"It's all the refs' fault." In the last fifty games I coached, I don't think the officials decided any. Maybe that's a function of level (middle school), but skill, teamwork, and effort decide almost all games.
Everyone has their basketball "wish list" of changes. I wish for people to stop abusing officials. It's easier to blame the officials than to examine why teams lose - talent, effort, decisions, execution, and coaching.
What does study of high level play officiating show? "We analyzed referees’ calls in 250 such incidents, taken from an entire season of the Israeli Basketball Super League, and we found no evidence for favoritism. That is to say, although the situation of potential offensive fouls should be prone to refereeing biases, in our sample the reputation of the players and the teams, the issue of home vs. away teams, and the players’ physical size did not significantly affect the frequency of calls for an offensive foul."
How bad is it getting? Referees suffer not only verbal but physical abuse.
It's not an isolated event.
In one game I coached, the opposing coach started screaming at the officials from the opening tap. They warned him and he intensified the insults and was tossed in the first minute. His team won, but not because of his coaching genius. Make the game about the players.
Does that mean coaches must, "sit down and shut up?" No, but habitual efforts to influence officiating doesn't work and disservices the game. If we're unhappy with fouling, the onus on us is teaching legal guarding position, verticality, "showing your hands," avoiding reaching in, and to stop fouling low percentage shots.
Officials have finally responded...by walking away. “All of a sudden, [referees] are home with their families on Sundays and relaxing and realizing they don’t have to take it anymore...and they’re not coming back.” Nobody gets rich at $40 a pop.
I'm not saying the officials are perfect. Neither are we coaches. But learning respect for the game, coaches, opponents, and official matters.
How can we coaches start resolving the crisis?
Model excellence. We can't expect players to show respect for officials if we don't.
Encourage league officials to monitor coaches and fan behavior via officials and coach reporting.
When I've talked to officials before the game, I've never looked for calls, only asked that they keep players safe. It's a tough job, especially with larger, more physical players.
Be the change.
Lagniappe. Most coaches here know these rules. Many fans and players do not.
Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, visit with WNBA players
Study greatness. Some readers achieve firsts. Great! But Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman Supreme Court appointee. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg profiles Justice O'Connor in a chapter in her book, In My Words.
Justice O'Connor grew up on a ranch. She learned the necessary skills, including mending fences. That served her well, as the most collegial member of the Court. Disagree without being disagreeable.
Justice Breyer wrote about her, "She has a special talent...for restoring good humor in the presence of strong disagreement; for producing results...for reminding those at odds today...that 'tomorrow is another day'. Prepare to come back and fight battles tomorrow.
Justice Ginsburg noted, "she told me what I needed to know when I came on board for the Court's 1993 Term - not in an intimidating dose, just enough to enable me to navigate safely my first days and weeks." How many of us wish we had a mentor with such sage counsel early on in our careers?
Justice Ginsburg adds that Justice O'Connor's approach to all things included, "waste no time on anger, regret, or resentment, just get the job done." Get the job done.
After Judge Ginsburg's first majority opinion, Justice O'Connor (dissenting) dropped a note, "This is your first opinion for the Court, it is a fine one, I look forward to many more." Be supportive of our colleagues.
Justice O'Connor wrote, "As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it. Welcome motivated women into the coaching profession for our benefit and the game's.
Even when battling cancer, Justice O'Connor noted, "There was a lot I couldn't do, but I did what I could." Always do our best, even when it may not be the best.
"When she wrote separately, concurring or in dissent, she stated her disagreement directly and professionally. She avoided castigating colleagues' opinions." Disagree professionally.
In her retirement, she created the website, www.icivics.org to educate grade school children about government.
Lagniappe. The "Highest Court in the Land" is the full basketball court on the top floor of the Supreme Court.
Lagniappe 2. Great action getting a layup. Think "ditto"...almost like a UCLA cut with a second helping.
Elite players share common characteristics, both tangible and intangible. "They control what they can control."
Few athletes bring elite size, athleticism, and skill. Most grow the latter two, blending intangibles in search of excellence. What choices stand out on the path to skill, strategy, physicality, and psychological dominance?
Be relentless. Trainer Tim S. Grover wrote in Relentless, "You don’t become unstoppable by following the crowd, you get there by doing something better than anyone else can do it, and proving every day why you are the best at what you can do.” Commitment doesn't guarantee elite status, but a lack of commitment assures something less. Additional readings:
Be coachable. Great players seek coaching. They want to know and do to become their best. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Coach Wooden preached EDIRx5 - explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition times five. That formula combines coaching with relentlessness. Wooden said of Bill Walton, "He never tired of practicing the little things."
Serve the Main Thing. "The main thing is the main thing." What is the main thing? Great players make teammates better. Some talented players can't 'figure it out' because they see themselves at the center of the universe. Phil Jackson's quote, "Basketball is sharing" distills the essence. Elite players balance the quest for individual excellence with team play.
Build skill. Exceptional skill requires extraordinary work. And time. Kobe Bryant took a thousand shots daily for a hundred summer days. But there was only one Kobe Bryant. Track everything to document progress.
Make great decisions. The first of "The Four Agreements" is "be impeccable with your word." That means accountability to others and to ourselves. Work to make good decisions on and off the court. Len Bias had the ingredients to become a Hall of Fame player and his drug overdose nullified those gifts. Other players succumb to The Life over The Game.
Expand your vision. Vision includes 'immediacy' and the horizon. Great players study the game, theory and practice. They study great teams, opponents, and themselves. Film study is a mandate.
Footwork. Pete Newell preached footwork, balance, and maneuvering speed. Footwork is a separator. You can practice pivoting indoors without a basketball.
Improve general footwork by jumping rope
Improve pivoting with box drills from elbow against defense
Refine wing moves (jab, rip, reverse pivot with deep step
Catch and pickup one-dribble shot (include sidestep 3) practice eyes closed initially
Mental toughness. There's no cookie cutter program. Mindfulness, visualization and affirmations, the Carlstedt Protocol.
An unappreciated part of improving is the individual's will to improve. If it's not important to the player, we can't 'install' it. That's why the dropout rate for programs like the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers is so high. The road to excellence is a marathon not a sprint.
Lagniappe.
SSG: AROUND THE CONES
Simple build up of 1v1 into a SSG that incorporates push out dribbles, footwork, finishing, and decision making.
We also use it to incorporate peel switch defensively.
"He's a great guy." A woman executive explained, "there is no equivalent for women." The closest description is, "she's one of the guys."
Why does it matter? Advancement and opportunity often follow networking and women aren't as connected in a man's world.
Former Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw said, "When you look at men's basketball and 99 percent of the jobs go to men, why shouldn't 100 or 99 percent of the jobs in women's basketball go to women? Maybe it's because we only have 10 percent women athletic directors in Division I. People hire people who look like them. And that's the problem."
McGraw explained that she would only hire women.
I have only coached girls and believe part of my role was championing girls' basketball and promoting women's opportunity. Within the teams that I coached, I had multiple female assistants. One earned a high school varsity job and the other is in graduate school for veterinary medicine. Both are outstanding leaders.
The Boston Herald named Kristen McDonnell the high school Coach of the Decade. Coach McDonnell won four Division 1 girls titles at Braintree and led the Norwood boys team to the Division 2 finals this season. I interviewed Coach McDonnell here.
Coach McD (@CoachKristenMcD) established a women's coaching leadership development group on Twitter. Two topics their group will discuss this month include:
The argument that some men advance is, "selecting a less qualified woman for this position is unfair to me." Providing opportunity to women to develop experience and to build a resume' matters. Installing unqualified candidates, men or women, is unfair to players, families, and communities.
And as women raise their game, it forces men to raise ours, lifting the caliber of education and training for all.
Lagniappe. Feedspot is the content reader for reading all your favorite websites in one place. The Founder of Feedspot, Anuj Agarwal, recently contacted me. "I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog RonSenBasketball has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Basketball Blogs on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/basketball_blogs/
I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Basketball Blogs on the internet and I'm honored to have you as part of this!"
I am humbled and will continue the work of earning your time and attention.
Lagniappe 2. "Every day is player development day." Corner cuts offer opportunity for both scoring and rebounding as weak side defenders lose sight or focus on attackers. 45 degree cuts set up rim attacks. "The Dunker Spot" may be invisible. Take advantage of opportunistic 'seals'.
Lagniappe 3. Frank Martin discusses parents and youth basketball.
Parents: If there’s ONE video you watch on social media today. Please let it be this one:
Frank Martin discusses parents attempting to coach their kids from the sidelines.
Filter the firehose of numbers surrounding us. Here are suggestions:
"95" from Billy Donovan. What are you doing the 95 percent of the time you don't have the basketball? Impact winning even if you don't touch the ball. Communication, ball pressure and containment, blocking out, help, movement without the ball, setting screens. "Stand around and sit with me." And remember Coach Knight's admonition, "Just because I want you on the floor doesn't mean I want you shooting."
"5" "Do 5 more." We control our attitude, choices, and effort. Make "five more" our mantra. Five more minutes. Five more reps. Five more pages. Five more sprints.
Celtics '32'. Miniature version of Pitino 'quarters' drill. Five 'radians' with three shots along each radian, 3, 2, and 1 point. Finish with two free throws. That makes 32 point perfection on seventeen shots. Score your personal best.
Great for "Camp Driveway" or the playground with a partner.
"3-7-2." Win more games with 3-7-2... three consecutive stops, seven times per half, achieved both halves create a winning defensive formula.
"50 Buckets" Three shooters, three rebounders, three minutes. Competent high school teams should be making at least 50. Middle schoolers at least 30.
"25 to 5." Whittle the twenty-five most important items on our list of priorities to five. Pay exquisite attention to those five.
Transition defense
Half-court defense
Half-court offense
Pick-and-roll offense
Pick-and-roll defense
10-80-10. Urban Meyer divided players into the top ten percent, the middle eighty percent, and the bottom ten percent. Meyer required players in the top ten percent to bring a teammate with them to workouts. "Drag a teammate into the top ten percent."
"251." 251 applied to a drill in which Buddy Hield had set the record. It recorded the number of three-pointers made without consecutive misses from different spots. It has been eclipsed. Adjust the distance down for the level you coach.
“10%” Geoff McKeown in Essentialism tells us to focus only on items in our top ten percent.
Grab a few from my list and add your own.
Lagniappe. "Variety is the spice of life." Minor variation in shooting form is part of the great shooter's repertoire.
Lagniappe 2. The 'unit of play' matters. Coach taught us to "win this quarter." Don't focus on winning the game; focus on this possession. Have a great possession. A steal, conversion, and transition hoop is a potential back breaker.
Lagniappe 3. "Happy Fourth." The number '4' holds many meanings for me.
Pat Summitt's "Four Corners" wake up call...she called a 6:00 A.M. practice and placed trash cans at each corner of the court. Her players had stayed out late partying and they ran until they heaved.
A spectacular inbounds screen-the-screener play.
"Shell defense" with four-on-four "live" play...
A Tufts horns option with a 4 slip.
Another good way to run it is a 1-4 high set with a slip off a faked high ball screen.
We all have a brand. Make it better. Advertising guru Jeff Goodby says, "brands make beer taste better and cars go faster."
Brands don’t sprout like Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’. A well-orchestrated plan offers a better chance at success. Nick Saban's brand is winning through "The Process." Bill Belichick is synonymous with "Do your job." Many coaches coopted John Calipari's "one and done" brand, although few did it as well.
Communicate better with a preview, reveal, and summary (PRS). Or as George Stephanopoulos says, "tell them what you're going to say, tell it, and tell them what you told them."
Sell our brand with emotion, logic, and truth. Verbal, nonverbal, and written communication impacts our brand. Emotion imprints memories, which works for and against us.
Teaching players communication skills helps them succeed at home, in class, and on the court. How might we do that?
1. Simplicity. Great writers like Ernest Hemingway use more small words and shorter sentences. Legendary Coach Don Meyer said coaching evolves from blind enthusiasm to sophisticated complexity to mature simplicity. Here's a passage from Hemingway,
“How little we know of what there is to know. I wish that I were going to live a long time instead of going to die today because I have learned much about life in these four days; more, I think than in all other time. I’d like to be an old man to really know. I wonder if you keep on learning or if there is only a certain amount each man can understand. I thought I knew so many things that I know nothing of. I wish there was more time.”
2. Listening. We share what we know. To know more and share more, we need more input from listening, reading, and study.
3. Reading. Director Werner Herzog advises, "Read, read, read, read, read."
4. Storytelling. People are storytelling animals. We remember more when hearing a story than presentations dominated by facts. Disney's Bob Iger went to Pixar's Steve Jobs with a merger proposal. Jobs went to the whiteboard and listed two columns, 'Pros' and 'Cons'. He wrote about three pros and twenty cons. Iger said, "So, you're not interested." Jobs answered, "No, the pros far outweigh the cons." Both sides of an argument enter our calculus.
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explain key parts of storytelling. Make it:
Simple
Unexpected
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Story
The first letters spell, 'success'. "Find the core: Determine the single most important thing, being careful not to bury
the lead. The military uses a "Commander Intent" instead of a plan. For example,
rather than details on how to take a bridge, the CI might be "take the bridge." Use
the technique of the inverted pyramid from journalism: Tell most important aspect
first, then tailor, then add details. This forces prioritization."
5. "Speaking greatness." Catch people in the act of doing well. Tailor our speech, "That was good BUT you might try this" isn't as powerful as "That was good AND you might try this." Correction matters, but finding ways to raise people up stays with them.
Years ago, Bethesda Naval Chief of Cardiology Dr. Bill Baker told me a story about a conference at NIH with leading heart specialists. Chief Pathologist Bill Roberts showed heart angiograms (pictures) of coronary arteries. His Alabama drawl asked, "which one of these fellas had an-gi-na pec-tor-is (chest pain)? A cardiologist answered, "how can we know? We didn't talk to the patients." Roberts quipped, "Of course not. You were too busy taking the pictures."
We make that mistake, too, allowing a bounty of games to replace practice of skills, strategy, physicality, and psychology.
I share "impact winning" a lot. What does that specifically mean?
Winners have more and better possessions than opponents.
Winners make teammates better...improving possessions.
Winners end possessions with scores (assists/screens/hoops) or stops (turnovers, violations, rebounds, charges taken).
Coaches impact winning by "making every day about player development."
Coaches teach players to "see the game."
Coaches use strategy, tempo, timeouts and other means to win.
Ask players what makes possessions better. Expect a result-oriented answer (e.g. we scored) not a process-oriented one.
Ask for the process details. "What do you mean?"
These constructs ask details and then delve into the specifics of how as a player and a team execution follows. Then ask how defenses might disrupt or limit each of the above.
"Show me what you mean by good spacing."
"Describe what makes good cutting." That includes faking (e.g. setups and misdirection/slips) and footwork, screens (including "the screener is the second cutter"), and cutting while in the passer's vision to work toward "on time and on target" passing and receiving.
"Describe what makes a good shot for you and your teammates." Lean into their answers for range, openness, balance, and situational appropriateness.
Then, consider the truth machine (video) for analysis. Doc Rivers argued for no more than thirteen clips. How was the spacing? Did cutters cut urgently? Did they set up their cuts? Did screeners deceive and sprint to screen? Did cutters wait for the screen? What was the quality of the passing? How did they rate the shot selection, the rebounding position, the defensive conversion into defensive transition?
"But coach!" If we have to think, how will we play?" Restated, like the Cardiologists, we're too busy playing to worry about whether we're doing well.
Scrutinize everything.
warmups (e.g. Villanova Get 50)
core drills
small-side games
competition with conditioning
strategic practice (e.g. defeating pressure, special situations)
Keep learning while editing and improving all aspects of training.
Lagniappe. Backdoor cutting...
Tight defense rewards backdoor cutting and screening. The back cut goes toward and then away from the ball. Always finish the cut to decrease errant passing.
Coaching and politics overlap. The leader says he's the voice of the voiceless, but once your vote is tallied, you easily become ignored. Who speaks for the 12th guy?
If the 'star' player loves us and the twelfth guy hates us, we're doing it wrong. Many have said, "everyone is necessarily the hero of their own story." And like Walter Mitty, the twelfth guy envisions herself slaying dragons, planting the flag, scoring the winning basket.
Our best requires fewer errors. Reducing mistakes from the top to the bottom of the roster requires a change in strategic thinking.
Coaches and teammates find ways to message the whole team.
Red Auerbach had an arrangement with Bill Russell that he'd yell at Russell in practice sometimes to show that nobody was above the law.
In Teammates Matter, walk-on Alan Williams describes not getting a black and gold Wake Forest travel bag, because the equipment guy doesn't think he deserves one. Williams later finds a bag in his locker, gifted from the star player. Leaders make leaders. Attention is a gift.
I've shared numerous times how Dean Smith spread credit throughout the roster for victories, understanding star players always got the media focus.
Don't have a 'dog house'. You've seen it. Some coaches bury players, ostracizing or isolating them. Why? Perhaps they hope the player will quit in frustration or act out giving them an excuse to cut them. Does anyone think that's leadership?
Be inclusive in our approach. Don Yaegar writes in Great Teams:
Nick Saban brought The Process to Alabama in 2007. He didn't immediately transform the Crimson Tide as they went 7-6 his first season. But The Process led to a 12-2 season the following year and an undefeated National Championship next. The rest is history.
1. Commitment — To common goals and to being successful.
2. Unselfishness — There is no ‘I’ in TEAM.
3. Unity — Come together as never before.
4. Improve — Every day… as a player, person, and student.
5. Be Tough — Mentally and physically.
6. Self-Discipline — Do it right, don’t accept less.
7. Great Effort
8. Enthusiasm
9. Eliminate Mistakes — Don’t beat yourself up.
10. Never Give Up — Never…never…never.
11. Don’t Accept Losing — If you do so one time it will be easy to do so for the rest of your life.
12. No Self-Limitations — Expect more of yourself.
13. Expect To Win — And truly believe we will.
14. Consistency — Your very, very best every time.
15. Leadership — Everyone can set an example.
16. Responsibility — You are responsible for your own performance.
Don Meyer had his five core principles, applying to everyone.
Passion
Unity
Servant Leadership
Humility
Thankfulness (gratitude)
How can we speak for the 12th Guy?
Speak to her. Our message applies to everyone.
Transparency, doesn't mean equal minutes, roles, and responsibilities.
Everyone gets coaching.
Everyone gets respect.
Everyone models excellence. The 12th guy leads by punctuality, by playing hard, by starring in her role. She encourages teammates. She is not a distraction. She doesn't sulk.
Lagniappe. Love him or hate him, don't ignore Geno.
Lagniappe 2. Player development. Pay attention to footwork details. Keep adding to your bag.
Lagniappe 3. Keep grinding. Use time wisely. During the 1972 season, I never started a game. Once I literally was on the floor for the final seven seconds, ruining my three points/game average :) The next season, I started every game and played all thirty-six minutes in the sectional championship. Find ways to impact winning.
"I attack ideas. I don't attack people. Some very good people have some very bad ideas." - Judge Antonin Scalia in My Own Words, by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Coaches need a clear, consistent, coherent philosophy. When parents ask our philosophy, respond with core values (e.g. teamwork, improvement, accountability). Simplify our absolutes, such as making the team better and making our teammates better on and off the court. In an era where parent authority over coaching selection has grown, the best philosophy, intent, and even execution won't assure retention.
Our philosophy grows and reshapes with time. Challenge our own ideas. Coaches evolve with our experience as players, assistants, and head coaches. Consider these ideas. Find out what works for you.
Coaches build difference-making relationships. Authenticity and originality are parts of our brand, authoring success and failure in varying measures over time. When people regale 'Bill Belichick the genius' he replies, "I heard 'Bill Belichick the idiot' in Cleveland."
Apply the TTPP framework of Dr. Fergus Connolly. Some possibilities appear in the template below.
No shortcut exists. Each step creates formidable obstacles, but excellence recognizes "the obstacle is the way."
Coaches are educators. Do you need a teaching degree to be an educator? Bob Knight had a degree in history and government from Ohio State. Dean Smith had a degree in Mathematics from Kansas. Bill Belichick has an economics degree from Wesleyan.
Basketball Philosophy has many subdirectories.
"See the game" was Pete Newell's mandate for coaches.
"Every day is player development day," says Dave Smart.
Impact winning.
"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't."
"Kill your darlings." But I love that drill. If it's helping you win...
Within tactical choices, coaches find oceans of choices.
Man, zone, hybrid, and multiple defenses
Transition, sets, motion, freelance, and other offense
Dribble drive versus more screening-oriented offense
Extended, partially extended, and packed in defenses
Trapping defenses - whom to trap, where, when?
Analytics based. Win the Four Factors.
Even coaches described as "task-oriented" (hard guys), mold close relationships with players. Successful "relationship-oriented" coaches still impose discipline and set high standards.
Nobody stamps out coaches with cookie cutters. And every coaching tree doesn't bear fruit. The Popovich tree vastly outperforms the Belichick tree. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but doesn't guarantee success.
Takeaways:
Have a clear, coherent, explainable written philosophy.
Challenge our own ideas.
Build relationships, trust, and buy-in.
Consider a framework built on strategy, skill, body, and mind. TTPP
Know and teach your system well. Don't assume anything. Verify.
"See the game."
"Every day is player development day."
Lagniappe.
I like the concept but I think it could be even better if run at both ends simultaneously. More passes, more shots, less standing in line.
Lagniappe 2. Long-time readers know the expression, "movement kills defense." Defense can also kill movement. Five decades ago, on the dead dribble, we called "pinch" and the on-ball defender surrounded the pivot foot and teammates played denial defense. It would work even better with the shot clock.
Killing the Pivot Foot! Great way to add purpose to a "Dead" reaction or to help defenders find better ways to pressure a pivot: a player shying away from pressure or trying to run a set play.
