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Sunday, February 16, 2025

Basketball - Extra Possessions

Create value in different ways as a possession ender (especially scores), possession saver, or both. 

Possession enders are the stars and possession savers can be the glue. 

Extra CARE - concentration, anticipation, reaction, execution - goes into extra possessions. The ability to read a play and react to the ball or getting into a passing lane can change everything. Seeing a ball handler turn his back and respond with pressure can change that possession. Helping when a teammate gets beaten can force a more difficult shot.  

Coaches see beyond the book into players' ability to impact winning. 

Extra Possessions Unseen in 'The Book'

Where do 'extra possessions' arise? "Extra" possessions correlate with extra effort, usually not measured in the usual scorebook. 

  • Turn 50-50 balls into 100 percent possession. 
  • Force turnovers (e.g. travels, bad passes, violations).
  • Be a pressure relief guy against the press. 
  • Take charges.
  • Force held balls. 
  • Save balls. 
  • Communicate beyond expectations. 
  • Avoid turning the ball over. 
  • Learn a specialty craft like inbounding the ball. 
  • Reduce "bad shots" to a minimum. 
"Coaches' eyes" see contributions beyond the book. Tracking them via an assistant or film review and sharing those positives with players energizes and rewards complementary players. 

Lagniappe. Don't underestimate special situations (end-of-quarter, end-of-game). From Morgan Housel's Same as Ever, "Nassim Taleb says, “Invest in preparedness, not in prediction.”"

Lagniappe 2. "Don't blame, don't complain, don't make excuses." - John Wooden  

Lagniappe 3. Get vision aligned. 

Lagniappe 4. Find reasons to believe. You've probably never heard of my favorite sports movie, "Saint Ralph," the "Rocky" of cross country. Sometimes nobody gives you a chance to win and you ignore them. 

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