Basketball: 10 Recent Lessons

Steal something every day. I'm re-sharing lessons from ten recent posts that can make us better. 

1. "No frustration fouls." A player commits a turnover or a bad shot, then doubles down within seconds with a stupid foul. We see it every game. Discipline determines destiny. 

2. Coach Randy Brown looks at the fingerprints of elite coaches (below). 

3. Make practice hard so games are easier. Design toughness. Everything translates. Almost fifty years ago, we practiced "pressure free throws," four rounds of ten. The pressure? Your partner could say anything, do anything except interfere with the shot. The artistic genius of high school boys runneth over. Usually it took 38 or 39 to win. The winner faced off against the coach for team suicides or not.

4. Get 7s to win (from T.J. Rosene)

Understand shot selection. Levels 1-10. There is no 10 (perfect shot) or 1; discuss 3-5-7-9. 3rd grade shots lose. 9s are great shots and obvious. 5s are so-so; get 7s. In range, in rhythm, with room. Get 7s to win. 

5. Change is good from Jeff Van Gundy. "People are slow to change if they've won. All of us should evaluate what we can do better."

6. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." Don Kelbick "Principle #1 - Focus and practice on the things that happen most often during the game. NBA study from 82games.com showed that only 19% of shots came after three or more dribbles... That means the majority of shots come with two or fewer dribbles." Think about the adage, "Good players need two dribbles; excellent players need one; elite players don't have to dribble." 

7. Respectfully disagree, from Eric Spoelstra. Be caretakers for the culture with our staff - honesty, commitment, loyalty, consistency, diversity, "idea machine" and positive 
culture of disagreeing.

8. Rescreen the PnR selectively to beat certain coverages.  



9. From the GSW Playbook. 

Sequential screen into back screen (useful as SLOB as well) 

10. Billy Donovan teaches early offense. 

What works at the NBA level may not work at lower levels. Different games, different spacing, wider lane.

Low post shots are inefficient at every level, unless you have a powerful player. 

Match your system to your personnel.

In transition: most efficient are early (7 seconds) shots. 

Not enough guys run hard. 

Lagniappe: Summer League half-court action (via Coach Daniel) 

Pin - Delay - Pin (three-point shooter set) or curl the second pindown.

Basketball: Culture - "That Is Not How We Play."

How do you define culture? I define it as how individuals relate to each other and an organization to seek trust and high performance. Shorten it to communication and collaboration. Strong culture won't always win. High performance needs talent, teaching, and growth. 

Howard Schultz reminds us to hire for domain expertise and values. The program director probably won't edit video, assemble the playbook, handle player development, and run the training room. 

Mike Smith and Jon Gordon wrote, You Win in the Locker Room First. The SlideShare summarizes big ideas. 

You win in the locker room first from ShivShivakumar1

In The Heart of Coaching, Thomas Crane shares a favorite phrase, "performance-focused, feedback-rich to sustain competitive advantage." Positive culture sculpts an edge. 

Schultz advises a periodic culture audit. Starbucks had problems with racial profiling and literally closed down their operations for half a day for retraining. He said, “We realize that four hours of training is not going to solve racial inequity… but we have to start the conversation.” Talk is a start. 

Steve Kerr emphasizes mentors, mindset, and culture. In the Team Building Strategies of Steve Kerr, he discusses joy. "Joy causes you to focus on the journey, not just the end result. It fuels the fires of perseverance in the hard times. Joy enables you to play looser, with more freedom...with more creativity and tenacity."

What sabotages culture? Chuck Daly's "players want 48" - 48 minutes, 48 shots, 48 million. When individual agendas dominate, the wheels fall off the wagon. 

Forbes explains three big reasons culture fails - lack of leadership commitment, lack of follow-through on results, and lack of differentiation. 

Coaches undermine culture. Bill Parcells checked out mentally from the Patriots before the Super Bowl in 1997, planning his exit to the New York Jets during Super Bowl week. Maybe Green Bay would have won anyway, but Parcells wasn't all in. 

Parents undermine cultures, too. In Carl Pierson's, The Politics of Coaching, he describes programs disallowing rising freshmen to enter summer high school programs, as upperclass parents limited competition for their children. The cream rises to the top. 

Culture matters at every level. Teams are unstable. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant teamed to propel the Brooklyn Nets to greater heights. Durant was already injured, Kyrie got injured and conspiracy theory links the Net's Big 3 to Kenny Atkinson walking the plank. "This was the doing of Brooklyn’s “Big Three”… Durant, Irving and DeAndre Jordan." 

Are we different? Our daughters' AAU coach, Shawanda Brown, called an excellent player to the sidelines after a selfish play. She said, "That is not how we play." Message sent. She coached hard and brought boys in to practice against the girls. One of her former players, Shey Peddy, played on the Mystics' WNBA champions. Be the difference. 

Lagniappe: Are we our best? 

Lagniappe 2: Read like Bill Gates. 

Howard Schultz, Basketball, and Coffee

"Get in the mud." - Howard Schultz

In his MasterClass, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz shares business strategies relevant to basketball. Learn from other domains, carrying fresh ideas. I've promoted the Starbucks LATTE principle here. 

Do a personal inventory of your time, priorities, and impact. Adjust based on our findings.  

Our "income statement" should be a report card of what we already know. We need a feel for the health and values of the company. Our team is our company. Did enough of us get "in the mud," getting our hands dirty?

At the BOD meetings, Schultz keeps two empty chairs, one representing an employee (player) and the other a customer (community). Does our business (team) make our people and our community proud? 

Source: Howard Schultz, MasterClass Workbook

In evaluating management hires, ask what book are they reading and why? We're looking for clues about our prospective leader's curiosity and values as well as building relationships. 

After hiring, it may still not work. Schultz says, "This is who we are; it appears this is who you are. I don't think it's a fit."

The Starbucks CEO expects, "one standard for everybody." If we tolerate mediocrity from one person, then do we accept it from everyone? He says uniform terminology help establish what excellence is. "Our individual and collective responsibility is to the 300,000 plus people...to preserve and enhance the company for them and their family." 

"Investors" in our program have responsibility. Schultz does due diligence of those who want to provide capital to his operation. Investors should believe in the opportunity but not underestimate the degree of difficulty of fulfillment. His coaching equivalent examines the track record of the families in our programs. That sounds nearly impossible.

Innovate don't disrupt a category. Schultz asks, "Where do you see opportunities to improve on accepted practices?" Many young players and teams don't communicate (talk) well, don't collaborate enough, and don't compete "off the ball" (movement, defense) at an acceptable level. Can we change these or other accepted practices?  

"Control is about performance." You might have a smaller percent of equity but maintain control through outstanding performance. A high equity stake with poor performance leads to loss of control. Performance equals power. 

What is our rate of return? "You will be served well if you underpromise and overdeliver." We all have plus and minus experiences with players and investors (parents). Satisfaction doesn't always predict a player's ultimate success. I've coached players who made varsity early and had big roles despite parents dissatisfied with my coaching. Don't overthink it. Director Mira Nair says have "the soul of a poet and the skin of an elephant."  

Summary: 

- Do a personal inventory. Adjust. 
- Keep empty chairs. 
- Never underestimate the difficulty for success.
- Innovate don't disrupt.
- Performance equals power
- Underpromise and overdeliver. 
- Have a thick skin. 

Lagniappe: Howard Schultz says the best cup of coffee comes from: 

1) Boiling water
2) Aged Sumatra coffee (preferably from Starbucks)
3) A French press

Lagniappe 2: Xing screens of the top of the zone from @BBallImmersion

Did you like this concept from the Utah Jazz in my latest compilation outlining some NBA zone offense basketball plays and concepts? Seems to be applicable at all levels. Watch the full edit https://t.co/IdvuD701Em pic.twitter.com/AgLRbEGDgv

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) March 11, 2020

Lagniappe 3: If looking for mentoring, what are your goals and expectations? Here are recommendations from Schultz:

What would you like to learn from a mentor? What would you like that relationship to look like? Write down:
— Three specific skills you’d like to learn from someone with more experience.
— Three potential people you could approach for mentorship.
— How much time you would feel comfortable asking from each person.

Basketball: Friday 1-3-1 - Drill, Concepts, Play (Episode 2)

The first "1-3-1" put some fans in the seats. Here's Episode 2.



"Old timers" know Dean Smith's Four Corners. In the video, Roy Williams shows some love to the Tarheel legend. Pat Summitt had another version. Hearing players were out late, she brought them in early and stationed trash cans at each corner of the court. They ran until they puked in the barrels. Not recommended. 

One Drill: Arik Shivek's "pass and cut." Movement kills defenses. 

Even better, run it at both ends. 

Three Concepts.

- "Put 'em in a glass box." Trap without fouling. Have players imagine ENCLOSING the ballhandler in a box. 

- "Shot ready." Be locked and loaded. Many players are not ready to shoot on the catch, too upright and too casual. 




- "Teaching counters starts with footwork." - Don Kelbick

Work on your footwork every day. 

One Play. "Combine ball side and helpside actions."

Lagniappe: "Basketball is a game of separation." Gibson Pyper shows how in the multiple screen game.  

Lithuania | BOB Zipper Spain pic.twitter.com/qD2uCIZdhy

— Half Court Hoops (@HalfCourtHoops) April 11, 2020

Billy Donovan: Early Offense

Notes from Billy Donovan:

What works at the NBA level may not work at lower levels. Different games, different spacing, wider lane.

Low post shots are inefficient at every level, unless you have a powerful player. 

Match your system to your personnel.

In transition: most efficient are early (7 seconds) shots. 

Not enough guys run hard. 

Four spots always filled: corners, handler, non-trailer

He estimates that nearly 70 percent of time, 5 will be trailer. If the drag screen occurs, the 4 may be open for a three or for a basket cut that will remove the "nail help." 

Depending on the availability of the initial drag, if not there, 5 can dive to the basket looking for a lob. 

If the ball is pushed to the side, then Donovan wants "flip-drag" action. 

Basketball: from Candyland to "Talk Less, Say More."

"Talk less, say more" is a Wyoming slogan. How can terminology help us? Steal an idea today. 

Time is precious. Make communication efficient. 

1. Brian McCormick says, "three L's - no lines, no laps, no lectures." 

2. Get players into named drills quicker. Up the tempo. And it's better to have fewer productive drills than many mediocre ones. 

Speed layups for warm-up via the Lithuania team at the #JonesCup. I like it because most of warm-up IMO is about getting shots as we shoot more than we get layups in games...the other part is a short burst of energy & enthusiasm so this would take care of that. pic.twitter.com/UQXy7w1Ozg

— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) July 29, 2018

3. On the whistle. Coach Ralph Labella practiced on the whistle expectations. On the whistle, he expected players to assemble within three seconds. 

4. Defensive alignment. I'm partial to a numerical system, the first number representing the type of defense and the second the extent, e.g. 4 = full court, 3 = three-quarter court. 14 is full court man, 51 is fall back 2-1-2. Why 5? The "5" die on Monopoly or Candyland looks like a 2-1-2. And they've all played Candyland. 

Or we could use color cards and eliminate words, good for noisy venues. 

5. Defend specific actions by winning the mental game. Associate specific sets with awareness of offensive intent.

- "Five out" or "Spread" alerts players to give-and-go and backcuts as teams test our fundamental preparedness (or lack thereof). Sometimes it triggers pass and screen away actions. Ideally, players drive the calls as player-led teams outperform via ownership.

- 1-4 High raises antennas for other actions. 

Wing backcuts vex the unaware. Whole-part-whole against defense and 3 vs 3 inside the split (initially without defensive communication allowed) are instructive. 

- Pick-and-roll calls should include the side and imply core philosophies, like "show" (hedge, "fake trap"), blitz (trap), drop ("through"), switches, ice ("blue") or whatever you teach. If I'm coaching again, maybe we're having written tests. 

Players, develop your internal data base, insight, and intuition.

Lagniappe: Body, skills, knowledge. Always warm up muscles before higher intensity exercise and plyometrics. Become an explosive athlete. 





Lagniappe 2: from the Playbook

GSW - Sequential screen into back screen (useful as SLOB as well) 

Basketball: The Power of Rescreening the PnR

We are futurists. What trend will accelerate? Rescreen to defeat different coverages. 



"There is nothing new under the sun." Spend two minutes to review what every middle school player should imprint. PnR options...hit the roller, get the jumper, reject the pick, slip the screen, and a complex get one, set one situation. Watch it five times, ten times, whatever you need. 

More teams ice or use drop coverage against the pick and roll. Offenses counter. 

As x5 drops, x1 goes through instead of under. 1 and 5 read this, 5 rescreens and gets x1 trailing or sealed to pressure x5. 


Exemplary PnR, rescreen and ball reversal. 


More examples. I suspect this earns an even more important place in PnR offense going forward. It can create two-on-ones or switches (especially for guards) not initially implied. 

Lagniappe: 

Happy Easter — 🙏🏼 hope everyone has a great day!

Figured I would share one of my favorites today. Here’s one of my favorite SLOB’s — love this set 📝 pic.twitter.com/U7nCnW8DKS

— Jaycob Ammerman (@Jammer2233) April 12, 2020

Spoelstra Notes - What's Right for Your Team?

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is one of the best in the NBA. Here are some notes taken from a Coaching U tape. He started out as an intern doing video and reminds coaches to remember great plays. Video guys are the rising stars in the league. They remember what works and what doesn't.



"Continuity can win...the culture has remained the same." 

"Half of success is just being there."

"You have to be able to coach everything (positions, development, scouting)"

"Always strive to learn more." 

"Stay in a constant state of discomfort." 

"Share ideas." 

Everyone wants the same thing - accountability, effort, connection...

"Where's the fine line between accountability and ownership?" (Coaching millenials)

Doc Rivers, "Get over yourself." (That's also a Popovich principle.)

Book, "How to Rob a Bank" (From Freakonomics authors)

Heat Culture - First class, professional, family, consistency

Got value from losing to the Mavericks 

"Be the toughest, nastiest, best-conditioned, most professional, least-liked team"

"Sacrifice was not an empty word." Guys took pay cuts to add players. Also had to have decreased usage rate of stars (Wade, LBJ, Bosch). Bosch usage rate went from about 27 to 17. LeBron had to change position. Spacing can be sacrifice. Screening is sacrifice. 

"A big part of culture is getting the right people." (Jim Collins philosophy)

What creates an edge? Sleep, nutrition, sport science, psychology...

"We are the truth bearers...that creates conflict."

"People have a better attitude when they are grateful." Shine the light (on someone else)

Be caretakers for the culture with our staff - honesty, commitment, loyalty, consistency, diversity, "idea machine" and positive culture of disagreeing

"How many teams have synergy (throughout the organization)?"

Communication  Stay on the same page

Uniform terminology, a group effort 

Player Development

Need trust to get buy-in

Everyone has to be accountable 

Coaches have to have uniform belief on priorities and what's important

Style of Play  What fits your players. Don't fall in love with what other people do well. 

It's easier when you have the best player in the game. 

Understand what opponents will want to take away.

Most of the League does the same things: force down, zoning with 5, peel off switch

Heat was disruptive in passing lanes, trapping PnR, looking for transition... with goals of getting steals and points off transition. Rebounding was worse (Spo didn't care.)

Mike D'Antoni is the Chip Kelly of the NBA. 

Analytics. It is tricky. Need 3s, layups, free throws (obvious). Defense is designed to stop that. (You need something when it's not working. Rockets and Celtics wiped out in Conference game sevens because 3s wouldn't go)

You can have useful players who don't track well with conventional analytics.

Heat Motion:

There are options...rarely you'll get the curl on the initial pindown. In frame 2, instead of a cut, you could run a spread pick-and-roll. In frame 2, instead of cutting across, 2 can set a brush screen for 1 to attack the rim. 

Summary/Key points:

- Always strive to learn.
- Remember great plays. 
- The coaching staff needs uniform beliefs on what's important.
- Don't fall in love with what other people do well.
- Truth creates conflict.
- Have a productive culture of disagreement.
- Analytics are known, but you need fallback options.

Lagniappe: 

1. Life is a game of skill and luck. Chance fools us to take poor risks. Ego downplays luck.

2.Train ourselves to think in numbers. What's the probability?

3. Intuition fails compared with "slow, careful analysis." Gut is vulnerable to biases and magical thinking. 

#Coaching #Basketball Short List of Coaching Truths

Everyone stockpiles immutable, timeless coaching truths, the songbird's melody. 

"Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson  Jackson's quote outperforms legions. Grow the game by building up everyone. 

"Winning isn't supposed to be easy." That drives covetous behavior. 

"Be positive." An old joke defines a pessimist and an optimist. The pessimist says, "things couldn't get any worse." The optimist replies, "oh, yes they can." 

"Find mentors." Mister Rogers said, "look for the helpers." Find someone we respect, whom we hear, who makes us think. Peers share a lot of wisdom daily. 

"Fight for your culture every day." Inc. describes what happens to toxic workplaces:
- Employees will not go the extra mile.
- Leaders get pushed out. 
- Employees get sicker.
- Forget about snagging the top talent.

"Good coaches add value and make players feel valued." Machiavelli wrote, "Better to be feared than loved." Machiavelli's biggest battle against the Medici family resulted in him being jailed, tortured, and banished from politics. He wasn't a great coach. 

"Be good at what you do a lot." Pick three things that you want to excel at. 

"Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." Don Kelbick "Principle #1 - Focus and practice on the things that happen most often during the game. NBA study from 82games.com showed that only 19% of shots came after three or more dribbles... That means the majority of shots come with two or fewer dribbles." Think about the adage, "Good players need two dribbles; excellent players need one; elite players don't have to dribble." 

"You're never as good as you look when you win or as bad as you look when you lose." - Earl Weaver   It's easier to coach hard after wins than losses. Don't kick 'em when they're down. 

"Thanks is the cheapest form of compensation." - Robert Townsend   Thank assistants, players, and families for their contributions. Thank the administration and the boosters (if applicable) for support. Thank our family for putting up with us. 

"Share credit." Shining the light on others doesn't diminish yours and earns respect from teammates. 

"Model excellence." Never underestimate our impact on young people. We never know how our influence will appear someday. 

Add yours. 


Lagniappe: Trader Ed Seykota had a saying, "Everyone gets what they want out of the stock market." Basketball is similar. Commitment never guarantees success, only improvement. 

Lagniappe 2: Wags say the Bible starts with baseball, "In the big inning..."  Basketball has a biblical reference, too. "Only the penitent man will pass." 




Lagniappe 3: Duke Horns Elbow Handoffs

#Basketball Jeff Van Gundy with Chris Oliver (Podcast #103)

Notes on Chris Oliver (Basketball Immersion) Podcast #103

Lessons learned - NBA constantly evolves. "Play some zone defense in the NBA...extended 1-3-1...keep out of PnR sometimes." 

"Nick Nurse put his team in the best position to win...but never taking away from basic man-to-man" (despite using 1-2-2 pressure, box-and-1, triangle-and-two)

"Toronto bought in...because of his competence...they knew they were in good hands."

"Most coaches feel the same pressure at every level...Hall of Fame players bail you out of poor decisions...you can win while learning." 

"Have empathy...at all levels." (CO)

"All coaches that are considered great, have Hall of Fame players attached. The NBA humbles you...wins are on the players." 

"There are many ways to win, but you really need good players."

Misconception about halftime: "You're going to adjust the moment you think you have a better option." 

NBA coaches excel at "getting on to the next best thing."

"You may not need as much time to put something in (NBA)." (Good at retention)

A great college coach told him that "he would have used his practice time better."

"As a college coach, they practiced a lot of 5-on-5...the game is about decisions." (Obviously at advanced levels, players have more skill...young players don't have the skills)

"Learn how to play, make decisions...when to use the skill." 

As a college coach, he would play 5-on-5, but intensely. "We didn't lose anything not playing one-on-zero."

"Very few players want to do the hard things." Practice hard and pass the ball. 

Five-on-five allows you to have a clear pecking order (the stars shine). He argues for whole-part-whole, not part-whole. (Plus players enjoy playing)

Nobody in the NBA plays one-on-one anymore (?)

At the HS level, thinks you should practice less and play more. Chris Oliver suggests self-organized one-on-one early in practice. 

JVG had players practice 1-on-1 from low post, high post, wing (thought he got high effort) at one basket. Players watched each other, learned. 

"People are slow to change if they've won. All of us should evaluate what we can do better."

Internationally, there's a lot to learn. 
- He likes international rules. 
- They move without the ball. 
- More emphasis on offensive rebounding. (Extra possessions)

Pitino - value of 5-on-5, conditioning 

Pat Riley - "never avoiding conflict." HS coaches have to deal with parenting that is so different (which makes people reluctant to be direct and honest)

"Play your best players more." (If winning is the priority)

"The film doesn't lie." Players have to be able to hear the truth...

"Any player could walk in and tell me their truth...but I got to tell them my truth."

"We're player centric." (He thinks that's bad because it de-emphasizes the team.)

When you talk in generalization, players don't think it applies to them...but if you're specific, they may not want to hear it. "You always walk a fine line."

"You will never win if your best players don't have the right amount of stubbornness versus coachability." 

"Get rid of the sandwich approach." (Need more honest, direct feedback)... thinks the Positive Coaching Alliance has some drawbacks. "Only give praise when it's deserved." 
You don't get praise for showing up on time. 

"The truth" is not meant to be positive or negative. "This will get us beat." (At our level, we had to stop pressing, couldn't contain the ball, and got lost in transition)

(CO) "Do you think I'm trying to sabotage you? How would that help us win?"

Steal some wins with better practice and playing better players more. 

Players have to learn to absorb contact, hit the floor, be uncomfortable. "Develop strength to play through contact." But he is against early specialization, thinks it relates to injury. We don't want so much offseason practice/play that they can't play in the regular season. 

He encourages players to play more than one sport in high school. 

JVG doesn't like NBA Summer League. He'd rather have veterans (and drafted rookies) practicing for two weeks during the summer. 

"We want to be the lightest, strongest, fastest we can be (and healthy). The weight room is critical to improvement." 

"There are going to be clear, concise answers." FALSE. Injured, you sit. Tired, the coach has to make decisions. 

Analytics? More information is better. Highly efficient championship players (e.g. Durant, Leonard) took and made mid-range shot. "Get your players to play their best when their best is needed." There is an art and science of coaching. 

My top takeaways:

- "Wins are on the players. Many ways to win, but you need really good players."
- We didn't lose anything not playing one-on-zero."Five-on-five allows you to have a clear pecking order."
- "All of us should evaluate what we can do better."
- "Play your best players more (if winning is paramount)."
- "Learn how to play, make decisions...when to use the skill." 
- "Players have to be able to hear the truth. Any player could walk in and tell me their truth...but I got to tell them my truth."
- "Only give praise when it's deserved."
- "The truth" is not meant to be positive or negative. "This will get us beat." 

Lagniappe: from Zak Boisvert, many actions out of two player fronts with cuts off the post. Another way to attack man defense by moving defense away from the basket. 


Lagniappe 2: The Dunning-Kruger Effect. "Know your limitations." Embrace humility.