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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Basketball: Player Development

"Every day is player development day." - Dave Smart

Player development pays everybody. It pays the player, the family, the player's next coach. The only "loser" is the player's competitor with less skill, will, size, or athleticism.

Think back to Don Meyer's, "would you rather have two better players or two new plays?" Make our own players. 

Find resources to help develop players. That includes a lot of territory - older players, assistants, old guys willing to rebound, online video drills, coaching clinics, FIBA videos, whatever.

The Holy Grail of development often comes from high end trainer videos online - Drew Hanlen, Chris Brickley, Kevin Eastman, Don Kelbick - and older videos from coaches or players like Pete Newell, Pete Maravich, Steve Nash, Steve Alford, whomever. "I don't know who I don't know." 

Here's a clip of Tyrese Maxey working with Drew Hanlen. 

Don't get stuck on the 'cult of personality'. Whether you like a John Calipari, Rick Pitino, or anybody, find material that 1) you trust and 2) you can teach and use to develop. 

If you see a Kevin Durant "float dribble" video and your opinion is, "whatever, it's just a hesi variation," ask "are my players getting separation with it? Will this video help them separate better? 


Basketball is a game of separation and finishing. Basketball actions like jab series, wing attack series, post play, and pick-and-roll blend separation and finishing. 

Every player won't have the commitment and aptitude to become the high ceiling player who plays at the next level. Teach to the player. Sixth graders don't read Shakespeare and that's fine. If you get the prodigy who's a sponge, functioning above grade level, teach more. 

I had the chance to coach such a player, Cecilia Kay, valedictorian, a four-time All-Scholastic, McDonald's All-America nominee, Boston Herald "Dream Teamer," league MVP, Division 1 scholarship recipient. Here she puts up big numbers against the 2024 D2 Massachusetts State Champion. Her team beat them twice. Her school was banned from all postseason sports because of alleged baseball infractions.   

Ideas?

  • Be curious. 
  • Study the game.
  • Study the coaches.
  • Watch basketball and "think along" with the coaches - strategy, tempo, special situations
  • Write (journal, blog, both)
  • Study writers (perspective and craft - Gladwell, Michael Lewis, Hemingway, Tolstoy)
  • Analogy. Analogy brings disciplines together. 
  • Simplify. Make readers smarter than we are. 
Lagniappe. Learn to be uncomfortable. 
Lagniappe 2. Brad Stevens 'must have'. 

Lagniappe 3. One minute at the opening of practice. 

 


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