Fast Five: Quick Tips for Aerobic Fitness

"Basketball is not a running sport; it is a sprinting sport." 

Achieving high levels of aerobic fitness is a mandate for serious players. Kevin Eastman reminds players, "your paycheck is your responsibility." If you want the Benjamins, do the work. 

Incorporate conditioning in your individual workouts. Use common sense. Do not perform strenuous exercise without your doctor's authorization. 

1. Jumping rope (a)

2. Jumping rope (b)

Jumping rope is compared with a variety of other exercises. 

"Ten minutes of nonstop jumping at 120 RPMs it can provide the same benefits as the following":

30 minutes of jogging
2 sets of tennis singles
30 minutes of racquet and handball playing
720 yards of swimming

18 holes of golf

3. Interval training. 

There are a lot of interval training methods designed to increase maximal aerobic capacity. Stack fitness provides an example here. Other examples are provided here. 

4. Tabata training. Tabata Training was developed in 1996 for Japanese speed skaters. Most of the "examples" are NOT REPRESENTATIVE of Tabata's original work, which demanded training at levels above maximal oxygen consumption. For example, after a ten-minute "fifty percent warmup", Tabata's athletes exercised at intervals at about 170% of VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption). An 'approximation' is twenty seconds of running at 11 mph and a grade of 8% (these are approximations and varies with subject weight). 

5. Blend skill training with conditioning. 

"Elbow to sideline." Player (3) shoots with (2) rebounding. Shoot and sprint to sideline and back with rebounder passing for catch-and-shoot. Track MAKES in a minute (or ninety seconds). Increase the difficulty by alternating elbows for shot. Alter the drill for free throws by shooting two and sprinting to half court or opposite foul line and back. 

Fast Five: Shooting Games

Shooters are made not born. 

I won't dignify "H-O-R-S-E", "21", or "Around the World" with explanations; you all know them. I append "Around the World" as "Perfect World" where you have to go around the world and back without missing a shot. 

1. Pitino 168

84 shots, 168 possible points. 

2. Celtics 32. 

Abbreviated version. 5 lines, 3 spots, finish with two free throws. 17 shots, 32 possible points. 

3. Elbow to Elbow. 

Compete against your partner/rebounder. Elbow shot, sprint to opposite elbow and catch-and-shoot. If you don't make at least 8, set up suitable reminder (e.g. 5 pushups, etc.)

4. "Beat the Pro." 

Set your spots, +1 for a make, +3 for the Pro on a miss, game to 11. You have to make 11 before you miss 4 to win. The "hard way" is 15 and 2 (miss 2, you lose). 

When I was a kid, we called this "Bill Bradley" 

Bradley put in 58 in the 1965 NACC consolation game. 

5. "251". 

Shots from corner, elbow, elbow, and opposite elbow. You cannot miss two in a row or you start over; must repeat corner shot on the turn. 1 point for each shot taken. Once the record was 251 (on 3s). 

Bonus: Frito-Lay (free throw line to layup). Kids love this game. No idea why...

What Makes Quin Snyder Good?

What makes Quin Snyder good? NO, this is not sarcasm. Let's go under the hood and examine why Utah Jazz Coach Quin Snyder receives rave reviews. It's not media hype, because Salt Lake City isn't LA, New York, Chicago, or even Houston. 

Intelligence. Snyder has both a law degree and an MBA. Who knew? 

Accountability. Accountability means holding yourself to quality standards. 

Coaches, players, and fans either choose accountability or ATTRIBUTION BIAS. Blaming the officiating, schedule, travel, injuries, et cetera doesn't address what we do to perform at higher levels, consistently for longer. Snyder owns his results. 

The Job. Snyder says coaching in the D-League revived his career. "What I began to find out is that this is that I was really lucky. I loved the teaching part of it, I liked the competition...I discovered that this is something that I really like to do...In this case it was just coaching.”

Communication. Snyder knows there's no magic. Players don't immediately buy in; you earn their trust even through rough spots. "And if you make a mistake–and you will–‘Hey, I was wrong." His teaching comes naturally, "Both my parents were teachers, and I think I always just enjoyed learning. I have a curious mind, and I enjoyed being exposed to different types of things."

Philosophy. "He wants to run a motion offense, with lots of reads, spacing, and unselfishness with the ball...he also wants his offense to allow the players to run up and down the floor. Playing with pace really just gets easy baskets and lets players attack.” He has focused on player development and understanding analytics relevant for his team. But he's not above going old school (see video). 

Clinic notes: Good stuff as always from Zak Boisvert, with notes on pick-and-roll defense. At the lower levels (where I am), the challenge is to have a SPECIFIC plan with 5 PLAYERS on the SAME PAGE. It makes no difference how many ways I know how to defend the PnR if we can't even execute one! And if we don't communicate, we don't even know it's coming...

Highlight: 

Watching the NBA Summer League, I see that Jaylen Brown has come a long way in defending the PnR as the Celtics 'ICE' the wing ball screen (keep the ball on one side). At lower levels, you have the option of trapping (BLITZ) or teaching players to hedge (SHOW) if you have the athletes/smarts. 

Video.



This video is a bit dated (3 years), but Coach Nick's analysis is always terrific. It shows the Jazz running the Spurs' "LOOP" (dates back to Chuck Daly Pistons at least), "scissors" action off the high post (another old school), and some staggered screens for ball handlers out of a horns-like configuration. The Jazz played at a slower pace than most NBA teams and we'll see how they adjust post Gordon Hayward leaving. 

Quin Snyder is a technician and teacher; I doubt that changes regardless of personnel.  

Advice for Young Guards

"There's nothing cheaper than free advice." - Anonymous

Never give advice that you wouldn't take. Especially at lower levels (high school and below), excellent guard play is critical to success. Because when it's bad, it means turnovers and exposure against pressure leading to easy transition offense. 

In I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It, Charles Barkley discussed mentoring younger players. Usually, they rejected his suggestions, "stop dogging me old man." Try anyway. 

1. "The ball is gold." Take care of the basketball. Value the ball. Turnovers are coach killers. 

2. "Pass and cut." Stand around and you'll sit next to your coach. Cutting to the ball side corner is called "bury" and cutting to the help side (weak side, back side) corner is called "thru". 

3. Don't dribble the air out of the ball. It's called "basketball" not "dribbleball". 

4. Greatness means making your teammates and your team better. Share the ball. 

5. See the game through "coach's eyes". Know what your team needs now. Lead. 

6. Jay Bilas' admonishes, "It's not your shot, it's our shot." Know what good shots mean for you and each of your teammates. In a critical moment, know where the ball doesn't belong. You don't want your worst free throw shooter on the line at the most important time. 

7. Have energy and spread energy. 



"We put a huge premium on body language. If your body language is bad, you will never get in the game. Ever."

8. Be an ambassador for your team. Represent your teammates with maturity, confidence, and class. 

9. Put the team first. How does your action, in the moment, impact your teammates. If you have done well and get media attention, deflect credit to your teammates and coaches. 

10. B. 

Be positive. Be thoughtful. Be compassionate. Be generous. Be the person you want to be; don't be a jerk. 

Fast Five: The Shot Fake

Shooting practice demands multiple 'deliveries' including deception. Shot fakes help create separation via "fly bys" (defenders running by), defensive overcommitment opening drives, and through defensive fouls. 

Start by defining for players: "A shot fake is a shot not taken." 

"This is NOT a duck." The shot fake must be a reasonable copy of your shot.

Slower is better. Eyes must see the rim. Quiet your feet. 





I think Kelly Olynyk has the best shot fake in The Association. 

Remember Coach Wooden's process: explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.

Avoid the pitfalls. Traveling prevention is critical. I teach slow hands, quiet feet and recommend the player not elevate the ball above the head. There is evidence that officials call more travels the higher the ball is raised on the fake. 



There's an old adage "never foul a jump shot." Not enough players listen and they often foul off the pump fake. 

Fast Five: The Basketball Process Matrix

"Control what you can control." We control our attitude, our choices, and our effort. 

1. The process-outcome matrix informs relationships to process and outcome. Nothing guarantees success. Skill and luck both contribute. "Make the big time where you are." 

2. Championship organizations thrive in the upper half of the matrix. They work the right way. 

3. New Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott remarked, "That's our vision on a day-to-day basis, and that standard is to be a playoff-caliber football team, and that means every day. That's what it gets back to in terms of earning the right to win. How we meet, how we talk, how we workout, how we practice when we do practice, how we play - that's the standard we're trying to get to every day."

4. If we want to be exceptional, we have to strive for exceptional every day in every way. As Aristotle commented, "Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." 

5. Be specific and detail oriented. 

- Write it down. (See Steve Kerr Leadership Concepts)
- Use practice plans. 
- Revise plans according to observed effectiveness. 
- Have a drill book, continually edited with improvements and deletions. 
- Distribute team handbooks, with core information, philosophy, and values. 
- Distribute notebooks to players to record progress, setbacks, and corrections. 
- Identify specific problems and tailor solutions. 

Process is our discipline about our rules of conducting business...the business of coaching and the business of living. "It comes down to a simple choice..."

Catch and Shoot Primer: Data Driven

Don't be average. The average reader invests 36 seconds on an article. 36. Seconds. Remind players that the quickest path to improvement is learning the game, because the game is eighty percent mental. 

Shooting... "the most important and least taught skill in basketball". "Practicing ten thousand hook shots could make you ten million dollars." Good players and good teams do a few things well. Do well what you do a lot.

At the heart of shooting well is CATCH AND SHOOT. "Last season, according to the NBA’s SportVU Player Tracking Statistics, teams shot almost five more attempts per game off the catch than they did off the dribble, which is understandable – catch-and-shoot attempts generated a league-wide average effective field-goal percentage of 51.6%, far superior to that of pull-up attempts, 40.4%." 

"Good players need two dribbles, excellent players one, and elite players don't need to dribble." Score in the most efficient way possible, which most commonly means catching and shooting. "You are most open the moment you catch the ball." You need four ways to score. Catch and shoot is one. 

The NBA tracks (incompletely) catch and shoot stats. 

The better teams score the most off catch and shoot. 

How do we get there? Bobby Knight wouldn't allow free shooting, believing it a waste of time. Here's a visual reminder. Free shooting 💩. 

Points of emphasis: 

• "The right-handed shooter's natural shot is going left, because she is already turned."
• Klay Thompson's 60 points came in 90 seconds of possession with 11 dribbles. 
• Quickness of release starts with pre-shot preparation. I have players who won't invest their effort in readying the shot (hands ready, "spring loaded")
• Targeting is essential to score. 

A few "Catch and shoot" drills

"One more." Pass and follow. Last player shoots. Via Kevin Eastman. 

"Ortega." Relocating and shooting. Via FIBA. 

Full court "3 by 3 by 3".  Players on the baseline pass then sprint to opposite end for catch and shoot. Via a coaching clinic I attended last season. 

Shooting groups. Via Etorre Messina of the Spurs. Every player must make five and then next shooter rotates in. Competition between groups. If a group makes seven consecutively, that's also a win. 

Video:





Steve Nash workout. A 180 shooter: 50% FG, 40% 3s, 90% FT shooter in a season. 

Fast Five: Execution and Confirmation Bias

We are all subject to 'confirmation bias', the tendency to believe what we already believe, the reinforcement of our current beliefs. This includes the use of analytics, styles of play, preferred players, and our abilities. Couple confirmation bias and overconfidence and we create powerful delusions. 

1) Analytics. "They're a waste of time" or "they tell you what you already know." 

The rubber meets the road, record.

Team assist-to-turnover ratio. 

Score a lot, win a lot. Well, that doesn't always work (outlier: see Phoenix and Brooklyn). 

Three point shots as percentage of total points. Interesting. 

Duh. The best teams are reflected in scoring differential. 

They do not preach "3 and 'D'" for nothing. 

2. "Kill the company." Some investment experts carry out an exercise called "kill the company" asking what could possibly go wrong. The "Tylenol scandal" didn't take down Johnson & Johnson because they developed a powerful response with recall and repackaging after the cyanide adulteration scandal in 1982. 

We can certainly imagine scenarios where teams struggle...OKC would have major issues with a Russell Westbrook injury. D'Angelo Russell's trade possibly wasn't just about Lonzo Ball. The US Olympic figure skating team died in a plane crash in 1961. Very few NFL teams have a Don Strock or Earl Morrall if their franchise quarterback goes down. 

3. "What does my team need now?" I had a hard-working but size and talent-limited team last season. The first third of the season we averaged less than 25 points a game. We had to spend too much time on shooting and zone offense to become semi-competitive. We cannot live 'denial' about our or our team's ability. 

4. "Don't live in the past." I see coaches who 'force' the system they grew up in as players onto their current team. Legendary Cal Coach Pete Newell remarked this "usually results in a poor reproduction of the original." If we have two or three days (tryouts) for talent evaluation, spending the first day running wind sprints teaches us who has superior conditioning but not so much about basketball skill and acumen. 

5. "He's a genius." Phil Jackson is known as a basketball whisperer for his communication skills and "Eleven Rings" while coaching the Bulls and Lakers to championships. Jackson's confirmation bias is the Triangle Offense. He and the Knicks recently divorced as the Triangle sans Michael, Scottie, Kobe, and Shaq couldn't pass muster. 

Look for 'disconfirming evidence' about your beliefs. See the "other side of the trade." Many were saying Danny Ainge was an idiot for trading the first draft choice for the third (Jayson Tatum) and future choice and coming up empty in free agency. The Tatum deal looks prescient and the Celtics have two potential lottery picks next year...plus Gordon Hayward. 

The Basketball Metaphor

We can view "basketball" as an object, a game, or a hobby. For some it's their meal ticket - player, coach, videographer, scoreboard manufacturer, concessions operator, or information purveyor. 

I see basketball as a metaphor for the pursuit of excellence and vehicle to share life lessons. 

When we discuss a bacon and egg breakfast, we distinguish involvement and commitment. A chicken participates but the pig commits. 

We seek fully engaged players, living words of craft, discipline, energy, sacrifice, and time. And coaches are obliged to repay with value, fairness, respect. 

In The Road to Character, David Brooks discusses the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City, and its impact on young Frances Perkins. 145 workers, mostly young immigrant women, died in a sweatshop deathtrap with locked doors and ignored safety features. Many jumped to their deaths from the eighth to tenth story floors. Brooks discusses how the fire 'summoned' Perkins to her reformer vocation and compares it to Viktor Frankl's experiences in Nazi death camps from 1942 on. In Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”

Of Perkins, Brooks writes, "A person with a deep vocation is not dependent on constant positive reinforcement. The job doesn't have to pay off every month, or every year. The person thus called is performing a task because it is intrinsically good, not for what it produces." 

Perkins found that Gracian's The Art of Worldly Wisdom, a seventeenth century guidebook, resonated with her. “Say farewell to luck when winning... the more luck pyramids, the greater the danger of slip and collapse. For luck always compensates her intensity by her brevity. Fortune wearies of carrying anyone long upon her shoulders.” She believed in work, not luck, and ascended from lowly counselor to Industrial Commissioner in New York and Secretary of Labor under Franklin Roosevelt. She changed America through child labor laws, overtime laws, and a minimum wage. Some called her "half-a-loaf girl" because she understood the value of compromise. 

When playing or coaching well, we go beyond Phil Jackson's "basketball is sharing". We transcend that by "serving our teammates". How you play informs the world about how you live. We are about the pursuit of truth.  

Post Entry/Offense Through the Post

Young players struggle to pass on time and on target. Skilled passers mimic efficient quarterbacks, excelling at decisions and accuracy. They know angles, defensive positioning, and see help defenders. 

Sherri Coale (see video below) emphasizes entry passes ABOVE the SHOULDERS or BELOW the WAIST. Defenders are all over the middle passes. 

Nuances of getting open in the post are not included. 

The point guard relocates to below the foul line to improve passing angle. 

Against the hard front, the offense can SEAL the defender with quick ball movement, locking x5 behind 5. SEAL on SWING. 

The best guards get the post the ball in the best position. Kevin Eastman differentiates post residences. 1 is the "homeowner", 2 a "renter", and 3 is homeless. Both post and passer need 'realtor' mentality - location, location, location. 

Aggressive guards will "dig" or "double" the post. Smart passers remove that possibility through pass and cut options. 

Post entry starts the first option in the triangle offense. Expect to see less triangle as Phil Jackson and the Knicks have parted ways. 

Passing quickly THROUGH the post can set up easy baskets. 

Classic "blind pig" for a wing back cut. A second approach involves the 5 dribbling away, then pivoting (wheeling) to deliver the pass. 

The Celtics like to run a corner blind big action with Avery Bradley at the 2. 

This horns action through the high post give-and-go is elegant. Can't remember where I saw it. 

The US Women's National Team (USWNT) ran post entry into combination actions, looking at flare screen 3s or dives to the hoop off the slip (above). 

If we have skilled post players, we want consistent post entry. If they're less proficient scorers, then we need to teach them to find teammates on passes through the post. In either event, we need to show them how...Coach Wooden's explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition. 

Sherri Coale "25 Clean Catch" post drill. 

Ball Pressure: Philosophy and Drills

Your defensive effort informs your honor. Your defense says who you are. The clip above shows MVP runner-up James Harden role-playing defense. C'mon. Do we ever want anyone contesting our honor? 

Great defense begins with ball pressure. Ball pressure helps limit dribble and pass penetration, challenges shots, forces physical and mental mistakes, and requires offensive players to exert more energy. It forces teams out of what they want to do.

Good drills have multiple elements simulating game play...offense, defense, competition, finishing, decision-making, conditioning, and so on. 

Here are a few I like. 

1. Manmaker.

Coach hands 1 the ball. Each player must stay in her lane against maximum pressure. You must advance the ball against maximum pressure...you can use only one dribble each time you handle the ball. Players must learn to protect the ball, pivot, cut, and pass in smaller confines. 

2. Gauntlet. 

2 on offense, 4 sets of two on defense in zones. Offensive players must advance the ball and score, moving through the 'gauntlet' of defenders. We also limit dribbles per each touch...if you don't pass and cut, you cannot succeed in this press-break simulation. 

3. Dog Drill (via Kevin Eastman)

I usually run this half-court outdoors in the summer. Simple one-on-one ball pressure within confined spaces. 

Digression: Don't be stupid. 

Heat injury is real. As a medical student on rotation at Bethesda Naval Hospital, I heard a case presentation of a midshipman admitted with acute kidney and liver failure after competitive road racing in extreme heat. His initial temperature was 106 degrees, and he was jaundiced without urine output. Ultimately he survived. 

Not surprisingly, heat-related deaths fluctuate with weather conditions. 

4. One-on-one, two dribbles. 

Defense hands the ball to offense, who immediately attacks...two dribble maximum. If you foul, the possession gets replayed. "Play it as though it's the last possession of the state championship." 

5. Closeout one-on-one. 

Tips and 'haunts' (a.k.a. encouragement)

• "Nose on the chest"
• "Crawl up into them"
• "Be within touching distance"
• "Ball pressure!"
• "Don't back down!" 

You all remember the scene from Hoosiers, where Gene Hackman says, "Stick with your man. Think of him as chewing gum. By the end of the game, I want you to know what flavor he is."