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Thursday, April 25, 2024

Basketball: Ten Suggestions to Leave Fingerprints (Print and Save Edition)

"Education changes behavior." Impact personal and basketball growth; leave fingerprints on the process. Here are considerations to leave a mark. 

1. Create durable relationships. Disavow the 'self-made man' hubris of the individual triumphing over society. Be the 'anteambulo' who clears the path for others.

2. Help win 'the mental game'. Train players in visualization, affirmations and meditations. Leading figures in society and sport have a process to build resilience. "See it and become it."

3. Teach basketball symmetry.  


4. Share. Phil Jackson's "basketball is sharing" is timeless. Share vision, share sacrifice, and share victory. Sharing means communication and prioritizing teamwork. 

5. "Invert, always invert." Avoid the dreaded S's - selfishness, softness, and sloth. Make others better, grow physical and mental toughness, have an impeccable work ethic. 

6. Make shots and get stops. The goal of each possession is to create quality shots. On defense, allow "one bad shot" or "hard twos." In an analytics-driven era, layups, open threes, and free throws will beat even "good" teams. Apply statistics relevant to your level of play. NBA stats don't apply to middle school. 

7. Compete. Darwin saw that nature valued adaptability. 


Whether coaches or players, change when change is needed. Play "harder for longer" and "do more of what works and less of what doesn't."

8. Our slogan was "TIA - teamwork, improvement, accountability." Maintaining isn't improving. Dr. Fergus Connolly's model says build skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology to impact winning. The best individual players become possession enders creating scores (assists/baskets) and stops (rebounds, steals, changes of possession). 

9. "Don't give games away." Coaches know the many paths to failure. At a minimum, apply the Four Factors to success:

  • Score - EFG% (better shots, better shooting, better passing)
  • Protect the ball - turnovers are zero percent possessions
  • Crash - finish or continue possessions by rebounding
  • Attack - get to the free throw line
10.Handle pressure. Pressure degrades performance. "Handling pressure" means less drop off in performance secondary to pressure defense, fatigue, time, score, and situation. That occurs at both individual and team levels.

At our best, our teams apply these principles and create sustainable competitive advantage.

Lagniappe. Wooden said, "basketball is a game meant to be played fast." 

Lagniappe 2. Screens ball side and help side create options. 

Post by @ryanpannone
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Lagniappe 3. Always a fan of options from Horns sets. 
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