Fun game, "If I ruled the world." So what changes belong in my basketball world order? Mom had a saying, "who died and made you king?" Nobody.
Consider frameworks of: Structure, safety, philosophy of game play, officiating.
Structure:
Youth basketball. Limit the amount of zone defense per game. Let's say the final five minutes of each half.
Shot clocks. Universal shot clock starting with the high school level. I don't see that happening, for economic reasons and tradition.
Three point line. Move the high school line out an additional nine inches. Increasing the difficulty might dissuade some bad shots.
Safety. There's nothing wrong with aggressive basketball. But I'd like to see two things:
- Eliminate moving screens. Make it a point of officiating emphasis.
- Call fouls for the brutality in the girls' game in the post.
Philosophy of game play. Return more teaching and development of the post game. I'm not saying anyone will become the next Hakeem Olajuwon or Kevin McHale, but there's beauty in the well-executed post game.
Prioritize better passing. Talk it up. Passing is teamwork. Fancy slogans? Don't think that would help.
Officiating. Let's encourage more respect for officials. Officials aren't getting rich and are tired of abuse from parents, players, and coaches. It happens because we accept it. I don't suggest creating a fiefdom of arrogant officials. But guys who start screaming at the referees at the opening tap and protest every call and every non-call? They need to be reined in.
Sportsmanship. Encourage sportsmanship by rewarding it. Disrespectful gestures and standing over players have no place in basketball. Call attention to excellence by modeling it. Running up the score against reserves? Playing 'dirty' basketball? Habitual trash talking? Just stop. Have leagues reward a sportsmanship trophy to one team. There's nothing that excludes excellent teams from sportsmanship. It's not awarding participation trophies. It's rewarding excellence.
What are some of your ideas?
Lagniappe. Fix something.
As a coach you see the good, the bad, the ugly.
— Derek Panchuk (@derekpanchuk) September 28, 2022
And you want to help!
This is the curse of knowledge.
The hard thing is ignoring the 99 things you want to fix. To have the discipline to focus on the one thing that matters right now. To be proactive rather than reactive. pic.twitter.com/EGrsvo2DOe
Lagniappe 2. Sounds interesting.
One of my favorite "water break" drills is 4-minute free throws. 6 baskets, 1 ball per basket, you have 4 minutes to make 2 in a row from all six baskets. If you miss, you step out while the next person at the basket shoots. You cannot rotate or skip baskets without 2 in a row.
— Layton Westmoreland (@coach_dub_cwc) September 27, 2022
Lagniappe 3. The Wright Stuff.
Jay Wright was a CULTURE King.
— Greg Berge (@gb1121) September 28, 2022
How?
Here are 5 quotes from Jay Wright that shed some light.👇 @vucoachjwright pic.twitter.com/BUxxx0HzL5
