Basketball: Pattern Recognition

"The more patterns you learn, the more tools you have at your disposal as a competitive player." - Garry Kasparov 

VDE - Vision, Decision, Execution

The root struggle of basketball is one-on-one. Excellent players win individual battles, seeing advantage and exploiting technical edge. 

"It's a shoulders game...low man wins." 



"Attack the front foot, front hand." A fraction of the players we teach absorb the techniques and execute the skills. 

Chess masters grow by 'chunking' positions, recognizing opportunity in specific positions. 

From Gobet and Simon, Memory, 1998. Chess Masters recall and copy chess positions according to their skill levels. 

The fortunate geometry of two black pieces on the same color sets up the double attack, the pawn protected by the knight relocation (next move). Kasparov reminds us that when we are overwhelmed with our own ideas, we tend to forget about the competition. 

You don't need ten guys to play. 2-on-2 built players from the ground up...learning to execute in small units first. 

2-on-2 with Dribble Handoff (DHO) spawns another skill set. 

3-on-3 yields another level of complexity. We practice 3 v 3 inside-the-split most sessions. 

Basketball has its unique geometry, like this Chicago Bulls/Tom Thibodeau set. 

We have the high ball screen with its intrinsic basket attack, roll, pop theme. But depending on help, we create multiple attacks with the 4 relocating to the elbow and a possible corner three...chesslike. 

Teach players to create quality scoring opportunities. They own responsibility to carry that forward to high school and beyond, growing knowledge, athletic explosion, and execution. 

Lagniappe: SLOB  Boomerang from @BBallImmersion (Chris Oliver)

Need a sideline inbound play to a basket when you need it, and that is easy to run at all levels? Check this one out. pic.twitter.com/Nm4gUvLf56

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) December 23, 2019

Fast Five: Jack Clark Raises the Bar, Getting Better as a Coach

1 "Hard work is a talent, because hard work means you keep going under pressure." - Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion

2 Hard work builds a process creating continuous quality improvement (kaizen). It never ends. 

Everyone studies successful coaches. Cal rugby coach Jack Clark is among the best in any sport. Wikipedia shares, "the Bears' era of success under Clark has also included a combined record of 36–1 against rugby powerhouses Army, Navy and Air Force; 14 of the last 18 vs. University of British Columbia; a domestic winning streak of 98 games from 1990–96 and a 70-game tear that lasted until 2003; a winning streak over U.S. collegiate competition that lasted 115 matches between April 2004 and May 2009; and a winning streak in 15s of 63 straight matches from 2010 through Feb. 18, 2012."

He shares his view of coaching structure. 

3 Clark puts day-to-day operations first, emphasizing communication with individuals at every level...bosses, players, coaches, media, donors. 

Execution demands mental toughness. Bring our best every day. 

4  Clark preaches a leadership model with everyone responsible. "On this team, the leadership model is open to everybody. For instance, even if you’re a freshman, you have the ability to make those around you better and more productive: Don’t be a distraction, be on time, know your stuff, play hard and well when you’re called on."

What are our values? We emphasize (for youth basketball) accountability, improvement, and teamwork with the goal of 5 "performance-focused, feedback-rich" process. 

Lagniappe: Share role models for your players - Sabrina Ionescu, the Queen of Triple Doubles




Lagniappe 2: via @BBallImmersion - diversion proves a valuable threat

Backdoor play set up by the threat of the Elevator action. Great example of how you can turn plays that you run already into backdoor plays. pic.twitter.com/jgzDWyilD4

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) December 22, 2019

Lagniappe 3: from Garry Kasparov, MasterClass, Workbook.

"Strong players use their experience to inform their tactical and strategic decisions. You might see what looks like a strong and natural continuation, but remember that a formidable opponent will expect these logical moves. Look for opportunities to embrace creativity and surprise, as an uncomfortable opponent is more likely to make mistakes."

Lagniappe Christmas 'antepenultimate':

Basketball: Team and Work Make the Player

In The Art of Possibility, Rosamund and Ben Zander question the impact of grades on performance. They quote Michelangelo, "inside a block of marble is a statue" and the sculptor's job is to find it. They require each student to submit a letter explaining why they earned an "A" and insisted that they not use, "I will" or "I intend" or "I hope." 

Here's an edited letter:

"I received my grade A because I worked hard and thought hard about myself taking your class...I became a new person.

I used to be so negative a person for almost everything before trying. Now I find myself a happier person than before. I couldn't accept my mistakes a year ago, and after every mistake I blamed myself. 

I enjoy making mistakes and really learn from these mistakes. In my playing I have more depth than before. I used to play just notes, but now of found out about the real meaning of every piece, and I could play with more imagination. 

I found my value. I found myself a special person, because I found that if I believe in myself I can do everything."

A teacher divided his class in two, grading one on their volume of clay pots and the other on the quality of their best pot. The group that fired the most post also fashioned the best, learning from their mistakes. Trial, error, and refinement define success. 




This recalls the Marshmallow Challenge to build a tower of spaghetti and marshmallows in finite time. Kindergartners are champions because they build instead of organizing in their finite time. "Practice is magic."  When time is limited, action rules. 

Brad Stevens comments on Patriots' practice, “Their culture, the way that they move from drill to drill, how they pull together, how connected they are… it’s special.”

We disallow failure words, "I'll try" or "I can't." Celebrate Bret Ledbetter's "the person is greater than the player" and choose to focus on possibilities.  

• Have clear goals. 
• Be organized.
• Be specific.
• Energize. 
• Operate at the highest tempo you can. (Stevens said he was amazed at the tempo of the Patriots' practices.) Condition within drills. 
• Be objective but be positive. "WE CAN." 
• Praise the praiseworthy. 
• Outstanding players want coaches to make them better. 

Your individual workouts demand equal focus. Hone your strengths. Shrink your weaknesses. Add new dimensions. 

This summer I demonstrated the Reverse Mikan drill to a player on a scorching Sunday. She struggled. Seven days later, she finished with either hand from either side. Own the skill. Believe and do the work. 

Lagniappe: Strong teams complete a series of actions. In development, we invest time teaching how to play more than running complex sets. 

Basketball: Bridging Belief and Truth: Defensive Delay Game

Seek knowledge not validation. President Reagan told a joke about optimism, the little boy excited to find a pile of horse manure in his yard on Christmas. He grabs a shovel and starts digging furiously. "I know there's a pony in there somewhere." Open our minds looking for knowledge. 

Knowledge is an overlapping subset of personal beliefs and truth. Biases, lies, statistics, and sample size color our beliefs. In our first league game this season (8th grade girls), we shot 1 for 9 on three-point shots. I doubt that's an outlier, based on watching practice. 

The conventional wisdom has become the Rise of Analytics. 

The Houston Rockets embraced the New Wisdom sooner than most other teams and found players to execute it. 

Game 7 shot chart, May 28, 2018. "Houston, we've got a problem." The Rockets shoot 7 for 44 from three and the Warriors go 16 for 39. 

Houston led by 11 at half, but during a 33-15 third quarter, the Rockets goose-egged the three-point line (shot chart above). 

Successful teams figure it out. Many games are decided close and late. Build offensive and defensive (comeback) delay games, especially without shot clocks. 

If we trail by 'X' points at 'Y' time, can we rally? What desperate measures come into play? 

When, who, and how are paramount. Implement at the 'right time' with the 'right people' with the 'right strategy.' 

When? I have no data on this, just opinion. I read (somewhere), that desperation comes when a deficit is twice the minutes remaining. In what universe? If we average 40 points a game (youth) and trail by eight with four minutes left, we're beyond desperate. Everyone decides for themselves. The Texas A&M video shows what's possible. Dean Smith's Carolina Tarheels (below) overcame an eight point deficit with seventeen seconds remaining, tied and defeated Duke in overtime. 



Who? Do you have a comeback/pressure team? Do you practice comeback situations? And if so, is your "comeback team" practicing against the quality opposition they will face? 

What is our comeback strategy? Do we play full-court man or zone? Do we trap or play full-denial?  If we trap, do we only trap on the dribble? What are our switching rules? When (and whom) do we foul for profit? 

I've asked not answered the questions and we lack the practice time to address the delay game in even a fragmentary way. As the season progresses, we'll adjust "special situations" practice to include offensive and defensive delay, working to bridge the gap between belief and truth. With help, the players ultimately figure it out or not. 

Basketball: The Chosen One

"Habemus player." As coaches, we own more authority than the College of Cardinals. We decide more than one person's role and minutes. We change the world every day. 

Nobody elects you a player. Hard work is a skill. 

Invest your time among athletic training, skill work, video study, and mindfulness. What separates the best? Without exception, the best of the best players study, take notes, pore over game film...using those insights to empower themselves to ascend to the peak of the food chain. 

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, MasterClass

As a young player or coach, commit to seeking solutions. Forget "I can't" or "I'll try." Adopt, "figure it out." Have a committed, specific process to improve daily. Find resources and tools to unscramble your puzzle...and stoke your curiosity.  



How do you watch film? 

• What themes and schemes manifest on video? Pressure, man, zone, etc.
• How is the spacing and ball movement? 
• How does each team create separation? Drive and kick, pass and cut, screen?
• Assess defensive proximity and movement (color on color)
• Footwork for individual separation and finishing

Develop your GO TO and 'Counter' moves. If you cannot NAME and EXPLAIN your core moves, they don't exist. 

Impact the game. When not scoring, change the game by energizing, defending, moving without the ball, taking charges, setting screens, deflecting passes.  

Make the coach choose you. Become The Chosen One. 

Lagniappe: The development mosaic varies with your athleticism and skill. Drew Hanlen shares:



Lagniappe 2: Anson Dorrance, The Vision of a Champion

Lagniappe 3: Iverson BOB

Basketball: The Art of Possibility

Simple is faster, but not always better. Two scientists discuss a newly discovered frog with iridescent eyes. The geneticist beams with excitement, "we can sequence his DNA, discover the protein coding for the color, and synthesize it." The biochemist says, "why not just pop the eyes out and put them in the Waring blender?" Simple is faster, but not always better. Especially if you're the frog. 

Knowledge comes at a cost - reading, study, and thinking. 

Human perception is broad yet limited. We hear less than a dog, are blind to the visual spectrum of bees or night vision of cats, and lack the electrical field sensors of sharks. 

Basketball vision escapes the usual visual spectrum. The novice misses the imminent backdoor cut, the Flex, Floppy, Spain pick-and-roll, screen-the-screener, Iverson stagger, or slip. Mastery sees. 



Cultivate the Art of Possibility, the ability to see easily what they missed yesterday. At practice last night, a player read the 'slip' perfectly, got the pass, and finished. She's only 13; I stopped practice to review the 'read' and finish. 

In The Art of Possibility, Rosamund and Benjamin Zander advise:

Orient to Abundance - focus on scarcity tends toward selfishness. 

Orient to Joy - "action in a universe of possibility...giving...creating new ideas, consciously endowing to meaning, contributing." See everyday actions as special and valuable. 

Lagniappe: NBA training basics from Drew Hanlen



Build core competencies in picking up the shot: 

• Hesitation
• Crossover
• Between-the-legs (optional for youth)
• Behind-the-back (optional) 
• Side/step back

Lagniappe 2: Doc Rivers concepts (via Kevin Eastman)

• He who angers you owns you.
• Winning teams are clutter-free.
• We will not win until you drop your guard and let me in.
• Champions get punched, too. 
• Never compromise your culture. 

Lagniappe 3: Credit teammates!

There's only one way coaching works. 

Jimmy Chin teaches adventure photography (MasterClass)

Basketball: Minute Clinic

Figure it out...but get help. If a young coach asks you for help, don't have to, get to. Develop a list of conventional wisdom to share - wisdom, truth, concepts, questions. 

1. "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson

Our capacity to collaborate at high levels separates Sapiens from the our hominid predecessors and the animal world. Be ready to say, "YES" when others need help. Be a great sharer. "Share something great." 

Set a goal not to be the best, but to become our better version every day. Invest in ourselves. 

2. "Do well what you do a lot."

Defend. Defeat pressure. Score. Refine our 'man' defense, work on press breaking 20 percent of practice, and layups and shooting about 35 percent of practice. 

3. "What does our team need now?" 

Middle school creates drama. We need more team-building, connection, and communication. There's never enough practice time. More muscle won't fall from the sky.

4. "The quality of passing defines the quality of the shot." - Pete Carril 

Three-on-three and four-on-four (no dribble) demand pass-and-cut mentality. We're best scoring on cuts. 

5. Decide how to wear down your opponent. 

Choose among infantry (power game), cavalry (speed game, control the middle of the court), or artillery (long range shooting).

We have more speed than size, so we should play fast offensively. When our high school team won ten consecutive league titles, an opposing coach told me, "it's hard to find five girls willing to run full out full time." 

6. Run more actions that you have trouble defending.  

If you struggle defending the pick-and-roll, off-ball screens, or backdoor cuts, then they belong in your arsenal. Coach Matt Dennis shares his thoughts. With the de-emphasis on post play, if you have a skilled post player, you have gold. 

7. If you're off your best skill, what fallback position do you have?

Defense and rebounding should be constants, as they are effort-dependent and intelligence-dependent. 

8. The game is symmetrical. 

9. Practice at a high tempo. 

Good teams are efficient at practice, on offense, defense, and conversion. 

10. Do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

"Kill your darlings." The coach is the keeper of the story. If something doesn't make you better, abandon it. Condition within drills. Make layups and free throws and don't surrender as many of them. No lines. Teach in sound bytes. 

Lagniappe: Steal great ideas. Via @BBallImmersion 

So many great actions from the Princeton offense. I especially enjoy seeing them sped up & used as quick hitters like this example where the elbow screen and reject cut create an advantage. pic.twitter.com/bgvP7xQoSI

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) December 16, 2019

We have a '5' with the skills of a 2 or 3. She can post-up, take you off the bounce, pass, rebound, and hit the perimeter shot. 

Lagniappe 2: "Transition from No to How"

"The key to negotiation is deference." In his MasterClass on Negotiation, former FBI negotiator Chris Voss shares the key is knocking down obstacles and putting in safety valves to smooth the process. 

"I want more playing time." Everyone wants more playing time. First, I believe the question is, "how can I earn more playing time." Create a pathway, not necessarily an easy one...skill, conditioning, attitude, effort, demonstrated success during current minutes that the player could follow if they have the commitment to get there. 

Lagniappe 3. Get after it. Choose "I will" not "I can't." 

Basketball: Supporting Teammates

Help teammates go where they cannot go by themselves. Hearing stories of the self-made man, we neglect the anteambulo, who helped clear the path for success. Teammates craft the foundation for success. "The strength of the wolf is the pack." 

Bills' coach Sean McDermott inspired, “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 work out, how we practice when we do practice, how we play – that’s the standard we’re trying to get to every day.” 

Fans focus on results. Champions focus on process.  Truly great players cannot be bad teammates. 

The powerful contradiction of basketball is the need to subsume great individual performance into the symphony of team play. Begin with attitude. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” – C.S. Lewis

Authentic communication won't always be sunshine and roses. Comfort, cajole, compel teammates to play at a higher level. Ask, "what does my team need now, what does my teammate need now?"

Being on a team doesn't equal playing for the team. Great teams operate off one agenda...the success of the team. Bill Russell said, "my ego depends on the success of my team." In fifteen years, that attitude yielded two NCAA titles, one Olympic gold, and eleven NBA banners...fourteen titles in fifteen years. 

Support your teammates. Credit your teammates. Be there for your teammates. 

Lagniappe: "Get over yourself." - Gregg Popovich



Lagniappe 2: Improved BOB with more options

Basketball: Ten Ways to Earn Respect as a Player

Everyone wants to be valued. Everyone wants respect. As a player, how do you get there? 

1. Leave an impression. I told you about the sixth grade girl at tryouts who came up to me two minutes before starting and said, "I'm really excited to be here." You never get a second chance to make a first impression. 
2. Play hard. Years ago, we had a girl, Shannon, who seemed impossible to screen. She was like a playing card who got around or through screens. And once she dove headlong into a pile and retrieved the ball. She wasn't big but she played big. Respect. 
3. Lead. On the same team we had two terrific leaders, Victoria and Lauren. They had it. Players follow leaders not because they have to but because they want to. Victoria is on a track to become a veterinarian and Lauren is a third-year at the Naval Academy. 
4. Pay attention with full engagement. "Be here now." Years ago Zoe made the best eye contact ever. She was always present. 
5. Commit. Say YES to every chance to improve. "Summer, spring, winter, or fall...all you have to do is call..." and she'll be there working to get better. 
6. Be a great teammate. A girl blamed herself for a loss after she had a mediocre game. She was more than accountable. Bella went and gave her a hug and said, "we win together, we lose together." Everyone won't be a great player; choose to be a great teammate. 
7. Energize your teammates. Model excellence in communication, support, and effort. Set the example. 
8. Be a sponge. Soak up the teaching. Show that you've studied, absorbed, and mastered the material. In medicine, we preach, "see one, do one, teach one." 
9. Share. Phil Jackson leaves the best quote, "Basketball is sharing." Share the ball. Help your teammates - communicate, move without the ball, set screens, block out, make the extra pass, take a charge, thank the assist. 
10. Excel in your role. At every level, most players are role players. Know your role; embrace your role while working to become more. Do what you can do. Brittany excelled at defending and rebounding. She didn't care about scoring. Make your priority the scoreboard not the scorebook. 

Lagniappe: How do you defend ball screens?

Hedge (fake trap)? Switch? Blitz (trap)? Are we communicating the coverage? Do we have any protection (backside help)? 

Lagniappe 2: Practice overview

To play fast, practice at a high tempo. Make the most of limited practice. 

Basketball: Bob Knight Notes Curated from Zak Boisvert plus Chris Oliver Lagniappe

Bob Knight stands as one of basketball's elite teachers. Rummaging through papers, I found some Knight notes to share. These were curated by Army assistant Zak Boisvert, a great sharer. 

Work off Bob Woodward's principle of including at least six key points per article. 

"No man-to-man offense can be good without the ability to screen." 

"You will get more open by screening than you will by cutting."

Setting up cuts is critical. If the defender is low, take her lower first. If the defender is high, take her higher (above) 

Knight recommends the screener target the defender's shoulder. 

"There's no facet of the game creating more options than screening."

"A big part of coaching is recognizing who can do what." 

"Kids don't understand that a foul is a bad play. They don't realize that a the hand check when you're in double bonus is akin to getting beat for a layup." Take away points...by eliminating the bad fouls. 

"The key to good offensive play is to run things that you know you have difficulty guarding." By that standard, we are not running enough back door cutting. 

Lagniappe: Screening from Chris Oliver, @BBallImmersion

"Offensive manhood" 1. Screening 2. Getting And 1 Opportunities 3. Getting Offensive Rebounds (Utah Jazz)

— Chris Oliver (@Chris__Oliver) February 23, 2012

Togetherness and screening - When you take on contact you are telling your teammates you are with them

— Chris Oliver (@Chris__Oliver) January 28, 2012

Screening is the most unselfish act in the game because there is no number associated with it (no obvious reward statistically)

— Chris Oliver (@Chris__Oliver) June 9, 2014

The better our screening, cutting, passing, the better our shooting percentage. Shooting is the last act.

— Chris Oliver (@Chris__Oliver) January 29, 2012

Lagniappe 2: Thirty minutes pregame yesterday, I challenged players not only to be their best on the court but their best in the classroom. That falls short of expectations... work to be the best teammate, regardless of the venue. 

Basketball: Banish the Monster Within and More

"Never be a child's last coach." 




Nobody coaches to be a monster. Yet, it happens. We have friends who behave like monsters. Do we know them as the friend or the monster? Do we defend the indefensible? Do we become apologistas?   "That's not who she is?" 

And do they get redemption? 

Stephen M.R. Covey describes trust as products of character and competence. He takes a traditional business formula (strategy * execution = results) and enhances it:

(S*E) T = R, where T is trust. Where Trust is lacking, results suffer. Zero out trust and results fail. 

Monsters are less about competence than character, but they're inseparable. Monsters lack emotional intelligence. Etorre Messina says, "Character is skill number one."

What makes a coach a monster? First, minutes make misunderstanding, not monsters. As Bill Parcells said, "coaches are the most selfish people. They want players who make them look good." So, coaches don't sit great players as an act of self-abuse. 

We loose the monster when we forget we coach people, especially children. Monsters lack empathy and forget about feelings and respect. Are we hard-nosed or hard-headed? Are we tough or thoughtless? 

We're all flawed; we're all a bit broken. Self-reflection changes us when we become more self-aware. Heal and become stronger at those broken places. 

Lagniappe: Celtics Exchange Scissors with Options 

This exceeds our pay grade. But the principles are sound. 

Lagniappe 2: If this is "old school," it never becomes dated. 

I love old school basketball. Play inside out, never trust a jump shooting team. Own the mid range, space the floor, attack off the dribble, defend 94 feet, help the helper, communicate, play with toughness/intelligence & own what you do well.

— Charles Williams (@MWTakeover) August 16, 2019

Basketball: Quick Dos and Don'ts for Players (and DHO Lagniappe)

The paradox of basketball is blending individual excellence with teamwork. Avoid BAD BASKETBALL. What's your talent, your path to impact the game positively? 

It's hard to separate the extremes of Yin and the Yang. "He's really talented, but plays selfishly" or "he's can really score, but he's indifferent about defense." Coaches and teammates find the proper blend. 

Grind. Better to be the tortoise than the hare. The "late bloomer" who figures it out can surpass undisciplined talent. The talent who grinds becomes exceptional. 

“Here’s the key: I’m not going to tell you how to change. People don’t change. I want you to trust who you already are, and get to that Zone where you can shut out all the noise, all the negativity and fear and distractions and lies, and achieve whatever you want, in whatever you do.”
― Tim S. Grover, Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable

Catch and face. You hear the term "back to the basket." Nobody scores back to the basket. Get in position to score, move the defender, while protecting the ball. 

Don't catch and immediately dribble unless you're attacking. Catch and survey, don't always catch and put the ball on the floor. 

DO what's necessary - pass away from defenders but TO a teammate. And throw a catchable ball. "The ball is gold." 

Don't rest on defense. There's no rest from pressuring the ball, denying cutters, and helping and recovering. 

See the ball. "The ball scores." Your coach doesn't care that your assignment didn't score when you didn't help or rotate. 

Don't force shots. Be shot ready but shot heady. The quickest path to improvement is taking better shots. You might be a great shooter from fifteen feet and lousy from twenty. Play to your strengths. 

Winning means THIS possession. Focus NOW not now and then. The putback that you allowed on the first play of the game is the losing basket, just as much as when it happens at the buzzer. 

Lagniappe: via @BBallImmersion 



Dribble handoff (DHO) actions add versatile, powerful scoring tools. My favorite are: 

• direct DHO into pseudo pick-n-roll
• backdoor cut to the handoff man
• DHO into second pick-n-roll