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Friday, February 14, 2025

Basketball - A Trick Up Your Sleeve?

Utility separates age and experience. Knowledge is not wisdom. Everyone processes differently.

Examine how craft separates good from extraordinary.

1) Hold something back (offense). During a postseason game long ago, Pentucket Coach McNamara held Iverson action (staggered screens) back until the fourth quarter, then unleashed it with a few point lead. They ran it twice for five points. 


2) Hold something back (defensively). Although it was a low stakes (not meaningless) summer league game, we had experienced high school players. I explained the 2-2-1 three-quarter court trap and advised the girls to keep the ball out of the middle and trap the primary trap zones. Four possessions forced three turnovers converted into scores. 

3) Ask for more. Missing our best player, I asked every player for a little more, one more rebound, one more defensive stop. Although we were underdogs, the girls gave a little bit more and came out ahead. In an even bigger situation, I've asked them to sign a pledge saying they would give their best. It never hurts to ask. 

4) Excel at special situations, BOBs, SLOBs, ATOs. Devote the final portion of every practice to special situations via three possession games - offense-defense-offense. Attack with them. 


SLOB - ZIPPER - BOOMERANG - ROLL. Zipper entry with boomerang (return) to inbounder and rolling post entry. These were only 7th graders. 

5) Do the unexpected. In a given situation, go offense-defense with substitutions. Close and late, put a big on the inbounder to take away lobs and add stress to the passer. 

6) Teach the unexpected. We lost a title game in the Navy when a defender pulled a player down on him, simulating a charge. Teach players never to allow themselves to be dragged down by someone trying to draw a charge. 

7) Self-scout. Where do you allow points and where do you score them? Some teams never run the pick-and-roll, complex screens (screen-the-screener, backscreen-the-roller), or reject the ball screen. Run more hard to defend actions. 

8) Know your role. At some point we may 'age out' of coaching. That doesn't preclude being a mentor or a mensch. A former attorney patient told me that the only advantage of age is knowing more answers. Unfortunately, he said that fewer people want to listen to us. 

9) Write it down. Got an idea? Grab it. Have practice sheets, a drill book, playbook, and notebooks. The faintest stroke of a pen is more permanent than memory. 

Lagniappe. Protect the ball. "Turnovers kill dreams." 
Lagniappe 2. Warm up better. 
Lagniappe 3. Something to think about. 
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