The "Pivot Play"

Teaching young players the variety and simplicity of basic basketball sometimes gets lost. Studying the history of basketball reminds us that effective "basketball actions" pre-existed groundbreaking motion offenses developed by Newell and Knight. Nat Holman was a great player in the early days of basketball and coached CCNY to a unique double, winning the NIT and NCAA Tournament in 1950. 

He used the "pivot play" to advantage, having a center with good hands and decisions to trigger a two or three man game from the middle. Getting appropriate entry starts the play, followed by great cutting. It's also easy to envision other actions, especially from a two-guard front, for example, entry and off-ball screening by the point guard. 

When the pass can't be made, the 5 may still have a mid-range jumper or dribble drive. We're small but have players who can attack the hoop (the pivot doesn't have to be the 5)

Scissors action (by convention the passer cuts first) can create defensive confusion and the post must always be available for the roll or to rebound. Nothing beats mastery of simplicity. 

Pop

Pop speaks on character. Coach emphasizes what makes the Spurs go - unselfishness, playing the game right, player and ball movement. Use the whole team. Sacrifice. Don't tolerate jerks. 

Watch. I can't say it more authoritatively that a five-time champion. 

The Light of Conviction

"My ego depends on the success of my team." - Bill Russell

Good books inspire thought and questions. Robert Townsend's Up the Organization (1970) certainly applies. 

Although Townsend primarily writes about business, isn't sports the entertainment business? He asks rhetorically 'are we doing something worthwhile or building monuments to ego?" The 'why' has to lead the 'what' and the 'how' of our purpose. Ego creates barriers and distractions from "the main thing." 

Presuming that we have a worthy purpose, we need the 'who', the right people on the bus. It's easy to be swayed by our 'confirmation bias', (in my case) an overcommitment to athleticism (projection) or effort. Appreciate and praise productivity over potential. 

Challenge conventional wisdom. The "light of conviction" can fail us spectacularly. Failing to change with the game and the world can pass us by. We risk irrelevance if we can't change with the times. But remember two maxims, "never be the first to add or the last to delete" and John Wooden's "No progress occurs without change but not all change is progress." 

Don Meyer describes three phases of coaching - "blind enthusiasm", "sophisticated complexity", and "mature simplicity." The legendary Boston Celtics ran just six plays, but they ran them exceedingly well. Remind yourself every day, "simple is better." Have conviction not to overload your team's plate so that they regurgitate instead of digesting. 

"Discipline is more important than conviction." Conviction is like authenticity. It's great when it adds value. Sometimes it exposes us to risk when we're 'all in' on mistakes...on bad hires, bad strategy, and bad operations. It's a drag to progress when anachronistic or just wrong. Don't be a "flat-earther" when proven wrong. 

Effort "Tells"

Dean Smith had a saying, "I coach execution, not effort." The rest of us can't be Coach Smith as we need to motivate players and coach effort and execution. 

In investing, we talk about 'tells'. Tells are the signs, both verbal and nonverbal, showing fear or confidence, indifference or maximal effort. The tells separate those locked in from those who need to come out. In a close game, leaving a disinterested player in for a few possessions or failing to bring in a high effort player can easily define success or failure. 

Coach Wooden remarked, "Never confuse activity with achievement." Distinguish "engagement" from activity. There's even lethargy jargon - brotherly defense (covering a player as though he's your brother), false hustle, fool's gold. What separates them?

Defense begins with ball pressure. Are defenders "up" or playing "Dead man's defense," six feet under the ball handler? Do they have active and disciplined hands and move their feet? 

Are they playing below the level of the ball and denying cuts? If they're on the help side, are they dropped into the lane or at 'the split'? 

When they're defending the post are they battling for position and making the offensive player work for position and the ball. Are they "tiger" or "totem"? 

What does a player look like in transition? Is she "buddy running" or is she in full sprint by three steps, beating her assignment, shaping up, anticipating penetration or open perimeter shots? Is she calling out coverages, stopping the ball, and actively protecting the basket? 

When there are loose balls, is she first to the floor? Does she get tied up or force held balls? Is she contesting shots and blocking out? On the defense boards, does she block out with toughness or get pushed under? Does she contest shots without fouling or watch? 

There are next generation tells, like heart rate monitoring used by Coach Calipari at Kentucky. Players exerting high effort will have higher heart rate as a percentage of maximal heart rate. 

We know that we're watching. Players need more than "know that"; they need "know how" and understanding that we're watching "how much". 

Trust Builds Loyalty

Lolly Daskal shares 99 Simple Ways You Can Build Trust. Character and competence define the leadership process. Understand the primacy of people, strategy, and operations along the continuum of execution. 

Here are a few of my favorite excerpts.

1. Lead by example. Your strongest testimonial is your own personal example. You must first and foremost lead yourself and show behaviors of trust--only then can others rely on you.

3. Show commitment. When you honor what you say, people will trust you. If you cannot keep a commitment, be open and honest about the reason and try to find a way to make it up to the other party.

7. Have integrity. Integrity is doing the right thing even though no one is watching. Integrity is making sure that what you say and what you do are aligned.

9. Be competent. The difference between competence and incompetence is demonstrated in actions. Work constantly on improving your skills so you can stay on top of your game.

11. Be authentic. To be authentic is a daily practice of letting go of who you think you're supposed to be and embracing who you are. If you can find the authentic part of yourself and embrace it, others will follow suit.

14. Care for people around you. People trust those who demonstrate caring toward others.

15. Do the right thing. Let people see you doing what is right. It's better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.

16. Learn by listening. To be trusted, make time to learn from others. Listening is the stepping stone to learning.

20. Cultivate confidence. Confidence is the ability to feel certain when times are uncertain. Trust begins when a person has confidence; it earns credibility and offers assurance.

Box and 1 Offense: 3 Easy Options

Two broad ways to approach basketball are overwhelming fundamental excellence or multifaceted approaches including trickery. I belong to the Church of Whatever Works, but we don't have the kind of talent demanding other teams play junk defenses.

When teams employ a Box and 1, what options might you have? As coaches we're looking for 'solutions' and players do best when they have the answers on these "open book" tests. Here are three possible approaches. They're not the be-all, end-all, just ideas. Ideally, they are not major departures from your basic zone offense principles. 

We have to recognize that most teams aren't running junk defenses that often and their execution may be flawed because of that limited experience. 

3 is the STAR. This is extremely simple as it's just an overload with cut through. It relies on limited expertise from the help side. 

This capitalizes on the weak center of the box. Screens behind the front of the zone must be timed with the wing cutting into the middle for the pass.

This set modifies Tom Izzo's MSU "Down". Instead of the 4 screening the middle of the 2-3 zone defender, she screens the STAR defender. 

Fast Five: Shaka Smart's Program Values

The University of Texas tops NCAA tourney teams in academic progress. Coach Shaka Smart's Longhorns are embracing his five core values. 

1. Appreciation. Coach Smart wants players to both recognize and show appreciation via acts of kindness. 
2. Enthusiasm. Much like Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success, Smart's values have enthusiasm as a foundational element. 
3. Competitiveness. If you watched the video above, you saw Coach Smart's competitiveness and modeling the "aggressive pursuit of greatness."
4. Accountability. Smart emphasizes three types of accountability - player to coach, individual, and player to player. I think the latter is the strongest type of accountability. 
5. Team-ship. Above all, we are responsible to the TEAM. 

We all need to establish our core values. This season, we focused on TEAMWORK, QUALITY, and ACCOUNTABILITY. There's always room to grow. 

Fast Five: Teaching Sets

"Basketball isn't about running plays, it's about making plays." - Coach Mike Krzyzewski

Efficient use of core principles of spacing, cutting, screening, and passing create quality scoring opportunities. Although I want all of our players to know all of these 'terms' and apply them during play, it doesn't always happen and seldom spontaneously. Additionally, players need to set up cuts and wait for screens when screens are coming. 

The more aggressive the defensive pressure, the greater the chance to take advantage of screens and back cuts to create separation. 

Forward to Fast Five simple basketball principles to create separation:

1. Shuffle cuts

2. Blind Pig

3. Screen-the-screener

4. Staggered screens

5. Spread pick-and-roll

Test Yourself with the Decision Wheel

Some fans and casual observers think "any idiot can coach." We've probably all see that from time to time. But most coaches are serious people who care about the game and their players.

How can you test yourself? Use the decision wheel and give your basketball philosophy, identity, culture, and knowledge a spin.

Better Performance by Optimizing Arousal

For varying levels of stimulus (e.g. dose), we obtain variable responses.  How we are 'wired' determines our level of arousal. 

But it's not so simple. The optimum degree of arousal also depends on the task. 

Dialing back arousal for more difficult tasks actually produces better results. More control, better performance is how I'd think about it. Match the right kind of 'music' to your needs. 

We seek a "flow state" with the greatest research by Csikszentmihalyi. Clarity, focus, and timelessness characterize the flow state. Some of you know it as being "in the zone". 

Ironically, I think of Rossini's William Tell Overture as a musical piece reflecting arousal states. Who better to share than Buddy Greene? 

Athletes commonly listen to their playlist seeking the right "arousal level." Share something great. Some need calming (0:56) and others more stimulus (2:36) or a lot (3:44). 

The coach and the point guard have to bring energy to every practice and every game. Find your optimal level. 


Of course, others find a different path.

                  "Do what you want to."  Something very different if you have fifteen minutes to contemplate life... see 15:00. 

Rule of Newell

From Hoop Thoughts.

Herculean Tasks in Coaching

What are the biggest challenges in coaching, the Labors of Hercules? If great players make great coaches, then I argue that succeeding with less talented players might make even greater coaches. We have to be both diagnosticians and effective clinicians. 

We celebrate Brad Stevens for getting to the NCAA Finals in consecutive seasons without the top-to-bottom roster of a Kentucky or Duke. In the same vein, we recognize the achievements of Shaka Smart at VCU or Jim Larranaga at George Mason. That doesn't demean renowned coaches who assemble talented rosters that play together and succeed. But we can find many brands of success. 

Day-to-day, we have the four challenges of getting teams to play smart, play hard, play together, and have fun. I believe that the game has to be enjoyable and that finding ways to make mastery fun and competitive is a worthy challenge. 

What are the major controllable obstacles to mastery in your program? 

1. We need everyone to be able to handle defensive pressure? Our guards did well but sometimes we struggled against height. We can continue to work on 5 versus 7 (with and without dribbling), 2 versus 8 (2 defenders in each quarter of the court (lengthwise), and experiment with 'inversion', moving the bigs to the backcourt and guards higher. 

2. We need passing and cutting to be more automatic. We have to work the "Shivek Drill" and 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 in the half court without dribbling. If you don't pass and cut then you don't get the ball. When we pass, cut, and receive we can be pretty good.

3. We need far better defensive communication. I have to demand and reward consistent communication. "Silent teams lose." 

4. The feedback to players must be more frequent and 'verified'. Emphasis doesn't equal understanding. "Trust but verify." 

5. We have to shoot better. We're small, the smallest team I've coached. Our shot selection was 'okay' but it has to be excellent. To get better shots, we need better passing. I need to give the players a shooting program and they need commitment to follow and monitor it. 

Fast Five: Better You

One worthy goal for all of us is becoming a better version of ourselves every day. Here's a quick suggestion list:

1. Read more. Am I spending my time or investing it? Kevin Eastman of the LA Clippers reads at least two hours a day. Expertise takes time and effort. 
2. "Share something great." Kahlil Gibran wrote in The Prophet, “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” 
3. Teach more. We can teach more and coach less. But to excel at teaching requires understanding of our subject and of teaching. Great teachers simplify. 
4. Praise the praiseworthy. Praise effort, praise persistence, praise the struggle. I truly believe that the four most powerful words I share are: "I believe in you." But the full benefit only appears when the recipient can respond, "I can do that." 
5. Reflect more. Is the 'conventional wisdom' wise or just dogma? We share best when we think and communicate clearly. We add value through both perspective and clarity. 

Jack Cheng writes in Maximize Your Potential, "The Better You is not a fixed, singular being. The Better You springs new from each moment, is born and dies with each action you take. Each action creates a new set of possibilities." 

The Book Thief - Advice from Coach Mike Neighbors

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

I'd encourage everyone to get on coach Mike Neighbors' weekly email list. The women's coach at the University of Washington, Neighbors regularly sends a newsletter containing basketball and coaching information. 

Here are lengthy excerpts from a lengthy post from Coach entitled "When Players Need You Most." Like me, Coach is an avid reader and we've shared a number of books worth reading...so I'll 'borrow' this from his most recent newsletter. I haven't quite figured out how to post a pdf in Blogger or I'd just attach the whole article. 

When they miss the game winning shot... 

When they don’t play well...this is similar to the first one but not the same. This can be after a win or a loss...“shout praise/whisper criticism method”

When they don’t play at all... Here I am speaking to that player who has played in all your pre-season scrimmages. They had a role in some early non-conference games. 

When they are in a shooting slump... the very best shooters in the world have these. Your shooter needs you when they are in one. 

When they foul out...this is a situational one. Grab them and sit them with you. Don’t let them sit on the end with their head draped in a towel covering their frustration (or tears if it’s a tourney game). T

When they are thrust into a leadership role... This isn’t necessarily something that happens during a game although it could be at times. It could be the day a senior leader graduates. It could be the day after a star player/leader quits because you took the “fun” out of the game. Whenever the time comes, your player needs you to be there. 

When they call/text to ask you to shoot with them... I never miss a chance to “shoot” with players now. This request could also be disguised as “watch film”, “work on Free throws”, “improve ballhandling”. 

When they lose a loved one ...if this list were in order, this one would/should be #1. 

When they have a relationship go bad... This one can be touchy. Depending on the relationship you might be the LAST person they want to talk to. You don’t need details. But, you do need them to let you know you are there for them IF they need you. 

When they screw up...This is a broad encompassing one. It covers miss class, fail a test, late for bus, bomb a project, forget their shoes, pack the wrong uniform, break a team rule, get in trouble with the law

When they are injured... if a player plays this game long enough they will miss some time from practice or some games. It could be a sprained ankle that they need a couple of days to recover or an ACL that sidelines them for a year. They need you. 

When they can’t practice or play.

When they rehab...this is a goes with above. But needs to be said. Injured players want a plan to win their rehab just like a healthy player wants a plan to win the game. 

When they are sitting out in red-shirt ... They need you throughout the year to keep them posted as they have no real way to gauge their improvement.

When they have car trouble... 

When they graduate...So many coaches lose contact with players after they are “done with them”. You have to reach out. They will need you for recommendation letters. They will want to use you as a reference. 

When they have a rumor going around about them... This one WILL happen, so be ready. It could be from inside the team or just a general rumor going around. It might also involve a facebook stalker!! Don’t laugh, with social media like it is these days you better be prepared for the “someone posted a pic of me on facebook” dilemma. 

When they visit a new place... I just added this one today because a player just left my office. She came in and said “coach, I know you travel a lot. 

Coach Neighbors doesn't present this as an all-inclusive list. This is a beginning not an end. As Brad Stevens says, "we get more from them than we give." 

Stages of Competence

Courage, competence, and confidence occur along the spectrum of mastery. 

You can't shoot well. 
You realize you can't shoot well and start training. 
You improve your skills and become competent. 
You enhance your skills and shot selection to excel.