaching from 1970-1987. That included a state title, multiple sectional championships and league titles.
He inherited a mess. That began with 11 wins and 29 losses over the first two campaigns. After that he went 265-82 (.764) in a league that spawned names like Rollie Massimino, John Killilea, Ronnie Lee, Bob Bigelow, and Mark Plansky.
How?
1) Set high standards. Refurbishing outdoor courts, players painted a sign, "Tech Tourney 1973," foreshadowing the top division sectional championship in his third season.
2) Have a plan. He embodied, "Every day is player development day" early. How do you improve? "Play basketball a lot."
3) Maximize your system. He developed local players despite having the opportunities to recruit top area players using networking.
4) Borrow from the best. He implemented strategies from top college coaches of the time. The framed "Pyramid of Success" decorated our team room. The UCLA 2-2-1 three quarter court press became a staple. He mixed defenses, including "run and jump," sagging and tight man, and a myriad of zone defenses. "1-4 high" was a core offense, borrowed from UNC and Dean Smith, the precursor to modern "horns" sets.
5) Leverage technology. He hired a videographer to film games and his wife Paula drove extended distances to process and retrieve grainy black-and-white film.
6) Shape up. Practice started with jumping rope for five minutes. Coach conditioned "old school" with plenty of 'suicides' - quarter court and back, half and back, three-quarters and back, then full court. Games were easier because practice was hard.
7) Track everything. Managers used "analytics" (shot charts) to track shooting and monitored turnovers, assists, and rebounds. Coach demanded quality shots not "$#!& shots." In a playoff game against perennial powerhouse Andover winners of seventeen straight, our patient offense made 22 passes before making the first shot. The team shot 23 for 42 from the floor in a twenty-point blowout.
8) Attack the basket. Draw fouls and create foul trouble. Practice "pressure" free throws where your partner could say or do anything without physically touching you. The 'daily winner' (most shots made of 4 x 10 = 40) faced off with Coach to determine the number of suicides.
9) Scout. Our scout, Jeff Muth studied opponents and with Coach created a personnel and strategy scouting report on old-fashioned mimeographs.
10) Keep it simple. Before the game he always included the "keys to the game" with a hand-drawn key and three factors that he said would define success.
11) Have your own language. He number defenses and divided the court into zones. One was man defense, the fifty series 1-3-1, and seventies began with seven. Full court pressure was '14' and the UCLA three-quarter court trap was '83'.
12) Prioritize. He preached, family, school, and basketball in that order. Amidst the usual bad Boston weather, he insisted that we have hats and gloves.
"Mentoring is the only shortcut to success." I'm incredibly fortunate to call him Coach and my friend.
Lagniappe. Attention to detail includes separation and a variety of finishes.
