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Friday, October 10, 2025

Basketball - Cautionary Tales and the Curse of Knowledge (Assume Nothing. Say Everything)

The 'Curse of Knowledge' happens when our message or orders gets transmitted, received but misinterpreted, and acted upon inappropriately. We tell someone to go 'left' from our perspective, meaning 'right' from theirs. We say, "No" and they hear, "Go." 

In other words, the intent gets miscommunicated with catastrophic results. All of us have been involved in catastrophic losses where miscommunication or mental mistakes led to losses.  

A military example from ChatGPT:

The Crimean War Connection

The Crimean War (1853–1856) is often used as a historical case study for the curse of knowledge, particularly in the context of military leadership and medical care:

British Officers and Tactical Blindness

Many British military leaders during the Crimean War were aristocrats who had been trained in outdated tactics from previous wars. They assumed their subordinates understood complex and unspoken strategic conventions. Orders were often vague, reflecting the leaders’ belief that everyone saw the battlefield as they did.

  • Example: The infamous Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) was the result of miscommunication. Lord Raglan issued an order assuming his intent was obvious. But his subordinates misinterpreted it, leading to a disastrous frontal assault on a well-defended artillery position. "Into the Valley of Death rode the 600."

This reflects the curse of knowledge: Raglan knew what he meant, but couldn’t imagine how unclear his instructions were to others who didn’t have his vantage point.

What about in basketball and sports? In a high school game, the defender was told the ballhandler was left-handed, to force him right. That misktake played right into his hands. Sometimes teams understand they are to play one defense when the coach meant another. 

Rickey Henderson was a phenomenal baserunner, even as a minor leaguer. But he wanted signals. So third base coach Tom Trebelhorn flashed him signals, followed by the universal 'take off' (cancel) sign. Rickey steals second. Trebelhorn repeats. Rickey steals again. The coach says, "Rickey, you want signals and now you ignore them." "Coach, you gave the me the 'take off' sign so I took off." 

In the National Title game, Chris Webber famously called a timeout that Michigan didn't have, thinking the bench signaled for one. That resulted in a technical foul, shots, loss of possession and a loss. The information was asymmetric. 

More AI input:

Once you know a play, a concept, or a read, it’s hard to remember what it’s like not to know it. That gap in perspective causes problems:

  • Coaches give instructions that seem clear to them but leave players confused.

  • Veteran players assume teammates “should’ve known” to cut, screen, or rotate.

  • Everyone gets frustrated, but the real issue is an unspoken assumption—not a lack of effort or intelligence.

🏀 Real or Potential Bad Outcomes

1. Wasted Possessions

A point guard calls a play but mumbles part of the terminology or assumes everyone knows the signal. The wing doesn't make the expected backdoor cut. Turnover. The playcaller might say, “We went over this!”—but going over it once doesn’t mean it landed.

Outcome: Miscommunication → Turnover → Lost scoring opportunity.

2. Defensive Breakdowns

One player expects a switch; the other stays with their man. Wide-open layup. The curse strikes when defenders assume their teammates recognize the coverage call or the read.

Outcome: Confusion → Easy basket → Deflated team energy.

3. Late-Game Meltdowns

In pressure moments, teams revert to habits. If situational plays aren’t over-communicated in practice—and assumed knowledge fills the gaps—chaos ensues.

Example: A player runs out the clock thinking the team is ahead, when it’s actually tied. Everyone thought everyone else knew the score.

🧩 Preventing It

Over-communication is clarity.

  • Coaches must teach like nobody knows—even if it means repeating.

  • Players must check for shared understanding, not just assume it.

  • Teams thrive when questions are safe and encouraged.

“Assume nothing. Say everything.”

Final Thought

In tight games, it’s not always the talent gap that shows—it’s the communication gap. The Curse of Knowledge hides in plain sight, and it punishes those who assume understanding rather than building it. When a third of games are decided by two or fewer possessions, it's massive. 

  • Get feedback. 
  • Avoid jargon. 
  • Practice situations. 
Lagniappe. Act like a champion. 

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Thursday, October 9, 2025

Basketball - OGs Are Archeologists, Digging for Wisdom

"And I see many organizations becoming “in school.” I truly believe the best organizations in sport and business are a hybrid model and incorporate analytical evaluations with human evaluations." - Clint Hurdle, in "Hurdle-isms"

Students don't often appreciate the privilege of being "in school," spoon-fed knowledge about literature, history, science, and mathematics. OGs are archeologists, digging for wisdom and often finding dirt.

A Kevin Durant quote sticks with me, "How do I get better today?" The usual answer is reading, searching for wisdom in the universe of books. 

Clint Hurdle told the story of the dying judo master pondered his remaining days, "“No, I entered this world a ‘white belt,’ and I want to enter my next world as a ‘white belt.’ I will always strive to be a lifelong learner.”" 

Curiosity and openness give us a chance to "think again." 

Jackie Chan says what Coach Don Meyer shared about the stages of coaching. There is "blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity." Exceptional coaching distills expansive knowledge into simplicity. 

How can we inform our students of their opportunity? The Japanese call it, "Beginner's mind." We could start every practice with Pete Newell's quote, "Get more and better shots than our opponent." Dr. Fergus Connolly, Human Performance expert says that if it doesn't impact winning, then it doesn't belong in practice. Brian McCormick expresses it another way in his Fake Fundamentals series. 

What belongs in our coaching excavations?

  • Condition with the basketball. Is it basketball practice or track? 
  • Simplicity is hard. 
  • "Make practice hard so that games are easy." 
  • Practice should reproduce the game. Dribble tag inside the arc is a great way to open practice - ball, you, competition, fun. 
  • Add constraints of time, space, and score. 
  • When did you last play "Five on zero" in a game? 
  • Basketball is a game of "passing and cutting." So why do so many players worship the dribble? Do we "pay by the dribble?"
  • Great activities merge offense, defense, competition, conditioning, and decision-making? Do we scrimmage enough? 
  • Get more 'touches' and decision-making with small-sided games. 
  • The Game distills to winning one-on-one battles.
  • I taught my daughters, "If you can't do it in two dribbles, you can't do it."
  • I strived to teach players to finish with one dribble from anywhere inside the arc. 
What are your core tools for discovery? 

Lagniappe. Don't memorize long lists. Choose the core elements you want to master. 

 


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Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Basketball - Coaching Challenges Us

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal." - Picasso 

I stole my father’s model for how to live. I never heard a bad word said about him. He worked hard, didn’t criticize others, and never pressured anyone.

I can’t meet that standard.

Coaching ensures criticism. Somewhere, a parent has said, “He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” or “He didn’t respect my kid’s ability.” Maybe they were wrong. Maybe not. But that’s part of the job.

They say perception is reality. And while that isn’t always true, it feels true to those who believe it. A more accurate mental model might be Korzybski’s: “The map is not the territory.” What others see isn’t always the full landscape.

Coaching asks us to live in both worlds — how things are, and how they seem. That tension is the craft.

1. Demand More

We ask players to leave their comfort zones — to sweat, to listen, to take criticism. Growth isn’t comfortable.

Every practice tests how much discomfort we’re willing to endure to become better. The players who learn to seek that discomfort instead of avoiding it become special.

2. Adopt Truth as a Value

Kevin Eastman says, “Live the truth, tell the truth, take the truth.”

Truth is rarely convenient. It exposes weaknesses. But without truth, teams build on sand. When we tell players the truth — and they learn to take it — everyone gets stronger.

3. Sacrifice

Winning requires doing what we don’t want to do when we don’t want to do it, to achieve what we want when we want it.

Shared vision. Shared mission. Shared sacrifice. These aren’t slogans; they’re survival codes. Teams that avoid sacrifice choose mediocrity.

4. Embrace Hard Conversations

No coach enjoys telling a player she won’t start, or won’t play as much as she hopes. But we owe players honesty wrapped in empathy.

“We value you as a player. You’re improving, but you’re not at a starting level yet. We believe you can get there.”

The “sandwich technique” matters: honesty between two layers of care. Truth without cruelty. Clarity without ego.

5. Hard Work Doesn’t Always Equal Glory

Effort is necessary, not sufficient. The hardest-working player may not be the most talented. Coaches recognize the worker — the kid who wins every sprint — even if the box score doesn’t.

That doesn’t make the effort meaningless. It makes it noble.

6. Positivity Plays

Some players and coaches light up the gym. Pete Carril called them lightbulbs. Others bring quieter value — less personality, more substance.

Players notice both style and substance. So do teams. As coaches, we can shape both — turning "bland toast" into warmth, teaching that enthusiasm and excellence are not opposites.

7. Model Excellence

Players hear everything, see everything, and imitate what they believe we value.

Former baseball manager Clint Hurdle said:

“Lower the bar and you lose the winners; raise the bar and you lose the losers.”

The best programs raise the bar and help everyone reach for it. Standards define culture more than slogans do.

8. Look for the Helpers

Mister Rogers advised children to “look for the helpers.” Every great team has them. They may not lead in stats, but they lead in spirit.

If we only value talent, we’ll miss the glue — the character, empathy, and quiet generosity that make teams endure.

9. Find the Hardest Worker

Sometimes the best player isn’t the hardest worker. When that happens, the coach’s challenge is clear: raise the standard.

Talent sets the ceiling. Work ethic raises the floor. A program’s culture depends on how those two connect.

10. Learn Every Day

Coach Don Meyer kept three notebooks:

  • One for basketball

  • One for general knowledge

  • One for appreciation, which he gave to his wife each year

Learning keeps us humble. Gratitude keeps us grounded. Together, they keep us growing.

Closing Thoughts

My father never coached, but he lived the principles coaches aspire to — humility, service, and integrity.

Coaching exposes us to criticism because it exposes our judgment, our priorities, and our hearts. But it also gives us the privilege to shape others — to demand, to tell truth, to sacrifice, to teach, to model, to learn.

It’s not supposed to be easy.

It’s supposed to be worth it.

Lagniappe. Culture makes our team better, our players better, and ourselves better. 


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Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Analogies Across Sports Enlighten our Basketball Journey

“It is our choices that show what we show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” - Ted Lasso

Coaches and players can learn from every sport. The surface differences — grass or hardwood, helmets or headbands — obscure a deeper truth: sport is problem-solving under pressure. The best ideas travel well. Lessons from football, baseball, and beyond often illuminate what it means to build habits, lead teams, and compete with purpose.

Moving the Goal Posts

In football, “moving the goal posts” means changing the standard midstream. In basketball, the goal posts don’t move — but our standards sometimes do. Teams relax after a big win or rationalize sloppy execution when shots fall. Coaches who maintain consistent expectations — win or lose — help players understand that accountability doesn’t depend on the scoreboard.

Bill Walsh called it “the Standard of Performance.” In basketball, that means playing hard, sharing the ball, and defending each possession regardless of circumstance. Once the standard wobbles, everything else follows.

Quarterback as Leader


Every team needs a quarterback — the player who sets the tone, reads the floor, and manages emotion. In basketball, that’s often the point guard, though leadership isn’t limited by position.


Like a quarterback, a point guard must master timing, judgment, and trust. They don’t just call plays — they call people to a higher level of focus. Quarterbacks earn respect through preparation; guards earn it by making teammates better.

Calling Plays


Football operates through choreography: motions rehearsed, routes precise. Basketball, too, demands organization — but it rewards improvisation within structure. The play call is a map, not a cage.


Great players understand both the structure and the “why.” They know when to stay on script and when to adapt. Adam Grant says, “Rethink.” A team that executes robotically is predictable; a team that thinks collectively is dangerous.

The Center Exchange and Communication


Every football play begins with a simple act — the exchange between center and quarterback. A bad exchange ruins the play before it begins.

“Great teammates are like great centers — they don’t need applause; they just make sure the exchange is clean.”

Basketball teams thrive on the same principle. The little connections — eye contact, early talk, shared recognition — keep the offense synchronized. Communication sets everything in motion. Without it, even the best-designed play collapses.

Calling an Audible


Sometimes a quarterback sees something the coach can’t — a defensive look demanding adjustment.

“Good teams run the play; great teams hear the audible.”

Basketball rewards the same awareness. Players recognize mismatches, overplays, or tempo shifts in real time. Coaches love players who can adjust within the flow of the game — not to freelance, but to problem-solve. 

Offensive Linemen and the Spirit of Service

Football’s unsung heroes are offensive linemen. They don’t appear on highlight reels, but they determine outcomes.

They block, protect, and clear space so others can shine. In basketball, those teammates exist too — the screener who frees the shooter, the rebounder who resets a possession, the defender who sacrifices stats for stops.

The best teammates play with lineman’s humility — no headlines, just hard work.

Sacrifice and the Block


Every touchdown begins with someone else giving something up — a block that opens a path, a decoy route that pulls defenders.


In basketball, that sacrifice shows in the extra pass, the willingness to rotate, the acceptance of a role smaller in glory but larger in impact. Teams that master sacrifice are teams that win when talent is equal.

Film Study and Learning the Game

Football coaches live in the film room. They search for tendencies, spacing, leverage. Basketball isn’t so different — we just have fewer helmets.

Film reveals truth. It humbles and teaches. Great coaches and players don’t just watch — they study. They look for edges, for patterns, for habits that separate the good from the great. The eye in the sky doesn’t lie; it simply offers another chance to learn.

Closing Thought

Across sports, the vocabulary changes but the grammar of greatness remains the same: preparation, teamwork, communication, sacrifice.


Champions in any sport do the ordinary things extraordinarily well — they make clean exchanges, they listen for the audible, they block for others, they study relentlessly. And whether it’s a field, a rink, or a court, their goal never moves: to be their best when their best is required.


Lagniappe. We control our preparation, our choices, and our effort. 

Lagniappe 2. Some coaches excel at timeouts. I say Popovich also excelled at "time ins." He taught players to "play through it." 
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Monday, October 6, 2025

Basketball - “In the Best Interest of the Team" (Print and Save?)

A coach’s job is to put players in the best position to succeed — and to take teams where they cannot go alone.

Parents, meanwhile, are wired to advocate for their children. Both instincts are natural. But sometimes, the best interest of the team and the best interest of the individual collide.

In his 1970 preseason letter to players, Coach John Wooden wrote:

“I will attempt to give each individual the treatment that he earns and deserves according to my judgment and in keeping with what I consider to be in the best interest of the team.”

That one line captures the tension coaches and parents still navigate more than fifty years later.

With millions of young athletes playing sports, these conflicts are inevitable. Most resolve through honest conversation and shared understanding. Some, unfortunately, leave lasting hurt.

Common Sources of Tension

  1. Playing Time. The number-one issue, season after season.

  2. Role. Disappointment about shot opportunities or usage.

  3. Recognition. Parents who feel a coach isn’t promoting their child for awards or scholarships.

  4. Opportunity. Concern that some players receive more attention or coaching.

  5. Strategy. Differences over style of play, substitution patterns, or system philosophy.

  6. Evaluation. Differing opinions about a player’s current ability or ceiling.

Each of these begins from a caring place — parents want fairness and success for their child. The friction arises when definitions of fairness differ.

Constructive Responses

  • Hold a preseason parent meeting. Explain your program’s philosophy, expectations, and playing-time approach. Clarity now lessens confusion later.

  • Define merit-based roles. Roles grow from performance, attitude, and consistency. Players who improve their reliability earn expanded opportunities.

  • Coach everyone. Make visible that all players receive instruction. Invite parents to watch practice. Transparency builds trust — even if few take you up on it.

  • Decline to debate strategy. Scheme decisions belong to the staff. Keep those discussions professional, not personal.

  • Use data where appropriate. Over time, objective statistics help reinforce consistency and accountability.

  • Communicate with care. Email progress reports or use the “sandwich technique” — praise, need, praise — to show balance and support.

  • Have hard player conversations with another adult present. Protection and professionalism go hand in hand.

  • Keep private records. Document attendance, stats, and communications. Transparency protects both coach and player.

Perspective

Even when you hear no complaints, don’t assume none exist. Every coach learns that silence doesn’t mean satisfaction — only that some choose restraint.

Every parent, too, deserves respect for their investment in their child. They see the hours, the rides, the emotions. Coaches see the larger picture: group chemistry, fairness, preparation for competition. Both sides care deeply — and that shared care is common ground.

Closing Thought

Clear philosophy is the antidote to confusion. Transparency is the antidote to mistrust. And empathy — from both sides — is the antidote to conflict.

Every coach, like every parent, wants what’s best for the players. The difference is scope. The parent sees one child. The coach must see them all.

Lagniappe. Man up. 

Lagniappe 2. Teach creating and exploiting advantage.October 5, 2025

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Sunday, October 5, 2025

Basketball - Seeing Problems as Possibilities

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Leadership and coaching often feel like endless problem-solving. Poor shot selection. Turnovers. Communication breakdowns. Missed assignments. The list never ends.

But as John Maxwell reminds us in The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, the best leaders aren’t problem-oriented — they’re solution-oriented.

He tells the story of John Walsh, whose six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. Walsh could have been consumed by anger or paralysis. Instead, he founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which helped raise the recovery rate of missing children to over 90 percent. That converted pain into purpose.

Maxwell’s lesson: problems are a matter of perspective. They define us or refine us.

From Basketball to Life: The Same Choice

Every team faces recurring issues — poor spacing, careless turnovers, soft transition defense. Those are not moral failings; they’re diagnoses. Like a doctor naming an illness, as a cause is identified, prescribe treatment.

The danger comes when we allow issues to become habits of defeat. A missed rotation becomes a shrug. A turnover becomes a pattern.
And that’s where Kevin Eastman’s pragmatic wisdom kicks in:

Do it better.
Do it harder.
Change personnel.
If it ain’t working, change the strategy.

That’s a coach’s version of solution orientation. Don’t curse the problem — cure it.

Stretch or Stop

Every problem either stretches us or stops us. If we face it honestly, it stretches our discipline, focus, and creativity. If we avoid it, it stops growth cold.

Eastman says the best teams “live the truth, tell the truth, and take the truth.” Identifying a problem is only half the truth; taking action completes it.

Choosing Solutions

In sports and leadership, solvable problems masquerade as crises:

  • Poor communication? Set clearer terminology and routines.

  • Inattention? Shorten drills and increase engagement.

  • Bad spacing or timing? Use film, not frustration, to teach awareness.

  • Low energy? Redefine accountability and ownership.

The difference between a losing team and a learning team isn’t the absence of problems — it’s the presence of solutions.

The Question Worth Asking

When something’s not working, before frustration takes over, ask:

“What obvious solution is right in front of us?”

Often it’s not a new offense, a new drill, or a new player. It’s a renewed commitment to doing the fundamentals better, harder, and smarter. Transform challenges into catalysts — and make the leap from merely surviving problems to solving them.

Lagniappe. Another shooting approach. 



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Saturday, October 4, 2025

Basketball and Volleyball - Coaching Is Teaching

Doug Lemov’s The Coach’s Guide to Teaching refines one point - coaching is teaching. The best coaches don't run drills; they shape how players think, learn, react, and remember. Here are six lessons from his work, applied to basketball, with parallels to the volleyball court.

1. Attention Is the Starting Point

"Start with the end in mind." In basketball, Mike Krzyzewski demanded laser focus even on simple warm-ups. If attention slips during a passing drill, it will vanish under full-court pressure.

Volleyball parallel: attention to detail matters in serve-receive. If an athlete lets their platform angle wander or their eyes follow the scoreboard, the point is gone. Coaches build habits of attention by demanding sharp posture and readiness on every ball, even in warm-up passing lines.

How much focus can you generate? Can you catch a tennis ball consistently on your platform?  When you can, then a volleyball should be easier. 

2. Memory Drives Learning

Wooden’s UCLA teams practiced fundamentals over and over with small variations—repetition without repetition. That way, players weren’t memorizing a drill; they were building recall they could use in different games.

Volleyball parallel: blocking schemes work the same way. You don’t just block line every day. You alternate line, cross, soft block, read the setter, then rotate. Spacing those situations out and revisiting them builds memory under pressure. When the big outside goes cross late in the set, your middle recalls the footwork instantly.

3. Feedback Must Be Precise and Manageable

Brad Stevens was known for his short, surgical adjustments: “Force baseline here.” One cue, not a lecture. Brian McCormick reminds coaches - no lines, no laps, no lectures. 

Volleyball parallel: instead of stopping play to correct everything—“get lower, move sooner, watch the hitter’s shoulder”—pick one cue: “late hands” or “beat her to the spot.” Give players something they can act on right away. Volleyball moves too quickly for paragraphs of feedback.

4. Transfer Matters More Than Drill Mastery

Geno Auriemma ends UConn drills with chaos: fatigue, pressure, contact. He knows perfect free throws in silence don’t win games—transfer under stress does.

Volleyball parallel: perfect hitting lines against no block don’t tell you much. Can your outside score after a long rally when the block is set and the defense is waiting? That’s transfer. Game-like reps—transition swings, serve under pressure, digging in long rallies—are what stick when it matters most.

5. Culture Shapes Learning

The 2008 Celtics lived by Ubuntu: trust and unselfishness. Mistakes were allowed, effort was required. 

Volleyball parallel: a team that embraces errors as learning grows faster. If players realize a missed serve but bear down on the next rep, they build resilience. Coaches set the tone—effort and communication must be non-negotiable. In volleyball, where trust in coverage and defensive responsibility is everything, culture is performance.

6. Teaching Is Deliberate, Not Accidental

Wooden scripted practices down to the minute. Nothing was left to chance—every rep carried a teaching point.

Volleyball parallel: the best practices don’t just run six-on-six for 45 minutes. They script: footwork warm-up, serve-receive with feedback, transition defense, then pressure scrimmage. Each piece builds on the next. Great coaches teach deliberately.

Basketball and volleyball look different on the surface—one has a hoop, the other a net. But both are our teaching laboratories. Attention, feedback, transfer, culture, and deliberate practice aren’t just buzzwords—they’re the lifeblood of how athletes learn.

Coaching is teaching. Teaching well is how you build not just good teams, but sustainable teams. 

Lagniappe. Self-talk is a separator. 

Lagniappe 2. Coaches celebrate the success of our players. A former player graduates from veterinary school in a few months and will return to the area.  

Lagniappe 3. Exceptional coaches inform special preparation. 

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Friday, October 3, 2025

Defensive Game Planning - Learn from Football

Principles of coaching often cross domains. Physical and mental preparation, discipline, and resilience must be present to win. Good teams seldom give away games. 

Study successful programs, coaches, and stars. Are you a "game plan" coach or do you "do what we do?" If you're successful, then you're right. 

Former Patriots defensive coordinator (and engineer) Matt Patricia discusses defensive philosophy in a candid, expletive-filled podcast. 

Execution follows people, strategy, and operations. Having the right people in the right seats, strategy based on film study, and players capable of high performance separated Super Bowl teams. 

Matty P: "What do we have to do to win this game and what people do we have to do it (it starts with "who do we have?").

Some teams are star-focused in basketball. How do we AFFECT the opposing (star) quarterback via DISRUPTION of the offensive line? In basketball, that may mean disrupting the key player (point guard or point forward) who are creators. 

Scheme matchups with big picture concepts and the fine details. Football has fewer possessions, making each possession more critical. For basketball, disrupting end-of-quarter, end-of-game, and special situations (BOB, SLOB, ATOs) has special significance. 

A question for coaches, should basketball have an offensive and defensive coordinator?

Patricia emphasizes "competitive stamina." This mirrors what Coach Dave Smart says about building a team capable of playing "harder for longer." 

"Can you put doubt in an opponent's heads." Patricia spoke highly of Ravens former safety Ed Reed who was highly intuitive and unpredictable.

Patricia: "I love the boos; it means you're relevant." It's true, there's little reward on "hating on" bad teams. At the same time, he shows great respect for quality opponents - individual and teams. 

Attack weaknesses. "Find the fish...who's the most scared?" Young, less experienced players are vulnerable to missing assignments and making poor decisions. 

Be aware of situational tendencies. For example, ATO late half against 'better coaches' I'd alert team to expect PnR. Or late game, know that some teams would "switch everything" and we'd look to get big on small (mouse in the house). 

Apply AI to your benefit. The use of AI for game planning, training, and near real-time inputs are still in infancy. 

Practice what you are going to see in a game.

"Country and City...if you're in the country (space) pick up the ball. If you're in the city, jump on it." 

Lagniappe. EXPLICIT LANGUAGE The method behind the madness... 

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Thursday, October 2, 2025

Basketball and Writing Are Both Art

"Be so good they can't ignore you." - Steve Martin

"The problem with the Lone Genius myth is twofold. For starters, it paints a warped picture in which most geniuses just so happen to be dead white men. Think Einstein, Picasso, or Mozart. It also excludes the partners, collaborators, mentors, benefactors and influences who made the work of these men possible. It depicts creativity as an antisocial activity, when in reality, it's almost always a result of an ecology of talent." - from the Show Your Work summary

Writing 'shows our work'. It doesn't show the life experiences and reading that underpinned it. Make our work reveal those and provide self-discovery more than self-promotion. Most coaches can't show their work. 

Dumpster diving is essential to being an artist, even with a figurative dumpster. Mine have been coaching clinics, used bookstores with dog-eared paperbacks, and lots of YouTube video. Somewhere after Popovich's "Figure it out," I realized that growth isn't adopting coaching methods - it's finding what contradictions you can live with. 

Warren Buffett tells the world how he invests, but I remember finishing The Snowball and knowing that I could memorize every page and still not be Buffett. Coach K can describe his drills, but that doesn’t make us him. At best, it makes us a little more ourselves.

That gap between knowledge and identity taunted me in my early coaching years. I’d pile up notes, try to do too much, and inevitably the team played confused. My daughters said I picked too many kids with ADD. I thought it was the coaching. I started to recognize when I coached badly - and that began a step toward coaching better. Simplicity comes with experience.

The more practices I ran, the more mistakes I could own and adjust. Rushdie calls it the shift from “creative imagination” to “critical imagination.” For me, it was the shift from scribbling plays to learning how to edit, prune, and teach them.

"Repetitions make reputations." Writers improve by writing. Coaches have to coach. Consider volunteering as an assistant. Ask experienced coaches if you can watch their practice. 

It would be fascinating to hear great coaches discuss their coaching arc. 

  • "Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment."
  • "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want." 
  • "No amount of sophistication is going to allay the fact that all your knowledge is about the past and all your decisions are about the future." - GE executive Ian Wilson, via James Clear

We discuss player development far more than we discuss coaching development. People forget that John Wooden won his first title at UCLA in his sixteenth season. Overnight success is more myth than reality.
The best books inform useful information on every page. Yuval Noah Harari books like Sapiens or 21 Lessons for the 21st Century are slow reads because they're packed with information and speculation. The best coaches have a wealth of knowledge, the perspective to use it, and the connection with players to apply it. Look within the game to see what both coaches want to accomplish. 
Lagniappe. "Pound the rock."  
Lagniappe 2. Coach K on defense...


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Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Basketball - "Figure it Out"

Basketball is problem solving. Gregg Popovich puts it bluntly: “Figure it out.” But writer Anne Lamott cautions, “Figure it out is a bad slogan.”

Both can be true. Experienced players solve problems that younger players cannot. The latter need patience, mentoring, and tools that don’t come naturally.

Coach Dave Smart argues that good teams excel in three areas: transition defense, half-court execution, and pick-and-roll offense and defense. None come naturally; all require deliberate teaching and relentless repetition.

That’s why players need a framework—this is how we do it—and the practice time to transform knowledge into competence. When execution falters, the cause could be players, coaching, scheme, or some combination. As Bill Parcells put it, “You are what your record says you are.”

Perspective complicates the picture. Former England cricket selector Ed Smith reconciled the inside view of those closest to the action and the outside view of observers with distance. Both perspectives hold value, but both are vulnerable to self-serving bias.

So, like “figure it out,” perspective depends on viewpoint. The Houston Rockets’ gamble on Kevin Durant adds an Old Hand for a short-term push while Phoenix’s side of the trade signals commitment to a full rebuild. Each decision makes sense—depending on the lens you use.

Lagniappe. Are you taking the temperature of the room or setting it? 

Lagniappe 2. Hard conversations are a skill. 

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Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Basketball Silos

Despite a wealth of information, sometimes that knowledge remains compartmentalized because of "silos."

What are silos?

Organizational silos represent isolated pockets within an organization where departments or teams operate independently, often to the detriment of seamless communication and collaboration.

Silos in government, especially national defense, contributed to vulnerability to terrorism. 

Why do they exist?

Agencies were reluctant to share information with others. Part of that reticence is known as "turf." That can relate to pride, desire for recognition, or sometimes entrenched policy. 

In basketball, silos result from "me first" mentality. 

What are the consequences of silos? 

Silos create underperformance. An assistant may feel unwilling to share with the head coach. Upperclassmen may not help younger players out of fear of losing playing time or status. 

How do we identify them?

Silos can be hard to detect. We don't know what we don't know. Coaching girls, I found value in having a female assistant who might communicate with players in a different style or relate better. 

How do we resolve the issue? 

Tackle silos head on. They can be persistent and failure to address them can result in system failures. 

Here's a brief summary of how silos hurt basketball teams:

How Silos Hurt Basketball Teams

  1. Poor Communication

    • Guards, wings, and posts stop talking. Missed switches, blown coverages, and wasted possessions pile up.

  2. Fragmented Goals

    • Each group chases its own agenda (e.g., “I got my points” vs. “We got the stop”), instead of the team’s scoreboard. When the scorebook becomes more important than the scoreboard, trouble follows. 

  3. Mistrust Across Roles

    • Shooters don’t believe the pass will come. Defenders think nobody has their back. Trust erodes.

  4. Slow Adaptation

    • Without cross-unit collaboration, in-game adjustments take too long. Opponents exploit gaps.

  5. Duplication of Effort

    • Two players guard the same man while another is left open — wasted energy from lack of coordination.

  6. No Shared Language

    • If the bigs call screens one way and the guards another, breakdowns are inevitable. Teams need a unified lexicon, not "this is how we did it there." 

  7. Stifled Creativity

    • Isolation of roles kills synergy. The best actions — drive-kick-swing, screen-the-screener — require tight interconnection.

  8. Blame Culture

    • Each “silo” points fingers at others: offense blames defense, starters blame bench, upperclassmen blame younger players. 

  9. Inconsistent Standards

    • When groups hold themselves to different expectations (effort, shot selection, discipline), the culture fractures. "The standard is the standard."

  10. Loss of Resilience

  • When adversity hits, silos make it harder to rally together — the team frays instead of uniting. You're lucky if you haven't seen a team fracture. 

Silos are the opposite of teamwork as individuals or cliques keep information to themselves. 

Lagniappe. "Movement kills defenses." So, what resuscitates them? 

Lagniappe 2. General Stanley McChrystal wrote an important book, Team of Teams about US Intelligence in Iraq and how eliminating silos helped improve performance. Successful coaches get players to believe team first. 

📘 Team of Teams — One-Page Cheat Sheet (from ChatGPT Plus)

Core Idea

  • The world is now complex (fast, interconnected, unpredictable).

  • Traditional siloed, hierarchical organizations are too slow and rigid.

  • To adapt, large groups must operate more like small, networked teams: fast, connected, and empowered.

🔑 Principles

  1. From Silos to Network

    • Replace “command of teams” with a team of teams: interconnected, transparent, and trust-based.

  2. Shared Consciousness

    • Make information broadly available (“duty to share” instead of “need to know”).

    • Build a common picture so all teams see the bigger mission, not just their piece.

  3. Empowered Execution

    • Push authority downward.

    • With context + trust, frontline teams can make fast, informed decisions.

  4. Embedding & Lateral Ties

    • Rotate/insert people across teams to build personal trust and break barriers.

  5. Leader as Gardener

    • Leaders set culture, trust, and systems — they nurture instead of micromanaging moves.

  6. Adaptability over Efficiency

    • Optimize for resilience, agility, and fast learning rather than pure efficiency.

⚙️ Practices that Broke Silos

  • Daily open O&I briefings: info shared across all units.

  • Cross-team embedding: people placed in other teams to bridge.

  • Office design for interaction: physical and structural changes to encourage flow.

  • Rewarding system wins, not local wins: incentives aligned to shared mission.

🧭 Application Beyond Military

  • Corporations: break silos between departments (e.g. marketing ↔ engineering).

  • Healthcare: cross-functional care teams instead of isolated specialists.

  • Sports: integrate scouts, analytics, coaches, and players into a shared view.

⚠️ Watchouts

  • Too much decentralization risks chaos.

  • Entrenched culture and incentives resist change.

  • Some industries require standardization and compliance.


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