Thrive. Put on a show with good basketball as worthy opponents.
How do teams do that?
1) Attend to detail. Sean McDermott preached to the Bills, "That’s our vision on a day-to-day basis, and that standard is to be a playoff-caliber football team, and that means every day. That’s what it gets back to in terms of earning the right to win. How we meet, how we talk, how we work out, how we practice when we do practice, how we play – that’s the standard we’re trying to get to every day.”
I'm not at anyone's practice so I can't see standard setting, the process, the sausage making.
2) Communicate. Talk on defense. "I've got ball" or "help left" and "pick coming right." It's unnatural. Winning is unnatural.
3) Execute the pick and roll. Sprint to screen. Get there and make contact. Use it or reject it but don't go four feet off the screen.
4) Raise your basketball IQ. "It's not your shot, it's our shot." - Jay Bilas Airball three equals "shot turnover." Shot turnovers equal zero percent possessions.
5) Pressure the ball. No more "dead man's defense," six feet under the ball.
6) Value the ball. "The ball is gold." If you get 65 possessions and turn the ball over 20 plus times, you have a maximum of 45 shots. If you shoot nothing but threes and make 20 percent that's NINE x THREE = 27. You can only beat bad teams using that math.
7) Sprint. "Basketball is a sprinting game not a running game." Trotting in transition doesn't work on offense or defense. Protect the basket, beat your player to half court, stop the ball.
8) "Play harder for longer." That's what worthy competitors do. Be worthy possession by possession. "Win this possession."
9) What's your edge? Good teams have an edge that they leverage relentlessly. It might be spacing with player and ball movement to get easy shots. It might be "honey badger" toughness on defense. Maybe it's a combination.
10) Sport rewards athletic explosion, strength, and conditioning. That allows teams to contain the ball, block out, win the 50-50 balls, set hard screens, take charges and generally be a pain in the backside.
Be worthy. Be relentless. Compete.
Lagniappe. Build the program.
5 Things You’ll Never Regret as a Coach:
— Greg Berge (@gb1121) January 23, 2025
1. Prioritizing culture over results.
2. Developing players into leaders.
3. Setting clear expectations and standards.
4. Leading by example, even when it’s hard.
5. Taking time to reflect and grow.
Do it the right way.
Every time. 🏆
Lagniappe 2. There's no accounting for taste.
You gotta watch Pete Maravich coordination drills. The second one doesn’t seem real. pic.twitter.com/Fe8AM83k8V
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) January 23, 2025
Lagniappe 3. BOB magic.
Saint Joseph’s with an incredible baseline out of bounds play.
— Eric Fawcett (@EricFawcett_) January 22, 2025
Interesting alignment and pattern.
Force the switch, punish the switch.
Nasty stuff. pic.twitter.com/UtbY69N0H8
