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Friday, June 7, 2024

Basketball: Wands and Wishes

Play along. What "if I ruled the (basketball) world?" How would I change that world? 

1) Improve access. Reduce costs. Youth sports are big business, over 10 billion dollars. Participation costs steadily go up. Even watching your children and grandchildren play has become crazy expensive. 

2) Serve the kids. "Never be a child's last coach." Yes, the seduction of being the smartest guy in the room empowers some coaches. Don't demean kids; don't sacrifice preadolescents on your temple's altar of victory. The game is about the players. 

3) Cultivate relationships with everyone - players, fellow coaches, families, officials, custodians. Life is a team sport. 

4) Keep the players safe. For coaches who teach moving screens and accept "dirty" play, not physical play, stop it. I've written letters to league officials about coaches whose style of play is "gorilla basketball." If you want to coach football, have at it. If you've knocked out four of our players in a game, are you proud? You still lost. If you're brand is "take her out" or "sweep the leg," don't go away mad, just go away. 

5) Prioritize skill development. "Every day is player development day." Study great players, great coaches, great trainers. 

6) More practice. The proper ratio of practice to games is undefined. But young players need to grow vision, decision-making, and execution. Games are mini-tests and learning to win counts. But without a long-term educational program of fundamental teaching, quality suffers. 

7) Don't make it about you. "Are you building a program or a statue?" Maybe you need minstrels to sing ballads about your genius. That's sad. 

8) Think critically. Don't blindly agree with anyone, Brian McCormick (Fake Fundamentals, The 21st Century Basketball Practice), J.J. Redick, Perk, or bloggers. Ron Howard says, "The director is the keeper of the story." Advance the story with skill, strategy, strength and conditioning, resilience training. 

9) Think again. Put everything under the microscope. Can we do it better? 

10) "Speak greatness." Rod Olson's advice helps. Better to say, "that was good AND, than that was good BUT." Catch people in the act of doing things right. Find ways to praise, console, encourage. And raise up a young player or team with "I believe in you."  

I have no wand or wishes to dispense. Maybe you do.

Lagniappe. Make our opponent earn whatever they get. 

Lagniappe 2. Clear and find. 

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