Basketball Lessons from a Venture Capitalist

To find our niche, expand our horizons. Catch more fish by casting a wider net. Learn from the wisest from other domains, like Vinad Khosla of Khosla Ventures. Khosla, a venture capitalist, informs skillsets, growth strategies, risk, and directness. Here are annotated quotes:

"The skillset is one of first optimism...with a healthy dose of paranoia." Optimism aids performing under pressure. Remember the "COTE of arms - confidence, optimism, tenacity, enthusiasm." Everyone around us may not want success for our team or us. 

"So it's about these outliers and having the optimism to go after them." Average players mostly get average results. Extreme success needs talent found and grown. 

"My willingness to fail is what allows me to succeed." Fear of failure holds people back. Sometime fear of success limits us. 

"Returns come as a side effect of some change." Forces favor the status quo. Wooden said, "no progress occurs without change, but not all change is progress." Balancing change to achieve progress is a challenge. Expose ourselves to different mentors, voices, and approaches to raise our game. 

"I pick the entrepreneur...if you have the wrong plan, the great entrepreneur will fix it." Coaching matters. 

"You're relying on the team to keep iterating, keep improving." Company building and team building align to achieve excellence. 

"Team building is one of the key characteristics of an entrepreneur." Team building is a challenge across domains in business or sports. Agendas exist at many levels. 

"What is the underlying innovation?" Teams succeed because they have a plan and develop players who understand the plan, buy in, and have the skill and will to implement. 

"40 or 50 percent of startups in Silicon Valley have immigrant cofounders." Coaches aren't stamped out with cookie cutters. Great coaches are young, old, women, men, and arise from different backgrounds and experiences. 

"Learn how a startup works...don't join a venture firm." Coaching requires mentoring. Get experience as an assistant, learn your craft, and move up. 

"I'm most proud of my relationship with my kids...and I've become a role model for young people." What makes you proud of your coaching experience? 

"Most people lie very often...I learned that being direct helps people more than being polite...prefer brutal honesty to hypocritical politeness." Khosla describes himself as being direct, unwilling to sugar coat problems or evaluations. He says he wouldn't work well in government because of that directness. Lying to ourselves self-sabotages. "I'll take care of that tomorrow." 

"Go for higher risk, higher consequences...reduce risk make the consequences of success relatively inconsequential." Change the world through bold efforts. Developing a few exceptional players, possession enders, produces bigger results. 

"More money is made by pioneering uncharted territory and thinking contrarian." Conventional approaches yield ordinary results. Extraordinary results require doing things differently than other people. How do we teach players to defeat pressure? What is our priority in player development? Teach players to separate and finish. 

"We're in this other business of company building." Our youth program hasn't closely coordinated with the high school program. I believe in player development, especially when players on our middle school team don't always attend the local high school. Even if the high school plays a considerable amount of zone defense, I prioritize man defense at the developmental level. 

Takeaways:

• Grow your skillset.
• Be willing to fail. 
• Conventional thinking gets conventional results.
• Leaders excel at team building and individual development.
• Prefer brutal honesty to hypocritical politeness.

Lagniappe (something extra). Questions and answers for players:

• What are your GO TO and COUNTER moves? 
• What is your offseason improvement plan? Be specific.
• How are you implementing your plan TODAY?
• Write your plan.
• Track your results.  

Lagniappe 2. The genius of LBJ...

Summer Reading: What's on Our Bookshelf?

Above Marcus Aurelius quote from Ryan Holiday

Lead. Grow. Focus. Survive. Teach. Ideas are the currency of the future;  reading informs and develops concepts. Abandon bad reads and read great books twice or more. 

Read excellent books. Here are annotated well-written books with great content. I won't recommend a poorly written book with great content (they're out there). 

Legacy by James Kerr (I've read this three times.) Legacy, the story of the New Zealand All-Blacks, eclipses a sport focus with advice that crosses many domains. 

"Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done." ("Sweep the sheds.")

"Are the things around you helping you towards success? What do you need to rid your daily routine in order to become a better you?" 

"...train to win with intensity to accelerate personal and team growth."

"...champions do extra because life is brief and anything we do should be really excellent." Unrequired work separates elite from excellent. 

Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown... Brown weaves a tapestry of Depression-era America, the US Olympic rowing team, and the rise of Nazi Germany in the early 1930s. 

"The very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them.”

“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”

"There were too many days when they rowed not as crews but as boatfuls of individuals. The more he scolded them for personal technical issues, even as he preached teamsmanship, the more the boys seemed to sink into their own separate and sometimes defiant little worlds.”

“You had to give yourself up to it spiritually; you had to surrender yourself absolutely to it. When you were done and walked away from the boat, you had to feel that you had left a piece of yourself behind in it forever, a bit of your heart... And a lot of life is like that too, the parts that really matter anyway.”

Essentialism by Greg McKeown 

"Trade-offs can present a significant opportunity for essentialists. By weighing both options and selecting the best one for us, we increase our chance of achieving our desired outcome."

"In every set of facts, something essential is hidden. We don’t have the capacity to explore every single piece of information we encounter. Discerning what is essential to explore requires us to be disciplined in how we scan and filter all the competing and conflicting facts, options, and opinions that are constantly vying for our attention."

"One essentialist craft is editing. Editing involves eliminating the trivial, unimportant, or irrelevant. The next step involves becoming an editor in your life and leadership." Our job is to advance the story. Eliminate waste; champion efficiency. 

Essential reminds me of St. Exupery's quote about perfection.

Deep Survival:Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonsalves

Some books, stories, or shred of knowledge save lives. "Deep Survival" achieves that. Outcomes sum skill and luck. Our choices and adaptations may define life or death. Climbers connected by ropes are more likely to die, as one falls producing domino effects. Hikers disappear on Hawaiian hiking trails as decayed foliage gives way to deadly plunges. Climbers ascend Colorado mountain trails in August and die in freak snowstorms. 

"Many people who in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, died simply because they told themselves that everything was going to be all right. Others panicked. Panic doesn't necessarily mean screaming and running around. Often it means simply doing nothing. Survivors don't candy-coat the truth, but they also don't give in to hopelessness in the face of it. Survivors see opportunity, even good, in their situation, however grim."

Survival advice that works for teams 

• Perceive and Believe
• Stay Calm – Use Your Anger
• Think, Analyze, and Plan
• Take Correct, Decisive Action
• Celebrate your success
• Be a Rescuer, Not a Victim
• Enjoy the Survival Journey
• See the Beauty
• Believe That You Will Succeed
• Surrender
• Do Whatever Is Necessary
• Never Give Up

Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense by Dean Smith. 

Smith shares his decades of experience in this book for coaches. He informs his use of analytics ahead of his time, his defenses and calls, and multiple offenses. Among others, he discusses the Passing Game, the Shuffle Offense, and more. He explains how Carolina led the ACC in shooting percentage, partly because they held scrimmages with 'shot quality' scoring. Gain or lose (turnovers) points according to whether you took layups, open jumpers, or contested shots. 

Honorable mention to James Clear's Atomic Habits. "We make our habits and our habits make us." Clear suggests ways to improve our habits by making positive ones easier and negative ones harder. Watch too much television? Move your favorite chair away from the TV. Sequester the clicker in another room. Then move the batteries somewhere else. Alan Stein's podcast with Clear shares many of his ideas. "Professionals are the architects of their habits. Amateurs are the victims of their habits." 

Honorable mention, Sapiens by Yuval Harari. Harari puts 70,000 years of human history under the microscope. Beauty and ugliness triumph. Humans arrived in Australia in 45,000 BC and most large animals become extinct within two millennia. Because we 'clear cut' the continent with fire. We are an invasive species. "We spend huge amounts of money on food, and then we spend huge amounts of money on diet products, doubly supporting the growing economy."

Summary:

• Summer is a great time to catch up on reading. 
• Abandon bad books.
• Read great books multiple times. 
• Capture the essence of great work. 
• "Legacy" by James Kerr
• "Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
• "Essentialism" by Geoff McKeown
• "Deep Survival" by Laurence Gonsalves
• "Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense" by Dean Smith

Happy Fathers' Day. 

Lagniappe. We choose how we invest or spend our time. Invest time to study how to separate from defenders. You may find you must approach or make them approach to separate. 

What Belongs on Your Improvement Checklist?

Checklists align thoughts with plans. Dr. Atul Gawande wrote The Checklist Manifesto where he discussed use of checklists in construction, aviation, restaurants, investing, and medicine. "Lists help us achieve a balance...to ensure that essential and critical things are not ignored while also ensuring that people work to achieve shared goals."

Checklists have practical applications:

• Game planning charts (sets, defenses, ATOs, BOBs, SLOBs, etc.)
• Practice plans 
• Pregame keys 
• Tryout score sheets
• Player development

What belongs on a player development checklist? Activities to impact outcomes. 

Overview offensive skill. 

That's still enormous territory. Apply drills and add defense to work on shooting/finishing. Forget about "free shooting" with no defense and no pressure of tracking and timing. 

Our last two teams produced top six girls in New England (#2 Class of 2022, #6 Class of 2024). Talent and commitment play. 

1. Box drills with defense 

• Reverse pivot from the elbow into drive/rip through/one dribble shot. Protect the ball and finish with one dribble. 

2. Wing series

• Middle or baseline attack (1 v 1)
• One dribble jumper +/- stepback (advanced players)
• 2 v 2 wing ball screen

3. Perimeter shooting (Track everything!)

• Volume shooting - catch-and-shoot (C/S) with rebounder
• Side step 3 
• Combinations - C/S, one dribble shooting (R/L) from multiple spots

4. Dribble attacks

• Negative step attack
• Float dribble attack
• Combinations (e.g. hesi/cross, double cross, hesi-hesi, etc.) 

"Star Drill." Vary the distance and add constraints like timing, requiring shot made to advance, or set time (e.g. 90 seconds) to complete the drill. 

Thoughts: 

- Defense adds competition and simulates game play. 

- Track everything. Shoot for your personal best (PB).

- Fewer moves, more quality are higher priorities. 

- Attend to detail (e.g. ball protection, balance, and quickness). 

Lagniappe (something extra). Detail makes a difference. Steph Curry perfects "pickups" to get the ball into his shot pocket off a variety of dribbles. That allows him separation to get shots off. 

Stop Doing These - Stoicism Applied to Basketball with Drills and Sets You Can Use

Study how TTPP (technique, tactics, physicality, psychology) change us. Author Ryan Holiday informs how not to respond. Apply stoic insights to coach and play better. 

1. "Don't fear change." Most great teams force others to adjust. They focus on their process. The Green Bay Packers had their small package of offense including the Packer Sweep.  The 'Showtime' Lakers set the tone in transition. Wooden's UCLA Bruins extended their defense with the 2-2-1 press. Champions won with consistency and execution. Exceptions? The Patriots' dynasty won with a chimeric offense, defense, and "do your job." 

2. "Don't sweat the small stuff." Keep focus and poise. The Celtics showed the folly of worrying about officiating instead of taking care of the ball and moving it unselfishly. 

3. "Don't value others' opinion above your own." Make our actions count not others' words. Don't take criticism personally. What others say speaks volumes about them not us. Match our work to our goals. 

4. "Don't seek revenge." This isn't new. Stay focused on the mission not revenge.

Don't retaliate after contact or "double down" after a mistake by committing a foul. 

5. "Don't start from behind." Control our agenda. Don't be a hostage to email and social media. "Stop being jerked around." We make our habits and our habits make us. Reading and study keep us ahead. 

What drills keep us ahead? 

• Advantage-disadvantage (5 vs 7 full court no dribble) adds competition and constraints to teach players to defeat pressure. 
• Shell drill (4 on 4) with live offense, variable attack (e.g. drives, on- and off-ball screens) teaches ball containment, help and recover, and communication. 
• Small-sided games (e.g. 3-on-3 inside the split) simulates game play. Vary the alignments/spacing. 

6. "Don't be so reachable." Take care of business. But in 'service' businesses, ability and availability are critical. 

 

7. "Don't have an opinion." We don't need an opinion on everything. Sarcasm, negativity, and meanness add nothing. Stay disciplined. Cheap shots won't help us win. 

Stephen Covey reminds us why many people listen.

8. "Don't look for outside approval." 

• What kind of person do I want to be? 
• "Seek understanding not validation." 
• Write better for its own value. Eyeballs find better content. 

A popular baseline out of bounds (BOB) screen-the-screener action. 

Lagniappe (something extra). Pascal Meurs shares a breakdown of Paris Lee reading numerous coverages. Watching film helps us understand what works and why. Skill and athleticism help. 

Believe in "The Art of the Comeback"

Do. Not. Quit. Great players and teams overcome setbacks. How? Here are notes from a MasterClass playlist. 

Lewis Hamilton (race car driver)

"Failure is 100% necessary for success." 

"Don't take it as a negative...every successful person...they've all failed more times than they can remember." 

James Patterson (author)

"My first novel was turned down by 31 publishers."

"You have to be tireless in moving forward."

"I'm quite sure that James Patterson wrote a million words before he started "The Thomas Berryman Number." 

"It's all driven by passion...I love it." 

Jimmy Chin (photographer)

"I threw myself at training for it (the job)...and almost got wiped out by an avalanche."

"I was able to apply everything I learned on that trip."

"You have to set your sights high." 

"The stakes only get higher." 

Sara Blakely (entrepreneur)

"If it's crazy, you're on to something."

"There were so many obstacles." 

"The entire time, everyone told me, "No." The people willing to hear 'no'...that break real ground." 

"You've got three things going for you - your enthusiasm, you, and your persistence." 

"It's up to you...and only you...to sell them on this idea." 

Amy Tan (author)

"I've received my share of rejections." 

"...from The Atlantic...is beautifully written...seems to us a bit too thin." 

"...from The New Yorker...a talented writer...other readers may not be bothered by this story's lack of depth." 

"What typically happens is a form..."not for us" but you know nothing about the reason why."

Bob Iger (Disney CEO)

"...owned up to my mistakes...there's great value there." 

"I raised my hand...and admitted it was my mistake...a number of people patted me on the back for taking responsibility." 

Robin Roberts (television personality)

"Make your mess your message." 

"Her mother told her to "be their voice" (for those without resources when she had cancer.)"

"What am I supposed to learn...what can I share with others?"

"Be of service to others."

Lagniappe. "Stops make runs." What's your greatest comeback story? In 1973, we trailed St. John's Prep, the 22-0 top seed 26-12 in the second quarter in the sectional semifinals in Boston Garden. "The Prep" averaged almost 90 points a game.  They had multiple future D1 players, including a future Celtics draft choice. We scored 23 consecutive points, holding them scoreless for 8:35 en route to a stunning upset. 

Lagniappe 2. Kevin Eastman says, "It's a shoulders game." Drew Hanlen shows the sequence - shoulders, hips, and ball to separate. 

Basketball: Ten Commandments for Players

Establish your culture, values, and roles. Lay out your absolutes. Help players get where they need to go. Be specific.

1. "Take care of business." 

• Family
• Academics
• Basketball 

Do what you don't want to do now to do what you want later. Failure to take care of business forfeits opportunities. Effort, teamwork, and resilience expose who you are. 

Reading: "100 Ways to Improve Your Writing" (notes) "Write a Strong Lead

• The lead is whatever it takes to lead your readers so deeply into your story or article that they will not turn back unless you stray from the path you have put them on.

2. Be a great teammate. Everyone can't be a great player but everyone can be a great teammate. Ask yourself, "what does my teammate need now?" It might be a ride, help with homework, or a sympathetic ear. 

3. Commit to daily improvement. Pick a plan, stick to it, and track. Not sure about where to improve? Self-assess. Do you need more technique (skill), tactics (knowledge), physicality (strength and conditioning), psychology? Get input and feedback from your mentor. 

4. Make teammates better. That's the standard of great players.

•  Give what is necessary when it's needed. 
• "It's the scoreboard, not the scorebook." Avoid the three S's - selfishness, softness, sloth.
• Impact winning by attention to detail every possession. 

5. Help your teammates. Talk. 

• Talk increases awareness.
• Talk energizes. 
• Help by moving yourself and the ball.
• "Cover 1.5" (your player and help on another)

6. Be positive. "A negative attitude never produces a positive life." 

7. Be coachable. 

• Great players want coaching. 
• They hunger for mentoring. 
• They "buy in" and help others buy in. 

8. Play present. Attitude can't be a sometimes thing. "Show up every day." Win this possession. "Drive" sums autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Are you driven to excel or is being 'on the team' enough? 

9. Focus. Lack of focus shows up with defensive lapses, turnovers, and bad shots. Defensive lapses include silence, lack of effort, lack of awareness, poor positioning, and passivity.

10. Leverage strengths. Your dominant hand is dominant for a reason. Go with your best action whenever possible. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

Lagniappe. Finishing against size... a variety of excellent suggestions ranging from going high or low, to floaters and initiating body contact. 

Under the Radar Tips - Possession Enders Relate to Four Factors and More

"Basketball's not rocket science," said Brad Stevens when he met my rocket scientist wife. Apply 'lesser known' tips that inform "possession enders" - scores and stops. Possession enders are underrated. 

Note the link to Dean Oliver's "Four Factors" of effective field goal percentage, turnovers, rebounding, and free throws (Score/Protect/Crash/Attack)

Winning possessions imply "possession enders" that end with a score or stop. 

1. Station a guard at the free throw line to get about three defensive rebounds a game. I don't remember the podcast source. 

2. Focus on separating (offense) and preventing separation (defense). Practicing "keep away" for a minimum of 5-10 passes fatigues defenses. 

3. Failure to cut urgently leads to lack of separation. 

4. Taking better shots improved our shooting percentage once we tracked and reported it (team shooting percentage). This mirrors Jay Bilas' "Toughness" rule, "It's not your shot, it's our shot." Every player needs a copy of Bilas' toughness quotes. 

 5. Ask every player how she intends to IMPACT WINNING. The Draymond Greens do more than score. 

 6. Repeat and repeat, "Don't give away games. This is how." 

• "The ball is gold." Value the ball. 
• "Win in space." Don't force actions into traffic.
• "More and better" shots than our opponent (Pete Newell)
• "Loose balls aren't 50-50. They're ours."
• Stupid fouls include fouling jump shots, bad shots, and double down fouls where players compound a bad play (e.g. turnover) with a second (bad foul)

7. Live ball turnovers kill, leading to high points/possession by opponents. The NBA Finals prove the point. 

8. Keep or get possession. If you can't grab a rebound, 'tap it out'. If you can, grab don't tap. 

9. "The screener is the second cutter." Score opportunistically as a screener. 

Lagniappe (something extra). Villanova practice clips... energy, focus, intensity, attention to detail. "Every drill matters. Every practice matters. It takes time to learn that."

Get maximum energy

Invest in Yourself "Just One Thing"

I lack many basketball answers, but write to share and to inform the search. Invest in yourself. Author David Mamet advises, "Every day, do 'just one thing' for your craft and one for your business."  

Craft blends leadership, organization, strategy, teaching, game management, media relations and more. Imagine a few options for each:

Leadership: 

• Reading, Legacy, by James Kerr “Humility does not mean weakness, but its opposite. Leaders with mana understand the strength of humility. It allows them to connect with their deepest values and the wider world.”
• Course, MasterClass, Presidential Leadership, Doris Kearns Goodwin examines Lincoln, the Roosevelts, and LBJ in depth. 

Organization: 

• Reading, Execution, the Discipline of Getting Things Done (Bossidy and Charan) - people, strategy, operations
• Reading, Up the Organization, Townsend ("Thanks is the cheapest form of compensation.")

Strategy:

• Reading, Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense, Dean Smith (The book I'd take if stranded on a desert island with basketball...)
• Course, MasterClass, Sara Blakely Teaches Self-Made Entrepreneurship ("Make it, sell it, build brand awareness.")

Teaching: 

• Teach Like a Champion Example: "Technique Three: Stretch It. This technique pushes a teacher to take correct answers and ask students to add depth or nuance to their answers."
• Reading, Basketball Methods, Pete Newell ("Get more and better shots than our opponents.")

Game Management: Is there a great answer? Great coaches win with great players first. Nobody wins big without talent. "Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from poor judgment." 

Media Relations: 

• Course, MasterClass, Chris Voss, The Art of Negotiation
• Reading, Influence, Robert Cialdini
• Study, former Pistons head coach Chuck Daly

What about enhancing our business? 

• Craft overlaps our business interests. 
• Network. Consider sharing an email or message with a colleague at least a few days a week. 
• "Build brand awareness." Say 'yes' to opportunities to share. 

Lagniappe. Great video analysis from Chris Oliver. Watch video daily. 

Lagniappe 2. Imagine we're asked to give a ten-minute presentation at a coaching seminar. What subject would we choose? What topic might they ask us to present? How would we add value for other coaches? 

Basketball: The Other 22 Hours

The TTPP Model (technique, tactics, physicality, psychology) of sports performance expert Dr. Fergus Connolly applies every day. Make it count outside of your defined workout. 

Spending time or investing it? As coaches or players, what are we doing to improve today? Be specific. 

Sleep. Schedule sleep as part of your routine, and avoid caffeine after noon because its 'half-life' is 5-6 hours. That means a caffeinated or stimulant drink at 3 PM still has 50 percent of its blood level at 9 P.M. 

Has extended sleep been studied in basketball players? Yes. Here are the highlights:

• 11 Stanford University basketball players
• Baseline measurements followed by 5-7 weeks of sleep extension with goal of minimum 10 hours/night 
• Performance measures (speed, shooting accuracy) and sleepiness scoring
• Improved sprint times, 9% improvement in free throw and 3-point percentages
• Sleepiness scores improved
• Subjective improvements in physical and mental well-being 
• Conclusion: better sleep improved athletic performance

Manage injury risk.

• Dynamic stretching
• Thermal injury avoidance
• Lace up ankle braces
• Vitamin D?
• Emphasizing safety to officials 

Nutrition. 

• Stay hydrated
• Protein 1.4-1.7 grams per kg body weight daily

• Carbohydrates should be over half the athletes diet, especially via fruits and vegetables, pasta, rice, and bread. 

  

• Practice pregame meals PRIOR to competition. 

Dos and Don'ts.

• Be coachable. Find a mentor; become one.
• Maintain your notebook.
• Maintain high academics. "There is no ability without eligibility." 

• Never be a discipline problem.
• Be a great teammate.
• Never be a problem at home. 

Study video. Knowledge never knocked on anyone's door. 

Separate our work ethic and character from the next person. 

• Do the UNREQUIRED WORK.
• "Do 5 more." 5 more sprints, 5 more free throws, 5 more minutes studying, 5 more calls in your business
• "The extra mile is the one least traveled." 

Lagniappe. "Explosive athleticism" applied. 

Lagniappe 2. Shooting drill "16"

There are many ways to play "16." 

• Start either side, make and move to the next spot. Similar to golf, 8 shots on the front circuit and 8 on the back
• See how FEW shots you can complete the 'round' (ideally 16)
• Harder. Make two consecutive at a spot to move to the next spot. 
• Harder still. Complete the "round" in two minutes. 
• Hardest. Make two consecutive at each spot to advance and complete in under two minutes. 
• Alway strive for your personal best. 

The Idea Machine and Cooking Up a Fabulous Dinner with Available Ingredients

"All cooking is about temperature and time." - Thomas Keller 

Become an idea kiosk. Read widely and grab from everywhere. Challenge ourselves to unearth three ideas daily...over a thousand a year. 

1. Ideas, like seeds, need support. 

2. Great ideas get rejected. Polaroid turned down digital photography. 

3. Rebrand failure as success. Imperfect glue became Post-It notes.

4. Work to see truth not buy deception. 

5. Invest 'thinking time' 

Cultivate great ideas. 

• Player development (or recruiting) is primary 
• What hinders us? Reduce it. 
• How did I work on my craft today? 

Remember Sara Blakely's triad:

• Make it (product/process). Obsess the product.
• Sell it (get buy in by showing players how it helps them).
• Build brand awareness. 

Key points:

• Invest time in finding and executing ideas. Unearth 3 daily. 
• Evolve key ideas (e.g. early offense, PnR defense, offensive rebounding). Get players to buy-in for their good
• Obsess the product. It pays. 
• Need your book read to you? Check out the lagniappe below. 

Lagniappe. "Great offense is multiple actions." Study the fine details in short clips.  

Lagniappe 2. Here's a "free" idea. Download the Alexa app and ask it to read from your Kindle library when you walk. It works. 

Lagniappe 3. Last night I scraped together a fabulous dinner from humble ingredients. 

Turkey burger on French Bread

Ingredients: 

• One pound ground turkey (defrosted to room temperature)
• Half of one yellow onion (1/2 sliced and 1/2 diced)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)

Combine ingredients into 3 burgers. Cook, top with your favorite cheese

Sautee the sliced onion in a dollop of olive oil, add a teaspoon of sugar after a minute, add salt and use as a topping

Special sauce:

• 1 1/2 teasp mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teasp ketchup
• 1 teasp mustard
• 3/4 teasp Old Bay seasoning (I substituted Emeril's Bayou Blast)

I had a side of Yukon Gold potato wedges, coated with olive oil and seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, roast for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees

Use Everything in Our Coaching

Elevate flavors. Steal from everywhere. Inspire players to catch up with our game vision. Be concrete. 

Verbal. Every team has unique language. 

• Pick-and-roll coverage - (ice/blue, hedge/show/fake trap, blitz/trap)
• (No) Middle, (No) Paint, Force 
• Delay game - Dartmouth, "4"

Visual. Demonstrate your reads and deception.

• What signals a slip on a PnR? E.g. defender shoulder above yours.
• Attacking the front hand/foot.
• Eye fakes, ball fakes to reject ball screens. 

Video.

• Limit the number of clips. Stay fresh.
• "Lessons apply to everyone."
• Show positive clips, too. 

Chunking...show static images (what do you see and what do you expect?)

The screener defender is in drop coverage and the ball defender fights over the top. Will the the screener relocate/pop?

Diagrams. "A picture is worth a thousand words."

"Where are the primary trap zones?"

"Force to tape." Physically placing tape during practice helps, too. 

Music. Music can simulate crowd noise or increase player energy. 

Bon Jovi,  "you can't win..."

Or up the energy with David Dallas' "Runnin'". 

Borrow from other disciplines (analogy).

• Achieve "escape velocity" with more skill or team play. 
• Figuratively "break ankles" with change of direction/pace
• He's as cool as the other side of the pillow. 
• Add marginal gains (e.g. British cycling) "They even painted the inside of the team truck white, which helped them spot little bits of dust that would normally slip by unnoticed but could degrade the performance of the finely tuned bikes."

Experience

• "Love our losses" and learn from them. "I don't want you to feel the pain of loss from not helping the helper." 
• Burned by spread offense (dribble penetration, give-and-go, backcuts)
• Win with patience/shot quality, the running game, or both.

Emotion 

• Optimal activation (too flat, too hyped). 
• Different types of music have activating/calming effects.
• Replace "nervousness" with "excitement" 
• Pain heals...but leaves scars.

Time

• Cut urgently.
• Pass "on time and on target."
• Invest time don't spend it.

Quotations

• "We can go faster alone but farther together." 
• "I'm pleased but I'm not satisfied."
• "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson

Humor 

Lagniappe (something extra). Simple rocks.