Basketball: Assignments "Where's the Beef?"

"This is is how we do it." Does that mean it's the best way or could there be a better way? There's a concept in Japan, "I am what I am because of you." Be that coach. 

Learn across domains. In Michael Pollan's "Intentional Eating" MasterClass, he gives tips and assignments. Tip: buy food not EFLSs - edible food like substances. Shopping the perimeter of the store gets us food and fewer EFLSs. A Twinkie is an EFLS. 

How about basketball? Where's the "food" versus the processed "stuff?"

1. Player development. It's the meat and fish department. Repeat after me, "Every day is player development day." Gregg Popovich says, "Technique beats tactics."

Assignment: Rethink how much and what practices serves player development. 

2. "Kill your darlings." Where's the beef? Everything in practice should serve winning. 

Assignment: what fluff needs to go? 

3. Become more efficient. Practice time is precious. Watching UCONN Women, the Boston Celtics, or the Patriots practice, I'm struck by the tempo and efficiency. Efficiency rules. 

Assignment: work on efficiency. 

• Up the tempo.
• Name everything. "We're on to RACEHORSE." 
• Condition within drills and scrimmaging. 
• Use more baskets, avoid lines.
• Have a written practice schedule to guide us.

4. Make it competitive. The best activities are 'holistic', informing offense, defense, decision-making, conditioning, and competition. Players play, in part, because they love competition. 

Assignment: make activities competitive between groups or for players, achieving their PBs, personal bests. "Beat the Pro," a.k.a. Bill Bradley, is competition to 11, making 11 shots before missing four, as the Pro gets three for a miss. There's no reason why in practice that a player can't make 11 consecutive elbow jumpers someday...not every day. 

5. Elevate our teaching. COVID and age took tolls on me, but that doesn't mean I've stopped learning, teaching, and sharing. I see that you're out there beating your brains in on the court. I honor that. Raise the stakes. 

Assignment: make it holistic, like Dean Smith. Have a 'quote for the day' and a "concept of the day." "Champions do extra." - James Kerr, in Legacy

6. Steal. Picasso said, "Good artists borrow; great artists steal." 

Find ideas everywhere. I was on vacation years ago and met a coach from Indiana who shared a drill called rollouts which was a closeout and live action drill. 

It's an excellent pregame warmup drill. Add constraints like you need a screen before you can score. 

Maybe we might find someone distasteful but still find their concepts or ideas worth stealing.  

Assignment: Find three ideas worth stealing every day. 

7. Share. Phil Jackson said, "Basketball is sharing." 

If I had a mantra, it would be, "share something great" - an idea, quote, movie, book, recipe. 

Assignment: Find one thing to share daily. 

8. Contain the egos. Gregg Popovich teaches, "Get over yourself." Modern basketball observes, "Whoo, look at me!" Flexing, standing over a player after a dunk or 'breaking ankles'. Barry Sanders would hand the touchdown ball to the official. "Act like you've been there before."

Assignment: share elements of basketball 'respect' and sportsmanship regularly. 

9. Find a mentor. "Look for the helpers." - Mr. Rogers  Atul Gawande is an accomplished surgeon and still hired a senior colleague to oversee his surgery. AND he learned from that surgeon. 

Assignment: Seek help humbly. 

10.Remember empathy. Consider how our coaching impacts the players. I'm shocked when I hear coaches who've called players useless, worthless, or disloyal because the player doesn't serve the coach's interests. It isn't written anywhere that a great coach should be a soulless mercenary. 

I knew a doctor who said his father was a surgeon who came home and said, "It was a bad day. I only made two nurses cry." 

Assignment: Find a way to support a teammate or a colleague every day. Kind words cost nothing. 

Lagniappe. We don't have to use everything. Find a few.