Saturday, August 17, 2024

Basketball: Avoiding Bad Plays

Recently, I heard that Bill Belichick praised Tom Brady saying, "he kept us out of bad plays." That's akin to Bobby Knight's caution, "Basketball is a game of mistakes." 

A few plays a game often decide outcomes. Make avoiding bad plays a high priority. "Bad plays" cost games and sometimes championships. "Bad plays foster bad losses." Bad teams make more poor decisions and poor plays. Of course, the corollary is, "your bad play was our good fortune." 

There's a saying, "one mistake, bad play. The second time, bad player. The third time, bad coaching." 

When someone says, "Chris Webber" what is your first thought? It should probably be 2021 Hall of Famer. 

Think Joe Pisarcik and "Miracle in the Meadowlands." 

Or the US Women's National Rugby team winning bronze on the final play.  

Red Auerbach talked about his worst loss, as a high school coach where an inbounder threw a behind-the-back pass leading directly to the opponent's winning basket. 

Common "bad plays" to avoid. Here are few of the most common...and most relate back to the "Four Factors." 

  • Poor shot selection. Doc Rivers calls them "shot turnovers" 
  • Bad fouls deserves its own post. Don't convert bad offense into an opponent's high points per possession. 
  • Turnovers, especially live ball turnovers
  • Missed assignments like confusion on individual assignments or pick and roll coverage
  • Bad hands team. Young players can struggle with catching the ball. Practicing passing and catching with weighted balls or medicine balls has tangible value. 

Some coaches, like Anson Dorrance only believe in showing video of positive plays. We don't have to show our bad decisions and bad plays; every game has plenty from both sides. 

Lagniappe. 


Lagniappe 2. Become the best possible teammate by thinking about others as much as about yourself. 
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