Basketball isn't always at the forefront of innovation. "Total Football" was a Dutch creation that captured the football world. First, an AI summary:
Total Football is a football strategy that was first developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s. It involves a highly flexible system of play that allows players to interchange positions and responsibilities, with the aim of overwhelming the opposition through constant movement and attacking pressure.
The principles of Total Football include:
Positional interchangeability: Players are expected to be able to play in multiple positions, with a focus on fluid movement and flexibility.
Collective pressing: All players are expected to press and defend as a unit, regardless of their position on the pitch.
Attacking from all areas: Total Football relies on constant attacking pressure from all areas of the pitch, with players moving forward and backward as needed to create opportunities.
Rapid transitions: The team should be able to quickly transition from defense to attack, and from attack to defense, in order to maintain momentum and pressure on the opposition.
Constant movement: Players should be constantly moving and looking for ways to create space and opportunities, both on and off the ball.
Overall, Total Football requires a high degree of tactical awareness, technical skill, and physical fitness from all players, as well as a strong team ethic and commitment to the collective effort.
Some elements sound familiar, right?
1. Positionless basketball: Basketball trends toward players having diffuse skills sets both offensively and defensively, including being able to switch and defend multiple positions. Current iterations often favor creating switches to mismatches. For example on the Celtics, teams set up switches to get a perimeter player (e.g. Trey Young) matched up with Al Horford or Sam Hauser.
2. Collective pressing: "The strength of the wolf is the pack." Basketball allows for enough substitution to allow pressing units, especially with less experienced or less capable teams. All good teams must be able to handle and to apply pressure. I favor "advantage-disadvantage" practice - 2 v 3, 4 v 5, and 5 v 7.
3. High octane: Coach Wooden said, "Basketball is a game meant to be played fast." This applies to both attack and conversion (transitions). Teams with talent advantages seize the day by playing higher tempo basketball. Conversely, underdogs may gain an edge by controlling tempo and limiting the number of possessions.
4. Motion offense: "Movement kills defense." Another elite coach, Bob Knight often gets credited with creating motion offense. It blends concepts of spacing, cutting, passing, and screening. Core principles emphasize getting separation and advantage for high quality shots. Attention to details of vision, setting up cuts, reading defenders, urgent cutting, and timely passing in space and time define success or failure.
The similarities between successful actions are striking.
Lagniappe. Skill, strategy, physicality, psychology. The focus of Coach Ayers here is physicality. Adapt the training to your needs.
