Basketball: Filling Out Your Dance Card

We're on the back nine of summer sessions. Most teaching emphasizes individual execution because attendance varies. 

Find actions to run well and in a variety of combinations. And add options or variations that mesh with your personnel. 

Pick and roll: 

Players learn how to execute generic high and wing ball screens.

Introducing variations can create headaches for defenses. It's ideal to create a double gap for a driver. 

Staggered screens: 

We can adjust the personnel to the play or ideally train up players to execute the task. 

The Iverson cut proved simple and decisive late as Pentucket scored five points with it on two possessions. 

Backdoor cuts or misdirection: 

Create multiple options for scoring

Get mismatches: (Pistons 15)

Simple cross-screens can create high probability scoring chances

Lagniappe: from @BBallImmersion "great offense is multiple actions"

New Belmont coach Casey Alexander ran some great stuff at Lipscomb. Here is a late clock play that slips the 1st screener out off a double stagger dribble handoff. pic.twitter.com/CeVzJ9BnBP

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) August 14, 2019

Basketball: Managing Expectations

We all manage expectations - at a minimum, our own. Moreover, we manage external expectations with individual players, teams, and media. For some coaches, employment requires meeting or exceeding expectations. How do we balance setting expectations? 

Some choose to raise the bar. 1967 Red Sox manager Dick Williams opined, "we'll win more than we lose." 

This was a bold prediction after years of mediocrity. And the Red Sox won 92 regular season games, captured the pennant on the final day, and lost to the Cardinals in seven games in the World Series. 

A Red Sox employee shared a player quote after a mega-deal, "Nothing matters now. I got paid." A Wheaties box cover was a poor substitute for an overflowing bank account. Fan expectations diverged mightily from player expectations. His final five years in baseball yielded thirty-two pitching victories. I doubt his conversations with management expressed the same indifference. 

Setting the bar low favors self-preservation. 

But it isn't always so. Kent Sterling wrote of Indiana basketball in December 2015, "Coaching 101 demands a leader undersell your team to the media. Setting the bar low is always good business when trying to predict the behavior of 18-22 year-olds, but Crean is so covetous of positive media coverage that he and his emissaries present only the positive."

“How’s your team?” opens Pandora’s box. When asked about the execution of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers, John McKay replied, "I'm in favor of it." Off the record, I've found most coaches' candor refreshing. Some share comments like "it's the most talented and least fun to coach" or "great group that shows up to work every day." The former will never get attribution. 

Where we set the bar depends on individual preference and goals. In our program, success means personal and athletic growth. As a middle school program, we're not held hostage by wins or championships. 

When asked about his team, Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg reportedly said, "ask me in twenty years and I'll be able to give you a better answer." I think that's right. 

Lagniappe: "Expectation doesn't guarantee you a thing." Humor and pathos about expectations...


Lagniappe 2: Do you have a backdoor play off of a BOB? Chris Oliver shares one. 

This baseline inbound play is a designed backdoor. Do you have a designed backdoor built into your inbound alignments? The play works with the Maga Convergence inbound play series I posted a compilation of on YouTube here https://t.co/8ryI35xE83 pic.twitter.com/InJhcjKTYo

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) August 10, 2019

 Another simple 'slip' set up from previous backscreens. 

Dumacity: Avoid It, Live Long, and Prosper

As a physician for thirty-eight years, I've seen a lot. For many people, the key to health is avoiding bad decisions. I call that DUMACITY*, the act or condition of being a dumba**. 

Yes, it's mildly profane. As a coach, I avoid profanity. Mom described profanity as reflecting a lack of vocabulary. 

Dumacity maims. Dumacity kills. I don't want patients, players, friends, and family to be  victims or cause another's injury. 

Educate our players. Here are some charts and a partial list: 

Drinking and driving doesn't discriminate by age. 

At 60 miles per hour, three seconds of distracted driving is (88 feet/sec x 3 = 264 feet) almost the length of a football field.  

- Drinking and driving
- Being a passenger of a drunk driver
- Random drug use...friends don't give friends drugs. Skittles parties can kill. 
- Dangerous selfies (here I am on a cliff, cell tower, etc). Men make up about three-quarters of selfie deaths and millennials over eighty percent. 
- Don't text and drive or drive distracted.
- Texting and crossing streets
- Exposures to STDs
- Unsafe firearms storage and use
- Tobacco in any form
- Vaping
- Energy drinks (gateway to alcohol and stimulant drug use)
- Hassling the police (they have the gun and badge)
- Tide pod ingestion

- Miscellaneous (quarry diving, insecticide inhalation, snowmobile avalanche, swimming with seals on the Cape, and so on and so on)

If you're blessed with good health and youth, don't sacrifice both on the altar of dumacity (this belongs in Webster's)

The life we save can be our own. 

Basketball: Salmagundi Courtesy Chef Musselman

via seriouseats.com

Eric Musselman's blog shares a treasure trove of knowledge and perspective. Pick up ideas wherever we can. Here are a few Musselman shares and my annotation. 

2008 via Red Wings Coach Mike Babcock, "while that commitment is not a guarantee of anything, it is a requirement of everything."

Our players judge whether we're all in and if they should buy in. 

From LeBron James, They've found on their own that if they can trust one another, at the end of the day, that's what helps build chemistry and that carries over to the floor."

Communication leads to trust and trust to loyalty. 

On end-of-season meetings from Washington coach Jim Zorn,  "I want to coach a team that is a playoff team, not just a team that gets to the playoffs. Do you see what I mean? I want these guys to be perennial."

At our best, we change players' lives not just their skills.

On professionalism, from cellist Janos Starker in Knight, "I believe that to be valid for every single profession. If you can go through a day without wanting it or thinking it or living with professionalism in the profession that you are in, you are not supposed to be in it."

Professionalism is a skill. 

About defensive weakness, from George Karl, "But deep down inside, every defense has a weakness. Every defense gives you something. Now can the team on the court, the players on the court, find what it gives you?"

Good coaches find mismatches and opportunity. Excellent coaches succeed by getting superior personnel, better development, or both to exploit their advantage. 

Lagniappe: via @RadiusAthletics

How about grading the offensive possession through a "what did we do to the defense?" rubric.
Did we collapse them?
Did we cause a rotation?
Did we create a closeout(s)?
Did we disorganize them?

— Radius Athletics (@RadiusAthletics) August 3, 2019

Basketball: Prepare to Win, SLOB Winners

We practice "special situations" (specials) every practice in the context of 3 possession scrimmages (offense-defense-offense). We start off 'dead ball' situations like free throws, BOB, and SLOB. I think we should practice off both live-ball (e.g. change drill) and dead ball situations. 

Additionally, teams need actions to end quarters and end-of-game against man and zone defense and ATOs. 

Today, let's engage on SLOBs where we need two to three points. Have a portfolio of actions practiced. And NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the importance of developing an inbound passer. Could the Celtics use Tacko Fall to defend the inbound pass close and late? 

First, let's "go to the tape" for a Texas winner using a delayed stagger. As a reminder to players, inbound plays begin the instant the official hands the ball off. 

Occasionally, I have selected an "unlikely" player to take the "impossible" shot to send a message, "I believe in you." Making or missing the shot isn't the point. 



Here's a two-point scoring play (below) from GSW. It relies on 'sequential screening' and being able to execute the second pass. 

Here's another NBA "theft" ("Good artists borrow, great artists steal." - Picasso) from Portland. This consistently generates a quality shot. 

Typically, NBA teams switch late in quarter and clock and most of us will never coach Dame Lillard. 

Zipper GO uses "basic" Zipper/ballscreen ballside with a delayed backscreen for the inbounder...if the initial helpside cut isn't available. 

Here's another approach that can open a corner three or the preferred off-ball screen to the inbounder/shooter. 

Lagniappe: who would have guessed? 

Washington Wizards ATO, SLOB - MJ Game-Winner pic.twitter.com/AbbxPQXNuZ

— SeanBillermanHoops (@HoopsSean) April 27, 2019

Basketball: Breaking Down the Zone

Inspector Thursday opines on the value of the inside game...from Endeavour

John Madden discusses watching Vince Lombardi lecture about the Packer Sweep. Madden explained that as a young coach he thought he knew everything...then he heard Lombardi talk for 8 HOURS about one play. "I don't know anything." 

Our players know something, but we want them to care to know more. 

Young players hate playing against zones. Change that. 

This references a set from Boeheim on breaking the 2-3. 

1 Whenever possible, beat the defense down the floor. 

2 Distort the zone with fakes and ball movement. Shot fakes move the zone north and south, pass fakes and ball reversal move the zone east and west. 

3 Teach the 'two-second rule' of action within two seconds of the catch. 

4 Set the offensive base below the defense. You are invisible to players above you.  

5 The initial action shifts the defense left and then forces the low defender into play (diagram, left panel). The defense is out of position and scrambling. 

6 This pressures the middle (x5) on the FLASH (left panel), creating a possible 2 on 1 (right panel) or 3 on 2. 3 comes into the play for rebounding or drop down pass from 5. 5 has pass, shoot, or drive options. Bounce passes avoid active defensive hands. 

7 Zones come without preassigned rebounding. This informs offensive advantage. 

Lagniappe: Flex into Backdoor via @BBallImmersion

If you run any type of flex action here is a way to use the play as a template to set up a backdoor action. Edit made easy with @KlipDraw https://t.co/NqI6TTY03S pic.twitter.com/EqFQMZYXPT

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) August 5, 2019

Lagniappe 2: Boeheim explains his general concepts (short chalk talk)

Basketball: Chemistry Lesson, Terminology Will Vary

Every discipline has a unique vocabulary and background. During high school, our defensive system used numbers to describe the type of defense (first digit) and extent of floor coverage (second digit).

With an experienced (eight seniors) team, complexity was simple. Coaching youth players, we're more likely to confuse ourselves than opponents. Telling them (and the opposition) that we're running "Horns" or high ball screen isn't revealing state secrets. The old Celtics ran six plays and the Green Bay Packers won five championships in seven years with power football execution, not trickery. 



But players need to learn the why, advantages and flexibility of a given approach (spacing, opening the middle, removing natural weak side help). 

If we run a 'spread' offense, it matters not whether we call it spread, out, open, 50, or donuts. I want them to explore how to play, not focus on 'running plays'. 

Conversely, against "better" coaches, their predictability should help us. If we know they  switch everything close and late, take advantage. 

We introduce 'concepts' like triangle offense, Flex, or UCLA but I believe learning how to play outperforms executing a specific offense. Winning at the next level (high school) carries more gravitas than middle school victories. Spending hours learning how to execute an offense that they won't use at the next level doesn't prepare them, but teaching concepts does.

Everyday offense teaches players how to read and defend screens with terms like curl, pop, and bump, or hedge (show, fake trap), through, under, Ice, blitz, et cetera. Even if players understand the concepts, they still fail without communication. 

So why the Periodic Table? We're not ready for "breadcrumbs" and spelling out words like Endeavour (Season 1), where Detective Constable Morse uses hymn numbers to decipher a killer's identity. But we can learn the basic elements 1 - 5 to run isolations. Plus, there's no downside to learning basic science. 

(Common uses for low number periodic table elements...)

H - industrial chemical reactant and refining

He - medical application (low density gas inhalation - rare, MRI)

Li - batteries

Be - defense industry electronics (significant health risks when inhaled)

B - cleaning products, insecticides, insulation

I heard of a case where someone tried to poison their spouse with boric acid ("Croak-a-Roach") on their cheese sandwich...a poor substitute for mustard.

Lagniappe: Well-executed ball screens create problems for "individual assignment" defense. Simple is hard to stop. 

Core play with option for Corner 3 if x3 helps. 

Or design the ball screen to set up back cut action.

The Thibodeau Chicago Bulls liked to run the pick-and-roll to set up an elbow jump shot during the "dinosaur days" of mid-range scoring (in middle school, we still do). 

Basketball: Building Better BOBs, Multiple Choice Options

Xs and Os don't score baskets, players do. But I'm looking to energize some stuff we've executed successfully. I'm throwing stuff out there. 

And what looks "okay" on paper can fail miserably against live defense or with corrupted spacing. 

Against the 2-3 zone, entry into our 5 into a handback has setup big problems for teams handling our 5. As a changeup, why not add elements from the Izzo "X" to attack from the weak side? 

Clear the traffic and set a backscreen away. 

Need a 3? Start the play the same way and bring a downscreen to free a shooter. We ran this skeleton today at a workout and the shooter drained the trey. 

Add a stack away to create multiple options. That could open a midrange shot or a tight curl into a drive and 2-on-1 with the 2 and 5.

If we're going to improve, then we need quality shots on a higher percentage of possessions. As Eric Musselman explained in his podcast with Chris Oliver, a turnover equals a zero percentage possession. 

Lagniappe: via @HoopsSean

Good Offense - 1 More pic.twitter.com/uwQVakSsGF

— SeanBillermanHoops (@HoopsSean) July 28, 2019

Lagniappe 2: excellent defenses want to force "Hard 2s". We need to figure out becoming the better mouse. 

Basketball: If You Have to Win, This Is What I'd Suggest*

"If charity means giving, I give it to you..." 

Why are you coaching? If you coach to feed your ego, to win at all costs, and require constant validation, then this message is for you. 

Chef Thomas Keller (The French Laundry) shares that cooking is about ingredients and execution. Get the best ingredients, learn the proper techniques from glazing to braising, and execute, execute, execute. Simple? 

Limit your roster size. Select no more than eight players. Play fewer less skilled, less athletic, less experienced players, AND those on the team will get more playing time. Your number eight player goes against my twelve. Win-win! I bow to your genius. 

Play your best lineup as much as possible. Comedian Steve Martin says, "always bring your best stuff." Numbers six through eight will be grateful just for making your team. Sure.

Get the most shots for your best players. They don't give the same number of bullets to everyone in a war, do they? Don't worry if a few kids feelings get hurt. 

Get as much practice time as possible. Train your little warriors with two or three times as much practice time as the next coach (like me). 

Don't give the players too much freedom. They won't like that, but you've already decided to make it about you, so control the controllable. You're building a statue not a program. 

Schedule wisely. Be careful not to schedule too aggressively. It's one thing to hurt kids feelings, but never yours. 

Constantly work the officials. "The world needs referees." These guys and gals get paid, even to take your abuse. As long as you get the calls, don't worry, be happy. An NCAA D1 official told me there are some venues that won't have you back unless the calls go their way. Remember that. If you can get your friends to officiate, do it.

Color outside the lines. If you can manipulate the timekeeper when you're losing, do it.
   
Play multiple zone defenses. Young players struggle with new concepts and can't shoot well from the perimeter. When coaching snowflakes complain, just say, "nobody stops you from playing zone." And if you're losing late, demand that the other team attack the zone instead of holding the ball out. "Why won't you play basketball?" The other coach will appreciate your basketball savvy. 




"Leave no doubt." Run it up. Show them who's boss. Up twenty-five with eight minutes to go? Keep pressing, keep the hammer down with your best lineup. Show that you know how to grind the other team into dust. There's no crying in basketball. 

Encourage trash talk and chippiness. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." What are a few elbows and moving screens among friends? Injuries? NBA - no babies allowed. 

Operate like covert agencies. "I know nothing of that." "Talk to the program director if you have questions." Minimize transparency. Nobody should ever question you. Ever. 

Never win with humility or lose graciously. Be authentic. If you lose, blame the conditions, the referees, bad bounces, anything. "If we'd made shots, we'd have beaten you." I really enjoyed hearing that. "Yessir, I understand it's all about you." 

But, but...you're describing a nightmare, a dystopian basketball universe. Tell me that you haven't seen everything above. I have. 

Lagniappe: Coach Daniel shows how GSW uses screens and slips to open long-range bombers. We don't have shooters who can make them, c'est la vie. 



Lagniappe 2: Horns backdoor from @HalfCourtHoops. Sell it! 

CSKA Moscow Horns Backdoor pic.twitter.com/iTrnUKgzEX

— Half Court Hoops (@HalfCourtHoops) August 3, 2019

Lagniappe 3: from Adam Grant, Give and Take

"See success in terms of making significant, lasting contributions to a broad range of people."  If our players experience family, career, and life success after they've left our orbit, then we're making a difference. 

Basketball Education: Eric Musselman Podcast with Chris Oliver

Chris Oliver interviews Eric Musselman. Here are my notes on this "Coaching Clinic" within a podcast.

Musselman hosted the Eric Musselman basketball notebook, a blog of brief basketball messages. "As you get older, you want to share..." Seek wisdom every day.

He's now at CoachMuss.com. 

Musselman said that his minor league coaching experience helped a lot as he learned without intense media scrutiny. He asks, "how do you put together a team?" He classifies players according to: 

• "Lottery pick talent"
• "Mid-first round talent"
• "Second round talent"
• "Non-drafted" 

But he applies these labels to future college players. You need three stars to win in the NBA and that's how he looks at it. He also examines other models like the 76ers and Warriors and how they acquired players. 

"Pro model." Lay out the foundation of expectations during college, the vision for the player over time. "Programs can oversell a player's role." 

"We stopped enjoying winning." Between his 3rd and 4th year at Nevada, he learned that his team needed more fun, more team-building. At the same time, player focus wandered from college basketball to professional futures. Compete and have fun in the moment. Knowing how to manage expectations matters with a lot of talent. 

In the NBA you need the best players taking the most shots in their preferred spots. He doesn't want less effective players having to take the shots. "Have you lost your mind with your shot selection?" Pro model, beat the defense down the floor, good pace and get "a shot on goal." Live ball turnovers are disaster, usually becoming a layup or a foul or an and 1 at the other end. "Team is built on do not turn the ball over" despite a pretty good pace. 

Players define their roles in the off-season. Who's putting in the time? Here's the order of who we want shooting late game...he'll list the players 1-13. 

He has a big play package of simple plays. "The play call has to make sense to the player." He starts a lot of plays with the same alignment. He wants to avoid confusion. "The trainer should know the play call (simplicity). Like the Patriots, he wants his team to adjust some game to game. 

"You can't be guessing with your philosophy..."

Chuck Daly, "Don't ever put in a play unless you know it works." 

He watched a lot of football practices of the Oakland Raiders...

He knows from study the likely adjustments by their opponents (e.g to PnR offense). He divides responsibilities among coaching "coordinators." Wants assistants in the trenches coaching hard during practice.   

Mechanics of introducing plays: (multiple)

• Paper
• Texts
• Video
• Walk throughs (players dislike skeleton and it limits focus/engagement) 

Notes that NHL and NBA first year (with organization) coaches both won championships (as did the Red Sox...not mentioned). Championship coaches get a different level of buy-in. 

Chuck Daly, "If every four minutes there was a meeting (timeout) in business, how would that work?" Players get tired of hearing the same voice. 

Lagniappe: via @RadiusAthletics 

Example of "connecting inbounds to offense" from the Dayton Flyers (@DaytonMBB). Box inbounds ➡️Short Alignment ➡️Short Roll ➡️2v1 (ft. #CoachPaint by @CoachPaintCH) pic.twitter.com/ZYmq37YWOi

— Radius Athletics (@RadiusAthletics) August 1, 2019

Lagniappe 2: Quick points from Eric Musselman notebook - 

On Kobe film study - 

The goal is for Bryant to pick up tendencies of rival players. Have they added any new moves? Have they been aggressively driving to the basket or have they been satisfied to drift from the hoop and settle for outside jump shots?

Kobe's objective is "to find ways to take away comfort zones from opponents."

Points of emphasis from Cy Alexander

On Pat Riley hires:

In his article, Smith tells a story about how when Pat Riley is considering hiring someone, "he first checks the trunk of the applicant's car. If there are golf clubs in there, they're not hired. With Riley it's about work."

Lagniappe 3: 

As a youth coach, I learn many possible adaptations but can't let winning become the main distraction from developing better people with better habits. "The main thing is the main thing." 

Basketball and Bias: Fundamental Attribution Error or How We Get It Wrong

Beware snap judgments. "She can't play" or "What a doofus." 

Stephen Covey discussed a traveler upset with small children running wild on a subway, father head in hands. "Can't you control your children?" The father replied, "It's been really hard since their mother died. I'm struggling." Ouch. 

Fundamental attribution error (FAE). What is it?  We often judge other people's decisions based on their character and less on their situation. This has many applications. 

Michael Simmons discusses FAE at Medium. 

Was Isiah Thomas excluded from the 1992 Olympics because of personalities or situation? He wasn't emotionally close to a number of Dream Teamers but there was also small demand for a shoot-first point guard on a team of legends.

Apply this to individuals and teams. The 2018-2019 Boston Celtics had flawed composition, personality conflicts, and inadequate leadership...ingredients that cooked a failing recipe. It's convenient, but often wrong, to scapegoat one individual. 

Overcoming fundamental attribution error means openness to understanding people's individual situations. In medicine, we struggle daily between understanding an individual's symptom (e.g. pain) and tendencies (e.g. drug seeking behavior). 

As coaches, our situations (competitiveness, desire to win) can cloud our judgment, butting heads with players with different priorities. We can misrepresent their situations without discovering their reality. Players may need to miss practice for family or academic reasons. Put ourselves in their shoes. These are kids. 

We all own faulty attribution. Work to understand situations through better communication to learn why people behave as they do.  

Lagniappe: via @BBallImmersion "Great offense is multiple actions." 

#1 Most Clicked of July - A play we called "Pop Again" that takes advantage of the "defense can't stop 2 things in a row."
Wonder how we do these edits? Check out @KlipDraw for all your video animation needs here https://t.co/NqI6TTY03S pic.twitter.com/PybBdrQ5Om

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) July 31, 2019

Basketball: Benchmarking from Theory to Practice

"How can you not be romantic about baseball?" - Brad Pitt, as Billy Beane, Moneyball

Find one idea to improve your team today. 

Benchmarks are measurements, assessing the effectiveness of our process. Benchmarking uses specifics to assess progress. It finds and devises best practices. It's not Moneyball's buying runs, it's building point differential. 

Figure from ISixSigma.com 

Which numbers mean the most for us? Can we achieve sustainable competitive advantage? 

We all know the "big four" of Effective Field Goal Percentage, Turnovers, Rebounding, and Free Throw attempts correlate with winning. Embrace them. 

We have additional "favorites" as benchmarks linked to success. 

372 - a defensive metric, get at least three consecutive stops, seven times per half, in both halves.

3 - allow no more than three transition baskets per game. 

> 75% haul in over seventy-five percent of defensive rebounds...part of "possession and possessions" philosophy. 

QUARTERS - win at least three individual quarters.

A sustainable competitive edge only works with the discipline to apply it consistently. 

Lagniappe: "None of that inherently matters, except for the fact that it works."

How the Rockets made the wildest scheme in basketball analytics work https://t.co/BvOTWNE4u7 pic.twitter.com/JvZEBPLxEd

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) April 13, 2017

Lagniappe 2: "Practically speaking, what I know doesn't matter. What our players know and use successfully defines their success. It's always about them."