When the magic genie comes, he's not giving you an infinite number of wishes. If you get three, be grateful. Choose wisely. Think ahead.
1. Win this Possession
The coach says, "Sprint the length of the floor, up and back, as hard as you can for time. You do. Then he says, do it again and if you beat your time I'll give you a hundred bucks." Did you beat your time?
There's the scene in Draft Day about the playbook and the $100 bill inside (a Belichick trick). Did you read the whole playbook and find the hundo?
The coach adds, "Get a stop this time on defense and everyone gets a new pair of Jordans." Does the team give its usual focus or more?
Dave Smart explains how the "best teams play harder for longer." Ask the genie to help you get "harder for longer" for as many possessions as possible.
2. Master Player Development
Don Meyer asks, "Do you want two better players or two better plays?" And Dave Smart says, "Every day is player development day."
Player development gets better players, better possessions, and better "possession ending."
Ask the magic genie for the tools to become a better teacher, a better motivator, a better integrator. Or we could ask to have Drew Hanlen, Chris Brickley, Colin Castellaw, Don Kelbick, and others at our disposal.
3. Perfect Ability to See the Game
Pete Newell says the coach's obligation is to help players "see the game." To teach the game we have to know the game. So, I guess we're asking the genie to give us the game knowledge of Newell, Knight, Hubie Brown, or some amalgam of Wooden, Dean Smith, Auerbach, Jackson, and Popovich. You don't win games with a high basketball SAT score.
How do we ask the genie for the impossible? There's no "perfect knowledge" because the game evolves. Maybe we ask for the will to learn, the curiosity to explore, and the openness to absorb the best and discard the lesser information.
Or use the third wish to get more wishes.
There is no magic genie.
There is no perfect motivator.
There is no perfect player developer (although a lot of exceptional ones).
There is no ability to see the future (who knows what the next Wembanyama will look like?)
We can't know everything, but we can know more, do more, and become more by studying great players, coaches, and developers.
Lagniappe. Every good team breaks pressure. There's no perfect press break. Find something you can teach with hard cutting, on-time, on-target passes, and competitive players.
I have used this press break or some variation of it for years! Works great against different types of pressure, but especially man!#GetBetterEveryDay #MarchMadness #FinalFour #UCONN pic.twitter.com/Q9hTL3CoFY
— Coach DeMarco, EdD (@Coach_DeMarco) April 5, 2026
