Basketball: Fast Five, Thoughts from Five Great Books for Basketball Coaches and Holiday Shoppers

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." - John Wooden 

"The differences between the person we are today and whom we become in five years are the people we meet and the books we read." 

The death of expertise should terrify us. Twenty-five percent of Americans never read a book. If we get all our content from Fox or MSNBC, we're missing out. I can't force players I coach to read; I want to inspire them to read. 

Readers unearth new worlds and unimagined possibilities. Excellent coaches like George Raveling, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Kevin Eastman, and Mike Neighbors are voracious readers. 

What we don't know literally can kill us. I hope to whet your appetite with a few suggestions, chosen for content and writing quality. 

The Positive Dog by Jon Gordon. Gordon extols the virtue of positivity via a heartwarming story. “Being positive won’t guarantee you’ll succeed. But being negative will guarantee you won’t.”-- Jon Gordon It's appropriate for ten-year-olds and octogenarians. 

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Hardy informs us how productive habits, like study or saving, become magnified by compounding. "Small choices + consistency + time = significant results." The one sentence I remember from the book is, "winners are trackers." 

Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales. Gonzales shares the many dangers that can befall even modestly adventuresome people. I didn't think snorkeling in the Caribbean would put me face to face with a shark. And mountaineers who rope themselves together for safety are more likely to die. Did you expect that hiking could put you face-to-face with a bear? In the heat of battle, tunnel vision can kill us or someone we love. The information transfers to basketball. The strongest swimmers are more likely to drown because of overconfidence. "Winners win in space." 

Give and Take by Adam Grant. Be a giver. Phil Jackson could sum up the book with his quote, "Basketball is sharing." 

I'd be shocked if Jaylen Brown hasn't read Grant's book. 

Jaylen Brown: "Marcus Smart may not get the credit, but he kept us together. The pace he played with, the control of the game. I'm looking forward to him in that role."

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 24, 2020

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown. Brown weaves three great stories together, the suffering of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany in the early 1930s, and the origins of the US Olympic crew team which competed in 1936. 

Brown shares our finest and basest portions of humanity and how we can triumph together. 

Looking for last minute gifts? Any of these books fill the bill. 

Lagniappe: Want something more expensive? Ask for a MasterClass subscription. It's not cheap at 180 dollars a year, but you get the Curry course included. I'm currently taking Salman Rushdie's writing course and Apollonia Poilane's bread baking course. 

Basketball: Microaggressions, "Racism without Racists"

"I didn't mean it like that." What we say, what we do, and what we ask all leave an impression. 

Microaggressions are the everyday slights, indignities, putdowns, and insults that  people of color, women...and those who are marginalized experience." They occur because "they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator." Some have called this "racism without racists." 

And they leave scars or open wounds that we don't know exist. 

What words trigger us? When I was in the Navy making rounds at Bethesda Naval Hospital, a few patients asked, "what country are you from?" Nowadays, I might answer, "The People's Republic of Massachusetts" but then it was just "Massachusetts." Everyone makes assumptions that may have no factual basis. 

When people call me, "Mister" Sen, that's no problem. In fact, many patients call me "Ron," except for people who knew me as a youngster, who might say, "Ronnie." The opposite of a microaggression occurs, too. One parent, who played professionally overseas, always called me, "Coach." 

Minorities and women have faced microaggressions since...forever. When I hear someone called "articulate" then I think that presumes they shouldn't be. Microaggressions happen in multiple settings. 

Here are excerpts from a paper on classroom microaggressions:

• Failing to learn to pronounce or continuing to mispronounce the names of students after they have corrected you. 
• Scheduling tests and project due dates on religious or cultural holidays. 
• Setting low expectations for students from particular groups, neighborhoods, or feeder patterns. 
• Assigning student tasks or roles that reinforce particular gender roles or don’t allow all students flexibility across roles and responses.

Racial microaggressions are legion. 

• "I don't see color." 
• "I have black friends." 
• Blacks being followed by security in stores (presuming criminal intent).
• "All lives matter" has become a recent example. 
• At a postseason game over a decade ago, opposing fans chanted "you can't read" at a black girl on our team. 

In the Navy, Sexual Harassment Training was "mandatory." I'm not sure what percentage of us ever attended. Some notoriously needed none. Gender microaggressions are more readily recognized as people add pronouns to their identity. Psychology Today shares some gender and sexual orientation microaggressions.

• An assertive female manager is labeled "bitch," while her male counterpart is described as "a forceful leader."
• Whistles or catcalls are heard from men as a woman walks down the street.
• A young person uses the term "gay" to describe a movie she didn't like (Being gay is associated with negative and undesirable characteristics.   

In coaching, we've heard or seen examples. Patriots coach Bill Parcells famously called the late receiver Terry Glenn, "she." My college baseball coach asked (about afternoon labs at Harvard), "are you serious about baseball or are you here to study?" Putting a player in the "doghouse" is a form of microaggression. 

Microaggressions can have negative health outcomes - impaired immunity, worse physical and cognitive performance, and mental health problems like anxiety and depression. 

We exert unconscious bias in coaching. During tryouts (middle school), I look to project what players could become (future) based on their size, athleticism and skill (now). As discussed in The Playmaker's Advantage, the difference between skill and talent is untapped potential.  Bias is at work. 

Implicit bias is everywhere and unrecognized. We can take implicit bias (implicit association) tests as part of a Harvard study. 

What should we remember? See and confront bias. Know that microaggressions say everything about the source and nothing about the target.

Lagniappe: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”- Alvin Toffler

Lagniappe 2: Scout with Bryan Nets Preview

Basketball: "Enduring" Lessons from Cartoons to Champions

Cartoons are not children's stories. They reveal innovation and choices, our heroic and baser nature. Comedy imprints truths.

They impose defining memories about folly and wisdom. 

Dump old mistakes. 

North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance has players read, The Leadership Moment by Michael Useem. A memorable introduction asks four pivotal questions about an experience: 

1) What went well?

2) What went poorly?

3) How can we do better the next time? 

4) What is the enduring lesson? 

Enduring means lasting and persisting through hardship, resilience. People, seasons, stories, games, and books leave indelible lessons. 

1. Women compete. Go to 3:25 of the video (above), the 1996 Olympic Volleyball semifinal Cuba versus Brazil. Amidst ferocious play and fiercer trash talk, Cuba, led by Captain Mireya Luis, fashioned a comeback victory and triggered a fight. 

2. Mindfulness is for champions.

 

Take a mindful breath today. LeBron has. 

3. Foreign players proved tough enough for the NBA wars.

 

Manu Ginobili demonstrates. 

4. It's not all about athleticism. Footwork, fundamentals, and BBIQ matter. 

Chauncey Billups breaks down Luka Doncic skills. 

5. Women get separation off the dribble, too.

Lagniappe. 

Your why matters. 

Lagniappe 2. Vinay Bhavnani breaks down how NBA stars get explosive separation with footwork.

 

"Every day is player development day." 

And footwork...

Basketball: Chris Oliver/Dennis Gates Podcast Notes, Teaching and Learning

Coaches shape events. As a player, fashion your game via your habits and learning. Do not become a victim. Be present and engaged, leaving an impression, depth. 

Education changes behavior. Chris Oliver hosts Cleveland State Coach Dennis Gates discussing education methods. Coach Gates has a Masters in Adult Education. I share excerpts below. 

"You have to have a learning primer" to absorb information. It's the "ability of the young people to absorb" that matters. The Coursera course, "Learning How to Learn" shares worthwhile exercises. 

"Learning is permanent change." - Chris Oliver

Coach Gates advocates for finding solutions...

No one way to learn. "Visual learning" through social media drowns out basketball teaching. Players may grasp a concept via a clip more than on a board. (Youtubetrimmer.com allows us to extract clips as short as five seconds from a YouTube video.)

Players make us better coaches by showing us what they do or don't understand. Either I lacked the ability to teach run and jump to middle school girls or they couldn't grasp "trap and go." 

"Come to me with a solution." - Chris 

Coach Gates says, "H.O.T." meaning higher order thinking, analogous to a quarterback's progressions. (Young people must learn how to learn, how to grow, how to resolve conflict, how to overcome disappointment. Not all adults have these skills.) 

"Inquiry-based learning" expects players to learn by exploring. Knowledge builds instincts. 

Gates says, "you are a participant in your own rescue." The danger is being on the bench. 

"Discussions can motivate athletes to be prepared..." Coach Gates hopes that players will apply lessons learned on the court throughout their lives. 

Not enough to understand but to understand why...

Reflective learning. Relate learning from your lives into the game. Reflective learning prevents recurrent errors...learn from other's mistakes. Coaches have reflective learning as we rewatch games finding what we can do better. 

Film study. Translate what you see into future actions. (UNC soccer coach Anson Dorrance shows positive clips because he believes negative clips hurt his players.)

Player-led learning. Assign players to supervise the learning/self-teaching. Mistakes in practice are valuable, replacing mistakes in games. 

Develop leadership. Program has a sports psychologist. They have a "Freshman Captain," and teach conflict resolution and other skills. 

Freedom. Learn through experience. "We don't experiment in games." 

Affirmations. Hard for young men to trust. Positivity helps confidence. He touches players (e.g. on the shoulder) while building trust. Chris mentions wording, "why are you late" can become, "I'm happy you're here." 

Correction. Feedback is necessary. It can't always be positive. But we can frame an action as a better choice or action. 

Fixing body language. Do you choose, "bad shot" or "how can we do it better?" There is a growth expectation to overcome bad body language. (Pat Summitt and other coaches filmed the bench to measure engagement and body language.)

Observation. Note how actions impact situations and help the team succeed. It might be learning from models. 

Discipline. Coach Gates sees it as a branch of knowledge. Discipline is also behavior choice for the benefit of the individual and the team. 

Lagniappe. From the Knicks to the 2019 Champion Raptors with Scout with Bryan

"Pascal Siakam will get MVP votes." 

Lagniappe 2. Another valuable resource for teaching comes from Doug Lemov in Practice Perfect.  

"Practice, in this framework, is perhaps defined not as a series of drills and activities and scrimmages but as the opportunity to invent or reinvent ourselves in whatever way we wish, by repeatedly doing these activities with strategy and intentionality."

Basketball Actually: The Season That Wasn't

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

See the world as it is. A teenage boy explained his universe. "I'm not the most popular kid, but I know one thing, geeks run the world." 

The 2020 basketball season pivots not on the Achilles Heel of Kevin Durant but how the pandemic plays out. 

Find a storytelling recipe. Novelist Salman Rushdie presents one in his MasterClass. Every season is its own story and Ron Howard counsels us, "the director is the keeper of the story." 

Whose story are you telling? Practice partition among player development and team integration edits the story. Committed players or casual ones? We'd rather cook with a filet mignon than oxtail. But that doesn't preclude cooking a tasty meal with a less expensive cut. 

A mix of different spices flavors core ingredients. The coach refines them with available yet not always known techniques. Scoring and salting an eggplant draws out the bitterness. Water, butter, a teaspoon of sugar and a few drops of white wine vinegar transforms carrots into glazed magic. 

A ricer converts ordinary potato to extraordinary pomme puree. 

Unearth tools of refinement and speak greatness. Dissect the tone between, "that was good BUT" and "that was good AND." 

Build a program not a statue. 

What is the story? In our local season, fans are currently excluded. 2500 fans have petitioned to have that revoked. 

How do we play? Choose among structure and spontaneity, control and freedom, scripting versus excavating. All have a place in our narrative. 

Will the team play fast or controlled, man or zone, extended versus packed defense, or combinations? When I coached this group in middle school, athletic but short on size, we played fast. 

Clarify philosophy, identity, and culture. The Marines build a brotherhood around improvise, adapt, overcome. 

Why are you telling the story? Coaching is a giving profession. Coaches work to change our small piece of the world. Help young people to become the best version of themselves.  

Kahlil Gibran shared his wisdom in The Prophet.

Yet we coach to compete. Competition without fans and without a postseason just feels different.  

When and Where? 2020 presents unique challenges. Not in a century has the phrase, "you can't foot Mother Nature" meant as much. No program remains untouched by illness. Five of twenty-four girls missed tryouts locally because of COVID-19 illness or quarantine. We can't separate competition and the public health condition. 

Studies examining vaccine effectiveness in children are likely to begin in January 2021. You might ask, "why should we immunize children as few are severely affected?" Children have the ability to transmit illness to peers, older, and compromised family and community members. This week in Massachusetts, over a thousand children and staff have been affected. 

The size of the signature rippling out from these cases are a fraction of the overall problem. More Americans (3561) died from COVID-19 on Wednesday December 16, 2020 than on any day since the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 or the Civil War Battle of Antietam of 1862. 

Regardless of our league or level of competition, "make it the big time." 

How are you going to tell the story? Can you tell a compelling narrative? We  destroy a great story by telling it poorly. "Never be a child's last coach." No matter what we do, some will criticize our methods, substance or style. Coaching girls, I believe in communication and transparency. Quoting Amos Alonzo Stagg, I'll know how they turned out in twenty years if I'm lucky. 

Great coaches help players tell an exceptional story.

Lagniappe: A reminder to "be curious, not judgmental." Give the new kid a chance. 

Lagniappe 2: "Great defense is multiple efforts." Shrink the court, deny penetration, contest shots without fouling. 

Basketball: NBA Analysis and a Paige (Bueckers) Worth Studying

NBA analysts share a wealth of wisdom. Brian Scalabrine is no exception. Players can use some of his observations. 

"When the big helps, others have to 'crack back' (rotate)." 

"Kevin Durant is one of the best mid-range shooters I have ever seen." 

"...Jayson Tatum evolving as a playmaker...watch Brown and Tatum making plays."

The art of cutting is both subtle yet urgent. 

"They are getting torched...can't get any stops." 

"LeVert is a straight-line driver; he battles through contact."

"They're treating DeAndre Jordan like he's Michael Jordan..." (On officials...)

"No one sprinted back on that play...floor balance." 

"Three guys around him...no contest...that's Kevin Durant."

"The Nets are loading up boxes and elbows (against the drive)..." Kendrick Perkins (reminder that great players win in space and excellent teams shrink the court)

"Brooklyn has a tremendous amount of length on the defensive end." 

"I'm not surprised by anything in the NBA...including putting sage around the court."

"Kyrie's out there...you have to attack him."

"Joe Harris has been destroying us." 

"I'm really impressed with Brooklyn's defense." 

"I wouldn't be surprised to see KD at the 5 at the end of games...most guys do position down." 

N.b. The Nets toyed with the Celtics, who do not look ready to go with the season a week away. If the Celtics don’t want to be buried out of the gate, here’s what they must understand:

1) The Bubble’s ECF doesn’t carry forward on a resume.

2) Last season with Kemba and Hayward, the talent level was much higher.

3) Start grinding and thinking because paychecks don’t score.

Lagniappe: You want fundamentals? Check out this Paige. 

Lagniappe 2: And some Old School... I love the way he says, "LarryBird" as though it's one word.

 

 

Basketball Friday: Numbers Game

Basketball Friday emphasizes at least three concepts, one drill, and a set play. Steal an idea today. 

Too much attention to numbers causes problems. For example, remind players that "it's the scoreboard, not the scorebook."

DRILL. I call it the "Elden Campbell" warmup. Make five consecutive shots from five spots, both short corners, elbows, and middle of the key. That was part of Campbell's warmup. Can't do that? Do the work until you can. 

CONCEPTS. What numbers define success? 

1) "5 more." Do five more reps. Spend five more minutes on a project. Write five pages a day. Read five more minutes. 

2) "372." Stops make runs. Chart consecutive stops. When your team gets at least three consecutive stops, seven times each half, in both halves, there's a high chance of success. 

3) "2 - 50 - 30." Read. Kevin Eastman reads 2 hours a day, meaning 180 extra hours a quarter. Steve Forbes reads fifty pages a day. I encourage players to read at least 30 minutes daily outside of required reading. 

Find passages to inspire better writing. Director Werner Herzog encourages his film students to read excerpts from The Peregrine.

“Approach him across open ground with a steady unfaltering movement. Let your shape grow in size but do not alter its outline. Never hide yourself unless concealment is complete. Be alone. Shun the furtive oddity of man, cringe from the hostile eyes of farms. Learn to fear. To share fear is the greatest bond of all. The hunter must become the thing he hunts.”
― J.A. Baker, The Peregrine

4) "The 95." Billy Donovan reminds players that they play 95 percent of the game without the ball. Excellent players get a lot done defensively and making teammates better on offense through spacing, cutting, and screening. 

5) "14." An easy naming system for defenses uses the first digit for the type of defense and the second for the extent. "14" represents "man-to-man" full court (four-fourths of the court). Examples: 

14 - full court man

24 - full court run and jump

51 - quarter court 1-3-1 zone

72 - half court 2-3 zone

83 - three-quarter court 2-2-1 

6) "Even-odd-zero." Coach Doug Brotherton's system uses the clock to call special situations plays. If there were 5:12 left in the quarter, then the "even" play is called. He uses additional calls to override or supplement the automatic system. 

SET PLAY.  "Andover"

This SLOB uses ZIPPER action to enter the ball and follows with a give-and-go return pass to the inbounder. She looks to hit the initial screener who rolls and gets a layup. 

Lagniappe: Scout with Bryan profiles the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Charlotte Hornets. A stare down of the Raptors bench during a preseason game? 

NBA fans will enjoy Bryan's analysis of the pluses and minuses. 

Basketball: Redesign Practice. It Can Always Be Better.

To coaches, practice is sacred. The mental to the physical in basketball is four to one, yet practice prioritizes the physical. 

With youth basketball on hold locally (Massachusetts), invest time to design better practices. 

Previously, I'd look through options and assemble the pieces by what I felt the team needed on a given day and week.

I have no stone tablets, only questions about options to consider. And I don't question Brian McCormick's contention that random practice beats "block practice." 

1. Up the tempo. Build in breaks but accelerate the pace of all activities. No matter how efficient we think we are, we can push harder. 

2. Vary practice enough to avoid repetitiveness. 

3. Create competition in as many segments as possible. 

4. Always condition within drills (some examples). 

5. Rethink ways to combine activities to include offense and defense (including small-sided games, shell drill, pressure drills to involve conversion...

6. Expand drills that players favor (e.g. O-D-O offense-defense-offense) beginning with special situations (e.g. BOBs, SLOBs, FTs). Allows special situations practice with scrimmage conditions. 

7. Develop mismatches. We tend to match up similar players and wonder why players cannot take advantage of size/speed mismatches. 

8. Simulate roles. If your job is to come in and shoot or to foul, practice that. Steve Kerr practiced coming in off the bench cold and shooting. Have a fake "injury" where a reserve has to sub in during crunch time. 

9. Use Wildcards. Have an end-of-game segment, time and score dictated by a pile of situation "wildcards." E.g. three seconds left, shooting one free throw, down two. Ask the players for their solution. 

10.Improve feedback. Create an expectation that players give feedback, like 1) I liked this about practice, 2) I didn't like that, and 3) I don't understand this, can you send me more information or guidance? 

Lagniappe. Nietzsche may have coached. 

Lagniappe 2. There's a lot to like about Scout with Bryan...here his breakdown of the Knicks. His messages include that the Knicks will play hard and play defense for Thibs. But their offensive efficiency will not produce consistent winning basketball. Bryan's videos always share some pearls. 

Lagniappe 3. Five Takeaways

1. Positivity / Energy

2. Simplify. "Slow minds create slow feet." (Believer in part-whole)

3. Connection 

4. Teach to Your Plan (e.g. PnR, 5 Out)

5. Not explicitly stated as such, but the Newellian balance, footwork, and maneuvering speed is the core. 

Basketball: "The Most Important Thing"

The most important thing. You arrogant S.O.B. How presumptuous a title! What is the most important thing? Howard Marks wrote a wonderful book by that name. James Clear's review clarifies, "You can’t do the same things others do and expect to outperform."

If you ask ten people, you get ten answers. A Wall Street saying informs, "where I stand depends upon where I sit." 

To an administrator, it might be a hassle-free program. "I don't need complaints from alumni, parents, players, and the custodians." In Runnin' Rebel, Coach Jerry Tarkanian made it clear to the UNLV AD that Frank Sinatra expected his comped tickets. And there'd be hell to pay if he didn't get them. 

For coaches, that varies, too. Vince Lombardi famously said, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Bill Belichick told reporters that at this point in his career, "I want to coach guys I like. I want to coach guys I want to be around and that’s it." A Division 1 college official told me that some NCAA coaches demand you call the game "their way" or you're never coming back to their venue. No bones about it. 

Coaches realize talent is "the most important thing" and worry about it...or not. Former Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw hired women assistants. Period. 

An assistant coach might seek advancement, a more prestigious position and more pay. Another might assist because she wanted less stress and less responsibility than a head job. A graduate assistant or lower level employee might just want to get their foot in the door, a chance. 

Chuck Daly reminded reporters that "NBA players want 48 - 48 minutes, 48 shots, 48 million." Professional athletes sport tattoos reading, "GET PAID." 

A high school star player's most important thing could be "numbers," cred that can get them to the next level or to The League. A reserve's MUST could be minutes and an expanded role. And some players content themselves with making the team and being with their friends. 

A parent concerns himself with status, status accompanying publicity, success, and production. Perhaps he can't afford college and is relying on Jimmy to pay his way. Or maybe he's reliving an athletic career from decades ago. 

The most important thing can be more insidious. Sherri Coale discussed the player whom the team thought was selfish. "You're not happy unless you're scoring." In a team meeting, the young woman cried, "my father won't talk to me if I'm not scoring."

Fans might care more about winning than character or following the rules. 

What do I think is the most important thing? The player experience in a developmental program matters. Everyone deserves teaching and opportunity, which isn't to say that everyone gets the same experience. 

There is no singular most important thing. Where I stand depends upon where I sit. 

Lagniappe: Kevin Eastman coaches defending the ball screen. 

Basketball: Players Are Pitching Themselves on and Off the Court

 As a player you are pitching yourself. We're recruiting a player, watching a game, collecting information. We have measurables and intangibles. Among the best are "one-word pitches." If you think search, the word is _______. Google. If you think soft drinks, it's Coke. Maybe the word that describes you is ELITE or GRINDER. But you never want it to be SOFT or LAZY. 

Measurables. Size and "athleticism" jump off the page when evaluating a player. Damon Runyan's quote reminds us, "The race is not always to the swiftest or the battle to the strongest, but it pays to bet that way." A player may play "bigger" than their size, but size and athleticism still impose limits. 

Coaches want explosiveness. Explosiveness creates separation and great players win in space. First step quickness creates edges. Crisp passes show both vision and execution. 

Productivity blends skill and effort. "Non-shooters are always open." But skill is more than raw numbers on the stat sheet. Skill translates into the priority of "making the players around you better." Skill shows up in effective field goal percentage, assists, and rebounding. 

Communication. Are you talking on defense? Coaches assess how you interface with teammates and coaches. Pete Carril talks about lightbulbs, players whose presence illuminates the game. 

Academics. "There is no ability without eligibility." Players have to take care of business in the classroom. When you learn the complexities of the game, you have the capacity to succeed academically. When my daughters were seniors, each of the six seniors on the team achieved honor roll status. 

As a player, do you want to die on the hill of poor effort, bad body language, selfishness, or lack of impact? 

Effort. Scouts assess your effort running the floor, defensive stance and position, screening and cutting, and hustle plays like winning 50-50 balls, getting deflections, and taking charges.

"Character is job one" said former Spurs assistant and Euroleague legend Coach Etorre Messina. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Your play shows whether you respect the game, coaches, opponents, and officials. College coaches have enough headaches without taking on yours. 

Body Language. We know bad body language when we see it. The player who sulks when things are not going her way. She trails her girl down the floor in transition. She isn't paying attention in the huddle. I've seen championship games lost because a player lost focus in the huddle. Coaches know great body language, too. Thank the passer, help a teammate off the floor, greet a player as they come to the bench. 

Teamwork. Measuring teamwork isn't easy. Not passing to the open player can be a good team decision if the player knows the player will be fouled and can't shoot free throws. Does a player understand spacing (we mentioned being a steward of spacing), cut appropriately, pass willingly, and set good screens? Everyone can't be a great player. Anyone can be a great teammate. 

Toughness and Resilience. Toughness and resilience are skills. Some players and teams are capable of playing longer and playing harder than opponents. Excellent teams have the means to wear down the opposition.  

Impact. Geno Auriemma says that if an assistant has to ask whom they are watching after the first minute, that's a problem. Impact the game from the opening tap.  

Lagniappe: Being in position doesn't mean being fully engaged. Kevin Eastman is an elite teacher and NBA championship-winning assistant. 

Know your NOs. "NO middle, NO paint, NO gives, NO corner threes, NO offensive rebounds."

Basketball: Frustrated by the Pandemic? "I Can't Get Better."

Take ownership of our education. Urban Meyer's Above The Line shares that theme.

Will a generation of players argue the pandemic robbed them of basketball experience or capitalize on the best available education online?

Read. Read basketball books, blogs, and clinic notes. Read about leadership, about excellence, about psychology, and whatever interests you. 

Here are a few lessons from General Stanley McChrystal's Team of Teams:

"We have to begin leading differently...a leader's words matter, but actions ultimately do more to reinforce or undermine the implementation of a team of teams."

"A gardening approach to leadership is anything but passive. The leader acts as an "Eyes-On, Hands-Off" enabler who creates and maintains an ecosystem in which the organization operates."

"He knew what was normal, so different stood out." (If you want to be different, to stand out among your peers, your plan, preparation, and training must be better.) 

Train. Seek out trainers and educators on the Internet, especially the talented teachers domestic and foreign. 

Drew Hanlen, Pure Sweat Basketball. 

Don Kelbick, Drillz and Skilz. 

Kevin Eastman. 

Improve our teaching of skill development. 

• "You can't be bored."
• "You can't get tired." 

Kirby Schepp. 

"What would your offense look like if you put your players in different spots?" 

Study the game. What big picture applies and how do the details make that happen? 

For example, everyone agrees, "transition defense is important." What elements go into that? How many players go to the offensive board? Who? What are your primary and secondary goals? How do we train this? How will we measure it? 

Lagniappe: For our organization, the job is to make sense of what General McChrystal calls shared consciousness and empowerment. We need group understanding of the mission and its execution.  

They called their operation in Iraq "The Star Wars Bar" because groups from many different organization merged to plan and operate against terrorism in real time. 

Lagniappe 2: Click through to the Radius Athletics mini-clinic on spacing. 

Make the mental shift from viewing “basketball coaching” as coaching technique and actions to viewing it as creating favorable spacing conditions for players to apply skills. ("Steward of spacing")

Lagniappe 3: Sawubona, more than a greeting but an invitation to participate in each other's lives. Does winning bring a team together or togetherness bring winning? 

Basketball, Society, and Sport: Power Corrupts

The quest for power is a fundamental force in life, sport, and basketball. Power goes by different names - ego, status, influence. 

And many problems arising in organizations, from youth basketball through upper echelons relate to power struggles. 

At the pinnacle of sport, it's an easy get. The powerful get the attention, publicity, respect, and money. Power attracts eyeballs and eyeballs print money. But power seekers attract critics, about their involvement ("shut up and dribble") or lack of involvement (lack of social conscience). We accuse the powerful of exaggerating their importance (e.g. "The Decision") or empire building (e.g. the orbit of a star, e.g. Rich Paul). 

The powerful leverage their status or voice for change, favors, or money. And depending on the change they seek, they earn friends or make enemies. 

Brookings, considered overall centrist, writes of pandemic sport support by colleges, "We find that the prevailing model rests on taking the money generated by athletes who are more likely to be Black and come from low-income neighborhoods and transferring it to sports played by athletes who are more likely to be white and from higher-income neighborhoods."

Philanthropists are not immune from criticism. The Gates Foundation has been accused of being self-serving by pushing online education and by ignoring the advice of experts. 

In October, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewwki said, "We're going to have March Madness." Now, with Duke struggling, the tune seems to change. "I would just like for the safety, the mental and physical health of players and staff to assess where we're at."

At every level, minority coaches don't get an equal opportunity for hiring, retention, or advancement. “College sport continues to have some of the lowest grades for racial hiring practices among all of the college and professional sports covered by the respective Racial and Gender Report Cards” and "blacks are 45 percent of the football players in Division I but only 6.9 percent of the head football coaches. This was down from 7.7 percent in the prior year."

At the youth and high school level, the conflict can be subtle or harsh. At the extreme, you recall the Texas cheerleader mother and her plan to kill a rival mother and daughter. 

In Carl Pierson's excellent book, The Politics of Coaching, he details the conflicts among coaches, players, administrators, and families. Families wonder why their child doesn't make a team or when they do, why they don't have more minutes and a featured role. Parents may obstruct the path and opportunities for younger players, in the hope of being the anteambulo for their child. 

We've all heard about or seen parents and politicians lobbying for their children or working to displace coaches whom they couldn't influence. A Texas high school basketball coach told me a parent offered his school a $25,000 contribution in exchange for his ouster. Gone, baby, gone. 

There's nothing we can do to change the dynamics of power and sport. But let's not kid ourselves when discussing diversity and opportunity. 

Lagniappe: "Bring your own juice." Coaches are energy givers.

What are our three goals for this season? 

Lagniappe 2. "Water the flowers." Coach Mason Waters shares a Devin Booker study. Great stuff to show players! 

Basketball: Quality Actions in Crunch Time, Develop Winning Options

Keywords: Late game situations, Iverson cut, Corner rip, Separation

Purposeful play gets quality shots in crunch time. Imagine a situation such as tie score, ten seconds, advancing the ball, no timeouts. 

Tailor the plan to team strengths and exploitable weakness of opponents. Show your club film of model execution. 

Have a specific plan to get a quality shot by whom you want, where you want, and when you want. You probably don't want the shot taken "early" giving your opponent another opportunity. Perhaps you favor a drive to setup a foul, a spread ball screen ball screen, or a back door cut against pressure defense. Our team needs an automatic or default action. 

Fall back to "great offense is multiple actions." Why not use an "early offense" that has multiple options? If we practice a "default" regularly, we should perform it at a higher level than freelance. 

Think of 1-4 high as "horns like" with good spacing and no default help side. Entry to either post sets up cutting, screening, and isolation. 

• Give-and-go with the point guard
• Helpside screening 
• Back cut from the ball side
• Isolation for the post

Locate your point guard at the post if she is the best driver, passer, finisher. The coach knows the strengths and preferences of her team. 

When we've prepared to do our best, we have less room for regrets. "We got the look we wanted." 

Have an "ace in the hole" set you haven't shown. 

The Iverson action scored five points (one three-point play) in two possessions. 

Iverson too obvious? Apply corner rip action in search of a layup. Hat tip to Zak Boisvert. 

Lagniappe: "Let the hype begin." Payton Pritchard. 

Adam Spinella informs viewers about the guard's strengths, weaknesses, and potential opportunities with second unit teammates. 

Lagniappe 2: "Hype squared...more Celtics' eye candy. 

Aaron Nesmith, sniper, screener, side-step compensation, and the gravity of a shooter. 

Basketball Friday: There Is No "One Way" To Defend the Ball Screen

Basketball defense isn't a monolith, especially against ball screens. Defense evolves to efficiency, much like capital flows to its most effective use. 

3 Concepts. Define your top priority...defend at the rim or defend against the three, and accept mid-range shots. 

7 of the top 10 defensive rating teams are also among leaders in defending the rim. 

Develop coverage to achieve your priority. Coach Daniel's great video illustrates different philosophies. The Celtics switch, the Raptors fill the gap, and the Sixers priority is defending the three. 

Coach Daniel's video breakdown clarifies the how and the results. 

Know what our players can do. Last year, we had a superb rim protector, so we used drop coverage preferentially. 

Drill. "Cartoon" version of a basic PnR drill. 

Communication is key but we've had success at times attacking the dribbler. Stepping up makes life harder for the screener and easier to get over the top. The choice of coverage (hedge/"fake trap," switch, blitz, under, et cetera) is less important than everyone being on the same page and execution. 

Set Play. From FastModel 

Lagniappe: Finding edges. Zak Boisvert shares video illustrating the primacy of spacing, how "movement kills defense" and a cut for a score when a defender loses sight of his man "head turning." 

No one in the country runs better 5-out than Northern Iowa pic.twitter.com/XCIzEWWkoR

— PickandPop (@PickAndPopNet) December 9, 2020