Emotional Fuel

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius

I've always believed that the key to success in most sports is finding players who want to succeed as badly as the coach does. How we embrace our work determines how we attack it. We need to stimulate the thirst for knowledge and the appetite for sustained growth. But how do you provoke and measure that level of commitment? 

Let's provide "Emotional Fuel" to players. We have to understand the "retail politics" of coaching isn't fundamental teaching, Xs and Os, or better drills, it's how we get players to "buy in", their commitment, and add value to grow willing competitors. In the graphic above, that means they become Ambassadors for their program. 

Motivation works best when driven internally not externally. Beginning with ourselves, we encourage a "Get to" versus a "have to" mentality. We "get to" become better conditioned instead of "have to" become better conditioned. We "get to" communicate better defensively instead of "have to." 

Be transformational. "Little things make big things happen." Spend time building confidence without being disingenuous. We can always find positive points for each of our players. Recently, I had a player who was becoming disengaged defensively when her offense struggled. I pulled her aside and told her three things: 1) you're going to play because you're one of our most productive players. 2) When you make a poor play, and everyone does, "move on" and play in the moment. 3) "I believe in you." It took a minute and she seemed relieved. 

Encourage self-evaluation. What do I do well? Where do I need improvement? How can I contribute more to the team? 

Peer evaluations can produce startling results. Years ago a teacher had an unruly class. She distributed paper with everyone's name on it and asked each student to write down any two things that they liked about each child. She collected the papers, cut out the comments and glued them on a paper so that every child had a paper filled with POSITIVE comments about them. Years later at a memorial service, many of those children, now adults, still had those papers validating their self-worth.

What we do matters. How we do it is critical. We can always do it better.  

Free Throws, Ten for Ten

"Layups and free throws win games." I don't know how many times I've heard or said that, but few contest the importance of differential interior scoring or free throws. Players who can get to the line and convert have extraordinary value. Do you know the story of Spencer Haywood? Haywood sought a basketball scholarship at Detroit. The coach said, "Make fifteen free throws in a row and I'll give you a scholarship." Haywood did and the rest, including an NBA career and free agency are history. 

Dean Oliver has been called "the father of basketball analytics" and included free throws (in a game) taken as one of his 'big four' determinants of winning. He believed that analytics improved the ability to describe a game quantitatively.

Virtually anyone and everyone who has played or coached a lot of basketball has experienced the joy or frustration of made and missed free throws deciding important or close games. The "Hack-a-Shaq" philosophy evolved to take advantage of poor free throw shooters. During 'crunch time' coaches want players who can make free throws in the game and with the ball whenever possible. If you want to be out there when it matters, learn to make free throws. 

What is the best way to practice free throws? Some advocate for Paul Westhead's approach, the so-called "Guru of Go", former Loyola Marymount coach. This has potential value for more experienced players.

I used to practice "right" and "wrong". Right was at practice where we had competitive rounds of ten (forty shots per day) for the "Daily Championship." Wrong was trying to make as many consecutively or as many out of one hundred (which I recorded on old-fashioned graph paper). 

Free throws are about excellence. Steph Curry finished free throw practice by swishing five. Winnecunnett, a school that won five consecutive New Hampshire titles, used to finish each practice requiring each player to make two consecutive free throws. 

Free throws create indelible memories. My high school team went ten for ten in the fourth quarter of a sectional championship to send the game into an overtime win. As a kid, I won the free throw contest at Sam Jones' camp, by going first, and making ten, which I reasoned would "ice" the competition. Believe it or not, I once made 144 consecutively (no pressure) while practicing at Harvard's old IAB (Indoor Athletic Building). But I've missed the second end of a one-and-one to lose a game and made free throws to win games. But, no matter how you practice, reps matter. 

Here are my core free throw beliefs, which doesn't make them correct. 

1. Aline yourself using "the nail" which is driven into the center of the free throw line in every regulation court. 
2. Do NOT step up to the line until you have the ball from the official. I've seen too many players "freeze" at the line waiting for the ball. 
3. For games, have a defined "pre-shot routine", which should finish with breathing out before shooting (so you are not breathing during the shot). I don't like "ball spinning" during the routine. 
4. Block out all extraneous thoughts except shooting your shot and the "feel" of your successful shot. Never think about the implications of making or missing the shot.
5. Have a specific target, the center of the rim or (back in the day), the center of the four bolts that attached the rim to the backboard. IIRC, this was described in John McPhee's "A Sense of Where You Are" about Bill Bradley.
6. During practice, add pressure. During solo practice, run between sets of three, or after making three, sprint dribble back to the free throw line and back for a layup (alternate right and left handed layups). 
7. Add maximum pressure. Practice with a friend and allow them to harass you verbally and distract you physically during free throws.  
8. Before finishing, practice strategic missing (for the situation where your team needs two or three points and you only have one shot left). 
9. Increase the degree of difficulty by only counting 'swishes' when you practice. 
10. Free throws define the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. 

Daily Drills

What drills belong in your daily practice? This is really an unfair question because every team differs regarding its strengths, weaknesses, style of play, personnel, and coaching. One size does not fit all. 

Regardless of 'style' teams will want to identify how they plan to get the best scoring opportunities and prevent easy baskets. I call that "possessions and possession." How do we get the best offensive possessions and regain possession (defense and rebounding)? 

My coach (over forty years ago) thought that the two most important statistics were 1) rebounding (possession) and 2) assists (more efficient offense). Part of those beliefs emanated from having solid defensive teams as a baseline. 

I believe that in girls' basketball (not college or professional), developing shooters, transition, and ball movement are critical. So I tailor practice to that necessity. 

Quotes:

"You can't be good at everything, so you better be good at two things." For us, one has to be shooting. 

"What we do a lot, we better do well." 

"Teams that can't shoot free throws last as long as dogs that chase cars." 

"Basketball is a game of cutting and passing."

"Movement kills defenses."

With that backdrop, I emphasize shooting (including free throws) for about 30-40 percent of practice. That includes shooting off the dribble, off "basketball moves." There's no 'magical' shooting drill, but I want players to shoot 125-150 shots per practice. I rotate among a bunch (examples):

1. 3 Pass, 3 player transition with each player shooting.
2. 30 buckets, goal of scoring 30 baskets or more with 3 minutes of catch-and-shoot, relocated and shoot (3 players shoot, 3 players rebound at each basket)
3. Elbow to sideline. Catch and shoot, run to sideline and back. 8 - 10 repetitions then become the rebounder. 
4. UCONN 4 minute shooting with a passing line and catching line at opposite wings. Cut to elbow or foul line receive ball and shoot, rebound your shot and go to the passing line. Goal is as many baskets as possible in four minutes.  
5. One-and two-dribble moves (one-on-one) into a shot. This can start 'static' or off the catch. I usually have them do three reps at a time. Teach rocker, upfake and drive, rip move, and counter-rip as a minimum. This work teaches both offense and defense. 

Teams have to be able to score in the half court. I want players to function well in small-sided group (SSG) play. Work on both 3-0 and 3-on-3 actions helps. I don't have a Panglossian view...it's a hard slog. 

Stanford - learn to play out of "triangles" with defense and emphasis on pass, cut, on and off ball screens. 

O-D-O (Offense, defense, offense). We play O-D-O from several different starts, like BOB (baseline out of bounds), SLOB (sideline out of bounds), or free throw defense. I have seen other coaches initiate the sequence with intentional steal or blocked shot or a guard baseline drive through the paint. I use the O-D-O sequence as a scrimmage and teaching tool for maximum man-to-man defense. 

We can also use it to play 'short games' or to initiate practice on offensive or defensive delay. 

I recognize that many coaches would favor a different approach such as daily closeout drills, shell drill, or advantage-disadvantage (e.g. 5 on 7, 3 on 4, etc.). 

What's Your Brand?

"Your reputation is who people think you are, your character is who you really are." - John Wooden

Wikipedia defines brand (or marque for car model) as a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that distinguishes one seller's product from those of others.

Brand is often associated with style, performance, quality, attributes, and sometimes emotion that DIFFERENTIATES among products or organizations. I believe that your brand flows from character, the core of identity defining "who you are." 

You can have success playing "the villain" as some do in professional wrestling, but most individuals and organizations want brand positivity, excellence, and desirability. 

We hear company slogans like "Quality is Job 1", "Coke is It", "We Bring Good Things to Life", and more which promote excellence, service, and industry leadership. Conversely, we see the damage that brands suffer after quality failures like the recent Chipotle and Volkswagen incidents. 

Establishing your brand means daily and persistent commitment at the individual and the organizational level. The African proverb "it takes a village to raise a child" completes with "but one child can destroy a village." Some programs like the Oakland Raiders had a slogan of "Commitment to Excellence" but a culture embracing an outlaw mentality. Fairly or not, Kentucky has become known as a "One and Done" basketball weigh station, Michigan State became synonymous with rebounding toughness, and Butler under Brad Stevens radiated discipline and overachievement. 

I think was Nick Saban said something like "avoid the 'troubled kid' who might beat you once a year with another team, instead of beating you every day on your team." 

Effective branding has multiple foundations. You need a worthy product (leadership, detail-oriented people, and process) and the ability to deliver customer (fan, alumni) expectations day after day, year after year. That also means the ability to connect with people at many different levels...everyone from custodians to community leaders. It also requires some merchandising savoir faire. 

But perhaps more than anything else, brand leadership means commitment and persistence to your core organizational values. When you stand for (allow) anything, then you stand for nothing. 

I think Bill Walsh said it best in "The Score Takes Care of Itself", “I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving — obsessing, perhaps, about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking; that is, our actions and attitude. I knew if I did that, winning would take care of itself, and when it didn’t I would seek ways to raise our Standard of Performance.

Eight Commandments

From "Court Sense" by John Giannini

Find Your Voice

I truly believe that every player on our team wants team success. Very few players can get to the mentality of Bill Russell though, "My ego depended on the success of my team." 

Youth has great energy, but little experience, and players need to find their voice. Lolly Daskal is one of my favorite leadership authors. She discusses finding your voice. That doesn't equal constant or loud speech. And it doesn't diminish the importance of modeling excellence daily. We all know the aphorism, "An empty drum makes the loudest noise."

Here are a few excerpts:

"If you want to know you are making a difference, you must learn to find your voice and do so proudly."

"The strongest and smartest people in the room are often not the ones doing all the talking. They're often the quietest because they are listening and thinking before they voice an opinion."

Kevin Eastman says, "your paycheck is your responsibility." What he means is that your efforts translate into your material rewards and credibility. Eastman reads two hours a day and is widely respected as a development guru. Earn your future. 

But in addition to 'figuratively' finding your voice on the court, you need full-throated communication. The Celtics and others preached that court talk be "Early, loud, and often."

The back row quarterbacks the perimeter because they can see everything happening in front of them. They can see the screens, the cutters, and call for more pressure when they are fronting post players. They direct traffic on the pick-and-roll. 

"Silent teams are losing teams."

Court Sense

What's the "best" basketball book? For basketball junkies, that's a lot like asking "which child is your favorite?" Somewhere among my leaders are: 

Preparing for Special Situations

Practical Modern Basketball

Basketball Methods

Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense

NBA Coaches Playbook

But questions arose about 'Court Sense'. 

'Sense' starts in the Foreward... "importance and value of building relationships with the players you coach." Not to diminish knowledge, teaching skills, scouting, strategy, and so forth, how do GMs and ADs hire women and men who simply can't relate to players? 

"Each player's own aspirations must fit well within his role on the team and within the goals of the team." We all tell our players that we're more concerned with the scoreboard than the scorebook.   

"The first step in accurate self-assessment and improvement is adopting a humble attitude." 

"Even the most abundant physical skills can't overcome a shortage of basketball skills and execution..." Giannini discussing the US sixth-place finish at the 2002 World Basketball Championships.

He outlines specific shooting goals:

Similarly, throughout the book he provides "checklists" of requisite basketball proficiency for numerous skills, like finishing or ballhandling. 

For example, what does a good perimeter defender do? Giannini would say, contain dribble penetration, pressure the ball, challenge shots, and provide good "help". None of this is discovering fire or inventing the wheel, but for players or coaches needing more structure, he provides it. 

"If you do not have an open shot or the opportunity to penetrate, you should pass the ball to an open teammate immediately." How complicated is that, the two-second rule? 

What do "outstanding" defenders do?

Another great quote: "The ability and willingness to listen are some of the greatest qualities a player can have." 

More than anything else, Court Sense shares just than "Court Sense." We separate the two major challenges in life to "Know that" (knowledge) and "Know how" (practical application). The challenge is to provide the former and help individuals and teams develop the latter. 

Coach Giannini separates players into three major categories, BIG and STRONG (e.g. Ben Wallace), BIG and ATHLETIC (e.g. Kevin Garnett), and STRONG and ATHLETIC (e.g. Paul Pierce). I suppose LeBron would be all things to all men. I'm sure that he would note that a Steph Curry is "only" ATHLETIC, but his exceptional burst (quickness) and shooting prowess within a different positional framework separate him and those few like him. 

The strength of the book from my standpoint is the organization and the potential for 'idea generation'. Most coaches have a strong fundamental and teaching background and look to supplement their core knowledge and developmental skills with more "juice".  

The Cleaner

We organize the planning and preparation, instruct, sweat the details, give and get feedback, motivate, and repeat the cycle. But the players are the game. 

Tim S. Grover's Relentless defined Thirteen Properties of a Cleaner.  Thinking "I can be a closer " borders on narcissism, an unattractive arrogance for almost everyone and anyone. But for the player, it's about the work. 

But we can strive for qualities of cleaners. 

#1. You keep pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough. There is always something more. 

#1. You know exactly who you are. And you commit to building a better version every day. 

#1. When everyone is hitting the "In Case of Emergency" button, they're all looking for you. In 'The House of God' Samuel Shem called his iconoclastic and irreverent closer, "The Fat Man." 

#1. You don't have to love the work, but you're addicted to the results. If you seek a higher plane, you become addicted to the process.

#1. You don't celebrate your achievements because you always want more. My coach always used to say, "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied." 

Communication: Constant Reminder

Connecting with players (and for those of us coaching younger players) and families is Job One. 

Del Harris has discussed the five level of communication with players. I'll share my take. 

1. Conversation. We learn about players, their lives, goals, hopes, and dreams and share life experiences. I want to have every player hear her name in the first ten minutes of practice. Nothing is more personal than your name.  
2. Instruction. Mutual participation is key. Communication is clarity and intent, but attentiveness and feedback separate communication from noise. Before warm ups, I usually share an educational quote, interactive experience, or historical anecdote. "Little things make big things happen." I'll ask them what that means for school and for basketball. 
3. Correction. When we don't correct flawed decision-making or technique, then we tolerate mediocrity. We can be demanding without being demeaning. One coach I respected greatly told players after any selfishness, "that is not how we play." I'll add, "that is not who we are." Correction can involve both IDENTITY and PERFORMANCE. 
4. Encouragement. I have totally corrupted a Hollywood line:  

"Are we going to stand around here all day or are we going to fight?" 

Some of you know Yoda's famous line from The Empire Strikes Back,




Near the apex of John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" stand the words, FAITH and PATIENCE. At times players need our faith (belief) but impatience.



5. "Go Nuts." I have only done this once, as an assistant. A former team was getting totally pushed around with no response whatsoever, no heart and no toughness. The gist of my scolding was, "you cannot live your life like that. You have to stand up for yourself, you have to believe in each other. Quitting is never acceptable." Months later a player came up to me and said, "that line about how you live your life really got to me." 

What we say has meaning, but how we make players feel and live matters most. 

3-on-3 Half-Court Creation Drill

After communication, we teach players to "see the game." The best students earn the rep "high basketball IQ." 

Herb Brown talked about running 3 player actions (3 lines of players...e.g. guard, wing, post) in his book Preparing for Special Situations to encourage creative play. Although defense is not shown, it's necessary to teach players to read the situation. 

Sometimes I'll set this up with a "dribble handoff/dribble at" initiating option. But the goal is allowing the players to read the defense and make the right play. 

Here are a few possible examples:

"Practice" Practice

"Be warm and demanding."  - Brad Stevens

Even when we spend time thinking about practice and working to improve both teaching (know that) and execution (know how), it can always be better. Worse yet, with limited facilities, vacation, or snow days, missed practices are missed opportunities. 

Do you have specifics for every part of every practice? 

I want every player to leave practice knowing she is a better player than when she arrived. 

Every practice should be a self-contained clinic. 

Every activity should translate directly to game play. 

I want every practice to spend at least a third on shooting, ideally competitively. It's never "good enough." 

Drills and scrimmages should condition independently. 

Quiz during breaks. "What do we mean by that?"

Regardless of the amount of time available, the tempo should be high. 

We can provide negative feedback constructed positively. "We can do better when we do it this way." 

Players need to learn both self-regulation (with self-awareness) and mutual encouragement every session. 

Players need to hear validating statements about their self-worth and especially about effort when earned. 

Why Half Court Offense Fails

At different levels of talent and experience, teams will score (or allow) varying numbers of points per possession or by way of normalizing, points per one hundred possessions. The NBA "pace and space" game has altered the points per possession through more liberal use of the three-point shot.

We can analyze every possession and explain why a team scored (what went well) or failed. We can start with an aphorism, "great offense is multiple actions." That might include a great outlet pass, a scoring pass, and a pedestrian layup or another basket approaching art.

But we can focus on how possessions die. I will argue that we can group them by concept (organization and decision-making) versus technical (failed execution). Obviously, it's an oversimplification and discounts the critical role of superior defense (multiple efforts).

Conceptually, can you identify what offense is trying to accomplish? Do we see motion, continuity, dribble-drive, ball or off-ball screens, triangles. something? When transition isn't available or breaks down, is there detectable "early offense?" For example, the other night while watching Boston-New York, the Knicks operated the basic "Triangle Offense" and the high cutter cross-screened the Celtics defender near the mid-post and the hosts got a layup off the cutter. It was a basketball version of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Ultimately, we have to find a process to believe.



When I'm coaching or watching, I see these actions more often leading to offensive frustration. 

Excessive actions from one side of court give better defenses numerical advantage. 

We don't have knockdown shooters at my level and the Helpside "I" (X2 and X1 approximating the letter "I" gives the defense 5 on 3 time. 

Excessive perimeter play for younger players or less talented (or consistent) shooter means "live by the outside shot, die by the outside shot." Even against a zone defense, you must find a balance between perimeter and interior offense. 

East and west action. Although 'ball reversal' has meaningful results in deforming zones and in forcing formidable closeout challenges, some teams and players don't threaten defenses because they play 'sideline to sideline'. 

Poor spacing simplifies the defense's work. The magnetic action of the ball is an offense's worst enemy. Remember Chuck Daly's admonition "spacing is offense and offense is spacing." Poor decision making leading to playing "in traffic" exacerbates the problem. The best players find ways to play "in space." From your earliest days, your parents tell you "don't play in the traffic." 

Ball movement (2 seconds) and  player movement define your offensive identity. With longer "touch time", shooting percentages are low as is the scoring percentage off individual effort versus shots coming off passes. I remind players that "movement kills defenses." 

The other critical component for a successful possession is technique (tekhnika) via Spartak tennis - "Spartak can be summed up in one word: tekhnika (technique). Every moment, every resource is devoted to helping players with the most essential task: hitting the ball correctly. Or, to put it a different way, to building a reliable, fast skill circuit." 

Successful offensive teams usually are the best passing teams. Better passes create better shots as surely as Papa John's promotes, "better ingredients, better pizza." The assist/turnover ratio encompasses passing (and finishing) normalized for mistakes. 

Literally, teams with the highest assist-turnover ratios are among the best teams. High assist-turnover ratios aren't as pure a measure of success as points per possession but they correlate well. 

Individual achievement cannot compromise team performance. Players who cannot or will not pass reduce our team effectiveness and short-circuit our goal of quality basketball. No better illustration occurs than this (warning: graphic violence) excerpt from "The Untouchables." 



No substitute exists for the ability to shoot the basketball. You cannot win zero to zero. Finding quality shots (in range, in rhythm, on balance, not closely guarded) for your best shooters in their best spots goes a long way to informs each possession. Pete Carril said it this way, "non-shooters are always open." Jay Bilas' "Toughness" comment applies, "it's not your shot, it's our shot." 

Reviewing available tape shows me that our limitations belong among all of the above. With a developmental program, I can't (and don't) tell any player that she cannot shoot. But I encourage all players to know their and their teammates' best scoring situations. Because coaching is about helping players go where they cannot go alone, we have an obligation to work a process that spawns teamwork, good decisions, and the better execution. 

Set Plays in Youth Basketball

Write about what you love. I received an email recently (from a promotional site) entitled "Set Plays Are Killing Youth Basketball". 

Here are excerpts:

One of the biggest things holding players back from developing their decision-making skills is the overuse of set plays in youth basketball.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the players get older, but for young players just beginning to learn the game, you should never continuously run set plays.

1. Players don't make decisions.

They're not learning how to read and attack the defense.

They're not thinking about where and when they should cut.

They're not deciding who they should pass to.

They're not looking for gaps in the defense to attack or different spots on the court they can exploit.

They're robbed of the ability to experience reading the game and making their own decisions. 

2. Learning plays steals valuable practice time

There are far more important things players can do at practice than learning how to run set plays. Working on fundamental skills and playing different games being the big two.

How much time should you allocate to set plays specifically?

Coach K's quote is, "Basketball isn't about running plays, it's about making plays." That sounds great, but what we see day-to-day is a "system" focused on playing games and winning, often by playing zone defense, because that wins. 

The players ask me, "when do we start playing zone defense?" And yes, zones place a premium on perimeter shooting, can limit star players, contain the pick-and-roll, can keep players out of foul trouble, and help launch the fast break. A lot of great teams play a lot of zone defense - Syracuse, Michigan, Miami, and others. 

I agree that "set plays" can create a mindset of 'this is where I go and this is what I do," but coaches seeking player enlightenment appreciate that 'reading the defense' is the goal. 

We were short players the other day at practice and I had to scrimmage (5 on 5) in the half-court and pointed out (especially to the bigs) that they have to relocate and create to get the ball where they want it. "The game honors toughness" and "the game rewards cutters." Experienced players "look through" the defense and "chunk the pieces" like experienced chess players. You see a "triangle" and know that certain foundational actions emerge when you pay the price of setting up cuts, sprinting to screen or open spots, or running your defender into screens. It would be a lot easier with young, mobile assistants. 

As for 'set plays', we scrimmage (offense-defense-offense) off BOB, SLOB, and end-of-game/end-of-quarter situations. I've seen FIBA video where coaches initiate scrimmages off drives, steals, or 'allowed' block shots as well. My rationale for scrimmaging off BOB and SLOB is that we have to initiate and defend them, so this incorporation eliminates separate practice for them. Also, since the defense "knows" all the plays, it demands more creativity from the offense. 

So I agree that running set plays exclusively can be counterproductive to player development, but players benefit from the spacing and principles inherent in well-designed set plays, but need freedom to innovate and encouragement to create. 

Communication and decision-making, piggy-backed on knowledge and flexibility constitute the basis for life. Why should basketball be different? 

"30 Buckets" (or 3 Minutes)

The players (and the coach) enjoy this shooting drill. Shoot in pairs over 3 minutes with a rebounder. The goal is to score at least 30 baskets in 3 minutes, then switch. After a make, you move to another spot. 

Last night Adriana, Ava, and I (we had a shortage of players) put in 48 shots over the three minutes...not bad for 7th-grade girls and an old man. 

What Nick Saban Achieves Is not Magic

Monte Burke wrote an outstanding book, Saban, that gives a unique insight into the man, the process, his associates, strengths, and possible weaknesses. Spoiler alert, I'm not going to reveal so much about it because I think it's a story worth reading. But one point I will share, according to Saban, the University of Alabama has the fourth highest number of National Merit Scholars in America. Some of that they owe to the fundraising power of the Saban administration.

HoopThoughts shares an older column about Saban and the value of smarts and work. 

Excerpts:

"His organizational skills were off the charts... Everyone has a schedule. You don't have the No. 1s going against the No. 2s and there are 50 guys on the sidelines watching; everybody is in an activity doing something with a purpose."

"First of all, he's very intelligent," he said. "Secondly, he works very hard. And that's a good combination. He was always early and always stayed late."

There's no secret to success. If you want to excel, then you have to bring your best to work every day.