Quiz your players. Find out what they know and how they think. No multiple choice questions, no Jeopardy answers, just fill in the blanks. Don't grade on the curve.
Add value for players. Help them find solutions.
1. Basketball is a game of _______
There's no unitary answer. Bob Knight said, "mistakes." Lots of other possible answers such as "separation" or "cutting and passing." Coach Wooden said, "Basketball is a game meant to be played fast." Superior talent should play fast.
2. The quickest road to improvement is ________
"shot selection." As Newell said, "Get more and better shots than our opponents."
3. “Fouling negates __________”
"hustle." Fouling often turns lower quality (points per possession) shots into free throws (higher percentage).
4. Turnovers kill ___________
"dreams" or "possessions." A turnover equates to a zero percent shot and often "live ball turnovers" become high points per possession for opponents.
5. The most common cause of offense failing is ________
This depends on our team. Possible examples include "lack of hard cutting" or "turnovers" or "poor shot selection." For some, lack of offense is lack of talent.
6. Two key elements of offensive success are paint touches and __________
"ball reversal." Movement (player and ball) kills defenses. Ball reversal can come through the paint, skip passes, or around the perimeter. Statistically paint touches and ball reversal lead to higher points per possession.
7. Three things players want are minutes, shots, and _________
"recognition." Chuck Daly quipped, "NBA players want 48. 48 minutes, 48 shots, 48 million."
8. “The game honors ________”
"toughness." Don't sleep on intangibles - toughness, effort, teamwork, sacrifice, attention to detail. None require exceptional size or athleticism.
9. Never foul a ____________
"jump shot." In one NBA Summer League I watched, there were four fouls of three point shots. Meanwhile, the teams combined to shoot 26 percent from three.
10.Three S’s kill teams - sloth, softness, and ___________
"selfishness." My favorite story about this was about a player who considered himself far above his teammates. In practice, the coach set him up to inbound the ball...and told the rest of his teammates to leave the court. "Now play."
Lagniappe. What kind of player are you?
BAD PLAYERS don’t take much seriously.
— Jamy Bechler (@CoachBechler) July 21, 2025
AVERAGE PLAYERS take games seriously.
GOOD PLAYERS take practice & games seriously.
GREAT PLAYERS take academics, nutrition, warm-ups, ind. work, weight room, conditioning, film, practice & games seriously.
~ @CoachJonBeck
Lagniappe 2. It's not just the concepts. Hard cutting and on-time, on-target passing are musts.
Coaches: This is Coaching 401: Advanced Inbounds Offense. You will need to watch this video two or three times. Here is the summer exercise: Look at the initial set at the beginning and come up with as many reads & plays as possible. Show some coaching creativity. pic.twitter.com/unG1fzDY6A
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 18, 2025
