Basketball - Coaching Edges

“A primary goal of #teaching anything is the advantage that learning gives to people over their competitors who haven’t been as well taught.”
-Bob Knight pic.twitter.com/60hXwA1ezv

— Bob Starkey (@CoachBobStarkey) November 2, 2024

Coaching edges arise in many domains: (examples)

• Player development 
• Managing tempo - practice, games, timeouts
• Winning matchups, creating mismatches
• System implementation - matching skill sets to mission
• "Absolutes" - limiting turnovers and fouls
• Video study and analysis
• Winning close and late  
• Motivation

Watch a 'generic' struggling team. You know what to expect:

Poor decision-making:

• Low percentage shots
• Undisciplined fouling
• Decision-based turnovers

Poor execution: 

• Unskilled shooting 
• Lack of ball containment and penetration containment
• Execution-based turnovers

Effective coaches stay on point with their philosophy:

- "Sacrifice" 

- "The ball is gold" (value the ball)

- "Pleased but not satisfied..." (no complacency)

Lagniappe. Bad reads lead to suboptimal execution. 

Don’t Guard Yourself

So many players guard themselves by either not making good reads or by not having the skill to execute on the read. This makes the game tougher and results in them being less productive and effective.

The game is hard enough, players don’t need to make it… pic.twitter.com/IbWZea65Xr

— Steve Dagostino (@DagsBasketball) November 1, 2024

Lagniappe 2. It's not enough to draw diagrams showing screens. 

🏀 Bulls assistant coach Dan Craig explains why screening angles are the most important aspect of forcing defenders over a screen and creating a trigger. pic.twitter.com/mMhtuU5U9z

— Coaching U (@Coaching_U) November 2, 2024

Lagniappe 3. Process and results 

“First one to practice, last one to leave, is usually a good indication of who is shooting it well” - Dana Altman

pic.twitter.com/7lVoPRmLYU

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) October 25, 2024