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Monday, August 24, 2020

Basketball: Adapt to Change, Stop Fighting the Last War

Successful coaches adapt. Ask yourself, "am I fighting the last war?" Am I coaching in the past? 

During the 1930s, France constructed the "Maginot Line," a series of obstacles and fortifications designed to deter German invasion. But during WWII, Germany skirted it with technology, Panzer divisions and Luftwaffe attacks, rendering it obsolete, leading to occupation of France within two months. 

 Is our program adapting to change? .
  • Analytics drive an emphasis on threes, layups, and free throws. 
  • Many defenses switch seamlessly to combat tactical change.
  • Is our team adapting to offensive and defensive evolution? 
Offensive assumptions: Get better shots. 
  • Every possession generates an "expected point value." (EV)
  • It's never going to be 3.0 (nobody makes 100 percent of threes in competition routinely) and turnovers won't be -3.0 for the same reason. 
  • A "generic" shot depends on the shooter, shot type, range, openness (contestedness), and balance. A "good player" taking a highly contested, off-balance shot will have a low expected value. It may be ZERO (shot turnover). 
  • Player development offers better quality and better average expected value. 
We can assign an 'expected point value' to every shot. For example, our best middle school (girls) player shot about 30% on threes. An open three would therefore have an expected value of 0.9 points. If a player shot 60% on free throws, the expected value of two free throws is 1.2 points. Expected values on layups depends on the player, the degree of difficulty, and "contestedness." Are we doing enough finishing drills to increase our layup expected point value?
The idea isn't making players robotic or constraining freedom but to help them understand "shot quality" objectively. Get 7s is simple, powerful advice. 

Defensive assumptions: (assumptions are NOT always right)
  • Man-to-man is our primary defense for developmental purposes.
  • We prefer tight man to sagging man/pack line.
  • Switching well allows fewer uncontested layups and open threes. 
  • We have enough size, athleticism, and communication to switch aggressively.
Adapting to change. What should we consider? 
  • Drive hard closeouts (if our attack EV is greater than our perimeter EV)
  • Set up mismatches off cross-screens and back screens
  • Use the short roll against aggressive PnR coverage
  • Rescreen and snake dribble actions against PnR drop coverage

Lagniappe: Educational plays from the Mavs - Clippers

The Mavs set a high wing ball screen and the Clippers are aggressive on the ball. Predict the outcome and watch the next clip. I "read" it right. 

The screener defender is high and pays the price. 


Doncic is dangerous penetrating, perimeter shooting, and passing with paint touches and ball reversal (above). 

Doncic on the pick-and-roll with exceptional patience waiting for Boban to uncover. 


Lou Williams knows patience, too, with a hesitation into an explosive finish. 

Kawhi penetrates and capitalizes when the Mavs help off the corner 3. 

 Lagniappe 2: From Brian Robb, "Boston Sports Journal"
"Warriors general manager Bob Myers summed up everything you need to know about the NBA postseason back at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in 2019. “The playoffs are nothing like the regular season,” Myers explained. “They are two completely different sports…In the playoffs, (a player’s) first move is gone…whatever they know he does well, it’s gone."
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Sunday, August 23, 2020

Basketball: Fast Five - "Think Like a Freak." Hollywood Lessons.

The Freakonomics guys, Dubner and Levitt, wrote Think Like a Freak. What does that mean for coaches/teachers? 

Know what they need. My son said about one of his basketball player sisters, "somebody needs to hit her in the mouth to get her going." The Bruce Banner method. 



1 "I don't know."  Admitting ignorance is hard. What I don't know fills libraries. But we can learn. Coach Daniel fills in one gap. 
Turn up your volume. Stevens calls for Jayson Tatum to switch off the curl and force the ballhandler "weak." 

 But another important principle is "staying in our lane." Freaks know their limitations. You don't want me fixing your car. 
2 "What's the problem?" Solutions need clarity. Players and coaches must "figure it out" to make adjustments in pace and tactics. Then "do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

 Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked to discuss a scientific mission to Saturn and to justify its three billion dollar cost (over twelve years). Having prepared, he countered that Americans spend about that annually on lip balm.



3 "Think like a child." Benefit from approaching problems like a child, using our "beginner's mind." Ask how and why things work. We coach a children's game; they should enjoy the experience and their teammates. Jealousy, selfishness, and anger don't belong in a child's lexicon. Nick Saban says, "clear the clutter." 
4 "Understand game theory." David Lee Roth gave contractors a massive agreement with detailed concert stage and backstage requirements, including a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed. Upon arrival, he checked the bowl, because if the M&Ms weren't right, how could he trust the stage construction, sound, lighting, et cetera? 

 After a timeout, coaches often change offenses and defenses. Experienced coaches expect that. Players need regular schooling about time, score, and situations. 
Always know the rules. 

5 "The art of persuasion." - Coaches are communicators, illustrated in this two minute 


clip about Henry Finkel from Tom Heinsohn's induction as a coach into the NBA Hall of Fame. 

 Doctors communicate to put patients at ease. Another doctor sent Henry across the hall looking for a flu shot. I greeted him saying, "It's great to meet you Mr. Finkel. I've never met an office furniture magnate," which made him laugh. 

 Lagniappe: lessons from yesterday's best NBA game. 

Don Kelbick reminds players to "think shot." Rivers "draws 2" and dishes to Jeff Green. When are you most open? On the catch. Never mind. 


"Basketball is a game of matchups." Harden - Adams. 
"Basketball is a game of separation." Pindown, DHO, pass into shot fake against the flyby, with a resetting side dribble into a three. 
"On time and on target." There's no replay here, but Green was wide and Harden "looked ahead" and led Green to the basket, passing to where Green needed to be. 
"Doctor Pick-and-Roll." Note Adams hiding out near the dunker spot. CP3 uses the high ball screen, separates, draws 2, and dishes. 
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Saturday, August 22, 2020

Basketball: Fast Five, Coaching That Never Gets Old

"Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output." - Simon Sinek

 Coaches communicate verbally and non-verbally. Players know where they stand even when we say nothing, perhaps moreso when we say nothing. 

 What messages never grow old? Greet each player by name upon arrival. Ego and confidence link to our identity. 

 1 Show that we care about the person and the player. "How are things going for you at home and at school?" What are you reading? 

2 "How can I help you do your job better?" Find ways to develop a "performance-focused, feedback-rich" culture. Give players a means to expand their trust and to feel valued. 

3 Be specific. Telling a player to "work harder" isn't direction. "Work on your ball-handling with your non-dominant hand to increase your role." Even a strong player can add more through becoming a better leader. 

4 "Always do your best." Remind ourselves every day. We will never regret giving our best effort, although many times we won't be satisfied with the outcome. My coach, Sonny Lane reminded us, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." 

5 "I believe in you." Some confidence arrives via external sources. 

Lagniappe: 5 to 10 second teaching clips ("Great offense is multiple actions")
Walker 1) rejects the screen, 2) finishes off right foot 
Marcus Smart doing Marcus Smart things (potential six point swing)
More Smart being Smart. 

Screen shot from video above: Celtics double Embiid in the post and have the "Helpside I"  defensive alignment BUT with a Horford/Smart "mouse in the house" mismatch with the open corner 3. 

 Lagniappe 2: Devin Booker    Hat tip, Brook Kohlheim 

 "As cliché as it sounds, I know everybody says it, but my main objective is to win and make the right play every time down court.”
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Friday, August 21, 2020

Basketball Friday: 1-3-1 Drill, Concepts, Play

With contemporary basketball analytics-driven, what teaching belongs in your arsenal? With younger players, relying on three-point shooting is a fool's errand. 

 Find mid-range and basket-attack solutions. 

Drill Attack off the catch. 



 Coach Rick Pitino shares drills for attacking off the catch (@ 1:45 seconds)
  • Show and go (into mid-range)... "a great shot fake is a shot not taken"
  • Jab and drive
  • Jab and mid-range 
3 Concepts A little birdie (Twitter) told us...

 1. Space and create advantage. @John_Leonzo
2. Find edges with switching or isos against poor ball containment. @brianmccormick
Create advantages against switching by screening. This is one of our favorites, with "corner rip" actions with sequential screens. (15 second clip). We adapt it as a SLOB ("Golden State")


3. Extend your range to improve your team spacing.  @CoachTsimon

Bonus defensive clip: "Pulling the chair" (23 seconds)

Offensive players may try "bully ball" in the post, backing the defender down. Defenders release their pressure "pulling the chair" leading to traveling and turnovers. 

Play Celtics ATO 

"Great offense is multiple actions." Wing entry, brush screen into pindown into a 3. 

 Lagniappe: NBA Playoff Lessons (average clip length 6 seconds)

 "Movement kills defenses."

The pick-and-roll isn't finished but a good rebound and better cut by Anunoby...into a contested dunk. Anunoby saw his defender lose vision. 



 A Nets pick-and-roll doubled with Allen on the short roll hitting Luwawu-Cabarrot for a corner 3. 




Another Nets PnR with a perfect pocket pass to the much-improved Jarrett Allen for the finish. 
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Thursday, August 20, 2020

Basketball: The Origins and Maintenance of Ideas and Seven NBA Teaching Clips

Ideas emerge from studying the world and its big ideas. Good ideas come from lifelong learning. For example, sample size...don't presume a one-time result establishes a trend. 

Warren Buffett's partner, Charlie Munger, analyzes error according to mental models like "incentive-based bias." We heard Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski opine how the NCAAs must happen. "We need to have the tournament. We can't have it where two years in a row you don't have the NCAA tournament." We love basketball but don't see March Madness as an extinction-level event. 

Munger tells us, "Clone good ideas." NBA analysts share their insight. Brian Scalabrine noted, "People who are internally driven hold themselves accountable on the defensive end." Mark Jackson said of playing with Kawhi Leonard, "The game's a lot easier when you're playing with Batman."

 "Destroy bad ideas." A problem arises, a business decision or character flaw (e.g. Donald Sterling) and it's concealed. When the coverup is revealed, redemption is impossible. The bad idea compounds the initial mistake. When an offensive set, special play, or defense is not working, "Kill your darlings." 
Celebrate eliminating bad ideas. Take out the trash. 

Publicly supporting our ideas marries us to them. That's fine if the idea has truth and durability. But commitment can leave us in an ethically shaky place. 

 The preamble to the Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” 41 of 56 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were slaveholders. All were men. 

 A new idea often requires refinement. The original 1960 unmanned Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) suborbital test flight failed spectacularly with booster rocket shutdown and no parachute deployment. We stand on the shoulders of defeats. 

Be on the lookout for great ideas. Recognize and refine good ones. Dump the dreck. 

Lagniappe: from Basketball's Half-Court Offense (Calipari)

1) Scissors action
2) Double pindowns
3) Perimeter and duck-in options 

 "Great offense is multiple actions." 

 Every NBA game shares a myriad of teaching moments. 

 Lagniappe 2: Mavs use the rescreen to open the PG and set up a 3. 


Kawhi, "Anything you can do I can do better."

Kawhi has his version of the jab step-back. 

Bucks simple pass and screen away offense. 

Markelle Fultz in the pick-and-roll, rejecting the screen and scoring mid-range. 


Fronting the post? The Bucks do better than "swing and seal." 


Lagniappe: "Horns" version...Fake DHO, Backdoor

Lagniappe 3. "Basketball is a game of separation." 

Screening at the right time, angle, and place for your scorers is a skill. Grant Williams frees Kemba Walker (above).


Screening is an art as Williams proves moments later, changing the angle late. 

Kevin Eastman describes post player positioning graphically while not PC. 

Joel Embiid stakes out home territory in Eastman parlance. 

Another important concept is "one more" passing to the open man. 
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Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Basketball: Collaboration, Communication, and Bandwidth



We don't coach in a vacuum. We don't score, defend, or rebound. Coaches help young men and women go where they cannot go alone. And coaches help each other. 

 To collaborate and communicate, we create unity and conflict. I've discussed Aerosmith's "Dare to Suck" meetings, Wehrner von Braun's Monday Notes, Eric Spoelstra's collaborative conflict, and Alfred P. Sloan's concern about consensus. 

 General Stanley McChrystal ran O&I (Operations and Intelligence) meetings six days a week battling Al Qaeda in Iraq. Amidst withering criticism, he invited both local and overseas agencies into the meetings to expedite transparency and communication, breaking barriers and discouraging data silos. 

Sometimes we study the "textbook way" and get schooled. Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs shared his experience about being wrong during a segment on neutering lambs (from about 2 minutes to 5:30). 


When we share knowledge and different approaches everyone wins. It's not personal. "We do it this way" doesn't mean that it's the only way or even the best way. Nobody likes to hear or say our coaching wasn't good enough that day.

Our bandwidth comes from global coaching input. Feedback from coaches from multiple countries and continents makes us better. 

 Get more layups during warmups. 
But a "layup" is not a layup, not a yellow, No.2 'school pencil' out of the box. 
A layup comes in more flavors than Baskin Robbins ice cream. 
Increase our bandwidth. 

 Lagniappe: What the playoffs teach us. 

Bucks simple pass and screen away offense (below).

Markelle Fultz in the pick-and-roll, rejecting the screen and scoring mid-range. 

 


Fronting the post? The Bucks do better than "swing and seal." 

 


Lagniappe 2: "Horns" version...Fake DHO, Backdoor

Lagniappe 3: Mason Waters shares WNBA reads of DeWanna Bonner 

Her first step quickness often gets her the separation to score. 
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Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Basketball: Theory to Practice, Introducing a System (BOBs)

Basketball comes with a lot of ifs now... if there's a season, if I'm coaching, how to implement tactics piecemeal, e.g. BOBs. Use core organization values.

 What are the MUSTs (include 1 raising Basketball IQ).

 Basketball IQ special situations includes finding/developing a consistent inbounder who learns to understands RISK, looks off defenders, and executes good passes. That's the exception in middle school. 

 We can run everything from the same formation or change it up. 

2 Generate a big list from a "Master List" 


Buffett's 25-5 principle. 3 edit a big list into "GO TO" actions. "Avoiding ignorance is easier than achieving brilliance." 

 Obviously, we can't use them all. Here are a few to illustrate. 

14 Low, 53 Orbit (Orbits) 


Stack Winner...inspired as a counter from "Fence" where 2 comes off the stack for a midrange jumper. 


45, Variant of America's Play using screen the far side low defender

4 Winnow the smaller list (e.g. 6-8 that have a track record). 


15, I probably won't get another post player like I've had the past few years. Entry to 5 with a handoff into a pick-and-roll was often 'money' against either man or zone. 

5 Choose three primary plays and one special option (work in progress). We haven't necessarily run all from the same formation (e.g. box). 

This "screen-the-screener" action was exceptionally hard to defend versus "man." Few teams play straight man against BOBs... for good reasons. 

 Improve with a 6 silent call (from Doug Brotherton). The game clock calls the play - even, odd, or zero! Add additional complexity only if our team can handle it. Have an additional "special" play. 

 Lagniappe: Is your defender "ball watching?"


Finishing with either hand from either side creates defensive headaches (below).



Billy Donovan's "95" is what you're doing the 95 percent of the time without the ball. 


Beautiful cutting and passing gets a reverse layup. The pick-and-roll is to the 'two' side limiting operating room. 

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Monday, August 17, 2020

Basketball: Embrace the Suck. Make Extra 'Normal'.

“Let thee embrace me, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” - Shakespeare (Henry VI)

 In tough times, "embrace the suck" became a popular phrase. Misery can stem from physical discomfort or psychological pain. As coaches we're stuck with Coach Wooden's admonition, "never let what you can't do interfere with what you can do." 

 The premier lesson (for me) from the offseason is Dave Smart's "every day is player development day." With no team and the possibility of no season, that offers stagnation but opportunity for online study and remote teaching. 

 Coaching pain is invariably psychological, frustration with a team's attitude, preparation, or execution. And it isn't necessarily losing. Optimism accompanies a good loss while a bad win disappoints. 

Carolina Soccer coach Anson Dorrance saw Mia Hamm working out alone, defining her ethos. 

 Every athlete worth her salt pays a physical and emotional cost of buying a pass into competition. It's not masochism, but making the best of the situation at hand. 

How should players embrace the suck?
  • Do unrequired work...conditioning and skill-building. 
  • Study video daily. Learn by watching models and mentors. 
  • Build resilience. Be positive, choose control, embrace struggle. 


Commit to finishing plays. Find resilient athletes to model, like Heather Dorniden (above). 

 Lagniappe: Build ways to separate and score. Coach Castellaw breaks down Paul Pierce's jab step back. Not something to develop as move 1a or 1b. 

The counter keeps the dribble with hesitation into a drive. 

 Lagniappe 2: Have a specific plan. 


Coach Castellaw breaks down what he calls Kawhi's poke steal. This is how I teach players to steal going for the ball on the way up on the dribble.  Many young and high school players do not protect the ball well. Avoid swatting down to avoid foul calls on the poke. 

 Lagniappe 3: "Seamless switching" isn't a new concept. Here's a seven-second clip from 1973. 
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Sunday, August 16, 2020

Basketball: Calipari Concepts, Drills, and Blazers-Grizz Teaching Clips



Coach John Calipari says he learned a lot from international basketball. I didn't know that he coached the Dominican Republic for two years or that he has dual citizenship (Italy). 

He says that coaching FIBA and dribble drive raised his team winning percentage from 75% to 85-90%. 

 Dribble drive helped him recruit and encourage an attack mentality. He doesn't want bounce passes...looks for drive, skip, lob. He teaches sealing the weak side defender and even passing OFF the backboard. 

 I can't do the video justice with notes but share some of his drills. 






Lagniappe: Lessons from the Play-In 



Lillard plays off McCollum. 

Pick-and-roll defense especially challenges young teams, especially if the ballhandler keeps the trail defender on his hip. 

The short roll and dish are a deadly weapon for selected teams. Defenses have to decide whether to live with contested lane shots or open corner 3s. Habits die hard. 

Lagniappe 2: Coach Cal doesn't pull his punches (too much mustard, not enough meat) 
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