Need a Three? Mixed Bag of Quick Hitters

Credibility requires clarity and competence. Our teams receive judgement on their organization and preparedness but especially their execution. 

Situations arise requiring a three-point shot. Here are a variety of possible three point options derived from contemporary actions. I prefer to use alternate actions from sets which appear 'ordinary' or pedestrian. 

Great Ideas Are Less Important than Timeless Principles

Regular readers (we won't need a stadium for a meetup) know that I believe in cross-platform thinking. A great chef, teacher, speculator, or business maven will have a stable of principles we can embrace. We need to be able to make progress with our process. 

Here's a reference to a Warren Buffett 1998 lecture that works. 

I heard someone say that Buffett and Munger “never say anything new”. I've yet to hear anyone say anything more relevant than Pete Newell's observation about 'getting more and better shots than your opponent." 

Never wavering on their basic philosophy has brought them a long way. Each of us develops a style and substance to find basketball and life solutions for young people. If we can simplify the game and add basketball and life skills, our players benefit permanently. 

"It’s very hard to earn a lot as an investor when the business you’re in doesn’t earn very much money.”  Metaphorically, if we don't help players grow very much, then we're not providing much of a service. 

If you own good businesses with strong earning power, you’re less concerned (or hopefully not concerned at all) about the stock market or the near term prospects for the economy. Again, metaphorically, if we maintain a good program with consistent value added (control what we can control), then worrying about competition and politics becomes less consequential (not zero). 

“I don’t want to buy into any business that I’m not terribly sure of. So if I’m terribly sure of it, it probably isn’t going to offer incredible returns." If our program takes excessive risks with the personnel or with the rules, then we might get better results...or terminated. 

“If you’re right about the business, you’ll make a lot of money.” If we do the right things for a long time, we'll do a lot of good for a lot of people. 

It’s worth listening to the best investor in the world articulate his own philosophy in his own words—even if that philosophy is already seared into your mind. We can always improve our understanding and execution when we commit to developing and sharing best practices. 

5 Line Shooting Drill (and Variations)

Shooting. There is no substitute. Embed repetition and competition within shooting drills.

This drill comes from HoopCoach.org. 

In this drill, there are 5 'radians' along which players shoot. They suggest making consecutive shots at each 4 foot interval with the goal of completing each line (25 shots total) in two minutes. You cannot advance to the next line until you've completed the five consecutive shots in that line. Like most shooting drills, it works best with a rebounder. 

Alternatives might include making five consecutive shots from each spot in a radian or taking shots from all twenty-five spots and seeing how many you make. I know how I would have played it...seeing how many shots it required to make all twenty-five. 

Bass Ackwards

"Spartak can be summed up in one word: tekhnika (technique). Every moment, every resource is devoted to helping players with the most essential task: hitting the ball correctly. Or, to put it a different way, to building a reliable, fast skill circuit."

"If I ruled the world." Fun game. Fundamentals would take priority over game play. 

Swen Nater writes in You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned, "assume that recent graduates are stronger on theory and concept than they are on practice and technique." Think about it. In most professions (e.g. medicine), a lengthy period of fundamental instruction (e.g. biology, physiology, anatomy, pathophysiology), precedes the actual practice (surgery, prescription, psychotherapy). 

But we have devoted, opinionated teachers (coaches) who advocate for game playing as the instructional method of choice vis-a-vis 'practice'. Which may explain why you can watch middle schoolers mindlessly jack up three pointers (amidst a healthy share of airballs) with coaches accepting if not encouraging it. I prefer the Bilassian "It's not your shot, it's our shot" mantra. 

Effective teaching demands priorities and emphasis. Almost every practice, I discuss core offensive priorities. "Basketball is a game of cutting and passing." Offense requires spacing, screening, cutting, and passing. Ergo, our offensive priority should be spacing and movement (player and ball). And our practice emphasis should be on activities (drills and scrimmage) that translate to that end. 

Our goal is player and team development. But most coaches assumptions that our players are stronger on theory and concept would be dramatically wrong. I would wager that if I ask my players (fill in the blank) of "basketball is a game of (cutting and passing)" that fewer than a third would answer correctly. But more might be able to demonstrate, because we often play half court (four-on-four) with no dribbling. If you do not move, then you will not get the ball. 

We need to help players 'see the game'. I believe that should involve didactics, film study, drills (with decision-making), and competition (scrimmages and games). But watching youth basketball convinces me that we can do a lot better. 

Drill: Dribble Handoff and Decide

The best drills translate practice to game activity. We will use dribble handoff (DHO) with and without secondary screens this season. Players need to come off the DHO downhill (hard) to the basket and react to defenders. 

The ballhandler needs to learn how to drive, drive and dish to the weak side, and execute screen-and-roll actions on the ball screen. Adding the 5 and 'coach' to the drill increases the decision complexity. 

Baseline Out of Bounds 15 Series

One general principle is using multiple plays out of the same formation or using the same play out of different formations. 

We've had success with a number of these looks, despite our youth and limited shooting ability. 

Base play dribble handoff into pick-and-roll with stagger away. 

Variation with curl on the weak side. 

Screen-the-screener action for the second screener. 

Option using "Tiger" (option screen away) and "Cub" (slip) 

Want something entirely different? America's play...screen for the inbounder. 

Happiness

"Happiness begins when selfishness ends." - John Wooden

The first two words I say, seven days a week, going out the door, are "Positive Dog" after Jon Gordon's eponymous book. Controlling what I can control begins with regulating my attitude. Why? 



Shawn Achor has done exciting research on happiness, which he discusses above. 

Happiness produces results, not the opposite. 

We can develop a happiness process, which includes writing. 

Last night someone I respect told me that I am doing my coaching all wrong, it's about developing the few, the excellent players, not trying to develop more players. I would never convince this person that I am right. I am pleased to have a process where I am developing people and some will become very good basketball players...in the context of enjoying the game and their teammates.

I'm reading Swen Nater's You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles and Practices. Nater discusses the process that Coach Wooden shared with his players to make everyone their best. 

He discusses the sacrifices required to mold yourself into the role Wooden demanded, which quite possibly differed from high scoring star, in the process of developing successful teams. 

He cited Andre McCarter, a prolific scoring guard who remade his game into shutdown defender at the front of the UCLA press. McCarter played on Wooden's final championship team and was heavily involved in nominating Wooden for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Wooden may have cost McCarter a fortune in professional salary, but had his admiration and love for his respect and fairness. 

I'm familiar with this role (not the prolific scoring), but the tasks at the front of the 2-2-1. They blend with the culture I promote - teamwork, improvement, and accountability. Which brings me back to constructive criticism of my approach. I'm promoting a process of commitment, discipline, focus, and personal growth. The more that players embrace that process, the higher the likelihood of basketball growth in that context. Selling 'process' embedded within teaching and humanity produces happiness for me. And I firmly believe that creates better people and better players. 

Leadership: Urban Legend

OSU football coach Urban Meyer has shared many valuable leadership lessons, among them his 10-80-10 principle. It's a variation on the 80-20 theme, but argues that your top ten percent need no motivation, but can be used to help move others (the 80 percent) into the top ten percent. 

But he also emphasizes other important points for growth. 

"A leader is someone who earns trust, sets a clear standard, and then equips and inspires people to meet that standard.”

"Meyer quips in Above the Line that average leaders have inspirational quotes, good leaders have a plan, and exceptional leaders have a system."

"Meyer’s Above the Line standard requires that a player’s behavior be “intentional, on purpose, and skillful.” 

TRUST

SYSTEM

HIGH STANDARD

Fast Five: Screen Gems

Spacing, cutting and passing, and screening are core dimensions to create separation to generate great scoring opportunities. You don't have to be a great dribbler if you can create separation without the ball. 

Coach Pintar shares thoughts on screening from Kevin Sutton. 

Here are a few helpful tips:

1) "The screener is the second cutter." Screening is not SCUT WORK; screening creates OPPORTUNITY for the screener. 

2) "Screen with deception." The less time defenders have to react, the less successful they will be in defending. A couple of steps with misdirection can help. 

3) "Screen the body." Some use the term "headhunting" to define screening the body. Some coaches teach screening an area, but I want the body screened. 

4) "Understand the possibilities." Screeners have to learn the proper roll, pick-and-pop, how to rescreen/change angles on the bump, and how to slip screens with defensive overplay. 

Clever action with fake screen from "set one, get one" on the BLOB. Instead of STS action it's "screen the slipper." 

Malone and Stockton in classic "slip" from side pick-and-roll. 

5. "Drag" screens in transition often create great looks. Your ability to make teammates better appears in many situations. In the quantitative system I've used analytically, a screen leading to a hoop carries a +2 value. 



It doesn't require extreme toughness to set a drag screen, but screens also have a cumulative impact to wear down defenders. 

Fast Five: Building Relationships

Repetition of major themes keys clarity...for example, the primacy of CHARACTER, COMPETENCE, and CONNECTION. 

How do we connect with our players? How do they recognize that we care, that we add value to their experience? 

1. Greet every player by name, preferably within the first few minutes of practice. It might seem like a small detail, but your name intimately links to your identity. When a pharmacist asks for the spelling of my name, I foresake the military alphabet for uniqueness- S as in somebody, E as in everybody, N as in nobody. 

2. Clarify everyone's roles. When Coach Wooden recruited Swen Nater, he told him he couldn't promise him any minutes, as Bill Walton was his competition. But he promised him that if he practiced hard against Walton, he could assure him that he'd improve and have a chance at a professional career. 

3. Set priorities. I can't reproduce my coach, but players and families know that 1) family events, 2) school, and 3) basketball are their priorities. But when you're on the court, your full attention, concentration, and effort belong to your team and to the game.

4. Simplify the emphasis. Bill Belichick sums it up; "do your job." You cannot do your job unless you know your job. Create a dialogue with each player such that she is 'crystal clear' about responsibilities. Can they handle the truth? 

I saw a sectional championship game lost (by a point) because of failed defensive rotation. The opposition had a tall (6'2") and talented post player. The pre-game scouting report showed the coverage and the protection (left). X4 would double the post and X3 immediately rotate to cover the opposite forward. Three times the double occurred WITHOUT rotation. Layups. I will never double from across because of that, and will double with a smaller player (X2 or X3). We need to have the connection to know the job gets done. 

5. Individualize feedback. Swen Nater's book about John Wooden (You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned) is full of lessons Nater learned from individually-tailored feedback. Wooden understood that he couldn't treat everyone the same, from his 1964 Championship team. He couldn't come down hard on the sensitive Gail Goodrich and he had to keep the uber-confident Walt Hazzard's ego in check. In The Heart of Coaching, Thomas Crane calls it a "performance-focused, feedback-rich" environment. 

Cultivated connections create trust, trust between player and coach, coach to coach, and player to player. When people know that you have a designed process to help them grow and achieve their goals, everyone benefits. 

Lead and Effect Change

Brett Ledbetter wrote a terrific book, "What Drives Winning." In this brief lecture he discusses power and action, but especially changing behavior. One standard he suggest comes from Pat Riley, "Catch people in the act of doing the right thing." 



"It was the only team that I'd ever been on that nobody wanted to be on." 

Is power the goal or something else? I have no interest in taking power over players; I want them to empower themselves through team actions. 

What is really important? How can we achieve that? 

Del Harris Defense

Coaches are hypocrites. I mean that. We preach defense but we spend more time on offense than defense and usually favor offensive production. 

Reality is that if we spend the majority of time on defense, then we simply won't score enough to be competitive. In the arms race of basketball, offense gets more of the money, love, and time. 

All of which demands that when we invest defensive time, we should bring great ideas to the fore. Here are some thoughts distilled from Del Harris, an underrated coach with high character and NBA championship pelt. Urban Meyer would say he has ethical trust, technical trust, and personal trust. 

Excerpts:

1. Be physical. Make the first hit. Play with body contact first of all. We like tobody up, as picks are about to be set. We want to body up on cutters.STAY CONNECTED TO YOUR MAN as he comes off of picks. Do not let him create a big gap between you and him or he will beat you on easy catch and shoots, splits and penetrations.
2. Pressure but still contain the man. Our second front court priority is to prevent your man from “taking the angle toward the goal.” Move your feet and body in order to cut him off. Make him go “East to West”, not “North to South”.
3. In our basic 5 man to man defense we want the defenders one pass away from the ball to deny the inside passes aggressively. On the perimeter they must know they are defending their man, but be in a help position.
4. Challenge every shot possible—our third on-ball priority—deny easy passes in the scoring area–pressure but contain and challenge the shot.
5. We utilize switching on defense against several NBA offensive maneuvers. We like to switch equal size players and often involve our 2-3-4 men in switching with each other—especially in pick/roll games.

My 'simplified' defensive appeals are:

Defense should attack, not play passively. Deny dribble and pass penetration into the paint. Don't foul perimeter shots and especially do not foul 'bad shots' such as off-balance shots and runners. The 'trend' in basketball is 'positionless' play, meaning more switching as 'smaller' player need to play more physically. We're not ever 'good enough' to allow easy baskets (layups, put backs, transition hoops, and free throws). 

Unforgettable

“The game is always going to come down to not turning it over, getting the best shot that you can, and then making sure you’re good and consistent with the way you play effort-wise and focus-wise on the defensive end.” - Brad Stevens

This is a "reminder" post, something I (and other coaches) can refer to and relate to in good times or bad. 

The coach's task is to help players get where they cannot go alone.

What does my team need NOW? 

"Soldiers eat first." It's about the players. The players aren't ASSETS; they're kids. What are we doing to make them well-adjusted, productive citizens? This quote speaks volumes, "are we here to build a program or a statue?"

Add value relentlessly. Players should be excited to come to practice, to learn, to build life skills, and get traction in a slippery world. Learn every day.

You succeed in basketball by wearing opponents down. How are we going to do that possession after possession?

Excellence doesn't come from slogans. Excellence follows consistent, effective process.

"The magic is in the work." Are your dreams and goals aligned with your commitment and work? 

Keep it simple. Simplicity builds clarity. Details define clarity. 

Execute. Don Meyer noted, "what is unacceptable in defeat is unacceptable in victory." Help your teammates get easier shots, get and maintain possession, and deny the opposition any easy baskets. 

Motivate. I can't change the world until I change myself.

Do well what we do a lot. If we ask someone to excel at everything, they probably won't excel at anything. Find solutions to finding solutions.

Push the right buttons; don't just push buttons. Create a legacy of making others better. If it doesn't translate, why am I investing our valuable time on it?

Fast Five: The Clinic

I recently posted an annotated CLINIC from Hubie Brown at the Five Star camp. We have the opportunity and choice to teach and share every day.

To excel, we must be ENGAGED and EFFECTIVE. I can be engaged but ineffective if I disrespect a player and don't ADD VALUE. In our basketball laboratory, we choose to make a difference...or we just punch the clock. Practice is our clinic with continuous implementation of core values.

1. Win their hearts and minds. We've all had coaches that we trusted, whom we believed cared about us. And we've probably had coaches about whom we felt quite differently. Don Meyer remarked, "they don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care." Do my players listen to understand or to respond?
2. "You are responsible for your paycheck." - Kevin Eastman    Kobe Bryant got paid because he took 100,000 jumpshots in a hundred "days off". Larry Bird took 500 free throws BEFORE school. Full days on the Chicago playgrounds made Isiah Thomas an 'overnight' success. Our players write their narrative and carve out a role according to their process. How badly do you want to succeed at your profession or avocation?
3. "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson  What have you done to make your teammates better? Did you ensure they knew their homework assignment and got to class on time? "It's not my job." The best people help others go further. There's an old story about a selfish player at practice. The coach had him prepare to inbound the ball...and told his teammates to leave the court. "Now, play."
4. Become a better version of yourself. Am I becoming a better version of myself? It's far more productive to work to reinvent ourselves each day than to compare ourselves to others. What am I reading (right now, Bob Cousy's Killer Instinct), what am I studying (last night, contemporary management of cirrhosis). How am I investing my time?
5. Give players their voice.  Players need to find solutions to the problems they encounter in their lives. They need guidance not oppression. Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer would say that they are in our orbit...needing centering without eliminating momentum or lacking grounding (gravity) and flying off in all directions. We need to remember, "it's not about me."

Overlap Skills from Other Disciplines

Brett Steenbarger writes about the psychology of trading. But best practices in one discipline often translate well to other disciplines. To find best practices in basketball, we can examine successful coaches in other disciplines and in other sports (e.g. Bill Belichick,  Jack Clark, Clint Hurdle, Gregg Popovich, etc.). 

Recently, he wrote about three techniques that can improve positive attitudes and performance. The mnemonic is BCS - behavioral, cognitive, solution-focused.

A behavioral approach can include meditation and neurolinguistic programming. The examples I have taught include visualizing yourself (during stress) in your calming environment (e.g. at the beach under an umbrella on a sunny day) and moving yourself into a "picture frame", allowing you to step back and separate the emotion from the event.

The cognitive approach relies on reorganizing our thinking using journaling (or blogging) and sometimes coaching or mentoring. Shaq discusses a life-changing conversation with Bill Russell he had as a young player. Shaq remarked, And then we just sat down and talked about his game. He was like, 'You should do this. You should do that.' And when you get information like that, that’s like one of the top techy guys trying to give you some stock information. You better take it, you know what I mean?"

The solution-focused approach reinforces "what went well" when we are in high performance, also known as "the zone". When we combine our analytic process that produces "an edge", with discipline, we optimize outcomes. Our task becomes to invest our time to "do more of what's working and less of what isn't."