Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Basketball: Six Points of Emphasis for Young Coaches

Still waiting to hear on the local girls high school job (I've never applied). Whoever gets the job, here's my unsolicited advice. Develop your long-term coaching thesis and train to align performance with your philosophy. 

1. Build a culture of learning, enthusiasm, and positivity. Build on Pete Newell's framework of teaching players to "see the game." Having high basketball IQ players gives them and you a better chance to succeed. Use all resources at your disposal, especially video clips. 

2. "Every day is player development day." Fundamentals, especially shooting (not free shooting), require a large time investment. "We can't run what we can't run."

That includes warmups, conditioning and shooting, and scoring at all three levels. In Game 5 of the NBA Finals this year, teams combined to shoot 14/63 (22%) from the arc. If you don't have other ways to score, it will bite you. 

3. "Contain the ball. Contain the ball. Contain the ball." If you can't pressure and stop dribble penetration, your defense will be inefficient. Ball containment requires both mindset and athleticism.

4. Use hard to defend actions. 

  • Pick-and-roll (PnR) and combinations.
  • Hard dribble penetration.
  • Urgent cutting (face and back cuts)
  • Complex screening (Iverson action, staggered screen, Spain PnR - back screen the roller, sequential screening - 'Corner rip')
  • Force long closeouts (via paint touches and ball movement)
5. Have offensive and defensive 'delay' games. Teams need to win under a variety of circumstances, adjusting the tempo to shorten (delay game) or lengthen games. Part of offensive delay is knocking down free throws. 

6. Teach basketball symmetry. 
  • Pressure the ball. Withstand defensive pressure.
  • Force mistakes. Take care of the basketball.
  • "One bad shot." Get and take quality shots.
Lagniappe. "Great offense is multiple actions." 

Lagniappe 2. Quicken your release. 

 

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