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Sunday, March 10, 2024

Basketball: Philotomo

Philotomo is a Greek word meaning honor and loyalty. Wikipedia describes it, "In its simplest form, the term means conscientiously honoring one's responsibilities and duties, and not allowing one's honor, dignity, and pride to be sullied."

Psychology Today describes it as, "that deep-seated awareness in the heart that motivates the good that a person does." It advises, "behaviors are not only a reflection of yourself but a reflection of your family, your community, and your country. Take pride in what you do simply because you have taken the time and effort to do it."

As a team member, represent. Behavior reflects who you are - attitudes, beliefs, and values. In Legacy, James Kerr explains how the All-Blacks are challenged to "leave the jersey in a better place." 

General MacArthur charged West Point graduates to remain faithful to "duty, honor, country." 

The Prime Video documentary Giannis, implies that philotomo explains Antetokounmpo's decision to extend his contract in smaller-market Milwaukee. It became his second home. 

Aspire to live the values associated with philotomo. Reflect on high-character individuals who fit the description. 

Bill Russell's career and life showed unfailing commitment to racial justice. He shared, "my ego demands the success of my team." 

Frances Perkins, the first woman cabinet member under FDR, showed a lifelong commitment to worker rights, enacting child labor laws, and in large part helped to establish the middle class. They became her philotomo. 

In Sam Walker's The Captain Class, he described team captains whose personality and leadership drove elite teams to high performance. "Buried inside an obscure 1997 clinical psychology textbook called Aversive Interpersonal Behaviors, there is a chapter titled “Blowhards, Snobs, and Narcissists: Interpersonal Reactions to Excessive Egotism.” The paper concluded that self-centered people who project arrogance through their speech and body language tend to be viewed less favorably by others and can weaken a group’s cohesion. The author of this was Timothy Duncan."

Live philotomo and prosper. 

Lagniappe. "Rebound and outlet" helps convert one successful possession into another. Symmetry demands defense find ways to stop it. 

Lagniappe 2. When your time comes, are you ready? 



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Basketball - Thinking Causes Pain and Gain

"Intelligent thinkers are open to talk about anything, especially those issues which are unable to hold a single and unwavering truth.

Where there is great divide, there is opportunity for great intellectual exploration." 

Controversies abound in basketball, if we're honest. A few examples:

  • Who is the GOAT? 
  • Who is the best player in the game today? 
  • What is the role for zone defense in youth basketball? 
  • What is the best way to train young players? 
  • What is the role for a core curriculum for young players? 
  • Is there a proper ratio among practice and games in development? 
  • Has the game become too favorable for offense? 
  • Should we have universal shot clock? 
  • Is the NBA All-Star game too broken to fix? 
  • Has the NIL gone too far or far enough? 
Dr. Esha Lovric also shares this in her Sunday missive, "Most of the time is it easier to believe what is easiest to believe." This reminds me of the quote, "you are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts." 

I know that no stone tablets ever descended to any hallowed hardwood in any almighty arena. That affirms the value of Professor Adam Grant's Think Again, advising us to keep a 'rethinking scorecard." 

We were weaned at the teat of "defense wins championships" and defense got me maximal minutes as a high school senior. 


Never an All-League player, I lacked the burden of carrying a team. Six decades of basketball study teaches the ascent of offense and the priority of preaching basic to advanced individual and team offensive concepts. That's the highest "rethinking" item on my belief scorecard. 

Lagniappe. The ball has energy. 
Lagniappe 2. Advanced levels demand advanced approaches. 

 Lagniappe 3. Iverson applied. 


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Saturday, March 9, 2024

Basketball: Closing Out Games

Our lives become stories. Stories share triumphs and tragedies, victor and vanquished. How games end define a large part.

No article informs the 'be-all, end-all' of late game management, just sharing ideas. Mom would say, "who died and made you king?" Nothing has changed. 

1. It's more than that. Everyone harps on events of the final moments or the last play. A local club lost by a point years ago, a final missed shot. But they had fallen behind 4-0 in the first minute, twice failing to block out and allowing a pair of putbacks. Games are won and lost over their entirety with bad shots, turnovers, wasted possessions, missed free throws. 

2. Manage time. Teams need the ability to manage tempo, playing faster or slower with offensive and defensive delay games. Players learn to play based on time, score, and situation by practicing. Create situations such as leading by five with two minutes to go (with or without the ball) and playing them out. Add constraints like no shots allowed during a timed possession. 

Part of managing time is having timeouts. Dean Smith set an example with the goal of having three timeouts for the final four minutes. Timeouts allow for rest, substitution, strategic change, and special situations. 

3. Win this possession. Part of putting the ball into play is having a reliable inbounder. Getting the ball in safely comes first and opportunistically follows. Develop an inbounder whose vision, decision, and execution you trust.

4. Get stops (Jordans). Excellent teams understand the need to get "Jordans" stops. Play defense as though everyone earns a pair of "Air Jordans" when they get a key stop. 

5. Dog days. Tom Hellen has a saying, "teams that can't shoot free throws last as long in the postseason as dogs that chase cars." Find ways to grow guys who make free throws in crunch time. 

6. "Trust but verify." Everyone must be on the same page. One player who doesn't know their role can spoil the meal. Unless the close and late situations are practiced, execution and results will suffer.

7. "Foul for profit." If strategic fouling is necessary, be in position to do so by approaching but not exceeding the required foul limit. If you have no fouls and need five, valuable time will expire. 

8. Win special situations. We finished the final fifteen minutes of practice with specials - three possession games beginning with BOB, SLOB, ATO, or free throw. On any inbounds play, the action starts the moment the ball is handed to the passer. 

9. Identify mismatches. I presume that well-coached teams with switch close and late. That favors pick-and-roll and screens with small on big or vice versa. 

10.Whom do you trust? My coach taught, "It's not who starts the game, it's who finishes." Earn your coaches' trust to earn the chance to succeed or fail during crunch time. 

Coaches are going to receive criticism, regardless of plan. One told me of a parent who confronted him because the parent's son didn't get the last shot. An open shot was less desired than a shot for one's own DNA line.  

Lagniappe. 

Lagniappe 2. 

 


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Basketball: Video Breakdown, State D1 Quarterfinal

Breakdown of postseason play informs winning actions. Here's video breakdown from one of the Massachusetts Division 1 quarterfinals. 

Seek edges from the tip. For a right-handed center, it's easiest to tip to players at the 7 and 10 o'clock positions.  


Let's focus on crunch time with Woburn (white) leading 49-47 down the stretch. 

BOB staggered screen misdirection into screen-the-screener action. Brilliant offense. 


"Basketball is a game of separation." Bridgewater-Raynham gets initial separation and then violates the "win in space" rule by driving into traffic.
  

Woburn fakes the double-team of the post and B-R reverses the ball. The dribbler punishes the closeout and the defender gets but does not hold legal guarding position.
 

Woburn gets the rebound and B-R gets burned in transition. Transition hoops off live-ball turnovers are killers. 


Turnovers kill dreams. B-R again plays in traffic and Woburn's defense shrank space and got a steal from the help side. 


Situational play is critical. Down 7, B-R goes on defense with 1:43 left. They don't pressure the ball and foul 27 seconds into the possession, the worst of both worlds as the clock runs and Woburn scores. Delay offense and delay defense matter.
 
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Friday, March 8, 2024

Basketball: More on Iverson Actions

Run more hard-to-defend actions, like Iverson actions.  

Running defenders through multiple screens challenges anyone. 

What are your favorite Iverson actions? 


Iverson throwback. 


Iverson backscreen 1. 


Iverson diagonal. 


Classic. 

Lagniappe. Screening the top of the zone. 

Lagniappe 2. Dribble at DHO actions are available.  

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Thursday, March 7, 2024

Basketball: Players Need to Hear 'Winning Specifications'

Adam Grant's "Rethinking" podcast: Notes from "why mistakes are our greatest teachers" with chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley.

Ashley is a member of the US Chess Hall of Fame and the first African-American grandmaster. 

Ashley's mother preached, "desire for excellence, focus is a key for success." Restated, "Excellence comes with focus."

At 33, preparing for the Grandmaster deciding match, he understood his mother's words were inspiring and meant to be positive not critical. "Chess picked me." 

As you progress through the post-season, ask players how specifically they can make a difference. The post-season is no time for "I know, I know," and "it's okay," when players make bad plays. 

1. Take great shots...no 'shot turnovers'. Even great shots won't always go in. 

2. Avoid bad fouls - don't foul jump shots, bad shots, and bail out shots. Remind players, "show your hands," not grabbing or reaching in. 

3. Take care of the basketball. Pass away from defenders. Live ball turnovers turn into transition points. 

4. Cut urgently. "Basketball is a game of separation." 

5. Up your "talk on defense." Talk energizes and intimidates and helps prevent easy baskets. 

6. Review how many go to the glass and defensive transition roles. Fast break points change momentum. 

7. Use whichever hard-to-defend actions that your team executes well. 

  • Pick-and-roll
  • Complex screens (stagger, screen-the-screener, Spain)
  • Hard cuts - give-and-go, back door
  • Dribble penetration
  • Favorite sets
Lagniappe. Teach players to love practice. 


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Basketball: Taking the Test

Find the reason to show up. Simon Sinek asks, "what's your why?" Sometimes we get thrown in the deep end of the pool. 

Over 40 years ago, I was working as second year resident not expecting a 'final exam' question in the Emergency Room. A patient arrived by ambulance, struggling to breathe...about to die.

I pushed the "code button"...it didn't work. No help was coming. Life or death, A-B-C... airway, breathing, circulation. I had never intubated a patient. I grabbed a seven mm endotracheal tube, forced it through the right nares, and it found the patient's airway. The patient lived.

It turns out the patient had a headache about an hour before and had a severe allergic reaction. There wasn't any history available in the moment. There wasn't any supervisor. There wasn't any option to "take the B." 

Take the test. 

Lagniappe. 

Lagniappe 2. Get shiftier. 

 

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Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Basketball: Respect

Coaches know but most players do not. Share. 

Respect plays. In the Patriots' documentary, The Dynasty, Aaron Hernandez was implicated in a shooting outside a bar after allegations of disrespect. 

If respect means so much, how do we earn it? 

Respect the game. "Play the right way." Know unwritten rules like running up the score, avoiding dirty plays (submarines, moving screens, tripping), etc.

Respect the officials. Hand the official the ball. Players play; officials officiate. 

Respect your teammates. "Never criticize a teammate." 

Respect your parents. Some coaches publicly share they will never recruit a player disrespecting their family. 

Respect your opponent. When trash talking or dogging others on social media, we radiate classlessness. 

Respect your coaches. If you want respect, start by showing respect. 

Don't make excuses. Be accountable at all times. Among the worst I heard was an opposing coach saying, "We should have won, if we made any shots." I resisted the temptation to say, "you should have won with three six-foot tall seventh grade girls."

Stay balanced. "Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat."

Be a great teammate. Show everyone that you value them. Care as much for them as for yourself. 

Show up. Punctual, prepared, positive. 

Do your job. Knowing others' jobs helps them play better.  

Listen more than we speak. 

Follow the Toughness rules.

Lagniappe. Be relatable. Be grateful. Share what makes experiences special. No player ever thought their coach was great because of how she taught pick-and-roll. It's about 'the experience'. 

Lagniappe 2. Be specific. Translate "always do your best" into practical advice. 

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Basketball: Cinderella Stories

Everyone loves Cinderella, the underdog who makes the big time. The underdog story is just one archetype. 

There are six or seven core stories. Some adapt easily for sport and basketball. 

1. Overcoming the monster (NC State beats UCLA, Villanova beats Georgetown) 

2. Rags to riches (Cinderella)

3. The quest (Rocky)

4. Voyage and return (Hoosiers)

5. Comedy (Champions) 

6. Tragedy (Len Bias)

7. Rebirth (Wembanyama and the Spurs)

Coaches help players and teams write narratives. 

I know the Cinderella story well. 51 years ago today, our 19-3 team went into Boston Garden an underdog fifth sectional seed against top seed St. John's Prep, 22-0, which supposedly averaged 89 points a game. 

Trailing 26-12 in the second quarter, our team went on a 23-0 run and held the Prep scoreless for 8:35 en route to a 47-41 win. 

Their star player, Dave Winey, went on to Minnesota, playing with Kevin McHale, and was himself a Celtics draft choice. 

Lagniappe. More Cinderella stories...  


Let's not forget about the Mighty Macs and also Kathy Delaney-Smith's Harvard Crimson women beating #1 Stanford. A future Emergency Room doctor iced the win with a three. 

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Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Basketball: Managing Success

"Success increases our self-assurance. Faith in ourselves is a good thing, of course, but too much of it can make us believe we don’t need to change anything." - Bob Knight, The Power of Negative Thinking 

Successful coaches ask a lot of questions. Unsuccessful coaches have all the answers. Successful coaches usually ask how can I do this better? Unsuccessful coaches often don't want input. 

Rule 1. "Learn by studying the masters." 

Rule 2. "Our heroes are less than perfect." - Stan Lee

Here are more quotes from Knight's Power of Negative Thinking:

"Success actually can be one of the biggest problems a coach or any leader has to deal with."

"Success increases our self-assurance. Faith in ourselves is a good thing, of course, but too much of it can make us believe we don’t need to change anything."

"In the article, Gino and Pisano listed “overconfidence bias” as the second of three impediments that success can put in front of any enterprise."

Lagniappe. Winners manage success. 

Lagniappe 2. "The wind always blows hardest at the top of the mountain." 

Lagniappe 3. Finishing touches from Drew Hanlen.  

Lagniappe 4. Misdirection. 

 

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Monday, March 4, 2024

Basketball: Leave a Legacy - Leaders Grow Leaders

Legacy by James Kerr is the best leadership book I've read... three times. The seven-minute video hits some high points among the 15 lessons. 



"Champions do extra." If success is important to you, outwork the competition. That's hard, requiring time, sacrifice, sometimes blood, sweat, and tears. Every exceptional player in our program sacrificed to become her best. And yet, no guarantees exist. 

Train with purpose. Elevate your skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology. Under pressure, we fall to the level of our training. You don't need expensive equipment to jump rope, do pushups, situps, and many of the "jump training" exercises shown in the videos available here and elsewhere. 

Character matters. Employers want intelligent workers, but first they want hard workers with integrity and honesty. "Sweeping the sheds" translates to cleaning up after practice and games, leaving the gym in better condition than you found it. Empty water bottles, hair ties, and wet floors never belong in the bench area. 

Don't manage expectations. Exceptional teams don't show up looking for participation trophies. Every season you're pursuing the brass ring, not mediocrity. When facing the top programs in the state, walk in 'heads high', standing tall. You're only as good as your self-belief. Let your opponent expect a dog fight. 

Culture reigns. Like your word, your culture is your bond. As an upperclassman, you have an obligation to train young players in "this is who we are" and "that is how we play." Never 'bigfoot' young players. Underclassmen lead by preparation, punctuality, and never as a distraction. When opportunity arises, perform, whether a senior or a freshman. With ability, game understanding, and mental toughness, you get an opportunity to play and to earn the trust of coaches. 

The more of these Legacy values you adopt, the more success you will have at home, in school, in sport, and in life.

Lagniappe. Culture wins. 

Lagniappe 2. Great example of disrupting a defender. 

Lagniappe 3. Grow your game...shooting! 

 

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Basketball: There Is No "One Way"

Don Yaeger's Great Teams helps define what separates success from mediocrity. 


Translate. 

1) Culture...the environment or ecosystem surrounding a program. Every player and coach "inhabits" and impacts culture. No universal culture exists. The same players can play in different sports with entirely different cultures. One can be collegial and another hierarchical. One can be player-driven and another autocratic. 

2) Problem solving. Some coaches encourage teams to "figure it out," e.g. Gregg Popovich of the Spurs and to a lesser degree Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics last year. Others have a more rigid framework where coaches "impose" solutions. Often blended structures of high collaboration are best. 

Teams can be fragile. For those watching "The Dynasty" about the Patriots, the arrival of Aaron Hernandez brought a volatile and violent character into the mix. 

Years ago we added a good player during tryouts. The team was slightly better and the culture changed, not clearly better or worse, just different. 

Lagniappe. 

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Sunday, March 3, 2024

Basketball: Forget the Cliches...How Two Players Earned D1 Scholarships

Cliches, like money, can't play. For some of you, the offseason has begun. Development limits disappointment. 

After fifteen years an assistant, in six years of head coaching middle schoolers in a small city of under 30,000 (total of 25 players), I saw two (Samantha Dewey, Cecilia Kay) earn D1 scholarships. They deserve most of the credit. What helped?

1. Study. Maintain your notebook and study game video. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

2. Say 'yes' to offseason workouts. Learn to score at three levels. Finish with either hand from either side off two feet and off either foot. I'm partial to box drills with defense, working from either elbow. Elite finishers get fouled, so work on free throws during 'breaks'. 

3. Develop elite footwork. Pivot off either foot, both front and reverse. Pivoting is an undertaught, undervalued skill. Get access to Pete Newell books and/or tape...or a reasonable facsimile. 

4. Practice off-the-catch. Leverage early advantage. Don't get bored. Work with a partner for competition and rebounding.

  • Catch and shoot.
  • Stampede (attack off the moving catch).
  • Split catch 
  • Negative step/load step
  • Jab series 
  • Develop a shot fake, "a shot not taken." 
5. Shoot with volume, self-competitive shooting to set personal best (PB)


"Quarters" - 84 shots, 168 possible points


Three point shooting, score 1 point per shot taken until two consecutive misses. 


Championship 38, 15 shots plus 3 free throws


Game shots, on the move catch and shoot... elbow to sideline, elbow to elbow. 

6. Separate with the dribble (less is more). Work with a partner for defense or work within small-sided games (SSGs)
  • Hesitation
  • Crossover
  • Combinations 
  • Lateral glide (optional)
7. Defend ("play a lot").
  • "Everyone plays defense." - Knight
  • Ball containment (play one-on-one)
  • Defend the pick-and-roll (two-on-two or SSGs).
  • Contest shots without fouling.
  • Block out or rebound.

8. Physical training. Sport rewards athletic explosion. 


Lagniappe (something extra). Cutting. 

Lagniappe 2. I think about sets as ways to put "lines on paper" when teaching writing. Create variety by running similar actions from different alignment and different actions from the same alignment. The Joe Gibbs Redskins ran about three running plays and ten passes but different alignments and motion disguised them. 

 

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Saturday, March 2, 2024

Basketball: "Captain Cliche," Math, and PPP

Elite-level basketball watchers understand the analytics revolution. Layups, free throws, and three-point shots define high-value points per possession basketball.

Don't blindly worship at the altar of NBA analytics. High school players, despite a closer line, don't produce at the same level. They don't get the same looks or make shots at similar rates. 

Analyze games by possessions. For example, I tracked one quarter's worth of possessions in a matchup of two area teams. One team had nineteen possessions and their opponent eighteen. The loser had ten turnovers and allowed a previously winless opponent to score on six consecutive possessions. "You can see a lot by just watching..." 

1) "Value the ball." Turnovers kill dreams, are "zero percent shots", and live-ball turnovers convert to opponent points at high rates. 

2) "Stops make runs." 

Recently I showed a "Four Factors" breakdown from the 1973 NCAA championship game, UCLA and Memphis State. UCLA overcame a turnover rate twice that of Memphis by having an Effective Field Goal percentage twenty points higher. 

Our high school team in the same year beat a team in the playoffs with an 18-game win streak, 58-38. We shot 23 for 42 and controlled tempo before the shot clock. Do the math. 

3) "Empty barrels make the most noise." Coaching is collaboration. If the loudest yellers won the most games, ADs would hire using decibel meters. Either be great talent aggregators, developers, or both. 

4) "Every day is player development day." Development translates to efficiency, the elixir of possessions into points. It's not just the time commitment but transformation. Newell's "footwork, balance, and maneuvering speed" translate to separation. Exceptional players find ways to separate and finish. 

5) "Basketball is a game of cutting and passing." Players score off many different "play types" and points-per-possession vary by play type. 

The top five PPP score off cuts at over 1.37 points/possession. 


The top five PPP off isolation score at over 1.05 points per possession. 

One might ask why not design more actions to score off cuts. 


The Celtics lead the league in PPP off spot ups which also reflects three-point scoring to a degree. 

Of course, you can track points per possession or by points scored by play type. Infrequently used actions obviously generate fewer points. 

Don't explain how your offense runs the most efficient play types while you score the fewest points in the league. That dog don't hunt. 

One of the hardest teams we defended was a team that ran spread offense with a lot of give-and-go using hard cuts and good passing. Simple, well-executed actions are often hardest to defend.

Lagniappe. Production beats promotion. 

Lagniappe 2. 

Note: it's not how many your guy scores, it's how many your opponent scores. There's both individual and team defense. Cover 1.5, your guy and half of another. 

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Friday, March 1, 2024

Basketball: Off the Rails, Where Does It Go Wrong?

Post by @lets.make.a_difference1
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What keeps you up at night?

Jim Rohn shares reality, "you suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret."

Think back to some first round draft choices that didn't pan out. "Living the life" was more important to them than durable success. You know the names.

1. Commitment. Nobody gets to be "All-League" before being "All In." Sacrifice comes before success.

2. Sleep. If you don't get enough rest, underachievement is certain. Choose anecdotal like LeBron getting 12 hours of sleep or studies showing more sleep equals higher performance.

3. Discipline. Party animal? Alcohol impairs cognition (e.g. memory), performance, and recovery. "But why should student-athletes particularly care? A single night’s alcohol use impairs hydration (alcohol is a diuretic), muscle recovery, healing, and can cause memory deficits for three days. Alcohol damages sleep. It limits absorption of key vitamins. It decreases endurance." 

4. Work ethic. Elite achievement demands physical and mental toughness. Check out the videos. Your idea of hard work isn't NBA level hard work. Winning is hard. That's why it's valued. 

5. Smarts. Nobody wants to be told they have a low basketball IQ but many people struggle to make consistently good basketball decisions. See through a lens of suboptimal decision not poor player. 

6. Selfishness. "Happiness begins where selfishness ends." - Coach John Wooden  Make serving your teammates a priority. 

7. Inattention. We've all seen games lost when players didn't pay attention, didn't understand, or didn't execute a task. "I didn't know who to cover" is the classic. Be "performance-focused, feedback-rich..." in the words of Ronald Reagan, "trust but verify." 

8. Sense of urgency. Nothing works without urgent cutting. Pass "on-time and on-target." The simple "give-and-go" action when a cut is set up, executed, and pass received is hard to defend. 

9. Stubbornness. Some players and coaches wallow in unmerited self-belief. Have you thought about doing it this way? 

10.Pride. "Pride goeth before the fall." Get help. The legendary Fred Rogers reminds us, "look for the helpers." Jimmy Piersall was a muscular teammate of Ted Williams. The Sox had a 'strength machine' in the clubhouse where a broomstick and rope looped over a pulley lifting a ten-pound weight. Roll your wrists to raise the weight. Piersall boasted, "I can do three times as many as anyone here." Williams replied, "Stop being an a*hole, Jim." "Let's go, Williams." Almost everyone bet on the strongman, who did 50. Williams got on the device and it moved up and down effortlessly, to 150. Williams explained. "I invented this machine, Jim." 

Be open to learning, to improving, to rebooting our strategy. "Sorry" is too late. 

Lagniappe. 

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Lagniappe 2. Keep banging on winning themes. 


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