Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Basketball: Too Much Fouling

Differential foul shooting opportunity is one of the updated Four Factors. Get to the foul line but don't send opponents there.

Fouling hurts teams in many ways.

  • Free throws are high points per possession shots.
  • Sometimes they replace bad or bailout shots. Don't reward bad shots by fouling. 
  • They get our players in foul trouble which may get them benched or cautious.
  • They allow opponents to come back by scoring with clock stoppage.
  • They lead to player disqualification (fouling out). 
  • Sometimes they impact officials broadly if there's "referee abuse." 
Foul prevention is part mental and part technique. Here are pointers that I've emphasize to reduce fouling: 

1. Make it a point of emphasis. Texas coach Kevin Sivils teaches, "foul for profit." 

2. Don't give the officials an 'excuse'. Make players decide the game, not the officials. If something 'looks like' a foul, it will usually get called, like chopping down on blocked shots. 

3. "SHOW YOUR HANDS." Some coaches literally yell, "show your hands," reminding the referees 'we're avoiding fouls'. 

4. Don't reach in. Use hand discipline. 

5. Advise plays to tap 'up' on the ball instead of swiping down. 

6. Never foul jump shots. Make the opponent make them, especially three-pointers. 

7. Move your feet. Maintaining "legal guarding position" requires good footwork with balance and quickness. 

8. Don't block shots with a "hitting down" follow-through, this often gets called.

9. Avoid "upper bodying" the dribbler. This also leads to fouling. 

10. "Over the back" may not exist (pushing is the call) but be aware that if you're in foul trouble, it's another way to get in trouble.

11. Read the game. If the officials are calling the game tightly, react to that. 

12. Teach foul discipline. For what it's worth, when I coached Cecilia Kay (Boston Herald Dream Team, McDonald's All-American nominee) in middle school, I played her with foul trouble, training her to learn to play with fouls. This has helped her stay on the court in high school as a high impact player.  

Lagniappe. Pitino on effort.  

Lagniappe 2. Accountability means "holding yourself to a high standard." 

Lagniappe 3. Control your fouling. 

 Lagniappe 4. Super video from Dave Love on shooting errors 

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Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Basketball: What Do We Know?

"What do we know? What do we think we know? What do we need to know?" - Murder Investigation Team

Learn from paying attention to British crime drama. 

What do we know?

1. "Be curious not judgmental," falsely attributed to Walt Whitman. We can learn a lot from kids. 

  • Invest in yourself. 
  • "Look for the helpers." - Fred Rogers
  • "I wonder, what if, let's try." - Sesame Street
2. "Every day is player development day." - Dave Smart
  • Some coaches aggregate talent. Some coaches develop talent. Some do both. 
  • Don't blame the talent when you don't develop it. 
  • "Technique beats tactics." - Gregg Popovich  
Some NBA teams had concerns about Indiana players coached by Coach Knight. The concern was that their coaching was so good that they might not improve. 

In The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis explained that the three factors best predicting NBA success were: college attended, college hoop performance, and age at drafting (younger was better). Example: Jason Tatum. 

What do we think we know? Almost everyone trusts their experience. What if our experience is limited or not representative of the broader experience? 

Seeking outside experience or consultation isn't a sign of weakness. Saying "this time is different" instead of "I don't know" burns people. 
  • If our 'Circle of Competence' is small, there's a great chance that we end up on thin ice or in the deep end of the pool without a life preserver.
  • If we rely heavily on small sample size, then we don't see 'tail' risk. If nothing bad happens in a given amount of events, the statistical reliability is about 3/n where n = attempts. With few observations, overconfidence is likely. 
  • Loss aversion is powerful. People feel the pain of loss about twice as intensely as the pleasure of winning. That also leads us to avoid leaving our comfort zone.
What do we need to know?
  • What works and what doesn't? That allows us to do more of what works and less of what doesn't. Similarly, knowing an opponent's strength helps us know what to defend. When we identify our weakness, e.g. transition defense or pick-and-roll defense, invest more time and training in those areas. 
  • What's the 'structure' of success? Stay focused on the four legs of the stool - skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology. Weakness in any area tips the stool over.
  • What's the structure of possessions? Spacing, player and ball movement, and the 'scoring moment'. Restated it's initial positioning, creating advantage, and executing advantage? 
It's easy to say, "everyone knows that." Then watch games or film and see that they clearly do not. 

Lagniappe. The first thing I noticed at the UCONN women's practice was that nobody cut a corner on their initial two laps. Champions don't cut corners. 

Lagniappe 2. Beautiful action, urgent cutting. You could look at this as a deceptive way to get on corner cross-screening for the other. 

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Monday, January 29, 2024

Basketball: Becoming a Beta Leader

Post by @girlnextdoorhoney
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Don't just claim a title, "queen bee" or "beta female."  

Excerpt on beta female: 

A beta female is often extremely intelligent and has the ability to see things from loads of different perspectives.

She enjoys reading and watching documentaries, knowing that hearing new ideas and other people’s opinions is really important. 

Her intelligence is both analytical and emotional.

She is very good at thinking logically and reasonably in regard to work and career. She is great at forming her opinion and can eloquently convey it to others. 

Her emotional intelligence is also very impressive!

She understands how other people work and has the ability to see things from a whole range of perspectives. This means that she is a great part of any friendship group and can settle arguments and disagreements between people. 

Every team member should lead, regardless of playing status.

  • Model excellence
  • Early is "on time"
  • Be the hardest worker on the team
  • Question how to improve the team and individually
  • Excel at home and in the classroom
  • Be a great teammate
  • Bring energy and positivity
  • Be ready for your opportunity
  • Bring credit to your team 
  • Never be a distraction
Lagniappe. Jon Gordon has written many books on leadership and performance, Soup, The Positive Dog, Training Camp, The Hard Hat, The Energy Bus, and more. 

As we experience life, we work with leaders seeking control and leaders who serve. Leaders who serve lead best. 

Lagniappe 2. Learn to be a great teammate. 

Lagniappe 3. Don't be a blame guy.  

 Lagniappe 4. A game of separation...cutting and passing. Be aware of your defender. 


Lagniappe 5. Beautiful action by the Pelicans. Maybe the Celtics started to look for "downscreen DHO" and the Pels slip the downscreen.
 
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Sunday, January 28, 2024

Basketball: Infallibility and Doghouses

Every successful person has failed. Mickey Mantle struck out over 1700 times during a Hall of Fame career. But when he wasn't striking out, he had 536 home runs, appeared in twelve World Series and won seven, and earned twenty All-Star selections. Yet somehow, he only earned 88% of Hall of Fame ballots in 1974. 

Study failure to learn how to succeed. Here's an excerpt:

Chapter 5: Change your response to failure by accepting responsibility

People’s reactions to failure

1. They are angry – taking frustration out on others

2. They cover up mistakes.

3. They speed up – try to leave troubles behind by working harder and faster, but without changing direction.

4. They back up. May lie first and then back up to cover up. Need to be able to admit it.

5. They give up.

Every failure is an opportunity to take the right action and begin again. Need to take full responsibility and admit mistakes. It takes character – we need to get ahead of ourselves and take responsibility for our actions.

Every player has bad practices and bad games. Every coach makes mistakes, too. 

Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors has been most forthcoming about his mistakes. Here's just a partial list from Coaching Toolbox:


Think about where we made coaching errors. I'll list just a few:

1. Distorted work-life balance. Every coach struggles with this. As a volunteer, part-time coach and full-time doctor, I saw this slap me upside the head daily.

2. Keeping priorities straight. Developmental basketball is development. Winning is a bonus not a mandate. 

3. Adding too much to the plate. Young players with limited knowledge, experience, and only three hours of practice per week, soak up a finite amount of information. 

4. "Man's got to know his limitations." Young players have home, school, and other responsibilities in addition to basketball. 


Don't sacrifice young kids on the altar of winning. "Never be a child's last coach." Don't be the guy who puts a twelve year-old in 'the doghouse' from which their only escape is quitting. Have compassion and empathy for players. 

5. Be Helen Mirren. In her MasterClass, Helen Mirren addressed what it takes to be successful in her field. She said, "two things...always be on time and don't be an A*hole." Those rules work for many disciplines. 

Summary: 
  • We're not infallible. Everyone makes mistakes. 
  • Seek work-life balance. 
  • Set and keep priorities.
  • Learn a lot but don't jam it all down players' throats.
  • Have compassion and empathy.
  • "Don't be an A*hole." 
Lagniappe. 
Lagniappe 2. Don't be the guy who takes credit for wins and shines the spotlight on players for losses. It's a type. "We win together and we lose together." 

Lagniappe 3. Coaching offers us the chance to make people better while learning to become better ourselves. 
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Saturday, January 27, 2024

Basketball: What Makes a Hall of Fame Player?

Hall of Fame selection, any Hall of Fame, is terrific. Induction means others consider you worthy. You can't award yourself honors. You can award yourself commitment, energy, hard work, and integrity. But not honors. 

What makes a Hall of Fame player? I'm not talking Olympic, Professional or even college. Get local. 

Nobody can anticipate every contingency. 

Graduate of the school. Come for three years, leave for prep school for a couple of years. No, we won't reward that. 

High impact. You know it when you see it. Some are "no brainer" candidates. Best in class as it were. Some won't qualify because they belong in the "Hall of Very Good." Those athletes might have a basket of varsity letters and everyone remembers them as quality but not exceptional. I have a tee shirt, "the older I get the better I was." I'll never be old enough to deserve individual HoF entry. 

Winners. Some belong to individual sports like Wrestling, Gymnastics, Golf, Swimming, and Track and Field. Others lead teams to league, sectional, and state championships. A few are hybrid between individual and team sports. Winning matters.

Awards and Honors. Players might be All-State, All-Scholastic, Player of the Year, All-League, or receive other awards. Should academics impact the selections? While being valedictorian or National Merit Scholar have value and could help a marginal candidate, they shouldn't push 'very good' into exceptional. 

Character and sportsmanship. Character counts but admittedly it's nebulous. You shouldn't be inducted into the Hall from prison. If the player were a 'bad teammate' or 'polarizing personality', those count against you. Some players were so great (Ty Cobb), that being a total miscreant couldn't keep him out. PEDs obviously have. 

Latent period. Many Halls have an arbitrary waiting period for years after graduation or finishing coaching. There's no magic number. The 'sure bet' candidate could be a first ballot entrant, but starting out, more candidates exist than slots. Even deserving candidates won't necessarily be "first ballot." 

Special situations. A community may want to recognize individuals for contributions. Coaches have a separate category as do contributors which our community calls "Sideline Heroes." 

Miscellaneous. Some athletes were late bloomers who had very good high school careers and then exceptional college careers. Each HoF committee weighs how much additional credit post-graduate years matters. 

Politics. People have feelings. Apples are not oranges. Comparing a swimmer to a baseball player isn't rational. But committees won't want to reward one athlete at the expense of a superior one in the same sport. Athletes from eighty years ago may be 'legendary' but without readily available documentation. In Making Decisions, Ed Smith distinguishes the "deserving" (hard workers, popular) from the "exceptional." As the British National Cricket Selector, his job was to find the latter. 

Practical considerations. Hall of Fame events, plaques, and so forth cost money. Donations and fund raising are always issues. Having a web presence also has costs. Our local HoF web redesign is under construction. It's going to be fantastic. It's not always up and some inductees aren't yet included. 

Here's a profile of one member, a State Champion in three sports!  

Annalisa DeBari

Gymnastics, Track/Field, Volleyball

MELROSE HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS, Class of 2014

Gymnastics, 3 years

Captain, Senior Year

Boston Herald All-Scholastic, 2014

Middlesex League All-Star, 2013, 2014

Middlesex League Champion, 2012, 2013, 2014


Track and Field, 4 years

Massachusetts Divsion 3 State Champion: Triple Jump, 2013

Middlesex League Champion: 100m Hurdles, 2013, 2014


Volleyball, 4 years

Massachusetts State Champions, 2012

Unsung Hero Award, 2013

Middlesex League All-Star, 2013


COLLEGE ACHIEVEMENTS

Tufts University, Class of 2018

Track and Field, 4 Years

Captain, Senior Year

Division 3 All-American: 60m Hurdles, 2017, 2018

NESCAC Most Outstanding Female Performer, 2018

NESCAC Champion: 100m Hurdles, 2018

Most Valuable Player, 2018


"A special thank you to all of my coaches, trainers, and teammates. I had a very fulfilling career that would not have been possible without your encouragement. Also, an incredible thank you to my family. I cannot thank you enough for your sacrifices, and I am forever grateful for your unwavering support since day one."
Lagniappe. A lot of readers ARE in Halls of Fame. If it were special for you, comment.
Lagniappe 2. Huge Carolina and Dean Smith fan here.

Lagniappe 3. Keeping it real. A minute that matters.
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