Coaches seek 'good basketball'. That involves extinguishing 'bad basketball'. Share better choices with young players.
1. "Don't play in the traffic." Dribbling or passing into traffic exposes the basketball to high risk. Great players "win in space."
Offense leverages spacing, player and ball movement, to create high value scoring chances. Traffic is the opposite.
2. "Think shot first," is Don Kelbick's advice. The opposite is immediately putting the ball on the deck. Too many players automatically "think dribble first." Minus the think part...shots are pounds, bounces are ounces.
3. "Value the ball." We heard "the ball is gold," over and over. Crushing the turnover bug presents an eternal challenge. It only matters if you like minutes and you love winning. "Turnovers kill dreams."
4. "Next play." Failed focus allows situations to spin out of control and one bad play to bleed into multiple. Give and get feedback to know whether players are on the same page and that they know their job. The Socratic Method tests the depth of understanding. How do we defend the high ball screen? "We use the 'show, hedge, or fake trap - all the same thing." "What if the ballhandler is a terrible shooter? What could be a better choice?" "Against bad shooters, going under can be a good choice."
5. "Always do your best." Always means always. Always means being our best at home, at school, in meetings, in practice, in games. It doesn't mean perfection, it means our best physical and mental effort in every situation. Our best won't always be the best, but it rejects regret.
Give players specifics not platitudes. Model excellence and players can model us.
Lagniappe. Make accountability a core standard.
Lack of Accountability
— Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness (@coachajkings) January 18, 2025
Nick Saban said, "Everybody's got to be responsible for their own self-determination."
"If you think that not confronting people who don't do the right things is helping your organization, you're absolutely wrong."
Accountability means taking ownership. pic.twitter.com/WePQwXUf1v
Lagniappe 2. Sport rewards athletic explosion. You can't be an imposter in the training room and authentic on the court.
You don’t need a vertical jump program ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/BLNf5PjqQe
— Fred Duncan (@Fred__Duncan) January 17, 2025
Lagniappe 3. Every exceptional player is a minimum of an excellent athlete.
Thanks for reading. If you found this valuable, pay it forward.
— Brett Boettcher (@brettboettcher1) January 17, 2025
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