Total Pageviews

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Basketball - "Possession Analysis"

“Examine what is said, not who is speaking.” - African proverb

Don’t rush to judgment based on the speaker without regard to the message. Charlie Munger wisely said, “it is better to be generally right than precisely wrong.”

Execution depends on people, strategy, and operations. Do we have the players, know how, and functional experience to make that work? Matching what we have to what we want defines coaching.

A speed team fares better in transition than in a power game. A team without reliable shooting will likely fail in perimeter offense. A team without toughness will struggle regardless of the style of play. 

When coaches have abundant, sustained success with their program, they don't make sweeping changes. However, if we're not experiencing that degree of success, ask "why not?" 

Go to any recent game video and review a dozen offensive and defensive possessions as an outsider. Track each possession with a standard of "did it generate a quality shot or force a lesser quality shot?"

Possession 1. Houston goes isolation on the first possession getting a jump hook from the low block. On a scale of 10, what quality shot would you rate this? 


Possession 2. Walter Clayton, Jr. averaged 38.6% on three-pointers this season at Florida. What quality shot would this represent? 


Possession 3. Florida initially forces action away from the basket. Houston gets the edge in another isolation (beating ball, you, basket) and scores.
 

Every game sums individual possessions with 'unmeasured' shot quality, defensive mistakes and errors, turnovers, fouls, blockouts, etc. Elite teams "utilize strengths, attack weaknesses" and have the goal of "not leaving money on the table."

Lagniappe. Jeff Janssen on the power of now. 

Lagniappe 2. The essence of defense is "no easy shots" or "hard 2s."  

Posted by at