Monday, October 16, 2023

Basketball: Underrated Five Elements of Execution

High efficiency and fewer mistakes drive success. Here are five simple ideas that help teams win.

1. Develop solid inbounding. Why?

  • Break the press. Good teams defeat pressure. 
  • Get the ball in safely close and late. 
  • Exert advantage in your special situations, e.g.  BOBs, SLOBs, and ATOs. Passes must be on time and on target. Patience is needed to allow plays to develop. Have them on your game play sheet. 
2. "Foul for profit" is Kevin Sivils' term. Excessive fouling puts opponents on the line for high 'points per possession' chances. Even if they were only hitting 65 percent, that's still 1.3 points/possession. "Show your hands," "don't reach in," and "don't swat down to block shots." If it looks like a foul, it will get called.

3. Don't give games away. What are three common ways teams shoot themselves in the foot? 

  • Poor shot selection. Have your sound byte like "ROB - range, open, balanced." 
  • Take care of the basketball. "Turnovers kill dreams." 
  • Be competent at the line. Bill Bradley recommended better targeting in John McPhee's "A Sense of Where You Are." Add pressure during practice. We allowed partners to say anything to the shooter in practice. 
4. Win special situations. We finished each practice with 'specials' - three possession games starting with BOBs, SLOBs, ATOs, or free throws.  

5. Practice 'close and late' situations. Be solid at offensive and defensive delay games. Thinking players will magically execute without practice is folly. 

  • Vary time remaining and score.
  • Include offensive and defensive delays situations (e.g up/down by 6 with three minutes left). 
  • Adjust team fouls. 
  • Practice leading by 3 with 10 seconds left w/o the ball. To foul or not? 
  • Practice trailing by 2 or 3, with one free throw and five seconds left. 
  • Practice trailing by 2, five seconds left SLOB at midcourt. 
Lagniappe. 
Lagniappe 2. Plyometrics. 

Post by @bradjbecca
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