Coaching Basketball - My Dream!

Teaching Defense with Small Sided Games

2012-01-28T16:10:00.000-06:00

This year I've been trying to be a better defensive coach. In light of that I've really bucked down and done a lot of the "boring" drills that I felt make up good defenders. Zig zag dribbling, partner closeouts, positioning drills, etc. My guys hated it and while they didn't fight me on doing them, you could see on our defensive days (we alternate offense and defense days to get a lot of stuff in) the intensity wasn't there. We tried running, we talked about it, but nothing seemed to work. All they said was that they hated the days because they were boring.

I read a lot of Brain McCormick this fall and his stuff centers around small sided games to teach instead of drills. I bought into this and was doing a lot with offense, but not so much with defense. So this week I started to play small sided, competitive games with a defensive focus instead of doing breakdown drills. The result was a smashing success! The guys played harder and did improve on the skills I was looking for while playing. Below is an example of drills I did and the game I replaced it with.

Drill 1: Partner Dribble No Middle
-Partners with one ball, one partner dribbles from wing to guard while the defender cuts him off. The offense dribbles back to the wing with the player guarding him. Go back and fourth 5x and switch.
Drill 2: No Split
-Group of 4 - 2 offense and 2 defense. Offense on the guard and wing, guard drives, the wing comes up and helps. Guard kicks to wing, wing recovers and forces baseline drive to the X.
Game Replacing These Drills: 3 on 3 3/4 Court No Middle
-Play 3 on 3 with a point, wing, and corner player. The offense has from the sideline to opposite laneline to work. Defense has to keep the offense from scoring and going to the middle. If the offense drove to the middle it was 3 pushups each time. If a driver split the help it was 5 pushups each time. The teams kept track of points and the losers ran at the end. Really focused on not letting them dribble middle, not getting split on the help, talking, and being in good position.

Now that's not to say I abandon all the drills. I still use transition drills, shell drill variations, etc. But these games have opened my eyes a little bit in terms of teaching defense.

Yet Another Great Last Second Play

2012-01-22T10:42:00.007-06:00

Was watching Onalaska (WI) vs. St. Paul Johnson at the East Metro Show case this weekend in St. Paul. Most of the games were blowouts, but the one good game was the Onalaska vs. Johnson matchup. It was back and fourth all game with the outcome undecided until the final seconds. With the game tied and 12 seconds left on the clock, Coach Kowal reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out this gem.

The play starts with the ball in the slot, a player on the block, a stack on the backside block, and your stud in the corner. In this case the stud was Onalaksa's Matt Thomas who's a nationally rated recruit and had 30 points in the game.
As the play starts the guard dribbles across to the other slot spot. As he does the stud (2) comes across off the first screen and then sneaks through the elevator screen using the stacked players on the opposite block. As this happens, the player who set the first screen on the ballside block cuts up hard to the slot on his side. The dribbler turns pass fakes to the popper, who cuts backdoor for a layup.

This is a masterful misdirection play. They do a great job of making it look like they are selling out to get their stud the last shot no matter what. The opponents are already focusing on the stud, and simply setting up this play makes it look like they are going to get him the ball at all costs. This increases the focus of the defense on the stud. In the game you could definately see that 3s defender was surprised that he even moved, being a step behind the pop up makes the defender over commit harder to try to get the pass. It set the backcut up perfectly and ended up with a layup.

Basketball: More Than Just a Game

2012-01-16T22:45:00.000-06:00

Just finished reading "Basketball: More Than Just a Game" by Larry McKenzie this weekend. Coach McKenzie is the head coach at the Academy of Holy Angels (Richfield, MN). He was formerly the coach at Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School where he guided the Patriots to 4 straight state titles. Having watched his teams play for many years I was eager to get the book and it did not disappoint.

The book is broken into ten main chapters, each representing a different part of the game using one of the letters in basketball. For instance, the first chapter (letter B) is titled "Business" and discusses how the game of basketball has become a business. This chapter may be my favorite because he offers up some very insightful, and stinging, thoughts on grassroots/AAU basketball and the money train that has become. His comments will be seen as controversial by many, but I feel that they are spot on. Many in the grassroots basketball community have lost sight of the fact that it's a game and we are dealing with young adults.

As I said, the first chapter is Business, but without giving too much away here are the rest:
Business
Appreciate (Show appreciation for life)
Student-Athlete (What that means and some great tips for aspiring college players)
Knowledge of the Game (Skills you need to have to be good)
Enjoy (The fact that you have to have fun)
Teachable (Being coachable is important)
Believe (pretty much says it all!)
Attitude (have to have the right one)
Live to Love (Love others)
Love to Live (Enjoy life)

My favorite thing about the book though is the wide variety of topics that are covered within the pages. It's not a coaches manual that is going to help you win four state titles in a row, it's more of a winding love letter to the game that connects with me personally on many different levels. It's more about life lessons within the game than it is about how to win. It's more about how to win off the court than on it. If you are a coach interested in just winning I wouldn't recommend the book to you. I would, however, recommend the book to every person who is a fan of the game, every coach that teaches more than Xs and Os, and every player and parent. I really enjoyed it, will share it with our players, and will definitely read it again!

Great Last Second SLOB Set

2012-01-15T11:25:00.006-06:00

I first saw the clip of this last second play on the Minnesota Scores message board. It's a game between Pine Island and Bethlehem Academy (Fairbault, MN). In the play they have the ball at half court and they run a backscreen for a player to the rim. In the play during the game the player at the rim tipped the ball and it ended up in the hands of a player on the block who put it in for a layup. The video is below.

At first I thought it was a great fluke play, much like the "Blake Hoffarber Butt Shot". But then I noticed there was another video up there of the same shot, it is below.

In this video, it's much easier to see that the guy actually TIPS THE BALL INTENTIONALLY to the guy on the block for the layup!! I think this play is BRILLIANT because the defender of the guy on the block will ALWAYS get sucked into the guy at the rim leaving the block player wide open for a layup if he catches the tip. It's a risky play because your guy has to out jump everyone for the tip, but I would almost guarantee that 99 times out of 100 the block guy will be wide open for a layup. Might have to throw this one in the playbook! Hats off to Coach Boelter of Bethlehem Academy on coming up with this.

How to Average 12 Points Per Game as a Role Player

2012-01-08T23:15:00.000-06:00

I put this on Twitter on Saturday but I think it's worth posting on here too. My friend Kevin Alsteens (a.k.a The Twin Cities Hoops Czar) and I were talking about roleplayers and we talked about scoring as a roleplayer. We came up with a way for a role player to average 12 points per game. All they have to do is the following:
*Get 1 offensive rebound putback per half. (4 points per game)
*Get 1 layup per half by running the floor hard. (4 points per game)
*Get 2 free throws per half. (4 points per game)

I know this sounds simple, but just think about it for a second. As a roleplayer you can get 12 points without having to control the ball. Now if you get 2 more baskets a game within the offense you are scoring 16 ppg basically doing nothing offensively. Imagine if you could get 2 roleplayers to do this, as a coach that's 28 ppg you can add to your total. This concept is something I am going to share with our team tomorrow.

Best Things From My Notebook for the Last Year

2012-01-08T23:08:00.000-06:00

Well...it's been a while since the last time I posted. Seventy days to be exact. But that's what happens when basketball season hits, just don't have time usually. But tonight I did want to sit down and write about some of the best ideas I've had in my notebook over the last year. I always keep a small 5.5" x 3.5" notebook with 200 pages that I write down any observations, thoughts, feelings, and ideas in about basketball. I keep it with me and try to take it everywhere I go, but just like this blog there are stretches that I am without it, but I usually go through at least one notebook per year. I think it's important to keep notes, write them down in one place, and revisit them often as possible. Even going over it tonight I've had a few "Ow-yea I remember that!" moments. I would encourage all of you that read to do this as well, it's proven very beneficial for me over the years. Anyway, by best thoughts/ideas from the notebook are below, some are my ideas, some are from high school coaches that I've watched in practices and games, some are from college coaches, enjoy!

Coach Miller (Robbinsdale Armstrong HS)
-Use the retreat dribble to change the passing angle inside.

Coach Miller (Robbinsdale Armstrong HS)
-When passing, you need "big vision" on the floor as you pass and small vision as you make the pass. The "big vision" is used to see the defedners, angles, etc.

My Idea
-Show me your three best players, I'll tell you how your year ends. Show me your assistants and I'll tell you how your career ends!

My Idea
-Every player should have a reversible jersey and a grey shirt under it in practice. That way you can divide up into up to four groups - light, dark, shirts, and skins.

My Ideas for Zone Defense
-Dork and Start trap within zone
-Have each opponent have a color - red, yellow, green.
          *Red=Guard hard and cheat to them - star player or great shooter
          *Yellow = play normal - average player
          *Red = Don't bother guarding, sag off and don't pay much attention to - poor player.

Jon Leisener (St Croix Prep - my HC last year)
-Would run drills for X number of minutes, but not start clock until all players were doing the drill right and going hard.

Mark Klingsporn (Tartan HS)
-When player dives on the floor ir takes a charge in practice, EVERYONE runs over to pick him up. Makes it a big deal and adds energy to practice!

Griess (Augsburg College)
-Defensive drill is no good if offense has no clue what's going on!

Griess (Augsburg College)
-On defending the flex cut:
     *Screener's guy jam the cutter high, player guarding the cutter go low

Chicago Hyde Park
-Played St. Paul Johnson who is known for their trapping man to man. Ran a spread dribble handoff offense and killed them by backcuttig the handoff when Johnson tried to trap.

21 Shooting Drill Jon Leisener (St. Croix Prep)
-Players do 3 man 2 ball shooting. Shoot until one player in the group gets 5 makes. That marks the end of a round Then everyone shoots 2 FT and adds to the score (player who got to 5 has a score of 5 before the FT, everyone else has however many they made). Shoot a second round. Continue until one player gets to 21 points.

Ken Novak (Hopkins High School)
-Read "The Talent Code". Coach put me onto this book and it's totally changed how I teach the game. I would strongly suggest EVERYONE on here reads this book.

Champlin Park 8th Grade Warm Up Drill
-Players are in partners. They move around the outside of the floor. Along the half court and baseline they do shuffle passing with partners. On the sidelines they do the zig zag dribble.

Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) Role Reverses Set
-Start with a 3 out 2 in look. Shooter on the left block, post on the right block, wings on the wings. The post comes up and sets a PnR on the right elbow. The pg goes off the PnR while the shooter comes up to the top of the key from the block.

Sign for Eastridge High School Girls
"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence"

West Side Booster's 8th Grade BLOB
-Stack on the ballside block. Shooter inbounding. Shooter on the opposite block, post on the opposite elbow. The shooter comes through the stack with the elevator screen to the ballside corner. The post on the opposite elbow flashes to the rim. Ball gets passed to him the shooter in the corner. If no shot the stack sets a double down screen for the inbounder.

Lakeville North 8th Grade
-Coach had a set of towels and held different ones for different defenses.

Jim Tressel when faced with allegations:
"There is nothing more pathetic than a leader looking for sympathy"

George Karl
"So much of basketball is enthuasium"

Buzz Williams
Keep track of turkey's - 3 stops in a row.

Larry McKenzie (Academy of Holy Angels)
-Practiced in football pads to add to

There is a lot more in the book from some really great coaches. Some of it I didn't share because I didn't want this post to be super long. Some things were not shared out of respect for the coaches who shared it with me - I tried to share some small insights from the coaches but at the same time I don't want to give away their big picture things either! Anyway, hopefully you got one good idea from the list!

Using Cornell Notes at Clinics

2011-10-30T16:06:00.002-05:00

This weekend was spent at the Minnesota Basketball Coach's Association Clinic. It was a very good clinic with a lot of great speakers such as Don Meyer, Alan Stein,Vance Walberg, Ken Novak (Hopkins HS, MN), Carl Pierson (Politics of Coaching Author), Dave Cresap (Perham HS, MN), and Lynn Frederick (Brookings HS, SD). Actually got to spend two hours with Coach Walberg after the clinic at the social, got a lots of ideas. Great stuff from all of these speakers and I really enjoyed my time. It's always nice to see the coaches from across the state that I've gotten to know over the years, we really have a solid group of high school coaches in Minnesota at all levels.

When listening to Coach Meyer, something he talked about was using Cornell Notes at clinics. Cornell Notes are a style of note taking where you have 2/3 of the page devoted to notes, 1/3 of the page devoted to your thoughts/ideas and the bottom of the page is devoted to your summary of the notes that you got. To the right is a simple example of Cornell notes.

Of course I started to use the technique after he mentioned it. I found it to be very helpful - especially after the clinic was over. It allows me to jot down thoughts that I might forget later. For example, if I find an idea I like I will note that in the column. I will also jot things I don't agree with as well as where/how I will incorporate that into our program. It made the clinic much better because I was engaged in the process. I was constantly thinking of how/when/where I was going to use the information and if it lined up with my philosophy or not. If I had or hadn't done this in the past and if I should be doing it. Below is an example of one page of notes that I took from Coach Meyer. As you can see I now have more of my thoughts and feelings on the page than I would have just taking the notes. Likely, I would have had the thoughts but would have quickly forgotten them.

I would highly encourage you to use Cornell Notes at your next clinic - I guarantee you that you'll get more out of it!

Classic Example of Real Life Moneyball

2011-10-22T16:56:00.004-05:00

After writing the last post I started to think about some real life examples where production was overlooked and players were undervalued - real life Moneyball Players. The prime example of this is a player named Bryce Tesdahl who plays for Bemidji State University - he's one of the ultimate examples of a "Moneyball Player".

Bryce is from Crosby-Ironton High School and now plays at Bemidji State University. Coming out of high school these were some of his accomplishments:

Four year starter
Almost 2000 points for his career
17 ppg as a senior
Almost double digit rebounds per game as a senior
32-1 team record and a second place finish at the MN State Tournament
Set the Minnesota single season record for assists in a season as a senior
Set the Minnesota State Tournament record for assists as a senior
All-State Second Team
MN State Tournament All Tournament team
Area Player of the Year

Even with all of the above honors/accomplishments during his high school career (and being a high character player), he was not heavily recruited by a single NCAA Division II school. Bemidji State (Bemidji, MN) did give a chance to come and play after watching his team in the playoffs as a senior. The knock was that he was too slow and was not a good enough shooter to compete at the Division II level. His shot looked a little funny, but it did go in. Below is what Bryce has done in his three years at Bemidji State:

Three year starter
Three year leader in assists for BSU
Is already BSU's all-time leader in assists after his junior year
9th nationally in assists as a junior.
28th nationally in free throw percentage with 86% (103/119)
Named Academic All-NSIC Team member and to the NABC Honors Court as a junior.
Junior Stats

9.5ppg, 6.0apg, 3.8rpg, 41% three point percentage, 75% free throw percentage
1.75 assist to turnover ratio

Sophomore Stats

10.3ppg, 5apg, 5rpg, 86% free throw percentage, 37% three point percentage

Freshmen Stats

6.8ppg, 3.7apg, 3.7rpg, 31% three point percentage, 74% free throw percentage

At this point, most NSIC teams that didn't recruit Bryce would love to have him on the roster. Unfortunately Bemidji State got him and got a steal! They were the ones that overlooked the eye test and looked at the production they could get out of him - and it paid off!

Are there any Moneyball Players in your program??

Moneyball for Basketball?

2011-10-22T10:12:00.004-05:00

My wife and I went to the movies on Thursday night and saw Moneyball. It's a really good baseball movie, but of course it also got me thinking about basketball. The movie highlights the story of Billy Beane and the Oakland A's in the early part of the decade. Oakland had been getting pilfered of all it's good players by the "big boys" from New York and Boston so it decided to use a different strategy to build a team. Instead of looking at the "players" they put on the field they looked at the "numbers" that the players brought. They used sabermetrics, a mathematical formula that rates players purely on production, not on the "eye test". They signed and played players that traditionally may not have played because they couldn't play their "normal" position or their mechanics were funny. It also then takes into account how many of these statistics (hits, runs, on base %) you will need to win X number of games. It then uses a formula to calculate, based on the production you have, about how may games you can win. This formula comes from the writings of baseball stat man Bill James. James bucked the old system of scouting (using the eye test) and favored just looking at the cold, hard data. In the movie his system allowed the A's to target several baseball players that were severely underpaid/undervalued, but had high production.

So what does ANY of this have to do with basketball? Well, I am very intrigued by the concept of just putting production on the floor - even if it isn't pretty or doesn't fit the classic position it is playing.

After I made that statement, all of you out there likely rolled your eyes and said some form of "tell me something I don't know!" But how many times have you seen the following scenarios play out:

A team plays their 6-6 post because he's the tallest player, but they have a 5-10 kid on the bench who would actually get more rebounds and be more physical on defense? We play the big kid because he could produce more, not because he actually does.

How many times have you heard a coach say a kid can't shoot because his shot is ugly even though he can make a high percentage of his 3s? We judge the player by the eye test, not by his production.

How many coaches have played their most athletic kid even when he doesn't produce? We play him because of what he could do.

How many teams play one of their best players even when he's having a terrible night and tanking the team? We play him because he should be doing better but isn't.

I can readily admit to being guilty of all of the above! As I've gotten more experience I've become better at playing production, but still get caught in these traps. I think we all do from time to time. Our thinking always says "that player should give us _______". Instead we need to be thinking in terms of "that player actually gives us ______".

Now, I will say that there are a lot of coaches that do it right - play their most productive players - but I also think that sometimes we love to play players based on potential. I know that I do. For instance, and I've done this, a player has a really nice looking jump shot so I encourage him to keep shooting in a game because I feel that he's going to catch fire. In my experience this usually doesn't happen, if he was a shooter they'd be going in. Someday he'll probably develop into a great shooter, but not now. In this situation we need to play him based on his production - which is not as a three point shooter.

Moneyball is also about finding players who can be successful filling given roles, not just putting the best five on the floor (again, another "NO DUH!" statement). Who's going to rebound for you, get the extra one or two 50/50 balls a game, who's going to be a defensive stopper, who's going to be your extra zone-busting shooter against a 2-3 zone? Finding the situations to maximize production of your players - and knowing which situations they will be productive - is the key. We all know this, but do we all do it every time? It's about looking at where you need the production and figuring out who can best fill that role on your team. Sometimes the answer is going to surprise you.

Jerry Tarkanian was a master of this during his run at UNLV. Many times his teams were made up of players who were great in one or two areas and terrible at the rest. He was able to put them in position to maximize their potential and maximize their production for the team in their given area. They spent the most time in situations where they could be great.

Phil Jackson is also great at using the most productive players. Do you think that Steve Kerr was the best athlete that Jackson could have put at the point for the Bulls? Of course not, but he was the most productive player with his ability to shoot when they doubled Jordan. He was the most productive point the Bulls could have had.

Basketball does differ from baseball in one big way - it's more of a team game than baseball is. In baseball if you hate your second basemen it doesn't affect your ability to hit and throw, but in basketball if you hate your center you might not pass him the ball. So chemistry does factor into the combinations you put on the floor.

The Moneyball theory doesn't amount to you totally shaking up your roster, 90% of the players on the floor are the ones who should be there. Unlocking the hidden or underutilized production on your roster is what the Moneyball theory about. Finding guys who can give you statistics that you need to win and playing the guys that give you the most production - not the most potential. I haven't told you anything you don't already know, but hopefully it has you re-examine your team and the production levels of your guys. It will have my looking just a little bit differently at our squad this year.

The Four Most Important Words in Coaching

2011-10-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to attend the coaching clinic in Thief River Falls (MN) that featured Kevin Eastman. As usually, he was absolutely amazing. I got over twenty pages of notes from Coach Eastman alone, but something that really stuck out with me was the following statement he made:

The four most important words in coaching are "Shit, this ain't working!".

Again, reflecting on my year in South Tama I think this phrase is one that I used quite often! It's also one that I think is important for any coach - you have to be able to admit to yourself that what you are doing isn't working. You need to be constantly analyzing what isn't working, and more importantly you have to figure out why. There are a lot of coaches who will stick with the same thing even if it's gone far south.

Now I'm not saying if your motion isn't working that you go to the flex! What I am saying is that you need to admit what you are doing isn't working and figure out how to tweak it to make it work. For example, in my year at South Tama, I tired to start teaching the motion by teaching the drive and kick aspect first. I quickly discovered that action was not what fit the players. So instead I started to teach pass and cut, backdoor, and screening actions. I didn't abandon the motion offense, but I did abandon the motion concepts I was trying to teach.

Outside the Box Ideas

2011-10-09T22:12:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted last, just had one of those stretches. Saw a good clinic by Kevin Eastman up in Thief River Falls (MN) and been doing a lot of reading. Currently trying desperately to finish Tony Dungy's book "The Mentor Leader" which I got from Christmas last year from Coach Leisener. It's a great book, almost done, but just been slow to finish it.

I was watching some old tape of my year at South Tama County with my buddy Amis MacKenzie who's the JV coach at Little Fork High School. Reflecting back on the season (as painful as it still is), I did think about some of the outside the box ideas we used that year. They didn't result in a whole lot of wins obviously, but they were interesting none the less. Below I'll give you my two best outside the box ideas from my wild year with the STC Trojans.

Stick and Three
Got this idea from a junior college coach in Iowa. He would go man to man on the three best players on the team and leave the other two players on the blocks or high low to clog the lane.

We used this defense when we played Norwalk, who was ranked #1 in the state at the time. We ended up losing by 20+, but were down 6 in the fourth quarter if my memory serves me correctly. They had a super point guard and two big studs (6-5 kid and a 6-8 D1 kid) inside. So we denied the point all over and played man to man on the bigs fronting them wherever they went. The other two guys played in the lane and took away the drive for the point guard and the lobs to the post. Eventually we ended up taking the second person on the stick and doubling the point when he touched the ball and recovering to the lane after the pass. The other players on the team were so shocked to be open that they didn't hurt us for most of the game.

Not Jumping for the Jump Ball
We were very undersized and there were not a lot of jump balls we were going to win. So what we started doing was having our PG jump and instead of actually jumping for the ball he would try to read the tip and run out to grab it. If he didn't get it, we would trap the player who did get it. We played a defensive jump and forced them to tip it behind. Twice our point actually stole the ball and we got a layup out of the deal. Not a game changer, but something different and interesting to try and steal momentum.

Overall, I think when you are struggling you have to try some things that are a little outside the box to gain any advantage that you can. They might not always make a difference between wins and losses, but all it takes is that one close game for them to make the difference.

Do You Need a Permanent Post In Your Offense?

2011-08-16T11:47:00.000-05:00

Something caught my eye on the X's and Os of Basketball message board recently. One of the coaches posted something to the effect of all good offense must have a permanent post player. His point was that 3-out or 4-out is far superior to a 5-out because the five out lacks a post in the middle. I completely disagree with this statement. The five out allows you greater flexibility in your post game and allows your post players to be harder to guard. I will outline my argument below.

1. Five out allows you to play everyone in the post and exploit match ups.
With the five out, any player with a good match up in the post can cut to the basket and post up on the block to take advantage. Your point guard might have a small defender on him and in a 3 out it's hard to be able to duck him in and look to hit him on the post up. In a five out however it's a simple part of the offense: pass-basket cut- post up. You can also use it to attack a star perimeter player who really doesn't want to play defense that hard. It's easy if he stays on the perimeter, he can sag off a little and has help, but if he's being aggressively posted up it takes him out of his comfort zone. It also has the potential to cause him to foul. This type of spacing allows any player on the floor to be a post threat at any time.

2. Five out allows you to be flexible with how your post player gets touches, it's easy to guard someone standing in the lane.
In the 3 and 4 out your post is basically block to block or block, to high post, to block. This is fine but it becomes pretty easy to guard a player that is inside, especially with the help defenders added in a 3 out. It's harder for a defender to defend the post when the post is curl cutting off a screen, screening and then diving to the rim, backscreening and shaping to the high post, passing and cutting, backdoor cutting, etc. Guarding all those actions becomes a much more difficult task that guarding a player standing on the block.
Something we did at St. Croix Prep was have our "post" players hold for a pass or two if they were being fronted on the initial cut. It gave us high low and seal looks you would get in a four out.

3. Having permanent post players (especially 3-out) clogs up the lane for cutters and drivers.
I am just not sure how your perimeter players are expected to score inside in a 3 out. Watch teams that play a 3 out or a high low motion. The guards cut behind the posts so the post and their defenders block the pass to the cutter. When they screen it's a straight cut and the screener flairs out. What you end up with is passing the ball back and fourth around the perimeter and not really looking to attack. It's much better with the four out, but that post is still there - although it opens the floor for drive and dump, it still makes it harder to pass and cut cleanly.

4. It allows you to train your players to be complete players.
I am a huge fan of the European approach to skill development. Bigs should be able to dribble, pass, and shoot and guards should know their away around the block. Everyone should do everything. It allows you to be more flexible in your attack and really key in on mismatches. Even Michael Jordan, a great perimeter player, had a post up game when he needed it. How deadly was Charles Barkley? Put your power forward on him Barkley is taking him to the rack and shooting threes over him. Put your guard on him and he’s taking him inside and posting him up. Same with Bird, Magic, etc. Playing a five out allows you to develop players in this fashion.

5. It allows you to play your more skilled and effective players, not put a player on the floor to fill a position.
How many times have you seen a team that plays a less skilled/talented player at the 5 because he's bigger while at the same time there may be a shorter player on the bench who plays the "4"? This player may be more effective in the game (even rebounding and defense) but they don't start him because he's not a "five". Why not play the more effective player? The five out allows you to put your best talent on the floor.
Also, I've seen teams with skilled bigs who can pass and shoot that get stuck on the block because they are tall. Once saw a kid on the block who was 6-6 but could shoot well from the perimeter - why not put him out there, draw the defense, and open up your game?!

6. It allows an undersized post player to compete and thrive.
If I had a legitimate, dominant post player who was 6-9+ I would be playing a 4 out. But most of us are not blessed with these players on a regular basis – if ever. Our players are undersized post players. When I was in Iowa my tallest starter was 6-2 and was our best overall player - could pass, shoot, dribble. If I ran a 3 our 4 out he would be in the post - but why?! As good as he was I doubt he would consistently win many battles against the 6-5 to 6-8 post players we faced on a nightly basis. In the five out he could cut in and post from time to time but also had the luxury of taking the bigger, slower player he was facing off the bounce or shooting when they played off of him.
Gives offensive players a better chance at an offensive rebound as well because they have more space to evade the block out. It’s harder to block out a perimeter player than a player on the block.
Your undersized post player has a better chance of getting the ball by cutting PAST a bigger defender to the basket than he does standing and battling it out on the block. Cutting also allows him to get the position he wants.

7. It stretches your help.
Like it or not, no matter how much we drill, most high school players are mediocre help defenders at best. Playing a five out, players naturally hug their man a little bit tighter. For instance, the ball is on the right wing. The player guarding the left corner man will be on the block, not mid lane like good help. If that player was on the block, there is a better chance they'd be comfortable enough to play mid-lane they feel more comfortable selling out with their man closer to them. The stretched help defender allows your cutters to cut in front of the help when they cut to the rim - not into it or behind the help. It also makes the defense one step slower helping on the drive.

8. It makes an opponent's defender play out of position.
In high school basketball, many 5s are that traditional football player, usually a lineman - big, bulky, slow. The type of player who is used to throwing his weight around under the rim. Why not bring him outside? Make him defend cutters, defend the drive, defend screens, and have to actually find a guy, sprint at him, and box him out? It's harder to rebound when guarding a perimeter player - especially when you have to sprint from the help position. Making that big play on the perimeter takes him out of his element and makes him do things he is not comfortable with - and frankly may not be able to do.

In closing, I'm not saying that the 4 our 3 out is a bad thing - although I've become much less of a fan of three out over the years for spacing reasons. What I merely saying is that you don't need to have a post in the traditional sense of the word to be successful. In fact

2011-08-12T09:37:00.003-05:00

Just finished up reading "The Jordan Rules" by Sam Smith. Yea, yea, I know, I'm about two decades behind on this one! It's a well written book about the Chicago Bulls first title run with Michael and the Jordaires, as the rest of the team is called. Not only is it a good read from a basketball fan's standpoint, it also provided some good coaching insight. I've thrown some of the highlights in below.

What I found so interesting was how dysfunctional the team actually was for almost the entire year. Jordan didn't trust his teammates, they didn't trust him. No one was holding the others accountable. All the players were worried about themselves. They exhibited every single dysfunction in "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team"!! Everyone hated their playing time. Everyone hated their contracts. Everyone hated Jackson. Everyone hated the management for their contracts and the management's relentless pursuit of Toni Kukoc who they had already anointed the next star. They fought and cursed each other out on a regular basis. The locker room was full of gossip and behind the back complaints. It was complete madness most of the season.

Considering the dysfunction, you would think they would have had a season similar to my Timberwolves last year, but they somehow managed to win a NBA Championship. What happened? Well several things happened. First, they had the talent. They were winning games because they had the best player of all time, they also had Pippen who is one of the best of all time, they had guys like Grand and Cartwright to do the dirty work, and they had some guys like Paxson who could shoot from the outside and stretch the defense. They also had some stretches where they were fortunate to play injury plagued teams. So while they were wrought with dysfunction the cream still rose to the top against a lot of the bad teams during the regular season. But it all seemed to change in the playoffs.

They started to come together at the right time, for several reasons. First and foremost, what really stuck out to me was Coach Jackson began to mandate that Jordan start buying into the team concept. He was public with it, at times subtle and at times really up front. He started calling Jordan out for his play. What this did was gave the other players on the team a feeling of respect for Jackson. It also made them feel that they were part of a team not supporting actors in "The Jordan Show". I really think that once Jackson called out Jordan it forced Michael to buy into what was going on - and respect Jackson for it. Jordan, like every superstar, wants the discipline and wants to be coached I believe. They all need to be held accountable. Many coaches, including Phil Jackson himself in the beginning, (and including myself when I was a rookie at South Tama) are sometimes scared to hold that star accountable. We don't want them to quit or mutiny because we are afraid we will loose credibility and loose the team. The truth is, if a star is out of control, the star knows it, the other players know it, and everyone really wants the situation to be fixed by the coach. If this doesn't happen players start to really get frustrated.

Also, it was crazy to see how much Jordan matured himself during the season - he started to become a winner almost overnight. He started to figure out what it took to be a champion and ran with it. He started to trust his teammate he started to find his open teammates, frankly he started to trust his teammates more. At the beginning, Jordan wouldn't pass to ANYONE almost anytime, and especially not in the crunch. By the end of the book he's hitting Paxson for three after three against the Lakers. The development of Jordan in this book really impressed me.

I think this would be a great book to pass along to your "star" that really doesn't get the team concept. I think it would open his eyes to the issues his behavior is causing and what he could become if he buys in and figures it out. I know from now on I'm going to have a couple of extra copies on hand.

Teaching Players How to Dive on the Floor

2011-08-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

All of us as coaches become quite frustrated when players refuse to dive on the floor for a lose ball because we all know how much those 50/50 balls matter in a close game. It also infuriates us because it shows that we are soft and that's something we just can't tolerate. Having a team that gets on the floor and plays physical gives you a distinct advantage. I coached a freshmen team in Bagley (MN) that started the year 0-12 and we wouldn't get on the floor for a ball, ever. But as time went we started really getting on the floor hard and we finished the year 6-2. Was it all because of the loose balls, of course not! Some things started to come together. But I believe on of the things that came together was our "screw you" mentality. We were going to be the aggressors and we were going to out-physical you every chance we got.
With that said, I think sometimes players don't go to the floor because they don't know how to do it or it's not a habit for them. Sometimes I also think players are scared of getting hurt and need assistance overcoming that fear. Below are some ideas on how to build the habits and also the way that I teach going for a lose ball in order to hopefully prevent injury.

Building the Habits
Building proper habits for loose balls essentially boils down to doing two things - emphasizing it and rewarding it.
Emphasizing It:
1. Have it subconsciously be a part of every drill in practice.
     You don't need to do 10 loose ball drills a week for this to kick in, in my opinion. Loose ball drills are only something you run to start the year, or as a fun change up mid to late season. Their only real purpose is to get players over their fear of going for the ball. After that anytime there is a loose ball in a drill, in ANY drill for that matter, players need to dive on it. Even if a player fumbles the ball while passing it around in shell drill players need to sprint over and dive on it. This creates
2. Chart It In Games
     Kevin Eastman of the Boston Celtics (who you need to follow if you already don't), has a saying that goes something like: if you want to make things important to your players you need to chart it and stat it. He's exactly right. If you want players to dive on the floor for loose balls you need to keep it as a stat from your games. I think it would be relevant to keep attempts instead of balls gotten (you can keep both however), only because you want to highlight the effort that each player is putting in to get loose balls. It's also a stat that your least talented player can have a chance to excel at.

Along these lines, a great video for toughness is Tim Miles DVD "Creating a Culture of Toughness" and look into his GATA (Get After Their Ass) scoring system. It's a great way to integrate toughness into your program. It's a DVD that I watch every year before the season starts just to pick up a new thing or two and also re-affirm some old ideas.

Rewarding It:
     Rewarding it goes hand in hand with emphasizing it. You can chart it, stat it, and have it in practice all you want, but the thing that will get you farther with players is to positively acknowledge it when it takes place.
     In many of the practices I have been to, coaches find a way to give players positive feedback when the dive on the floor. It can be as simple as telling them good job, having everyone clap for them, etc. Another thing I have seen at practices for loose balls (and charges) that I really like is when it takes place the entire team sprints over, cheering, and pulls their teammate up. I don't know that there is a better reward.
     To emphasize it in a game you can simply have it as a category on your stat board and talk about it with your team. For example, "We only got 3 dives last game and we lost by 2, imagine if we would have gotten 2 more 50/50 balls that might have been the difference in the game" or "Jimmy, you did a great job last game getting on the floor 5 times, that's the kind of effort we need from you". If you want to go deeper with that you can give locker stickers for dives, among other stats. Either way, just doing some small thing to acknowledge the dive goes a long way.

Teaching the Form
     When teaching the form there are a few key points I like to make.
          1.The first is to dive at the earliest possible spot you can get the ball. No sense in waiting until the last moment - after someone else has started their dive.
          2. Leading with your shoulder is another important point. All players want to lead with their head, but I teach them to go shoulder first to prevent injury.
          3. Slide on your side is another key phrase I use. Have the players slide on their hip, it helps to turn the body and lead with the shoulder. I don't want guys landing on the palms of their hands either - sure way to break a hand or wrist. Side should hit first, then shoulder while the arms reach out.

All in all I think loose balls are an easy thing to have players do - once they become habit. We can stand and yell and stomp our feet on the sidelines over yet another missed opportunity - but what we really need to be doing is asking ourselves have we taught and emphasized the loose balls enough to be able to be angry at our players for it?

Using Progression within Your Drills

2011-08-01T15:36:00.002-05:00

Progressions within drills are something I have been toying with for a few years but really started exploring this summer. Although the Czar may not agree with me, it's something I have become a fan of lately and will continue using.

When I talk about progression within drills I am talking about a build up of sorts. Start with one skill and just and and build on that skill. For a great progression you need to start with one breakdown drill and build to live play. Each drill should emphasize the concepts from the one before as well as the live play after that.

One of my favorite times to use progressions is when teaching on ball defense using the series below. It's definatley not the only time, you can do this when teaching anything from an offensive move (crossover vs. cone, crossover vs. dummy defender, crossover vs. live defender) to team defense (shell, shell with cuts, shell with cuts and drive, shell into live).

1. Mass Stance (2-3 Min)
-Typical defensive stance drill. Players in lines, facing the coach at half court. Coach calls "stance!" players slap the floor, yell defense and get into a stance. After 2-3x of that (checking the stance) the coach has them chop feet and slide in a direction.
-Emphasize the proper stance

2. Partner Close Out (3 min)
-Groups of two with one ball. Player 1 passes to player 2 and closes out into a good defensive stance. Player 2 rips and pivots while the defender mirrors the ball. The defender (1) uses the verbal ball. Defender slides back and offense (2) passes to defense (1) and becomes defense.
-Emphasize the proper stance, proper closeout (sprint, drop, chop, high hands), and verbals (BALL)

3. Partner Close Out Cut Off (3-4 Min)
-Same groups, same situation as above. This time the offense catches and rips twice. The offense takes 2 dribbles, the defender now bounces back and cuts off the dribble. Use the verbal BALL on the closeout and DEAD on the pick up.
-Emphasize the proper stance, proper closeout, bounce and cut, and verbals (ball and dead).

4A. Iowa 1 on 1 (5-6 Min)
-Group of 2-4 at a basket with one ball. One defender starts under the basket with the ball, one offense starts at the free throw line. The rest of the players are in a line above the top of the key. The defender tosses the ball to the offenses, closes out, and they play 1 on 1. The offense has 3 dribbles max and cannot go outside the lane lines. If the offense scores they go to defense. If the defense gets a stop they stay. Players get 1 point for every stop - losers have pushups. The defender now must work on closing out, being in a stance, bouncing and cutting, and verbals now in a live one on one situation.
-Emphasize proper stance, proper closeout, bounce and cut, and verbals.

4B. 2 on 2 1 Side Drive (6-8 Min)
-Groups of 2, one defense one offense. Offense starts at the wings and has to catch the ball from the wing outside the three on the pass. Defense starts at the rim but is matched with an offensive player. Coach (or player that is out) throws the ball to one of the offensive players, that defender closes out and they play with the other defender as help. The offense tries to score, if the drive is shut down they pass to their partner on the opposite wing. Other defender closes out and plays 1 on 1 on that side with help. Switch every time,keep track of spots for points. Losers have pushups. Just like Iowa we are in a live situation using our skills.
-Emphasize proper stance, proper closeout, bounce and cut, and verbals

5. 3 on 3 Drive (5-8 Min)
-Players play 3 on 3, the offense has to drive and the defense works on closing out, being in a stance, bouncing and cutting, etc.
-Emphasize proper stance, proper closeout, bounce and cut, and verbals

6. 5 on 5 On Ball (6-10 Min)
-Play 5 on 5, the ONLY thing you watch as a coach, and emphasize, is the on ball defense - are they closing out, being in a stance, talking, etc.

Something I think is important is to share with your players the importance of the build up - something I didn't do a great job on this spring. Explain how one drill translates to the next and so on is important. Make sure you go over the emphasis, use the same terms, etc. This is a great way to get things to translate to the game. It's not just a drill followed by another, seemingly unrelated (in a teenager's mind) drill. It's a series where you are working on them in differing situations - really making their brain work and turn the skills into habits.

Have been reading a lot of Brian McCormick lately and he does a great job of talking about this kind of thing as well - teaching players how to play and developing habits with small sided games. One of things I like from him, and is applicable here, is the idea of play more and drill less. Do the breakdown drills quick, then have them play and watch what is happening. Which skill in this are they not getting? Is it a matter of form or practice (forming the habit)? If it's practice play if it's form do a breakdown drill again. After they play, run a quick breakdown drill based on the skill they are missing and have them play again. Kind of goes with what I did in Iowa with the 1 or 2 minute games. Play a few quick games, drill what we lacked, and come back to it.

Book Recommendation: The Politics of Coaching by Carl Pierson

2011-08-01T15:03:00.001-05:00

One of the girls basketball coaches at St. Croix Prep recommended this book to me. It arrived in the mail on Friday and it was finished this morning. It is a book I would call a must have for coaches - especially young coaches such as myself. The book covers many of the political challenges we as coaches face - even some of the touchy ones most people don't want to talk about - and we don't even want to think about. Some of the material is controversial, but it does get you thinking about the content and what you would do in a given situation.

It's written by Carl Pierson who was, until this year, a very successful girls coach at Champlin Park High School (MN) and Red Wing (MN) among other places. Pierson uses many real life situations he was in, how he dealt with them (good or bad), and what, if anything, he would have done differently. He also pulls in real life situations from his many coaching friends. The real world scenarios really help to make the book readable; it makes it come to life. He's got a very political mind and he talks about his thought process in different situations. The book covers everything from how to get a job (the campaign) to public relations moves, to dealing with program cancer, and so on.

I am not what you would call political. So this book was a great resource to get me thinking that way. I really feel it would have helped during my one year stint in Iowa, but better late than never. I have included the website below, and just to clarify I do not get anything for putting this up - just trying to pass the word along.

http://www.politicsofcoaching.com/

Why Reggie Miller Was So Hard to Guard

2011-07-08T00:56:00.000-05:00

I was watching random highlight videos tonight and happened to come upon this clip of Kobe Bryant answering the question of who he found the hardest to guard. His answer was former Pacer great Reggie Miller.

This was surprising on one hand and completely understandable on the other. You may have guessed that Kobe would have given a cliche answer like Jordan, Wade, etc. But I think his answer is very perceptive and spot on. Why? Because Reggie was a scorer who didn't need the ball in his hand to score. Many greats like Jordan have the ball in their hands when they do their scoring. In this situation you have help from your teammates and you only have to worry about your man. With Reggie you had to worry about the ball AND Reggie, you also didn't have help as he had that lightning fast release. As the clip below shows, Reggie was a master of moving without the ball. He was always in motion and he knew how to slow down, read his defender, and make the right cut off of any screen.

One of my favorite drills is the "Reggie Miller Drill", it's based on his skills of staying in motion and using the screens properly. For the drill, you need a passer (1), a shooter (2), and a rebounder (3). You also need chairs/cones out on the floor to represent screeners and use two balls - you can tailor the screens to fit your offense if you choose. The shooter runs around for 90 seconds making different cuts off the different screens at different angles. The point of the drill is to see how many shots you can make in 90 seconds. Rebounder passes to the passer who hits the shooter for the shot. Pretty simple drill but it gets fun when they start to compete. It also trains them to just keep moving and keep coming off of screens - just like Reggie Miller used to. Make sure the players catch low, play low to high, get their feet set and square.

Always Bring the Energy and the Passion

2011-07-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

Watching one of Jerry Petitgoue's videos - what I am always impressed with when watching Coach Petitgoue is the energy and passion that he still has after over 30 years of coaching. It's that passion and energy that makes him great - it's contagious. It's also a great reminder to young coaches like myself that no matter how experienced you are, there is no substitute for passion!

Offensive Rebounding

2011-07-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

I was reading the X's & O's of Basketball message board (great message board) and someone was asking the question about offensive rebounding options. There were some good answers and it got me thinking. Coaches have tons of ideas for offense, defense, transition, etc, but we don't do a lot with offensive rebounding - it's pretty vanilla. We either throw a lot of guys (3-5) at the glass like Tom Izzo does or we go Dick Bennett style and everyone starts to run back when it LOOKS like we are going to shoot to protect the rim. Below are two different ideas that might work for you along with sending alot or sending a few.

1. Crash guards only (or short players)
-So many times the guards are the first ones back - but why? Think about it critically, who would you rather have guarding the basket on the fast break - your short guard or your taller "post"? Also, perimeter players are not as used to having to aggressively box out like posts are. Lastly - boxing out a perimeter player is harder than a post player, there is usually more space between the defender and the offensive player unless you are on the shooter. Players defending in the post are usually standing right next to your offensive player. It also gives you a better track on longer rebounds.
-So when the shot goes up, your posts turn and run down the floor while your guards crash. As a five out motion coach I don't really have guards and posts, but I have bigger guys and smaller guys - so I would send my smaller players. How many you send depends on your philosophy.

2. Crash the backside only
-There are two reasons for this tactic. First, the missed shot usually goes to the backside. Second, the rebounders are not paying as close attention to their defender because they are looking at the ball as it is shot - it's a human reaction. Along with that, they have to cover much more ground for a good block out and it's really hard to hit a moving target (offensive rebounder).
-So your rule would be that any player on the backside crashes the boards, the players on the ball side get back in transition.
-When a shot is taken from straight on, it's your call on that.

Also, how do you know how many guys to send? Do you send a lot or do you send few? The answer to this boils down to two factors, and it's not what your favorite college coach does, it has to do with your personality and your team.

For your personality it comes down to who you are: are you a gambler or a play it safe kind of coach? Your rebounding strategy needs to fit your overall philosophy.
-If you like to gamble, pressure, run up and down than you need to send a lot of guys to the glass. You are going to give up a few (which with your personality you can live with) and you will also get quite a few. Coach Arseneault of Grinnell crashes everyone and his goal is to get 33-40% of offensive rebounds. Because he is a gambling personality he's more than willing to give up a few extra layups to get those rebounds.
-If you are a play it safe kind of coach, rely mostly on your half court defense, don't pressure, press, trap, or gamble very often you are a send few, if any to the glass. You may want to get those offensive rebounds, but as the game goes on and you give up a few transition baskets you will get on your guys and then they will stop going to the glass hard so they can get back. With that said, don't set your guys up for failure, have them get back so you can keep your sanity! Dick Bennett is classic for sending everyone back because the last thing he ever wanted to do was give up a layup - that was his philosophy.

For your team it comes down to what you have: are you big and athletic or not?
-Many times if you are not fast and big your best option is to get back right away. When Princeton Upset UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament Coach Carril knew his team was not nearly athletic enough to keep up with UCLA's running game. His strategy in that game was to send NO ONE to the glass. As soon as the shot went up everyone sprinted back, got into the lane and took away the break. If your team is in a similar situation I don't think it's a bad idea.
-On the other hand, if you are big and/or athletic you might want to crash a lot of guys to the glass. You are going to end up getting points because you are quicker/bigger and also you will have the athleticism to get back and cover yourself on defense.
-The bottom line is you need to weigh how many points you can get on offensive rebounds vs. how many points you will give up against their transition game. Even if you can get 1 more basket it might end up being worth it.

Late in the Game - Pass to the Unexpected (Yet Capable)

2011-07-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

I am in the middle of watching Hubie Brown's Secrets of Winning Basketball Volume 1 and in it he was talking about the Lakers beating the Spurs with .4 seconds left on Derrick Fisher's shot, see the video below.

What jumped out to me in this was the thought that instead of trying to force feed the ball to your stud, sometimes it's better to run a play for your good shooting role player to get the last shot. Every coach, and more importantly every player, on the other team is going to do what they can in a last second situation to guard your stud(s). If you run a play for your stud, they are going to be looking for that type of play and will likely be ready with plenty of help. If on the other hand you use your stud as a decoy and run some misdirection with him, you can get a good shooting role player open for a better shot.

Many teams through the years have used this strategy at the highest levels. Guys like Robert Horry, Derrick Fisher, Toni Kukoc, and Steve Kerr have made a living out of hitting big shots at the end of a game and it's worked well for their teams to go to them.

Along the same lines, there are times in late game situations that your stud has to know when to give the ball up to your role player. A great example of this is in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA finals when Jordan gave it up to Kerr as Stockton, who was guarding Kerr, doubled Jordan. In the video below, there is even mention of Jordan remembering a previous situation where Stockton left Kerr and stole the ball on the double team. Now your players might not have a memory like Michael, but your best player should understand that if the ball is in his hands he may have to give it up for the good of the team.

Now, I am in no way saying you shouldn't look to go to your stud at the end, I mean why wouldn't you want your best player taking the last shot? How many shots have guys like Jordan, Paul Pierce, and Kobe made over the years? Countless ones. Also, as a high school coach, you may not have the luxury of having a good shooting role player - your stud may be your only shooter/scorer. In that case you feed him the ball and roll with it. All I am merely saying that it might not be a bad idea to go away from the obvious in the end of a tight game once in a while.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin on Building a Program

2011-06-29T15:32:00.000-05:00

Was listening to the Colin Cowheard show today and heard the Milwaukee Brewers Doug Melvin speak on what he did to help turn around the Texas Rangers and Brewers - you can hear the interview on Cowheard's site. Cowheard asked Melvin what was his secret to turning around a franchise. Melvin's answer was great and can/should be applied to any coach taking over a program.

Melvin's Key Points:
1. Change the Culture
-He talked about how it's important to get the right people in place and change the culture. You have to make people believe that our organization can win.

2. Gain Trust
-You have to get the players, the management, the fans to trust what you are doing. This can take time, and you have to be respected, not liked, when doing this.

3. Have Patience
-This is a huge one, it's simple but hard to do. It's hard to sit there when things are not going right and keep the ship moving in your direction even when others around you think the course is wrong.

"And That Was the Difference"

2011-06-27T17:50:00.000-05:00

This was the comment made by an ESPN announcer during the NBA finals when Dirk made the game winning basket. To me that was a silly idea - I mean really?! Only that shot made the difference? Not the all the other shots, not the turnovers, not the offensive rebounds, not the good screens, not sharing the ball, etc? Only the last shot mattered, right?

What does this have to do with coaching?

Well, this is an idea that is engrained in the brains of our players. How many players are crushed when they miss the last shot? What about when the opposing team hits the last shot on them? Almost all of them, right? But are they as crushed when they turn the ball over in the first half or give up an offensive rebound the second posession of the second half? It's a small thing but what we have to teach our players is that wins and losses don't ever come down to the last seconds - it's really about all the seconds before - it's about every posession. Once a team gets that, they really become great. Below is a link to a poem I use to illustrate this point with my players. I would encourage you to give it to all of yours.

http://www.teamarete.com/itonly.html

Two Great Pieces of Advice on Goals

2011-05-29T19:19:00.000-05:00

I have been talking to a few high school coaches lately - the coaches in Minnesota are amazing in their willingness to share. Below are two great ideas on goal setting that I got. The first comes from Mark Gerber of Eastview High School and the other comes from Mark Klingsporn of Tartan High School. Both are very successful high school coaches.

What is a Goal?

When visiting with Coach Gerber, one of the amazing things he hit on was what is a goal and what is a reward? Is winning a conference title a goal? What about going to the State Tournament? According to Coach Gerber those are not goals, they are rewards. Goals are what you can control to get your rewards. Goals are things such as outrebounding your opponent. It is something you can control that affects the reward (winning). That is a great change in thinking about your goals, it goes alot with Don Meyer's idea of NBA (next best action) and controlling what you can control.

Making Players Give Up Their Individual Goals

In visiting with Coach Klingsporn he had a great exercise he does with his players to explain how unrealistic the individual goals can be for a team. He has his players write down how many points per game they think they should average. He then adds them up and shows them how many points per game our team would have to average to achieve those goals.

I did this exercise with my 8th grade AAU group and figured out we would have to average about 130 points per game for everyone to have the average they want. It was a great jumping off point for a discussion on how the team goals are what are important and the individual goals just get in the way.

Systems vs. Sets for Player Development

2011-04-23T08:10:00.001-05:00

I am coaching an 8th grade group this year in AAU and loving it. They are a good group of guys who work hard and are talented enough to play at the next level if they choose to. One thing we are struggling with right now is running a "system" offense. We run a modified read and react/motion offense that stresses pass and cut and back cut against pressure with the rules "fill to the ball on the perimeter" and "fill the open corner when inside the three". We also emphasize driving the ball and relocating after the drive. If our guys progress we will add pass and screen away, dribble over Euro screens, etc. But right now are guys are struggling to get the basic concept.

Our guys are having an issue right now with moving and reacting to what is going on. They are used to continuity and set play offenses that stress go from A to B to C and back to A or reset. It's a totally different idea than a motion/concept based offense. They have to use different parts of their brain to react to what is going on and be able to read the defense.

Using this type of offense in youth basketball is a MUST to me. Players need to learn how to play the game make plays on their own. They need to learn how to read situations in a system and learn how to handle them. When they get to the varsity and college level they are going to have to run a concept based offense or they will run a set play/continuity offense that they must make a play after the offense breaks down. If we don't foster those skills at an early age, when are they going to learn them? Playing a concept/motion based offense also comes with another skill: learning how to score/create in the flow of the offense. This is a critical skill for every player and something they need to learn.

I've seen progress in our group already, and I expect to see more as we go. It's fun to watch them improve and grow.

Why You Always Guard the Inbounder

2011-03-12T08:24:00.001-06:00

Here is another thought on late game execution. This video has been circling the
internet for sometime now. It's a great example of why you either need to face
guard the inbounder or back completely off so that the ball can't be thrown off
the defender's back. As you can see in the clip. the other defender is standing
in front of the inbounder with her back to the ball. If she would have turned
around, College of Idaho likely would have won.

Harvard vs. Princeton

2011-03-12T07:59:00.001-06:00

Loved the ESPN Sports Center quote on the Harvard vs. Princeton game:

One will move onto the NCAA Tournament, they will all move onto great
jobs.

It's a great quote to remind your players who are going off to play college basketball. Truthfully, for most of them, it shouldn't be about the basketball program, instead it should be about the business, education, chemistry program. That's why I give a big hats of to Jonah Travis from DLS high school in Minnesota. Jonah will be going to Harvard over other schools that he could have attended. For him it was a decision based on academics. Hopefully more players make that decision down the road.

Quick Back Cuts Out of the 1-4 High

2011-03-11T21:47:00.000-06:00

I love the 1-4 type set because it compliments what I like to do with five out motion and read and react type offenses. One of the great things about the 1-4 high is the backcutting opportunities that it presents for you. Here are some of the quick hitting back cut options out of the 1-4 high.

High Post Entry I

This is a pretty standard part of the 1-4 tool box. On the pass to the high post the wing back cuts hard to the rim for a layup.

High Post Entry II

This is a different take on the high post entry. Here the ball is passed and the point basket and corner cuts. The wing takes 2-3 steps down like he's making a back cut.

The post dribbles at the wing and instead of backcutting the wing comes back up and comes off of the post (5) for the dribble handoff. He takes the handoff and dribbles at the opposite high post. The high post steps high and then back cuts for a layup. The dribbler looks for the layup pass and then looks to turn the corner.

Wing Pick and Roll

On the wing pass, the point cuts to the basket and the corner. The ballside high post comes over and ball screens, the dribbler comes off the screen and the opposite high post pops hard and then back cuts to the rim.

The Point Screen and Roll

Playing on the same idea of back cutting with the backside high post here. The point comes off the screen by the high post. He then doubles back and comes back toward the opposite high post who pops and then dives for a lay up.

Dribble Over Back Cut

This is a classic in the 1-4 high tool kit. Point guard dribbles at the wing and the wing runs a back cut.

Having Something Ready for the End

2011-03-11T21:18:00.001-06:00

Watch this great play by Waverly-Shell Rock to beat Norwalk in the Iowa high school playoffs. Thought it was a very gutsy call by Waverly- Shell Rock. The thing I wanted to comment on was what Norwalk did after the play. Let me preface this by saying that the Norwalk coach is as good as they come. I got to see it first hand last year as his team pounded mine twice! I was pulling for Norwalk in this, but it wasn't meant to be.

The oop was completed with about 2 seconds left and Norwalk called timeout. But after the basket, I think Norwalk would have been better off having a play ready to go and just throwing the ball deep and going with it. Many times in a situation like this, the team that makes the clutch basket at the end gets preoccupied with the celebration and ends up having a mental lapse. Having a play ready to go allows the team to just get the ball and go with the opponent still focused on the last play. When you call timeout it allows the opponents to calm down, refocus, and become ready for the last defensive stand. To their credit, the Waverly-Shell Rock players look like they got right into their defense from the video, but I would suspect they were less ready than when they came out of their time out. So I think it's important to drill the end of game situations and have something in place to go to right away.

Leaders Making Mistakes

2011-03-08T22:40:00.000-06:00

Good quote tonight from Buckeye Football Coach Jim Tressel when he said "The most pathetic thing is a leader looking for sympathy". Considering what he is going through right now, this is a great quote. As leaders, we are responsible for our actions and the last thing we need is sympathy. It's important as leaders that we accept the consequences for our actions and deal with it.

The End of a Game: Sometimes It Comes Down to Players Making Plays

2011-03-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

I was watching the Sun Belt Conference final between UA-Little Rock and North Texas this evening. North Texas had a late two-point lead until UALR's Soloman Bozeman took a pull-up 3 with about 1.5 seconds left to win the game.

This is a great example of a player just making a play. Is the coach a savant for just letting his guy go? Of course not. But he did trust him to make a play and the player delivered. This is probably the biggest game of the year for UALR, a chance at the big dance, and it all came down to a player making a play. It didn't come down to some fancy coaching move or a great set play.

We spend a lot of time analyzing end-game strategy. Having the right set for the right situation. But sometimes I think it's more simple than that, sometimes it's just about getting your best player the ball and trusting him to make a play for your team.

Raptor Set - Great Late Game Play

2011-03-08T18:59:00.000-06:00

I saw the Raptors use this set to hit a game winning or game tying shot twice this year. you would think the NBA guys would have scouted this one. Its a great set to get a three out of a sideline out of bounds situation

Part 1
In this play, the 3 takes the ball out of bounds. The 2 (your shooter) starts at the free throw line, a little bit more toward the opposite sideline. The 4 starts on the lane line extended on the three point line. The 5 and 1 are stacked off the lane between the block and third hash. The 5 is on top. On the slap, the stacked players (1,5) come off the double. The big (5) comes of the staggered double first and curls to the basket. He then posts up. The point (1) curls around the double to the low wing area.

Part 2

As 1 and 5 curl around the player on the top of the staggered double (4) sets a down screen for the shooter on the bottom of the staggered double (2). The shooter (2) comes off the down screen and catches the ball for a three pointer.

Is There Time to Do It All??

2011-02-23T22:19:00.000-06:00

I was reading the first issue of "Winning Hoops" tonight that was published in 1986. There was an article from some coach who had just finished his first year at UConn as the head women's coach.

His article was about "The Problems of Being a New Head Coach". One of the points he made in the article was that "time is a new coach's greatest enemy". There is never enough time in a day to do it all, especially when you are trying to do it all at once. His advice was to plan your day and then give your staff/assistants more responsibility to get things done. That way they will better understand how you want things done and what kind of person you are; this will help establish better program consistency. He also mentioned it will help them feel like they have more ownership over the program - I know I have appreciated the responsibilty my head coach gives me this year. It's nothing earth shattering, but at the same time it's something we as coaches need to be able to do. Just make sure that you inspect the finished product to make sure it is done your way - again reinforcing the consistency within the program.
I know it is hard to not want to do it all yourself, it's human nature, but by giving up some of the jobs you gain a lot for yourself and the program.

By the way, the coach's name was Geneo something-or-other. I wonder what happened to that guy anyway?

“Good artists borrow. Great artists steal”

2011-02-10T21:54:00.000-06:00

This is a quote from Picasso, but it could have just as easily come from Coach Smith, Coach Calipari, Coach Knight, Coach K, or Coach Hurley when talking about coaching. I think it's important for coaches to remember that you should never be too proud ot ask for help, or just plain steal what someone else is doing if you like it and it fits your style. I guess it's just a reminder to never stop learning and never stop stealing!!

Why Playing Zone in Middle School is Wrong

2011-02-07T16:10:00.000-06:00

Been to a lot of 8th grade games recently in my quest for an AAU team (a quest that has been less than successful thus far). I am astonished by the number of 8th grade teams that play a lot of zone. So in light of that I will lay out why playing zone in middle school is just not right. I am not an anti-zone guy, as a matter of fact the 1-3-1 was my base with our varsity last year. I am just against playing zone at young ages. My case is as follows.

1. Playing zone doesn't develop on ball defensive skills.
There is a certain skill to playing a guy one on one in man to man. Of course you still have the help, but it's your job to stay in front of them. When I watch 8th grade teams play zone, and it's a lot of sagging off, not pressuring, and just kind of watching when the guy drives by.

2. Playing zones doesn't allow the offense to work on driving the ball.
The drive has become a bigger and bigger part of our game, and players need to be able to work on it in a game setting. Against zone however, they spend a lot of time standing, passing hte ball around the perimeter, and then driving into 2-3 guys. Instead of teaching how to stop the drive, coaches at the youth level simply switch to a zone.

3. Playing zone forces a lot of players to jack up three pointers.
I have watched a lot of teams shooting three pointers

4. Zone doesn't teach good help defense and movement.
Help defense is great in the zone, because they are just standing there. They just kind of saunter form place to place. They don't have to defend a cut then jump to the ball to help on the drive. They just kind of let the cutter go through and then wait for the drive still in help. It's not an active defense usually and that gives kids the idea that defense is not an active task.

5. Most high school teams play man.
I can think of 1-2 high school teams in the metro area that play mostly zone. So most of the teams play man the majority of the time. I can see playing zone in middle school if they are only going to play that in high school, but it's not the case usually. So why play a defense at the middle school level they won't be playing when they get older? Again, it goes back to development vs. winning, what do you want?

You can say that any defense taught poorly is a bad defense, and I agree. I just think that zone defense lends it self better to engraining those bad habits in a player. And I know some of my arguments revolve around offense of the opponent, but let's be honest, like Stan Van Gundy said, are you more concered about winning an 8th grade league or developing players? At the middle school level, I feel that all of the emphasis has to be put on player development over winning. As you get older the ratio shifts, but I can say that with this 8th grade team I am taking I would rather lose a bunch of games and have the guys be successful as seniors in high school than win a bunch and watch them ride the pine. But that's just one man's opinion!

Beating the Sag with the Skip

2011-02-03T21:46:00.000-06:00

Lately we've had a lot of teams sagging on us in the read and react taking away the basket cuts, back cuts, and drives. Forcing us to be a jump shooting team, which isn't a great option for most teams.

So how do you combat this? You can't drive, can't post, can't cut, and can't get inside.

The answer is easy, skip the ball. Skipping the ball makes the defense have to close out long distances since they are overplaying the help. These closeouts allow our players to make a move and attack with the bounce, and the help won't be in position yet, hopefully, having to come from the other side of the floor. It's why Coach Walberg's DDM was originally called AASAA - Attack, Attack, SKIP, Attack, Attack. Coach Walberg know that in DDM teams would overplay him with help and that's why the skip is vital.

Once you start skipping the ball, the defense starts to sneak out and try to defend the skip. This starts to eliminate the help as players cheat to be in better position to defend the skip. This then opens up the middle for driving and cutting. The other nice thing about the skip is it's always open because the defender is in extreme help in the lane. It's about taking what the defense gives you and exploiting it.

When to Slip a Ball Screen

2011-01-30T22:58:00.001-06:00

At practice the other day, Coach Liesener came up with a great rule for players setting the ball screen. Our new rule for ball screening is as follows: As you sprint over to set the screen, you need to slip the screen to the rim if you can't see your defender. If you can't see your defender it means he is behind you and you can cut in front to the basket. Pretty simple rule that is very effective. It also really kills teams that get out to hedge early because you are always slipping screens and beating them for layups. It forces them to hedge later or softer to protect against the slip. This allows your guard coming off the pick and roll to have a better driving angle at the rim.

When NOT to Get On a Player

2011-01-30T22:56:00.000-06:00

I have the privilidge of coaching an 8th grade team with the Minnesota Magic this spring. I chose to coach at the 8th grade level because then I can really focus on player development instead of "exposure" at this level.

Because of this, I have been watching a lot of 8th grade basketball. I have seen some really good things, lots of good team work, good attitudes and sportsmanship for the most part. A little too much zone and guys coaching in tee shirts, hats, and sweatpants, but that's another post and another time.

Something I saw a few weeks ago frustrated me though, and I have been meaning to blog about it. In an 8th grade game a team was down at half to a team they should have been beating and the coach was irritated - understandable. But then he proceeds to berate a player for missing shots. There is no teaching point there like "your shot selection needs to improve" or "you need to be shooting different shots". It was just you need to make shots.

I have no problem with a coach getting on a player at all, I get on my guys as much as anyone. But it was WHY he got on his guy that left me shaking my head. In my opinion, we as coaches need to get on guys about things they can control. It wasn't like when the kid was missing on purpose, he was doing his best to knock down shots and they were not falling.

Some things that I think are important to get on players about:
1. Lack of effort - without question this is the one that always gets me.
2. Mental lapses - not doing something because they just were mentally lazy.
3. Execution of What You've Taught - If you have taught something well, then there is no excuse for them executing it. I have a problem with this one as a coach at times because I always think I have not taught it well enough.
4. Dumb Fouls - Fouls because they are not moving their feet, they are reaching, or gambling.
5. Poor Attitude - This one is a no duh. But many coaches appear to be more worried about shots going in than how guys carry themselves. This is an opportunity for coaches to teacha life lesson.
6. Poor Shot Selection - Not that the shots are not going in, but the shots they are taking. Shots that are outside their range or not in the best interest of the team.

Some things I don't think you need to get on your guys about:
1. Shooting - They know the point is to put the ball in the hole. They are not missing on purpose! Are they good shots? Are they shots you want shot? If the answer is yes then let the misses go.
2. Effort Fouls - Anytime they foul going hard (loose balls, rebounding, etc) it's ok.
3. Things You Have Not Taught Them - If you haven't taught it, or taught it well, they are not going to do it. And don't assume players know something, teach it so they know. If they are not doing it, it may be because you haven't taught it well enough or they haven't practiced it enough.

So there you go. Although I noticed it at a youth tournament I am sure it happens at the high school, college, and NBA levels as well. What do you think?? Comments?

Stan Van Gundy Video on

2011-01-06T17:20:00.000-06:00

This is a short video clip from Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy on youth basketball. I think it's spot on and everyone needs to see it - especially youth coaches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ9jTOAMTtk

Using the Dribble Weave Against Half Court Man to Man Pressure and Trapping

2010-12-31T16:30:00.000-06:00

Recently, I watched a game where one of the teams is known for their stifling half court pressure and trapping out of their man to man. The other team utilized an interesting technique against their pressure and trapping.

They ran the dribble weave from a five out set. They basically ran the dribble weave continuously until they say an opening to turn the corner. They also looked to slip the hand off and throw the ball over the top to the slipping player. Another thing they did was to back cut when one of the defenders left to try and trap the dribble. Once they decided to penetrate it was a matter of the bottom two defenders collapsing and they would either kick out for a three or the corner would cut in to the rim as their defender left to help. Their front three were very wide, around the volleyball line. It just did a good job of making it hard to trap the ball and create turnovers for the other team. I think, however, that you have to have pretty good ballhanlders to make it work.

Along this same line, I was watching a college practice the other day and they did something similar with one of their sets. They would dribble weave in a 3 out 2 in look. Eventually their opposite post would flash to the ball, they would enter it to the high post and look to move or cut from there. They used the dribble weave to lull the defense to sleep and then attack with the pass and the back cut.

Why Chris Carter Was Great

2010-12-27T08:26:00.001-06:00

I am listening to Cris Carter, former Vikings wide receiver, sitting in as a guest host on Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN. They were discussing the idea of a quarterback and talking to a wide receiver about running a route wrong during a game. The cohost was asking Carter if that is the right thing to do - would he want a quarterback doing that to him? Carter's answer was classic and spot on. He said something to the effect of "Why wouldn't I want someone to help me if I wasn't doing my job right? I want to do the right thing." That's exactly why Cris Carter was a truly great wide receiver. All that he wanted was to be great, and it didn't matter how he got there.

No Time + No Space = Better Skills

2010-12-26T22:49:00.000-06:00

I've started reading "The Talent Code" by Dan Coyle. It's a great book that every single coach should read. It deals with brain research and revolves around the idea that skill is something that you are not born with, it's something that you develop over time, I anticipate that I'll be writing about this book again.

Something that really caught my eye was something written about Brazilian soccer players and their development. In Brazil many young Brazilians in urban settings don't have large grassy areas to play. So they've developed a game called "Futsal". It's played 5 on 5, with a smaller, heavier ball, and on a smaller court. According to research in the book, a big part of Brazil's soccer dominance is this game. It forces players to play in tight spaces, it forces them to play faster, and the gives the players more touches than a normal soccer game would.

How can we do this with basketball? Some obvious ideas are using heavy balls, playing 3 on 3, etc. But what about playing 3 on 3 using 1/2 to 2/3 of the court and having the three point line be out of bounds? That way the players are packed in like sardines. They can't even go outside the three point line. They are forced to play in tight spots, the game will be quick, and in a 3 on 3 setting they get more touches. It's types of games like this that will help players develop skills more quickly.

Give this some thought: In the hay day of the New York City guards - guys like Stephon Marbury, Lloyd Daniels, Rafer Alston, Mark Jackson, Kenny Anderson, and Fly Williams - most of the players played ball on the playgrounds. Most of the playground courts were not regulation size, they were smaller which forced the players to play in traffic and tight spaces. The games were of a run and gun nature, they were fast and required quick decision making. They were also unstructured games that allowed the players to make mistakes and learn on their own- which is important in skill development. The book also talks about "deep practice" where players are correcting themselves.

What are you doing as a coach to create these situations for development? If you have anything please post and share it.

"It's Not About You" - Maybe the Most Important Idea Players Need to Understand

2010-12-12T21:41:00.000-06:00

This statement is one we've been using a lot with our team this year - it's one we repeat many times a practice. Coach Liesener and I have read Tony Dungy's book on mentor leadership and it's something that's been a great resource for us this year. One of the biggest things I have found in that book is the idea that it's not about me. It's about helping everyone else. This team isn't about me or my feelings, desires, or career plan. This team is about me serving everyone else, doing my best to make everyone else a better player, coach, and person. I think that is a mentality that has been lost, or at least over looked, in our "what have you done for me lately" and "I love me some me" society. It's a lot easier to focus on the stats, the playing time, the wins and the losses.

However the idea of "it's not about me" hasn't been completely lost. Look at many of the sports teams that have sustained success over the last number of years and you can see this idea at work. Look at the LA Lakers over the last couple of years. Kobe didn't start winning titles on his own until it stopped being all about him and started being all about the team. They have gotten guys like Lamar Odom and Ron Artest to take complimentary roles because they have bought into the fact that everyone else is more important, that the team is more important than they are. Look at the Patriots, everyone's darling when it comes to this sort of thing. Why do you think they are great year after year, no matter who they lose. I mean they lost Tom Brady for an entire year and still were able to keep things rolling with unknown Matt Cassel at the helm. Why? Because they mentor each other, they help each other to get ready. Matt Cassel was ready because all of his teammates were making him better every day. It's the positive mentor vibe of the organization that keeps everyone going. They are also willing to part with a player when they are not fitting the tone that the organization wants - no matter how talented that player is. On teams like the Patriots and Lakers you never hear about a player unhappy with their role, because, for the most part, the players understand that it's not about them. It's about everyone else.

I think the bottom line is, as a coach, you have to get your players to understand that it's not about you, it's about everyone else. Once you can get the servant/mentor leadership mentality built into your program, you have come a long way. You will find that players really do start worrying only about making the team/program better. They worry the most about each other and the team. Stats matter less, and even the wins and losses are a little less important. Yes, you still worry about them, but you focus more on the process of achieving the sole goal - making everyone around you better.

Three Unselfish Basketball Plays

2010-12-02T22:00:00.000-06:00

Three important unselfish plays from ESPN's Fran Fraschilla:

1. Passing the ball ahead on the break.

2. Reversing the ball.

3. Screening to get a teammate open.

I would share these with your team. Simple things that make average teams good, good teams great, and great teams special.

Cheap Medicine or Weighted Balls

2010-11-27T19:59:00.000-06:00

I was watching the old Nolan Richardson video "Razor Back Attack" from his days at Arkansas. He was working a three man weave with what he called "water balls" which are simply basketballs filled with water.

What a great, cheap way to get medicine balls or those heavy balls that cost so much! We all have a few worn out or older basketballs lying around that we don't use anymore. Why not fill them with water and make them useful again? I wouldn't dribble those things on the floor, but for passing and medicine ball work they would be great.

I haven't tried it yet (and a google search turned up nothing), but I would assume that all you do is put the needle in the ball and slowly pour the water through the needle - of course deflate the ball first or you'll have a mess! One thought is to fill the bathtub, deflate the ball, and put it in the tub with the needle in and let the water flow in. Any other thoughts? Reply and let me know!

Coaching Blog

2010-11-22T16:18:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to drop a link for a coaching blog I have found helpful. It is a soccer blog, and is selling some type of soccer reports, but the blog itself is great coaching material. Nothing Xs and Os related of course, but a lot of good general coaching ideas. Hopefully it helps.

Zoom Reports Blog

Talent Is Not Static

2010-11-21T09:49:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday I had a chance to sit down with Coach Ken Novak from Hopkins High School. He gave me a lot of great information during our talk, but one of the great pieces he shared was that talent is not a static thing - especially when it comes to basketball skills. I think this is an important thing for coaches to grasp, as we tend to peg players with certian titles early in their career and then continue to believe that label throughout a player's career.

What this means is that we watch a kid early on and make judgements like "he's not a shooter", "he is a bad passer", "he is weak", "he doesn't run the floor", "he can't handle the ball", etc. We make this judgement about a player and then we don't always believe that it can be changed. The player is always going to have that tag. The truth is, however, that it can change - and often does. If players want to work at it they really can become better shooters, rebounders, ballhandlers, etc over the course of their career, from one year to another, and even over the course of a season.

What does this mean for you as a coach then? All it means is you need to constantly monitor and assess the true skill level of players. This allows you to have a grasp of where they currently are - not where they were 2 years ago. It's a hard mindset to break frankly, but its' one that if you break it will allow you to be far more efficient. It will also better allow you to reward players for working hard on their game - to realize the strides they have made and then let them use those gained skills.

Six Sections of Your Life

2010-11-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

This is more of a personal growth for coaches piece than anything else. If you are looking for some brilliant Xs and Os stop reading here (but I guess if you were looking for that you stopped reading long ago!).

I got this idea from Don Meyer I believe and it's a GREAT ONE for trying to keep our priorities in life in order. It's something we have to do in coaching when many of us have a "real job" along with our passion for basketball coaching - and if you coach at the college level it's almost the work of two full time jobs. Sometimes other things, important things, get lost in the shuffle of life and that just can't happen. So what I do is use the "Six Sections of Life" format that I believe Meyer uses.

Take a piece of paper and fold it twice so you have three sections on each side. In each section write something that is a priority in your life putting the word better before them. During the week when you do something to fulfill one of those categories you write it in. It helps you to visually be able to see where you are spending your time and to make sure you are not forgetting something important in your life.

I only have 4 since I'm just not talented enough to get more in. Mine are "Better Coach, Better Teacher, Better Husband, Better Friend". When I talk better I'm talking better than normal - so you could write things like Good Husband, Good Coach, etc. So each week I write in what I'm doing in those areas to be better in them. For instance this week:
Better Coach - Listened to two Bob Hurley Webinars, read "Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars", helped to give a clinic to our youth coaches, watched some tape and did some reading on the PACK Defense, etc.
Better Teacher - Researched a new way of cooperative learning, had my lessons planned well in advance, etc.
Better Husband - Bought flowers, took time to listen to her vent about her day, etc.
Better Friend - Called two friends I hadn't talked to in a while to touch base.

There is nothing wrong with having the same things each week. I'll take time to listen to my wife vent every week, probably a few times a week. But it's just the idea that I am trying to make time for that is what's important. This is nothing special, but the whole idea is that it keeps you a more well rounded person and you don't get focused all on one or two areas and let the others go by the wayside. When that happens you eventually end up with real problems.

Anyway, this is nothing outstanding, but hopefully it will help you keep your life in order during the busy season coming up.

And before I forget, GOOD LUCK to all the coaches out there starting up a new season. I know mine will be a blast again this year and hopefully yours will too!

Discipline in Black and White

2010-10-29T08:49:00.001-05:00

I met with Coach Vern Simmons from St. Paul Johnson High School last week. During our almost two hour visit, one of the best things Coach Simmons said to me was that discipline is black and white - there is no grey. This is something I really needed to hear, and love the idea of.

The bottom line, Coach Simmons said, is either the player did it or he didn't. He closed out or he didn't. He sprinted or he didn't. He is playing hard or he isn't. He is being respectful or he isn't. He is being a good teammate or he isn't. There is no gray area here, it's a all or nothing type thing. I think when you approach discipline in this way, it becomes more effective. It also gets you away form falling into choosing certainty over clarity. As a coach you want to be certain he isn't playing hard before you get on him, but the truth is if you think he isn't playing hard he's probably is not.

The Five Temptations of a CEO

2010-10-29T08:12:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't updated in a while, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with this - I need to start doing it more. I know no one reads, but it's a good place for me to keep my thoughts!

A few weeks ago, after reading "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" I read another book by Lencioni titled "The Five Temptations of a CEO" and it was great. Lencioni has a bunch of different business books that translate really well to coaching, I would urge coaches to read his work. The book centers around the idea that CEO (or coaches for that matter) have some temptations they fall into as high status leaders. They do these things for a variety of reasons, but all of them negatively impact their ability to be good leaders. I think these translate very well to coaching, I know I was guilty of a few of these last year and after reading the book hopefully I am able to put them behind me. And I think that's the point - be honest with yourself on these and then work hard to overcome them. Below I will go over each of the five temptations and what he talks about in relation to those five temptations.

1. Choosing Invulnerability Over Trust
So many times as coaches we want to appear invulnerable to our players, and try to portray the idea that we don't have faults. But players are smarter than that and see through it, at that point we just come off as insecure and over macho which doesn't really work well when you are trying to lead your players. I think it's far more productive to take time once in a while to show them you are not perfect, that you aren't better/stronger than everyone, that you are human. So if this is a temptation for you, take some time this season to let them know when you made a mistake and to show them your human side. This is one of the temptations that I can say I don't have a problem with.

2. Choosing Harmony Over Conflict
As coaches and leaders, we feel that if there is harmony everything is fine, but that isn't always true. Sometimes harmony is just thin a cover for big issues that will boil over and ruin your team at some point during the season. This idea that conflict is good is a common theme with Lencioni in his writing. If teams learn how to have good, productive, healthy conflict they can put everything out on the table, there is no backstabbing and such. So as a leader instead of pushing the conflict to the side you have to let it happen, and sometimes even entice it to emerge. Because if you have immediate and healthy conflict small issues don't simmer and grow into big problems down the road.

3. Choosing Certainty Over Clarity
As leaders we want to make sure we are making the "right" decision, and sometimes that fear of making the wrong decision paralyses us so much that we don't make a clear decision and that doesn't allow us to hold people accountable. Sometimes, as coaches we need to just make a decision and live or die by that decision. In doing that, it allows us to hold our players accountable and have our players understand what is going on. So as coaches make a decision, stick with it, and back it 100%. Sometimes I fall into this category.

4. Choosing Popularity Over Accountability
Sometimes, as coaches, we worry that holding guys accountable to everything will make them dislike us and not play for us. This is a trap that I somehow fell into last year and it shames me to admit it. I was so worried that the guys would rebel that I didn't hold them accountable as much as should have been done. We as coaches need to have more of a black and white mentality when it comes to holding people accountable - this is something that I am actually going to mention in my next post here. But I do think you need to work on accountability over all else. It lends to your credibility and makes you a great leader.

5. Choosing Status over Results
In the current state of athletics, coaches loose their jobs quite regularly. I think this makes us all a little bit gun shy to make the moves and do the things we need to do to have a great basketball program. We worry if we institute rule X or follow through with discipline Y that we are going to lose our jobs. I did last year and it was the worst mistake of my career!! It was my first year of head coaching, I was told I had one year to prove I could do it, and was so worried that if I did the things that needed to be done I might not be around next year. That ultimately lead to me having a hard year because I was too worried about losing my job. You have to get the mentality that you are going to do your best, do what needs to be done, and if that's not good enough then it's not. But when you worry about getting fired, you're going to get yourself fired anyway (luckily I wasn't).

So in conclusion, we all fall into some of these temptations sometimes as coaches and there is nothing wrong with that as long as we recognize what we are doing and fix the situation. I wish I would have read this book last year, it really would have helped with some things during my season.

The Five Dysfunctons of a Team - A MUST READ

2010-09-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Just got done reading "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni and it's a MUST READ FOR EVERY COACH. This book is written buy a guy in the business world, but it really applies to coaches as well. I was at Barnes and Noble last night with the wife getting a book for the mother in law's birthday. I was randomly picking up books and I stumbled upon this one. I started flipping through it and started to notice some similarities between the five dysfunctions and things I noticed with last year's team. I bought it yesterday and read it all today - it's only 216 pages. It's changed the way I'm going to approach program/team building from now on. If I'd had it last year probably wouldn't have been 1-21 and if we were, it was have been a little more positive experience - the foundation would have been better set for following years.

The book centers around the five things that poor teams have: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Most of the book is rapped up in a fictional story about a new CEO taking over a company and having to fix some dysfunctional behaviors - behaviors I think we see on a yearly basis on our own basketball teams. Now it's fictional, but it comes from the author's experiences with real live business teams. The nice thing is that it isn't completely perfect - there is some dissension at first, some hostility, and some of the people on this CEOs staff end up leaving and being pushed out because they were not toeing the line. It also shows how the fictional CEO handles the early criticisms of her staff, just as we might face some resistance early in the year.

The end of the book goes into detail about the five dysfunctions and also lays out some ideas for how to deal with fixing each step and all steps together. The approach is that all five of these are linked and depend on other dysfunctions, it comes at it from a complete approach.

Once again, I highly recommend this book for every basketball coach who wants to be better at team building next season or who wants to completely turn the culture around in their program. I am definately using it if I ever get the chance to be a head coach again!

Update:
Thanks to "CoachN" from the Xs and Os message board for adding that Coach Eric Musselman had previously talked about the book on his blog. I would look there as well if you are interested, as Coach Musselman is a far better writer than I!

Offense for "Dumb Players"

2010-08-29T19:53:00.000-05:00

Time after time in talking to coaches and reading message boards I hear the theme of - you can only run that offense if you have smart players. I hear this said about the princeton, motion, read and react, dribble drive motion, etc. But really, is there a good offense for "dumb players"??

Lets think about this critically - if you players are not smart it's going to be hard to run a set play offense. They have to remember where to go and know what to do when things break down. The flex offense is useless of you can't react to being denied on the reversals and you can't properly read the screens. The Swing offense works, but again, if it doesn't go perfectly dumb players don't know how to fix it. So what offense works if you have players that are not smart?? What do you do?

In my opinion you can run any offense, if your players are smart it will look like a million bucks, if they are not then it's going to be more of a struggle. I think motion based offenses are harder to run without the IQ, but I think they help build IQ and they get better as the year goes. I am the first to admit I am bias however. On the other hand I do think that using a continuity offense can help the players that are not as savvy, but at the same time a player with poor IQ will still struggle when the offense breaks down or the defense starts to cheat the continuity, what are your thoughts?

Watching the WNBA

2010-08-29T19:46:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here watching the New York and Indiana play in the WNBA playoffs tonight and I think more boys high school coaches, especially those at small schools should be watching the WNBA for ideas on the Xs and Os of the game.

Most high school guys coaches would scoff at the notion of watching the WNBA, but think about it for a second. Most high school coaches, especially those at the small high schools don't have athletes that are any better than the ones in the WNBA. We don't have guys who can run a backdoor lob for a dunk or hit a three coming off a screen over a defender. The WNBA coaches have some great plays that can be utilized when you don't have these kinds of athletic players.

Most high school coaches can't wait to get their hands on the latest college and NBA play books but you couldn't give them a WNBA one for free. Why?? What is so different about the WNBA? Watch a game once, I mean really watch. They have some GREAT SETS to get backdoor plays, get shooters wide open off screens, etc. They are plays and ideas that frankly most high school coaches, who's players play below the rim, could use and do well with. So when you are flipping through the channels next time and come upon a game, take the time to watch and really study what these teams do - us as high school coaches are really missing out on some good Xs and Os by passing up WNBA play - further more, what other live basketball are you going to watch on TV this summer?

Drill of the Week: De La Salle 2 Chair Series

2010-08-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

Coach Dave Thorson from De La Salle high school in Minneapolis is one of the better teachers of the game of basketball that I've seen. This is a drill that is standard in a lot of the development workouts that I do with players. It's a great way to build quick hands and ballhandling skills. I also like the fact that it's game like, it has a finishing element to it, and players seem to like it.

The drill is very simple, all you need is a ball, basket, and two chairs - garbage cans - boxes -etc. You can run this drill from the point or the wings. I would mix it up for fun. I will explain how it works from the top of the key to keep things simple.

Set one chair up at the top of they key, the other one just inside the free throw line. As players get better at the drill move the second chair farther out and closer to the top of the key. The closer the chairs are, the quicker and better your players have to be.

The gist of the drill is that a player dribbles up to the first chair, makes a move, dribbles to the second, makes a second move and finishes at the rim. I like players to come up with their own finished and to mix them up - regular lay ups, reverse lay ups, middle floaters, middle power lay ups, two foot jump stops, etc. After a certain amount of time (1-3 minutes, I like 2 min) you change the drill so they come to the first chair, make a double move, make a single move on the second and finish. After another 1-3 minutes, it's one move on the first chair, two moves on the second. After another 1-3 minutes it's double moves on both chairs. Again, have the players mix up their finishes. It's also important to mix up their moves on the chairs. If they come up and do the same move over and over it doesn't give the same benefit of being spontaneous and coming up with different combinations and moves.

"Dialing In" Your Game

2010-08-25T17:47:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share a quick mental imagery thought I used with a player the other day. As a player you need to be able to "dial in your focus" to whatever task is at hand. I explained it to the player that your focus is like dialing in your favorite radio station - not the easy digital type, but the old school type where you had to line up the line with the station. Many times you can hear the station, but it's not clear it's fuzzy and sometimes you can also hear another station. In order to really hear your station you need to be tuned exactly in - it needs to be perfect. This is how I explained mental concentration to the player - you might be concentrating on what you are doing but in your head you are thinking of other things as well - your girl, your friends, your life, your favorite song, etc. If you are doing this you really are not perfectly tuned in. You are getting static and other stations as well. So when you are playing basketball, before you play, you need to "tune yourself in" and put the dial squarely on basketball and the task you are performing. Great players have the ability to tune themselves in, average and poor players play with static and other stations playing in their head. It's really a simple analogy, but one that I think will resonate with players to help them imagine the level of focus they need to succeed.

Drill of the Week: Oak Hill Shooting Races

2010-08-09T09:14:00.000-05:00

I want to start putting up a drill of the week. If you have one you like, shoot me an e-mail (JohnCarrier42@gmail.com) and I will try to get it on here. This weeks drill comes from Coach Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy, his shooting drill DVD is excellent. I like the drill because it's a hustle drill, it has some dribbling aspects, and works on shooting. This is a fun shooting drill to get your guys competing. It's the perfect drill to end a practice with on a hard day to lift the team's spirits.

The drill starts with two teams. Each team starts under the basket where the laneline and the baseline intersect. One player has a ball and starts on the block (each team has a side). The rest of the team lines up behind them.

On the coaches signal, the first two players dribble down to the opposite end and take a pull up jump shot from the elbow. If they make it, their team gets two points. If they miss, they get their rebound and make a layup for one point. The layup must be taken from the same side as the elbow shot (ensures both right and left hand layups). After the shot (layup or jumper) is made, the players dribble back down to the side they started on and repeat. When their second shot is made, they pass the ball to the next person in line who then goes.

You can do the scoring one of two ways. You can play to a set number of points (I like 15 or so), or you can play for a set number of time. As always, the losers have some type of motivation.

Playing Because You Love the Game

2010-07-23T17:44:00.000-05:00

The other day, one of our players was going to his high school summer league game later that night. He had been frustrated with his play, and had not been playing very well. We had a very good talk and it was evident that his stress stemmed from the idea that if he didn't play well he wasn't going to impress his high school coach, he wasn't going to get any playing time, he wasn't going to get a scholarship, etc. This stress was causing him to play poorly and he was stuck in that cycle all of us as coaches know about. He had stopped playing basketball because he loved basketball..

With our high pressure basketball culture we've created, sometimes the love of the game has become lost in the shuffle. Players start earlier and earlier playing to get a college scholarship - not because they want to continue playing but because they want that scholarship. They want the prestige of the scholarship. Now, there isn't anything wrong with wanting a scholarship and having college paid for - and there is nothing wrong with playing basketball because you want to play professionally. But those dreams shouldn't make you forget why you started playing in the first place - because you loved the game. If you lose the love of the game, basketball becomes a job and you will eventually burn out. The great ones are the ones like Kevin Durant who play because they love it. You watch Durant play and it's pretty evident he loves to be out there. If you forget that you love the game I think it impedes your ability to work at it. What you need is a combination of goals (scholarship, money, etc) and the love for the game - when you have both you will go farther.

As coaches, I think we need to do things to foster a love for basketball within our players. Part of it is giving players time to just play and enjoy it. Now that time isn't in the middle of a game, but in practices and the off season players need to just be able to play and have fun. So make sure that you are incorporating that into what you do. Also, help your players to be fans of the game. Simple things like talking about the previous nights games, pro and college, will help and you can even step it up by taking your guys to different high school, college, and professional games where they can just be fans.

After having the talk with the player he sent me a text after his game tell me he had a great game. Scored 18 points and pulled down 8 boards. He said it was the most fun he'd had because he started playing for the love of the game again - stopped worrying about everything else and just loved the game again. So maybe there is something to be said for loving the game.

Teaching the Game Using Technology - Teaching to a Techie Generation

2010-07-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

During one of our workouts the other day I was trying to explain to a player how to use his feet to set up his crossover dribble better and make it more effective. For whatever reason, he wasn't getting it. I told him, I showed him, but it just wasn't working. I kept thinking about other ways to show him.

After a a couple more minutes, I had an "ahh ha!" moment. I grabbed my blackberry off the stage, opened up Youtube, and downloaded a video of Tim Hardaway highlights with his killer crossover. I was then able to show the player how Tim used his foot work to set up his crossover and make it more effective. That caused the light bulb to go off in his head and he was able to better perform the move.

For me, this brings up a point many coaches ignore. We live in a technology age with players who've grown up with the internet, ipods, cell phones, etc. Our players sometimes learn things well from watching those short video clips. How can coaches use that?? Sometimes it's as simple as finding some online video clips of a concept you want to teach - a move, how to run an offense or defense, etc and sharing it with your players. You could also direct them to different blogs, podcasts, or other web based media that has some significants. I've used many blogs, especially Alan Steins to show players how hard NBA guys work. Sometimes it's more complex, such as making a series of video clips for your guys to take home and watch - or even throw them up on youtube so they can watch at home or on their phones.

I would encourage you to think about how you can use new technology to reach your players for better results.

Take Ten Minutes

2010-07-17T09:10:00.001-05:00

The last year or so, I've become so busy with my teaching as a first year teacher and the actual execution of coaching that I've gotten away from taking the time to THINK about our craft. Its important to take time to actually THINK about coaching, not just read about it, watch videos, talk to other coaches, etc. I feel that it's important to spend some time each day thinking about basketball and coaching. The great Don Meyer feels the same way - watching one of his videos is what reminded me about it.

So I'm going to start spending ten minutes each day alone with my thoughts. Just thinking and writing down my thoughts. I'm also going to get back to carrying around a pocket notebook. Reading over an old one of mine the other day, there were some good ideas in there.

When you do this, just let the ideas flow. Don't spend time worrying about coming up with all great ideas, because you won't. But if you open your mind up and let the ideas flow some that come out will be worthwhile for you! Again, I encourage you to find ten minutes a day (five if you are really busy) to do this, it will definitely be a good investment of your time.

The Real World Doesn't Care

2010-07-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

We had a talk with our players tonight about making connections between sports and the real world. One connection that I try to make with players, and I think needs to be a priority with coaches is that while you as a player are performing your "job" (playing) what is going on in your life doesn't matter. The fact is that when you have a job, your boss isn't really going to care if you are having a rough day, week, or month. Your boss won't care that you had a fight with your mom/wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/friend. Your boss isn't going to care about what you have going on outside of your job in your personal life. What your boss is going to care about is how you perform your job at work. It's hard, it's cutthroat, but it's the reality that we live in. We as coaches need to stress that to our players as well.

Sometimes it's easy to let a kid slide because he had a bad day or he has stuff going on at home. And while that's great and compassionate, it does a disservice to the player. It tells them it's ok to bring your baggage to work - when in real life that isn't true most work places. We need to demand just as much of a player and hold him to the same standards on his best and worst days. Our players need to learn how to turn off the personal life at the door and focus on the task at hand - whether it's practice or a game.

But I think as soon as the "work" of practice/game is over then we can turn on the compassion. We can talk to that player and help them solve/deal with/cope with their problems. Or at the very least we can just be good listeners. It's then outside the game/practice that we become the compassionate men and women we need to be. Outside of "work" is when we give them a break, sit down and really communicate with them. Taking this tactic will also benefit them more in the long run by actually dealing with their issues.

"Renters" vs "Owners"

2010-06-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

This is another quick Don Meyer thought that I love. Many times when you look at a house you can tell if a person rents or owns it by the way the house and yard are taken care of. Owners care far more about the house than renters do on average because they have a stake in it. The same idea is true with your players and their view of the program/team you run.

If your players are "renting" their spot in the program/team they are not going to care enough about it to take care of the program. In the end all they care about is using the program. They are just there taking up space and in turn hurting the program. You need the "owners" the guys who buy into the program, have a stake it in, and care enough to want to better it. You need guys who are always representing your program well. Working with younger players, doing well in class, behaving classy on and off the court, being a positive community role model, and just going out of their way to help the program any way they can. The more owners and less renters you can get in your program, the better your program is going to be.

Players Echoing Commands

2010-06-27T23:19:00.000-05:00

I watch A LOT of tapes with Coach Don Meyer (amazing former coach from Northern State University), and something he does with his guys is teaches players to "echo" his commands or call them out to their teammates as they hear them. They echo them until everyone is echoing the command. This is a great idea as it teaches players to communicate and it also ensure that every player knows what is going on. He uses it in practices as well as games with great results.

Something to think about!!

What I Learned This Year

2010-06-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first post in a long while. This season was a rough one, and I didn't feel like I had much to say. Its hard to keep the guys into it when you are 1-21 for the year...it was by far my most disappointing season I've ever had. I made a lot of mistakes this year, did some things well, and learned a lot. Unfortunately for me it was not the right fit, and I've since moved on. I decided to wait until school was over and I was gone to share my insights on my season. I'm going to be open and honest about the season and what I learned in the hopes that it helps other young coaches along the way.

What I Did Wrong

1. Didn't have enough confidence in what we were running to be steadfast about it.

-I knew from previous experience that what I was doing worked, but I wasn't completely sure of it and I think it showed right away and didn't help when I went to tweak what we did throughout the year and the players saw itwas changing because it wasn't working. Not exactly a great way for a new coach to breed confidence within the program! I should have stuck to my guns more and paid deerly for that!

2. Was too positive at the beginning of the season.

-Although I wasn't dumb enough to predict that we would win X amount of games, I did give our players a lot of feedback saying we could compete with anyone and have a positive season this year - which to them meant wins. Instead I should have been more realistic about our chances in our league and should have stressed that all we just play hard and that's enough.

3. Was not harsh enough or honest enough about players roles on the team.

-While I did define players their roles, many times I tried to "soften" (read - sugarcoat) their roles on the team. I would tell a limited role player that they were important, their effort was appreciated, and I would try and get them minutes when I could - they would then get disappointed when the minutes didn't come. Instead I should have told the players that were role players simply they were role players and would likely not see the floor. That way they would appreciate minutes they got.

4. Let our offense be too loose.

-I wanted a free wheeling offense that allowed players to play. I thought it would bring some energy and excitement to our program and help it get going, especially at the younger levels. But upon reflection, I think our offense was little too wide open since we were one of the top teams in the state in shots taken and turnovers. With the group we had we should have played a slower more deliberate game and should have managed the shots a little bit better.

5. Let the parents intimidate me.

-I'll admit that I let the parents throw me in my first year. Many times I was not as forceful in defining the roles of parent and coach as I should have been. It's easy to handle parents when you have a head coach above you to have your back. It's much harder when you are the "lone ranger" so be ready to be tougher than I was! I let parents talk with me about topics and at times I never should have. I also should have communicated better to the parents what was going on throughout the season. We had the traditional meeting at the beginning of the year, I had individual meetings with each player and parent before the first game to define roles. In hindsight I should have had at least one more private player/parent/coach meeting in order to keep the lines of communication more open.

6. Not demanding enough at times on certain aspects of things.

-I was demanding in terms of behavior and effort. But where I wasn't demanding enough was on the execution end. I used the cop out of - it's the first year and they don't know the system as well because it's the first year, it will get better. I shouldn't have done that. I should have demanded they do things right and the way that I wanted them done every time.

7. Didn't communicate enough with our other coaches on the staff.

-This was something that I was dead set on doing this year, but as the season started I got "deer in the headlights" syndrome and kind of was overwhelmed with everything we had to do. I was constantly checking with them to make sure everything was OK, but with weights in the AM and practice after school, I did not attend as many games and practices as I should have (we didn't play at the same time as our other teams). I also had a couple of preseason meetings where I gave the coaches the playbooks of what I wanted them to run. But never found time with everyone's schedule to have a meeting - and that's something I should have been a stickler about and made time for.

Things I Did Well

-After reading the above, you might thing the year was a complete disaster. In many ways I felt like it was and I really regret that I couldn't have helped the guys get more wins. But, at the same time we were within 6 points of the #1 rated team in the state in the fourth quarter of a game, we were down 23 points in the first quarter of our playoff game before rallying to get it to within three in the fourth quarter. So, throughout the season there were some positives to be had as well.

1. Staying positive and continuing to grind it out the entire year.

-This is the #1 greatest thing I feel that happened with my coaching this year was I was able to stay positive the entire year even at 1-21. I've always had a hard time being positive when things are not going well, and it was a goal of mine to get better at that aspect this year. Even when we were 1-20 in the first playoff game and down 23 in the first quarter I wasn't belittling the guys and telling them how crappy they were, I was still staying positive with them to the end. Truth be told, I was too positive this year, but at the same time it was a learning thing for me coming from being very Bobby Knight esque in previous years. I think it really did help the players to be able to gut out a tough year. For me, there is a great deal of pride in the fact that I coached the last few practices as hard as I did the first practices and didn't give up all year, while that's never been my personality, it's good to see being 1-21 doesn't change that about me.

2. Getting players in the gym in the off season.

-This was something that hadn't been a regular thing in the community. But I put it out there to the guys what it would take to get better, gave them plenty of opportunities, and they took them. We had almost all of our varsity players and younger kids regularly at our workouts and open gym sessions getting better. I tried my best to make it fun, exciting, and worth their time.

3. Got involved at the younger levels.

Along with the older kids, I ran twice a week open gyms for the middle school players and once a week open gyms for the elementary. I think it made a difference working with those grades and ages to get them more excited.

4. Being creative and taking a risk.

For years the program had had a walk the ball up slow it down style and the players were ready for a change. I've always been a push the tempo guy, so I took a gamble and went to the extreme with my tempo. In the beginning this created a lot of excitement and interest within the program which was good. I think if we would have ran it for a couple of years players would have adopted the system more readily and been better at it. While this is a mistake as well, there is something to be said for going out on a limb and shaking things up. It's a better feeling to have tried it and failed than never given it a shot. We also played a lot of different and junk defense I wouldn't normally play, and it helped us out. We were able to be within 6 points of the #1 ranked team in the state because we went stick and three on them a lot of the game.

5. Learning from my mistakes

As a first year coach, you are going to screw things up, a lot of things, I promise you that. And if you don't make any mistakes your first year you are probably not looking hard enough. So make sure when you make a mistake you step back and learn from it, make yourself better.

Again, I hope this post can be helpful to young coaches out there that are taking or have yet to take their first coaching gig. I tried to be as open and honest as possible with my comments.

Never Tell Your Players to "Post Up" Again

2009-11-01T22:14:00.001-06:00

Been a while since my last post, but I'm back at it! Sorry for the gap.

Recently I watched Coach Petetigoue's Zone Dribble Drive Motion DVD and he did an EXCELLENT JOB! One of the best points he made was he was telling his post player to "box out" the defense and not "post up". After seeing him make that point, I will never again tell my post player to "post up" but instead will have him "box out". Boxing out envokes ideas of contact, being low and wide, having your hands ready, fighting for position, and really getting into the person you are boxing out, which is what you should do when you post up as well. If you are told to post up, there is the mental image of a guy standing on the block, hand up, looking for the ball - he is not being aggressive and not making contact. So start this season by introducing your players to the concept of boxing out when looking to get the ball.

Showboating or Fundamental Play??

2009-10-18T20:09:00.000-05:00

Thought about this the other day whie watching that insane hockey goal by that nine year old on ESPN and thought it would be something to share with you guys.

Many times we as coaches we get upset with a player who throws no look passes, behind the back passes, shoots reverse layups, etc. But at the same time we marvel when we watch those same plays happen on highlight reels when they are done by Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, etc. When we see them performed by these legends we compliment them on their command of the fundamentals. We don't see and forget all the crazy passes Cousy threw that sailed out of bounds, all the reverse layups that Jordan missed and all the no look Magic Johnson passes that went sailing off an unsuspecting teammates head. We also don't see, on those highlight reels, the time they spent as youngsters perfecting those passes and moves. How many times they screwed it up before they acieved mastery and success at these moves.

The point of the above is not to say that every kid should be throwing behind the back passes all on every play. It's to put out there the idea that these things are not terrible plays, they are in fact fundamentally sound basketball plays when they are made in the correct situations by players who have learned the skill (sometimes you have to give them some rope while they learn). So as a coach think about teaching how to shoot reverse layups (I'm HUGE on these), and at least how to throw a good no look pass on the break. If they are not done at the correct times they are in fact showboating! So as a coach, take the time to teach your players when are where to use some of these plays and it just may benefit you downt the road.

True Fastbreak Basketball: The secret is in the mindset - not the system.

2009-10-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

Coaches all over are constantly looking for the best fastbreak "system". I personally don't believe that there is a certain system that is the perfect system for the fastbreak. I personally believe that the secret to great fastbreaking basketball is the mindset of the coach and players. If you have the mindset there are many different fastbreaks that you can run and have high scoring success with.

The coach has to be able to let go of the reins a little bit, let the players take shots (even if a few are questionable), and let the players play a little more loose for the sake of the tempo. If a coach can not give up some control to the players, the fastbreak is not going to score nearly as many points. Traditionally, high scoring teams are lead by "Maverick Coaches" (knew you missed that word after the election ended) that have a free wheeling spirit and kind of let things fly. They enjoy the pace of the game and the crazyness of it all. They are ok taking a high bulk of shots. Minnesota has had some very high scoring teams in Cass Lake-Bena and Minnesota Transitions Academy, both teams routinely go over the 100 mark. They shoot early and often with multiple players taking a high amount of quick shots. They take a lot of open threes on the break. They push the ball, let their players play a little more than some. Thus they score more points. They also have the talent, and it helps when you have talent!

As with everything else X and O related, it looks great when you have studs running it. Of course LMU was great when they had guys like Kimble, Gathers, and Fryer, because those were some great players! Same with with those Runnin' Rebel teams in the 90s look at the STUDS those guys had! Most high scoring teams are unsurprisingly lead by talented high scoring players!

I do think, however, that many of the great fastbreaks teams run have some commonalities. First of all, and most importantly, those fastbreaks are PASSING breaks. It is a given that passing is faster than dribbling, and most prolific fastbreaking teams use this type of break. These teams also use a sideline passing break. It seems passing it up the sideline, away from congestion results in quicker advancement of the ball for many teams. Most prolific fastbreaking teams use this type of system. Also, most fastbreaking teams put a high emphasis on second chance baskets and offensive rebounds. Coach Arseneault from Grinnell wants his teams to get 1/3 (33%) of their misses and Coach Porter of ONU Women's fame wants his teams collecting 40%! So great fastbreak teams take a lot of early shots, BUT they also get a lot of thier misses for second chance baskets. The last commonality of almost all prolific fastbreaking teams is that they push on makes and misses both. They are ALWAYS looking to get the ball out and run with it no matter the situation.

Something else that aids the high scoring fastbreaks teams is not their specific offensive system they run but an aggressive, pressing, trapping defense that creates live ball turnovers and easy layups or shots on the other end. Very few teams are a great fastbreaking team if they play passive half court defense, only because each possession for the opponent takes too long. It's part of why Coach Bennett's teams were never extremely high scoring although they were GREAT defensively. Grinnell College, a very well known scoring machine, would rather give up a layup after ten seconds than get a defensive stop after 30. When Coach Bennett heard that theory, I am sure he puked on his shoes. Their reasoning is that they want to push the tempo and fastbreak - they can't do that if the other team is running their offense. They would rather get a quick steal and a layup. Both Minnesota schools outlined also use an aggressive trapping system that gets them easy points.

At the end though, with most things in basketball come down to the Billys and Joes running those Xs and Os. If you have a great team, you are going to score a lot of points regardless of the system you run. And if you let go a little bit, your team is going to score more regardless of if you are running the Grinnell, LMU, North Carolina, Olivet, or UNLV fast breaking system.

From The Other Side Of The Desk....

2009-10-06T19:53:00.001-05:00

Whenever I go into my athletic director's office, I sit on one side of the desk and he sits on the other. I often wonder exactly what's going through his mind over there on the other side. What he thinks of me, what he wants from me, and what he wants me to do with our program here at South Tama County to make it as successful as I know it will be someday. So, I finally asked him and here was his response:

1. Get people to trust in you and themselves.

2. Don't fear conflict. Conflict is healthy. If kids / coaches / parents / anyone isn't doing the job, confront it in a constructive manner.

3. Get commitment. Be commitment. This is nonnegotiable.

4. Hold kids and coaches accountable. I'm not saying make them run if they don't shoot 50%, but address it when they don't meet goals / expectations. Make it matter.

5. Focus on what the end results should be. Talk about it, be about it, live it all the time. If you do that, kids will want to do what is necessary.

I thought this list had some very good ideas and that I needed to share it with all of you. Hopefully you take time and consider these thoughts.

Number two is a very good point for me personally, many times we as coaches shy away from conflict because we see it as a negative, when in reality many great things can come from conflict if it is approached in the correct manner.

Hopefully this gives you guys something to think about. It's always good to know what is going through the head of the person on the other side of that desk!

What Are Your "Acceptable Turnovers"?

2009-10-04T01:37:00.000-05:00

I went to a clinic at Marshalltown Community College today and listened to Coach Rick Majerus speak. While I didn't pick up a lot from the Xs and Os side (he shared some PnR material that was pretty basic, good, but stuff I had seen before), I picked up some great lines within the presentation. Some stuff was just amazing he said. But something he said was that he had some "acceptable turnovers", which were turnovers he wouldn't get upset about. The one he shared was a player getting a three second call because he was posting hard. I agreed with that statement, and decided to put together a list of my own. Below are mine, and a little reasoning on why. What are yours?? Why??? Feel free to post and share on here, or shoot me an e-mail!

1. 3 Second Call When Posting Hard
-For this, I agree with Coach Majerus, don't fault a player for posting hard. Now if it happens a third time you start to get on the player about it.

2. Offensive Charge Three Feet Around the Basket
-Some of you are shaking your heads on this one, but first, before you laugh, let me explain. I want our players attacking the rim hard, if they have to worry about changes, they are not going to go as hard. Also, if you make a player take a good hard charge, and you attack him hard, he's definitely going to think twice about taking another one. He may end up turning or flinching the next time and gettting a foul called on him instead - so a positive for us. Again, if it happens more than twice with the same player, we have issues that need to be addressed.

3. Rebounding Foul
-Don't care what you say, I want my players to battle for a rebound within every inch of the rules, and if they pick up a few fouls on the way so be it - as long as they are not dangerous and flagrant. It's about creating a culture of toughness and not worrying about those fouls is OK by me.

4. Foul, turnover, or Out of Bounds Violation When Going After a Loose Ball
-Sometimes, you are going to get a foul diving for a ball, or you are going to grab it and turn it over by travel 0r out of bounds. I can live with it, as long as the player is on the floor.

5. Five Second Call On the Passer When No One is Open
-This is another one that might make you wonder. But for me, if no one is open, don't throw them the ball. I have this for two reasons, it relieves pressure on the passer and puts some ownership on the other 4 players to get open in a dead ball situation. It doesn't give the passer the excuse of "I threw it because I was going to get a five second call". Also, if we do get a five second call, the turnover is going to be a dead ball foul, thus allowing us to set up our defense. So if no one is open, don't throw them the ball.

So there are my five. What are yours? Do you have any?? Just something to think about on a Saturday night!

Having a Substitution Routine - And Teaching It

2009-09-26T21:38:00.000-05:00

Checking into and coming out of a game, it's a simple thing, sometimes. Players checking in and out, moreover how they do it, can have a very big effect on your team in a number of ways. Having, teaching, and enforcing a set routine on subsitutions can have a very positive effect on your team. Below are some negative situations and how you can change them to be positive impacts on your team.

Situation 1:
Player A checks in for player B, player A runs in, points at B who runs off. On the next defensive posession the player that A was guarding (who B should have been guarding) takes the ball and dribbles in for a layup because player B forgot to ask player A who he was guarding.
Solution 1:
It's a simple thing, but teach and drill your players on communicating with the player they are going in for to find out any offensive/defensive assignments. What I prefer is giving player A a water bottle, towel, or something else and having him hand it to player B. Player A cannot let go of the towel/bottle until he tells player B what his assignments were. If player B does not know what he is doing, player A is held accountable. Also makes players aware of who is coming in for who. Simple but can be effective.

Situation 2:
Player A checks in for player B. Player B is mad that he got taken out and stomps to the end of the bench where he proceeds to pout.
Solution 2:
If you haven't taught and drilled this as unacceptable behavior, it's harder to enforce it as such. The routine I like is having any player that gets taken out have a seat on the bench next to the head coach. No matter what, players that come out are required to sit in that seat - and are not allowed to move until directed by the coach - they then slide down one seat. This takes care of a lot of the end of the bench tirades and pouting that takes place on so many basketball courts. It also gives you, as the coach (or your assistant) a chance to calm them down and refocus them. If they do not come to thier assigned seat, then can be more effectively disciplined I feel.

So there are the two routines I teach and they are things I feel are worth taking the time to teach. Have others? Help me out and pass them along!

Never Lose Sight of When It Was Magic...

2009-09-21T20:16:00.000-05:00

I know I just posted yesterday (see below), but I decided I had to post again today.

I was working my elementary open gym tonight and started thinking about my basketball experiences at that age. And just like that my first ever REAL BASKET, in a REAL GAME came flooding back to me.

It was the last game of the season, I was in kindergarden playing YMCA ball in Virginia (MN). It was actually at the old Eveleth (MN) YMCA with the dark, dingy gym. Anyway, it was my last game, hadn't scored yet but had tried many times. I just couldn't put it up there. It was toward the end of the game and a teammate threw a pass my way, I was right under the basket, on the right side, in perfect position. I caught the ball and heaved it up there with all my might, and by the grace of God the thing went in! I still can't believe it did. But of all the parts of the memory that came back to me, the most vivid part was the pure, magical joy I felt seeing that ball go through. Didn't make another basket the rest of the game, and finished with only one basket, but that one basket may have been the happiest basket I ever made. It was a rare moment when the game was pure and good, when nothing else mattered but the fact I made that basket.

The reason I told this story was not to show how great of a basketball player I was/am (because let's be honest, I'm not!), it wasn't simply to share a story about myself, it is because the story reminded me of a time in my life when there was no pressure to win or perform, when basketball was completely pure. I urge you (coach or player/fan) to revisit those lost memories of when basketball was simple and pure, remind yourself of that time. And also, as a coach, to remind your teams of that time in their lives, to remind your team that at the end of the day basketball is a great and pure game.

Condensing Your System

2009-09-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

It's my personal belief that players win games, schemes do not. As a coach I want to introduce some concepts and ideas on offense and defense to help my players be successful, but at the end of the day I'm more interested in developing players than developing offenses and defenses. My philosophy is run a few things and run them well instead of running 7000 things.

As a high schooler I went to two high schools and played for two different varsity football coaches. The first man I played for ran 3 formations, and we probably only had 15 or so plays, but boy we ran them well. The second coach I played for had 120 plays and 16 formations in our playbook, we were constantly confused about what was going on.

The first coach I mentioned has made many, many trips to the state football tournament, is in the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of Fame I believe, and everyone regards as a living legend. The second coach was out of football after two years as a head coach and has not coached again. Both coaches had roughly the same amount of talent, but the first spent more time developing it than the first.

This is why I'm a firm believer in running a few things and running them well, having offenses and defenses that are multidimensional instead of having a different offense or defense for every situation. A coach and I on a message board had this philosophical disagreement, I am not saying my way is right, but it's probably my firmest belief as a coach. He liked the idea of running a different defense and offense for every situation, I personally would rather run a few things with wrinkles to address different situations.

Instead of needing a different offense for half court man, half court zone, half court man pressure, half court zone traps, etc, I like to think I've built a half court offense that can simply/easily adapt to what the defense throws at us (I can see having two half court offenses for man vs zone, but anymore than that is unneeded in my opinion). Instead of having 3-4 BLOB sets, have 1 with a bunch of counters to take advantage of what the defense does. Same thing with defenses, instead of teaching 2-3 different kinds of full court presses, teach one full court press with options and then get good at that one press. Make that one press able to counter a few different pressbreaks. Same goes for half court defense, I believe in a staple defense and a simple backup you add later in the year. The more things you can combined and have multiple looks from the better. For instance, this year I've taken my break and added a simple wrinkle that turns it into a 3 across pressbreak in case we can't get the ball in and run. So that cuts down teaching time for a pressbreak and a fastbreak.

Anyway, as a coach, look at your system and figure out if there are anyways you can condense them down to cut down on teaching. Any way you can take your man to man offense and streamline it to be able to be used against zones - some can, some can't. I just think the more efficient you become the better you can teach what you do, if your pressbreak come from your fastbreak the players will have a better context on which to learn the pressbreak and it will flow much better. Anyway, it's just my opinion.

The Envelopes

2009-09-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

This is something that I'm going to do for my guys this year and I'll see how it goes. I thought of it for no reason the other day and thought it was kind of cool.

I am going to give each of my players three envelopes. One is going to say "Five Months", another is going to say "25 Years" and the last is going to say "50 Years". The players are going to write down their goals for each time period. What they want in five months from basketball (our team/their personal goals), what they want in twenty five years from their lives (career, family, friends, financially, etc), and finally what they want in fifty years from their lives (career, family, retirement, etc). Along with their goals, they are going to write down some ways they are going to meet their goals in their lives, how they are going to act and what they want to accomplish.

For the five months they are going to talk about what they want from the season as an individual, team, and program. Hopefully we'll talk about working hard, etc.

After they finish writing out they forms, they put them into the envelopes and seal them. Then every time they look at the envelope (daily/weekly/whenever) it should remind them about the goals that are enclosed in it and how they were supposed to be getting there. Hopefully that helps them to focus on their goals.

At the end of the time (5 months, 25 years, 50 years) they should open the envelope and see where they are at and how well they did in achieving their goals.

If the players are underclassmen you could have them fill out extra envelopes for each year that they have left to play. So five months (sr-so-fr), one year and five months (jr-so-fr), two years and five months (so-fr), and three years and five months (fr). This way the player are laying out their aspirations and goals for the following years. It gives them a roadmap to where they want to go.

Hopefully this is something you can use to help your players set their goals for their careers, and more importantly their lives.

How Does Your DOFT Match Up With What You Want?

2009-09-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

The "DOFT" is something I thought of randomly today and decided to share. DOFT is just acronym for the things you work on in practice every day. The letters DOFT stand for:

Defense

Offense

Fundamentals

Transition (both offense and defense)

These are the basic categories anything you do in practice can be put into. The amount of minutes you do for each one is the "score" of that letter. For instance if I spent 50 minutes in practice on fundamentals, my "F-Score" would be a 50. To look at my "F-Score" for a week I would simply add up all the "F-Scores" for the week. I don't have conditioning on there because for me conditioning happens all through practice, I don't condition without a ball.

I think it is important to look at your DOFT numbers for a given day, week, month, and/or season to see if the number align up with your philosophy. If you are a "defensive coach" yet your O-Scores are much higher than your D-Scores there is probably a gap between your philosophy and execution of that philosophy.

I also think they are numbers that can be helpful if you are struggling in a given area. Let's say for the last couple of games your offense has not been executing like it should. You go back and look at your O-Scores over the last two weeks and notice that you really haven't been spending much time on team offense the last few weeks and that is the problem. At the same time, if you may go over the O-Scores, see they are where they should be that gives you two different avenues to explore: 1. your guys just are not executing and you need to may more attention to detail in practice or 2. you are not focusing on the right things in practice.

You can also use DOFT scores to see what individual teams need. Going back to offense again, maybe mid-season you notice that your teams perform best on offense when their O-Scores are at or above a certain point - and you need to spend that amount of time on offense. It can help you adjust year to year to account for the different personalities of individual teams from year to year.

Also, when you get your scores over a period of time, you can divide them by total practice time and get the DOFT Ratios. Then you can see what percentage of your time is spend in practice in each area, on average. It again allows you to better align philosophies with your practice execution and planning.

As with anything on this blog, none of this is going to blow you away and make you say "WOW AMAZING IDEA, CAN'T BELIEVE I EVER COACHED WITHOUT THIS"! That's not what this blog is about. But at the same time, it's something a little different. It's an easy tool you can use to analyze what you are doing in your daily practices and what effect it is having on the court.

Fall Shooting Camps

2009-09-02T20:54:00.000-05:00

Been awhile since I posted. School started for us a week and a half ago (wow- it has flown by). I have been working on being a good classroom teacher, which in the end is the important job! Anyway, I'm back and hope to keep posting regularly.

Many times, coaches have nothing to do in the fall. In the fall we can't work with any of our high school guys in the fall. I take this time to focus in on my middle school group. Every Sunday until the season starts I'm going to host a free shooting camp for my middle school students. While I ran open gyms for the all summer, this is an additional thing I can do with them. It also helps to develop some shooters for the coming years - something every coach wants. One of the reasons I like shooting camps is that there is little to no risk of getting the football players injured during the camp. If it was full contact and guys were playing, kids could get hurt and your workouts could take a negative PR hit.

Another group that is great to work with during this time is the elementary group. We run free elementary basketball open gyms/workouts on Mondays. It's just a way to get players into the gym, and anytime you can do that you are doing something right!!

Anytime you can work with your younger kids, I would encourage you to do it. Remember you are not just working with young kids (which is rewarding in itself), you are working with your future varsity guys! Sometimes during the year we get so busy with our group of kids and we completely forget about the younger levels. That is why I ALWAYS try to take this time of year to focus on that part of our program (or whatever program I have been with). It's a vital part to our success at the varsity level.

Using a Combination Defense To Get a Player Rattled

2009-08-18T07:43:00.000-05:00

Since I have not posted in a while, I'll throw out a two for one today. I was talking with a basketball friend last night and we were talking about using a box and 1, diamond and 1, etc to rattle a high scoring player.

This is nothing new really, using this defense to shut someone down. But most coaches don't talk about the psychological part of using this defense. If a team has a player that is used to shooting the ball and scoring a lot, they are going to get frustrated when they are not getting the touches they are used to. Some players don't mind, but it drives some players totally INSANE! This can cause them to start to force shots and force the action. So sometimes even if the box and 1, diamond and 1 etc isn't the BEST defense to run against a team, you run it simply to frustrate that type of player that demands the ball. It can lead to a breakdown in team play and good things for your squad!

The "Stick and Three"

2009-08-18T07:38:00.000-05:00

Was visiting with a college coach the other day and he told me about a defense he played from time to time last year called the "Stick and Three". This defense was very basic, almost silly, but at the same time, it threw some of the better teams in their conference for a loop.

The basic premise of the Stick and Three is that you match up against their three best players (usually perimeter) and zone with the other two guys in a "stick" formation. The guys guarding the three guys man on man are in all out denial, they don't let them catch. If they cut backdoor, the stick is there to help hopefully. On the stick, one guy plays the top, the other plays the bottom. Ball goes to the wing, the two slide over, ball goes below the FT line extended the high guy on the stick drops to the level of the ball to protect the paint.

This is a GREAT defensive look if your opponent has a couple of players (usually posts) who simply can't shoot worth a lick from the outside and can't really handle the ball. It's also a good thing to throw at a team and make two players who aren't used to doing much carry the load in terms of handling the ball and shooting. The opponent may have a guard who's more of a defensive guy, make him bring the ball up, take some shots, and make some passes. I bet something good comes of that for you.

Taking Time for Yourself

2009-08-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

I wrote about something similar in my "Dead Zone Time of the Year" article last year in September.

I think it's important as the summer winds down, and before the season begins that you take some time to do some other things you enjoy. For me, it's fishing, a little hunting, and spending time with the wife and friends. For you it might be different, but I think it's a healthy thing to do, find something else you like and take time for that. Basketball can be very addicting, and takes up a lot of time during the winter and summer. You see many coaches burn out as the years go on, many times because they do not take the time to do other fun things with their time. If it is all basketball, all the time, you likely will burn out at some point. Remember, a coaching career (and building/running a successful program) is a marathon, not a sprint. So take time to slow down, enjoy life, and put basketball into perspective.

The X-Out Improvement Finishing Series

2009-07-29T15:48:00.000-05:00

This is something that I did on Monday with my elementary group and open gym and I thought was very beneficial. It is something we will do during the winter season with the high school aged players as well. It's something that should greatly help us in being better around the rim shooters, as we need to be.

Pete Carril, former Princeton Univ Coach, talked often about having players be able to score in a number of ways around the rim. It's something I'm trying to do with our program here.

What we did Monday was what I call the "X-Out Improvement Finishing Series". VERY SIMPLE AND BASIC, but I think it's effective in working with kids on their scoring around the basket. What I did was have the players do the drill for one minute, rest for 15 seconds, and do the drill a second time. The goal was to make MORE SHOTS the second time than the first.

For the drill, place a cone at each elbow. The player that is up starts with the ball at the cone in triple threat. On the coach's signal (as time starts) the player dribbles inside the cone and performs the proper finishing move. After getting the ball out of the net the dribble outside the cone on the opposite elbow, around the cone, and back to the rim to do the same finishing move. The drill runs 30-60 seconds depending on time/space constraints (don't want kids standing around). After the first go round, the players get 10-20 seconds to rest. After that they repeat the drill and the finishing move a second time. The goal the second time is to get MORE MAKES than they did the first time. The emphasis is competing against yourself and improving. That is a major part of why I like it, you are not worrying about anything but bettering yourself.

The finishing moves I use are:

-Regular layup

-Middle Layup

-Jump Stop Power Up

-Jump Stop, Step Across, Power Up

-Reverse Layup

If you don't have a lot of time/baskets, this can be a great drill for a station with partners. One partner does the drill, one times, they switch. The rest of the players are doing other stuff and only one player isn't moving.

I may do all of them in a single day, but for reasons of practice/workout time I normally only do 1-3 per day and rotate which ones I do during the week.

Hope this helps. Thoughts? I have a thread open on the X's and O's of Basketball Forum on ideas with finishing moves. If you could help me out that would be great.

Using the "Skate Dribble"

2009-07-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

The "Skate Dribble" is a move where players push off their outside (non ballside) foot and move sideways, almost in a slide. It's a quick move that starts and stops fast. This is a great move because it makes the defender have to make a decision and the offense can try to take advantage of that decision, whatever it is.

To perform the dribble, the player simply pushes off with the outside foot, while pounding the ball on the same side as the direction you are moving. The player slides his outside foot after his inside foot has planted. The planted foot and slide of the outside foot help to stop the player's momentum so he can read the defense and make a move. It's only a one dribble pound and then you have to make a decision.

Then, it comes time to read the defense. If the defense does not move enough, because the dribbler moved laterally and not North/South, that will open enough of a lane for the player with the ball to drive the lane. The footwork, for me is always pound with the ballside foot (the foot that made the initial step) and attack by stepping first with the outside foot (the sliding foot) to seal the defender with the player's backside.

If the defense makes the slide and overplays the play (why it's important to slide and stop on a dime), the offensive player simply crosses over and attacks the other way. The footwork here is pound, slide, step with the ballside foot as you crossover. So you can cross step and seal off the defender.

This is a move series I have been working on a lot with my guys over the summer and I can already see improvements in how they attack the basket. Hope it can help you guys out as well. If the above description doesn't make sense, please let me know and I will try to better explain it! Thanks for reading!

The Closeout: When the Defense is Most Vulnerable

2009-07-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

I spent my Monday sitting down with a local college coach, and among the many things we talked about was his offensive philosophy. He's a good coach who has been at some Division 1 stops along the way in his coaching career. His comment to me about his offense was that he wanted to make the defense close out as much as possible and then take advantage of the closeouts mistakes. I like that and think it can (and should) be a part of any good offensive philosophy. It's nothing new, but something that I have not personally heard coaches specifically talk to players about often - taking advantage of the defense on the closeout.

Some mistakes the defense is going to make (and you should talk to players about) are closing out:

1. Too loose - this allows you to attack with a shot or a jab fake and drive.

2. Too tight - this allows you to simply blow by the defender or use a shot fake and drive.

3. Too high - going to allow you to attack low.

4. Too low - going to allow you to attack high.

Attacking the closeout defender is something that players should be taught and learn how to do. Hit a couple shots? Know the defender is going to close hard and probably be taken advantage with the shot fake or blow by. Have you driven a few times on this guy? Well, know he is going to close out softer and will likely be more apt to bite on a jab fake.

As always, simple things to think about that could make a big difference for your guys. Some of these things we at times expect players to know, but unfortunately most don't until they are told.

As a coach, how can we work more closeouts into our offenses? Three ways I can think of are:

1. Drive and Kick. The enter DDM or AASAA offensive scheme is predicated on beating people off the closeouts and getting to the basket.

2. Skip Passes. The skip pass is the ultimate way to get a closeout because normally you are making a guy go from help position (many times mid lane) to the opposite side of the court, lots of ground to cover. So if you like the idea of getting closeouts, try to get your guys to throw an occasional skip pass. These will also open up the lane for you as defenders start to cheat them.

Also, while watching a practice a DeLaSalle High School (Mpls. MN) I heard Coach Thorson say to his players: "One good skip pass deserves another". His idea was that if the player does not have a shot or immediate drive on the skip to skip it back because the defense coming to help side may have overplayed to get to help side.

3. Ball Swings. Swinging the ball side-top-side in rapid fashion is a great way to force defenders to move from help to ball in quick fashion. Notice the good dribble drive teams may swing the ball 1-2x probing the defense and waiting for that suspect closeout to occur so they can take advantage of that.

Anyway, there are some thoughts and ideas on taking advantage of closeouts. Hopefully you can find this information helpful!

The "Run Out Series" Drills

2009-07-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

I have not shared drills for a while, so I figured I would throw one out there for you!

The "Run Out Series" is something I came up with my season at Bagley HS when practicing with 6 players and 1 basket. I needed something where we could get a lot of "game shots" (which I think are important) in a little bit of space. The best time to beat a defender is on the closeout and I wanted to also have a drill to work on that. So I came up with Run Outs and the Run Out Series

The drill is very simple and probably nothing new. One player starts at the elbow ready to shoot, the rest start in a line under the basket (or two lines if you have 4+ guys). The first guy in line has a ball (and the second if more than three in a line). The player with the ball passes it to the shooter and SPRINTS OUT WITH HIGH HANDS PAST THE SHOOTER AS HE SHOOTS. The runner then sets up to be the next shooter. The shooter gets the ball and passes it to the next guy in line. If there are only two he passes it to the new shooter and runs out at him.

This simulates a defender running out at you when you are trying to shoot, as happens a lot in a game. This shooting drill teaches you to focus on the rim and not let the defender distract you from shooting. I think it really helps our guys develop that shooting touch with a guy in your face.

Some of the points of emphasis are: Play low to high - knees bent ready to shoot on the catch, watch the rim not the defender, proper shooting form, good passes, and bring the ball into your shot pocket.

Then after you do that for a while (5 minutes or so) and want to change, you can have your offensive player shot fake and drive. Instruct your runners to run to the same side of the shooter every time so they don't collide. The shooter shot fakes (ball up, butt down), cross steps, and explodes to the basket for a layup or pull up jumper, your choice.

After you do that for a few minutes, have your player work on the straight blow by. Work on the recognition that the defender is straight up and out of position, and teach them to simply put the ball on the floor and drive the poor closeout.

After executing that, have your players work on the jab fake and shot. Tell them after blowing by, or against good close out defenders, they are going to play the drive. So we use the jab fake to freeze them and allow us to shoot. Instruct your guys to jab at them, get back to balanced and shoot. The runners should play dummy D and freeze on the jab fake leaving enough room for a shot.

What you have to remind your guys is that this is NOT a defensive drill. You are not working on defense here, you are simply working to get your teammates better. You have to run hard and work hard, but at the same time don't translate this to defense! I know some defensive coaches may not run this drill for that very reason, but I don't see it being a huge carry over.

Well, I hope that this is a drill someone finds useful, it's worked very well for me. You can have 6 kids at a basket (2 groups, 1 each side) and get a lot of game like shots in during a short span with this one.

Less is More When Done More Less

2009-07-17T17:38:00.000-05:00

Does this statement above make sense?? Probably not, but let me explain it to you as it is one of the important parts of my basketball practice philosophy.

I do not believe in working on one thing, with one drill for a long time in practice. In my humble opinion it is better to work on a skill with a bunch of different short drills than one or two long drill. For instance, you are going to work on shooting for 20 minutes in practice on a given day. Instead of doing one drill for 20 minutes or two drills for 10 minutes each, I would MUCH RATHER have four 5 minute drills to accomplish the same things. I PERSONALLY feel that doing this fights complacency and boredom. I think it does a better job of teaching players to master skills and not simply master drills.

Furthermore, I would rather work on a given skill for a few minutes every day than for a long time for just one or two days. Some coaches like to spend 25 minutes a week on rebounding in one big 25 minute chunk. It is my belief that players will get more out of it if you do a rebounding drill 5 minutes each day for the entire week. Players seem to retain the information better when they are hit with it for a little bit every day.

One downfall of doing this is that initially it takes a little bit longer to teach all the drills. But once players have done the drills once or twice you can snap from one to the next in rapid succession with little downtime in between. The benefits of having a bunch of different drills greatly outweighs the time lost in teaching the drills, in my humble opinion.

I try to incorporate these ideas into practice every day. Keep things short, keep things different, and keep things moving. I think this makes practices and workouts flow better. What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to comment!

Stationary Ballhandling Drills: WHY?!

2009-07-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

This will probably be one of the things I post that a lot of people disagree with, but it is how I feel. How many of you spend practice/workout time doing stationary ballhandling? If any of you do, I have to ask: WHY?!

Stationary ballhandling is not an efficient way to learn how to dribble after the 6th grade, in my humble opinion. This is especially true of stationary ballhandling drills where the players do not dribble, but simply pass the ball around their legs or other body parts. Again, great drill for elementary school, but after that there is no purpose. Have you ever seen a player catch the ball and start passing it around his right leg? Have you ever seen a player go to half court and start dribbling figure eight circles? Didn't think so. I mean think about it, how inefficient some of these drills are in teaching kids how to dribble a basketball in a game situation.

I used to be a fan of such drills, but then a number of years back I watched a Forest Larson tape where he made some good points about the uselessness of stationary ballhandling and I agreed what his points. Almost all ballhandling should be game like and on the move. Instead of pounding the ball with their right hand, players should be dribbling around with their right hand. Instead of going around the right leg, players should be working on their between the legs direction change move - dribble, direction change, more dribbles. Players should work on, and get good at, using dribbles that they are going to find themselves using in a game.

The ONLY stationary ballhandling I like to do is with two basketballs. Then you are really working on coordination and ball control skills. It's also much more efficient because you are working both of your hands at once. In a good 5 minutes of two ball stationary, you can accomplish as much, or even more, as someone can do in a 10 minute session with one ball.

Also, the ONLY TIME I COULD EVER SEE DOING ONE BALL STATIONARY DRILLS is if you have no gym space and are doing it for that reason. If that is why you have to do it then I understand.

As always it comes down to taking a look at what we do as coaches and then asking the important question: Why do we do it? I think a lot of us use stationary single ball ballhandling drills for two reasons:

1. We grew up doing them. This is a reason many of us use for doing a lot of what we do, but not a good enough reason to keep doing things! :)

2. They are seen as solid, fundamental drills. I understand where people are coming from on this one. There is something romantic about working hard on these drills. It is also seen as a walk before you run kind of thing. But again, I would rather have playes what I work with doing game situation ballhandling. There is such limited time in each practice and workout, so why not spend time working on game situation ballhandling, ballhandling they can actually use?

Thoughts and feelings on this?

"Taking the Air Out of the Ball"

2009-07-10T12:36:00.000-05:00

Coaches often talk about metaphorically "taking the air out of the ball" during a game to slow things down and usually nurse a lead. But what about physically taking the air out of the ball during practice to work with your team on passing and sharing the ball? Have you ever thought about doing this?

I had not until last night when I was filling all of our basketballs with air. This would be a good way to practice in order to teach your guys how to score without dribbling. There are many, many coaches out there who practice their offense with no dribbles, but I think actually taking the air out would be a nice touch as another way to spice up practice. I would call it "dead ball offense" and during a game when I thought we were exhibiting too much individual play I could possibly call the ball "dead", meaning players were not allowed to dribble. Now it's not going to work if you run DDM, but for most offenses it could be interesting.

The "Gonzaga Game"

2009-07-08T15:16:00.000-05:00

I was talking with basketball fan and blogger Kevin Alsteens the other night and he was telling me about what Gonzaga does from time to time during their scrimmages.

Coach Few sets an amount of time for scrimmaging and puts a rack of balls on the side of the court. Each time there is a turnover in the scrimmage that ball is "dead". It is put off to the side and another ball is taken off the rack. This continues until there are no more balls on the rack. If there are no balls left and the last ball is "dead" on a turnover, the players run sprints for the rest of the time set aside for scrimmaging.

I think this is a great idea if you want to get your guys to emphasize ball security. It makes sure that each possession is important.

What I think would be a good idea as well is during scrimmaging have a rack of balls for EACH TEAM. The team that runs out of balls first runs while the other watches. I think one rack for both teams may lead the defense to be a little less aggressive because if they cause a turnover, it gets the defense one ball closer to running as well.

The Goal Posters

2009-07-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

Something I picked up during my time at LaCrosse Central HS under Coach Fergot was having "The Goal" sheets for each game you play. I think that these are great to help keep your team focused during a season. It keeps your guys from thinking about the last game or the next and keeps them thinking about the game currently at hand.

"The Goal" sheets were simply a piece of 8x11 paper that was laminated. On the paper it had Central vs Opponent (whoever it was) Below it was the Central Logo and below the Central logo was the bold words The Goal: 1-0. It was hung in the locker room where everyone could see it. It was hung almost immediately after the previous game concluded - at least when the players left the locker room at the end of the night. So after each game, win or lose there was a new goal to focus on. If the game was won, and the goal was accomplished, there was another spot in the locker room where the sign was hung to mark the accomplishment of each goal.

This is a great idea because it narrows the focus of your team. Instead of worrying about being 22-0 on the season, they can worry about being 1-0 22 times. It also helps with a team that's either very successful or very unsuccessful because it makes them focus on the next game and not the season as a whole.

Whistle or Not In Practice?

2009-06-29T11:56:00.001-05:00

This may be a trivial thing, but it's still something to think about. Do you use a whistle in practice? If so why or why not? I remember my first day as a coach, freshmen assistant at LaCrosse Central HS. I bought a brand new whistle and was all excited about it. I'd been waiting 19 years to blow that thing. After the first time I blew it, the guy I was coaching with, Coach Colburn, asked to see the whistle because he wanted to look at it. He then promptly threw it across the gym and said there was no way he was going to listen to it all season! I still laugh when talking about that story.

Ever since that day, I've been a voice guy in practice. I use my voice to start and stop drills and always liked it that way better for some reason. I was watching a Phil Martelli video today (14 Ways to Build Mental and Physical Toughness in Practice) and he said he never uses a whistle because you don't use a whistle in games to communicate with players. It's not like you jump up off the bench and blow your whistle to talk to them about changing defenses or closing out better. You use only your voice in those situations.

I completely agree with this, the kids need to get used to listening for your voice and not a whistle to receive instructions. If they are not used to listening for your voice, they many times will miss what you are saying during a game, especially an exciting one.

On the other hand (to play Devil's Advocate here) I've heard many coaches who say they use a whistle for drills because that is what stops play in a real game. We've all heard the phrase "play till you hear the whistle" and it's one that many of us (including me) go by. So then where is the whistle in practice for me? How can my guys (or other "voice" coaches) get used to playing until the whistle when there isn't a whistle most of the time?? It's hard to just turn it on for a game.

After listening to Coach Martelli's comment about why he does not use a whistle and thinking about whistles versus voices, it actually had the opposite effect for me. I may start to now use a whistle in practice in certian situations, mainly to stop drills. That way my guys can get used to playing until the whistle, especially on competitive drills. Maybe that will be the job of the assistant coach, stopping drills with the whistle so I can still be a "voice coach". This way players can get used to keying on both my voice and the whistle. I may just use it for some drills, or may use it for all.

Hopefully this got you thinking about what you do in practice with your whistle or voice. Think about why you use one or why you don't use one.

Run What You Want, Just Run It Well

2009-06-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

I've said several times on this blog that it's not what you run that is important, it's HOW it is run and the players you have that make it work. I was reading the Xs and Os of Basketball forum the other day and one of the posters (Titan) hit it right on the head when he said:

As with any offense or defense, the instruction of that offense and the
execution of said offense can be the difference of whether or not it works. For
example, I probably would not be the best coach to implement the Princeton
offense, but that does not mean it does not work. Each coach can make work what
he/she wants to implement if the instruct it proplerly and get the kids to buy
into it.

Again, this is no amazing advice, but it's advice that all coaches need to hear and take to heart. Run what you want, get the players to buy in, and just believe like heck in what you are doing. If you can do that, everything is going to go well for you, no matter what system you run. There is no magic system.

Making Weaknesses Into Strengths

2009-06-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

Most people that know me know that I am an offensive minded coach. I love my four out motion stuff and enjoy working on offensive fundamentals. Defense is something that while I am comfortable with it and can teach, it's definitely not my strong suit.

In light of those well known facts, I've decided to spend my summer learning as much as I can about the defense we are going to run this year. Another thing I am doing is making the commitment to work on our defense in practice more than our offense, because deep down I know that defense wins championships and all successful teams are good at defense.

This is nothing earth shattering or new (as nothing on here is), but again I think it's something that is important to do. I think that all coaches should challenge themselves to work on their weaknesses, and aspects of the game they do not focus on, or maybe don't enjoy. There are some coaches that are great at Xs and Os, but not as much in the player development aspect. They will have great stuff, but many times will not have developed the players to run what they want. Other coaches love player development, but are not as focused on the Xs and Os portion of the game and thus while they may have some skilled players are not as good at putting them in the right spots to be successful. And there is always that guy who runs such a great offense, team scores 70, 80, 90 points a game but the defense is giving up 100 points. Or the guy who's defense holds opponents to 40 points, but the team can only score 30. Now everyone is not at these extremes I've outlined, but if you take an honest look at what you do, there are strengths and weaknesses to your coaching style and I would encourage you to take the time this summer to study up on and work on the less refined parts. No one is great/perfect at everything in coaching, we are all going to be stronger in some facet of the game, but if you really do commit yourself to getting better at your weak points it's going to pay off.

Having a "Program Blog"

2009-06-17T08:51:00.000-05:00

The other day I opened up a blog for the program here at South Tama County. The blog will consist of things like rosters, schedules for games and practices, announcements, game recaps, player profiles, and hopefully some player writings about the season.

Something like this is VITAL for any program for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it is a way to keep your players/parents/fans up to date on what is going on in the program. It's helpful for them to have one place to go to get all kinds of news on the team/program and it is a good way to positively promote the program and what we are trying to do. Also, it is a great way to announce any types of schedule changes that occur. Living in the midwest (Iowa), weather in the form of snow, rain, sleet, hail, or tornadoes can change things in a hurry. Having a blog allows you to post things immediately for people to read, which makes things easier and allows people to know more quickly. A public blog is also fun for the players, especially when they get to post their own articles. Of course, I would have to proofread them first, but either way the players are getting themselves out there.

I would greatly encourage every coach that reads this blog to start a blog for your program.

Winning the Mental Game

2009-06-13T11:16:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone is doing well, just a quick note. I'm almost finished reading Court Sense:Winning the Mental Game and this is a book I would recommend for every coach that reads this blog, even if you are not a basketball coach. This book, by John Giannini has a ton of different nuances that can help coaches and players both. I have found it extremely helpful in terms of motivation, handling players positively, building relationships with coach-player and player-player as well as helping to run a quality basketball program. It's got a lot of good teaching examples you can use with your team, as well as teaching examples you as a coach can relate to. If you read one book this summer, make it this one!

The First Interview

2009-06-10T12:56:00.000-05:00

So today I had my first interview for the local newspaper in town here. It was exciting, but at the same time made me a little nervous. It is my first real interview and I am always cautious about not putting my foot in my mouth. Unfortunately, it happens to everyone sometimes! Luckily for me it's was just a couple of basic questions: where you are from, what style of basketball do you like, and so on. So it was very positive. I know it's pretty mundane for most coaches, but for a new head coach like me it was kind of fun.

I think it is important to get to know, and forge a good relationship with, the local media. They do a great job of covering and publicising the program. If you are respectful, the relationship will be positive and good things will come of it almost every time. The more information that is out there about your basketball program the better, in most cases. I've seen some coaches who work well with the media and keep most of the information about their respective program positive and upbeat. I (and everyone else) has also seen coaches who do not treat the media with respect and it tends to backfire on them.

Burnout in the Summer - Getting Kids to Do it On Their Own

2009-06-02T17:26:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you hear people talk about "the good old days" when kids worked hard and didn't have to be pushed to go out and play basketball. They did it on their own. There are often negative comments made that kids are spending too much time on the computer and X-Box and not enough time playing basketball. I PERSONALLY think that kids are playing more STRUCTURED BASKETBALL than ever, and that might be part of the reason for not seeking more of it.

When high school players played back in the "good old days" they did it all on their own. They called their friends up and facilitated things for the most part. You usually hear stories about how "we got the keys from the coach and let ourselves in". Obviously in today's lawsuit happy age you can't get away with that, so now coaches come in and open the gym (many times coaches, like me find they really enjoy it). When coaches are in a gym, many do what they like to do in a gym, coach. And because they are there they want to make sure most of their guys are there. The open gyms don't even begin to touch on all the other "structured" opportunities high school players get every year in the "off season" - 100s of summer camps where there were only a few years ago (if any), the extreme growth AAU, high school summer leagues, etc. So those structured activities have now replaced the non-structured activities and has also allowed players to not have to work at or seek out their own opportunities to play. It is all there for them.

Another side to this is, I personally feel, is some players find basketball less fun because they are being pushed to do it. As an example: when you feel like getting outside and mowing the lawn or doing other housework outside you enjoy it because YOU made the decision to do it. Now imagine that your girlfriend/wife nags you to get out and mow the lawn instead. Suddenly, with someone pushing you and supervising you the task becomes less enjoyable. Sometimes I think that this is what has happened with the summer for some players. Because they are being supervised and pushed it becomes a "chore" instead of something that is fun. I feel that too much of it can become a negative thing.

What is the solution? Go completely away from all structure??? Of course not! The structure is great and it shows with more and more talented players each year. It's what quality programs do. I try to get my guys in the gym for fundamental workouts as much as I can. But I also think you have to have some balance and with the structure and teaching of the open gym also give players time to just play and have fun. Another thing I think is important is to give the players a chance to be leaders and get each other in there. Don't get on the kids that are not in the gym; instead challenge the player's peers to motivate them into the gym. I think doing this makes the situation more enjoyable for all. Also, I never want to force a kid into the gym or make it mandatory. I want kids to get in the gym because they simply want to be there.

Using Your Stud as the Decoy (The Phil Jackson Move)

2009-05-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

Since it is the only basketball left on television, and by NBA standards it is great basketball, I watched the Lakers vs. Nuggets game last night on television. One thing that stood out to me at the end, although it didn't work, is how Phil Jackson used Kobe as the decoy to get Fisher a shot at the end to tie the game. This is something that Coach Jackson has done over the course of his career, and done it well. Whether it was using Jordan/Pippen as the decoy for guys like Paxson, Kerr, and Kukoc, or using guys like Kobe to get Roberty Horry open for threes, it seems to be a very present theme in his end game situations in important games. I like that he always has the confidence in his role guys and doesn't try to cram the last shot down the opponent's throat with the superstar, which is what you often see.

Now Coach Jackson is obviously not the only coach that does this, many do. It is a great strategy and one that can be very useful, as long as you have the other pieces. If you need a three and only have one kid that can shoot the three, it's going to be an exercise in futility to run a play to get anyone else a shot. But on the average team, you have a couple of guys that can take that last shot, and I like when it ends in the hands of a role player. Some coaches may argue that you always want your best player to take the last shot, and I see the logic, but at the same time I would rather have an open/good shot with a role player that can make it than take a rushed/forced/poor shot with my superstar.

In light of that thought, I prefer to have a last second set where the first look is for the superstar, but the superstar becomes the decoy if over defended and the set then frees the other player for the last second shot. One of my favorite looks is to have the "shooter" screen for the star and then screen the screener so that the shooter can free himself for that last jumper. Or simply have the screener (who is a good shooter) pop off the screen.

Having a Program Motto

2009-05-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

I think that as the head coach of a program it is important to have some type of saying or motto that exemplifies what your program is about. It is not ALL that your program is about, but the big overriding idea of your program. It gives your program an identity and it gives your players a sense of purpose/direction. It shows everyone involved in the program and outside of the program exactly what direction you want to take the program. This motto could come in a wide variety of sayings that cover a bunch of different topics. Every coach is different, and there are a ton of different things you could go with, some I have seen before are as follows:

"The climb is hard, but the view from the top is awesome!"
-This motto shows that the program is about working hard to get to the "top of the mountain" whatever that mountain is for your program - state title, conference title, etc. I do like this one, it's common but was Coach Vix's (Rushford-Peterson Hall of Fame Coach) when his team made their last title run.

"Defense wins championships"
"Have you run your offense today?"
-These sayings tell people that we are all about defense in order to be successful.

"You may never be what you could have been"
-Saw this on a t-shirt once and loved it, says that we are going to work as hard as we can to be the best we can be. Kind of neat but depressing at the same time.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body"
-Typically a football team one, but I have seen some basketball teams use it. Says we are going to be mentally/physically tougher than everyone.

"Runnin, gunnin, and stunnin"
-This motto says we are going to out run and out score our opponent. Typically used if you run an up tempo offense.

"Family"
-Another I love. Simple but says our program is a family.

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing"
-I have seen this one before, but do not like it. What happens when you have this as a program motto and don't have the talent to win? It sends a message you are not meeting your ultimate goal. Also, it sends a message that nothing else, not people - not effort - not excellence - not integrity, matters all that matters is the W and however we have to get it is fine.

But now that I have accepted the job as head coach at South Tama County HS, I have to decide what I need to have for our program motto here at STC. For me it is an important decision because it will impact the next 5, 10, 20, 40 years I am here at STC (until they kick me out anyway). So after much debate, I came up with the following: Be a Champion: every practice, every game, every play, every second, every minute, every day.

I borrowed and modified this saying from my biggest mentor, Coach Fergot from LaCrosse Central HS. I think it says to a T what I want our program to be about. I want our program to be about doing your best every single day in every single thing you do. That is what being a champion is about to me. And we are not going to just play like champions here, we are going to be champions. Not taking the easy way out, not daying a day off, but always doing things to the best of our ability all the time. So this motto sums that up, that we are going to always give our best effort in everything we do as individuals and a program, on and off the basketball court.

Below is something I put together for all the players in our program. They are printed off on 8.5x11 paper and laminated. Each player in the program will get one; I want them to hang it somewhere where they are going to see it every day and think about what it means.

Using Screens

2009-05-12T11:06:00.001-05:00

I used to be a HUGE proponent of screening in my motion game. I used to love the pass and screen away look, and probably pass and screened away to death - far too much! As I've learned the game the last few years, I have gotten farther and farther away from setting a lot of screens in the half court setting.

Now don't get me wrong, I use screens to get my shooter open off some sets, and it's a good and valuable look. But within our motion offense, I would rather focus on things like drive and kick, pass and cut, back cuts, flash cuts, etc. Actions to try to get the ball into the paint and score around the rim. I think these actions push the tempo more and are easier for players to master quickly and get good at.

One of my biggest problems with having players "read" screens in a motion offense is that most players really struggle with it. They usually resort to using a "straight cut" to the ball because they have ball fixation and don't really know what else to run. It's a hard thing to do, read a defender and decide which of the four possible cuts (straight, curl, back, and flair) to run.

When I do get to screening within the layers of my motion (varsity level), I teach it with the players having only TWO cut options: the curl cut and the flair cut. The reads become simplified. If you get to the top of the screen and the defender is behind you (trailing) you run a curl cut. If you get to the top of the screen and the defender is sagging in the lane (cheating) you run a flair cut. The screener separates hard accordingly.

I feel that if the players have two choices it's going to be easier to make a decisive decision and not hesitate. Also, I like the two cuts because it eliminates a straight cut which to me is not the best cut to run. The other two are more aggressive, especially with the screener facing up.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on using "read" or "motion" screens in your base offense. I think players benefit highly from learning the other actions first and then being able to perform them. They also benefit from having more limited options on their "read" screens.

Great Coaching Quotes from Desmond Tutu

2009-05-05T14:35:00.001-05:00

At a recent foray to Barnes and Noble I picked up a book on clearance about Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the cleric and activist from South Africa. You can always pick up some great coaching advice when you read about world leaders. This book happened to be mainly quotes from Desmond Tutu and it had a few beauties. I try to give my players a note card every day (or every game day) that has a little quote or saying on it to think about. Some of the ones he has I will definitely use and I would like to share them with everyone else.

"When you have a hand and you have only the separate fingers, it is easy for people to break the fingers. But when you put the fingers together it is difficult to break them."

"A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly."

"My father always used to say, 'Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument.' Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right."

"Differences are not intended to separate or alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another."

"We get most upset with those we love the most because they are close to us and we know that they are aware of our weaknesses... If only we could learn to live with our inadequacies, our frailties, our vulnerabilities, we would not need to try so hard to push away those who really know us."

"All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous does not mean never being scared; it means acting as you know you must even though you are undeniably afraid."

"Arrogance really comes from insecurity, and in the end our feeling that we are bigger than others is really the flip side of our feeling that we are smaller than others."

So there are a handful of my favorite quotes from the book. For three bucks, this book was well worth it as I am putting these quotes to good use this upcoming season!

Notecard Plays

2009-04-29T09:45:00.001-05:00

I was at Office Max the other day and while browsing I noticed that they sold notecards that came spiral bound. Immediately I thought about how I could use these in the coaching realm. The first thing I thought of was putting a bunch of quick hitter set plays on them to use in different situations. They would be perfect for the end game situations when you need a basket. For the last shot, I usually like to have a set play that the players know, and we have practiced so we can just take it out of the rim and go. But at the same time these would leave you well prepared for any situation you need a quick score, not just the end of the game. It would allow you to pull a quick set to beat a defense that was defending a certian way, get a basket in a critical situation, etc. None of the plays on the cards could be too involved usually, but would be things that kids could easily remember. I would also categorize the cards by situation so when you need one you can flip to the situation instead of having to browse them and waste time.

You could also organize your notecards by with the plays you currently run, just to help keep your head straight!

Shooting Form Progression

2009-04-23T09:47:00.000-05:00

This is a progression that I used every day this year with my freshmen. We started out doing it for ten minutes a day, but as the season went on cut it down to about six minutes. I think it is a great progression and something that should definitely be used at the younger levels and during skill development workouts. What was did was the following:

Wrist Flicks

Start right in front of the rim, maybe a foot out. Put the ball up straight over your head with your wrist cocked and the ball on your finger tips. Then you simply flick the ball into the basket using your wrist. If you are on your own, the goal is to MAKE 30-50 shots. If you are coaching in practice, I did this for 3 minutes at the beginning of the season (out of 10) and then 2 minutes at the end of the season (out of 6).
The purpose is to get kids used to flicking that wrist hard when they shoot. Because it is important we isolate this aspect of the shot and just have them work on it.
Points of Emphasis: Flick the wrist hard, ball on finger tips (not palm), ball should come off middle and index finger last, follow through, and keep fingers straight (don't make a fist).

Shot Builder

The next drill we immediately go to is called the shot builder. The player stands about 3 feet from the front of the rim, puts the ball up on his "shooting U" (the position right before release) and shoots shots with one hand and just the motion of the arm. Now in the progression we are isolating the arm movement and making sure the form there is correct. I like players to MAKE ten shots and take a step back after every ten makes. In practice we did this for 3 minutes at the beginning of the year and 2 minutes toward the end when we were cutting back.
Points of Emphasis: Snap elbow and snap wrist, follow through, hold the follow through until the ball hits the floor (over emphasize it), watch the rim not the ball, look at the same place on the rim each time, and make sure the ball is on your fingertips.

Set Lifts
This is the last part in our short progression for the day. We spent 4 minutes on this in the beginning and 2 at the end of the year as we cut down the time.
The players start about 3 feet in front of the hoop again with their knees bent and the ball in their shot pocket. Players shoot shots where they bring the ball up from their shot pocket and come off their toes (don't jump). Everything you would do in your regular jump shot without the jump. Right now we isolate the actual release of the ball and those mechanics that go with it.
Points of Emphasis: Shoot off your TOES, start the ball in your SHOT POCKET not at your belly button (very common mistake), elbow in, snap elbow and wrist (proper release), watch the rim not the ball, one smooth movement, and ball on your fingertips.

So there it is. Like most of the stuff on this blog, it is by no means special. But it's something that I think you can devote 6 minutes a day to and see results, especially if you are a developmental coach or coach below the varsity level. I would also, as a coach, mandate that players do this during their summer workouts because to be a great shooter you have to have two things: great work ethic and great form.

Spring Time - Random Thoughts

2009-04-18T15:30:00.001-05:00

As a high school coach, the spring time is a critical time for coaches and players, and I think it is a time that sets apart successful and unsuccessful teams apart sometimes. What players and coaches do in the spring can set the tone of the summer and the following season. I have some general thoughts on this part of the year as it relates to high school basketball.

AAU Season
This is the time of year that players play AAU or All-Star basketball. There is no problem I see with players going out and playing AAU, especially when they have the potential to play big time basketball and need the exposure. Even if they do not, there is nothing wrong with playing against very good competition. Playing against top competition will always make you better, as long as you are playing hard.
On the other hand, it is important to play other sports, and I always encourage my guys to take up baseball or track. I really think, with most AAU organizations you can do both if you really want to, but have to deal with a few complications. At a small school it is imperative as a coach that you suggest other sports for your players and do not try to force them into being basketball players only. I say this because a kid may pass up chances to do things in baseball. track, or football because he has to chose a sport to focus on. Also, I think all sports end up losing athletes when coaches start demanding students to specialize in one sport. At a bigger school I can see the rationale, but again think they should at least try another sport, especially as freshmen. I think playing multiple sports allows the kids to have fun, have a different coaching style, and not get as burned out on basketball.

Skill Development
One drawback of AAU on the whole is that there is not a lot of skill development going on. Some organizations do concentrate on skill development and do a good job, while others do not/can not. I'm not faulting the AAU coaches for this, however. Some programs pull kids from all over the state, so having practices every day is hard if not impossible. When they do get their little practice time, then they have to put in an offensive/defensive scheme so that they can look at least respectable when they take the court.
So as a coach, remind your players that while playing a ton of games is great, they should not forget about working on the fundamentals that make great players. This doesn't mean they MUST do a rigorous 1-2 hour session every day. But at least going out and shooting/dribbling every once in a while would be good for them! It is illegal to work with your players in the spring here in Minnesota, but just because you can't work with them doesn't mean they are incapable of doing things on their own!

Preventing Burnout
I think guys that play all winter, then switch right to AAU basketball, and then right to summer ball tend to burn out a little bit. I think this becomes a problem, especially when the kid is very driven for a goal such as a college scholarship. As a coach, I try not to even TALK about basketball with my guys during this period. I encourage them to take time off of the game and recharge their batteries. To me that is where playing a spring and fall sport comes in as well. If they do that, it is not basketball all the time for them.
As coaches, I think the spring is a good time to prevent burnout. Go fishing, enjoy the weather, spend time with your family (I know some of you are asking "who??" because you have not seen said people since November.), watch movies, do something besides basketball during this period so that you can come back in the summer fresh and ready to go!

Bettering Yourself as a Coach
With the same breath of "don't burn out" I also say that this time is a time to better yourself as a coach. Spend some time reflecting on last year and what you thought you did well, but also figure out what you could have done better. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do? It is really funny all the little things you actually would do over. Make sure to take the time and write them down so you can refer to them before next season. This will help you avoid repeats of the same mistakes again next season. Also, sit down and figure out what you are going to do next year and what changes you are going to make.
Also take the time to become a student of the game. Buy a new video or two on a topic you are interested and really get absorbed in it. Get some basketball books and start reading. Read a book about basketball not related to coaching directly. Something like "The Miracle of St. Anthony". Talk to other coaches, college and high school to get some new ideas. Some of the best times to contact coaches are after the signing period is over and the "dead period" for watching recruits is on. But I would also talk to all the local coaches that you can to get advice and ideas.

Well there you go. Some random thoughts about the spring. As a coach, you can actually get a lot done with this time of year, but make sure you take advantage of it!

Start Your Own "Playground" Association

2009-04-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

I was reading a topic on the X's and O's of Basketball message board (link on the right) about kids not having "basketball sense" because they do not play enough pick up basketball on their own anymore. It may sound strange to some people but this is a very valid point in my opinion. The more you play without structure, the more you learn to free lance and make reads/plays. Along with basketball IQ, kids lose organizational and leadership skills when they don't play pick up because an adult is leading and organizing them. Pick up and playground basketball has been replaced by more structured outlets such as AAU and summer team ball. I do think as a coach it's important to push kids to play unstructured pick up on their own as well as the structured situations. I am not trying to say kids should go And1 and am not saying kids should not play AAU or summer team ball, but should engage in some pick up situations also.

As I got to thinking about the topic, I remembered something that a neighboring high school coach put together the last year he was there. It was called the HBA for the Houston (MN) Basketball Association. Below is an outline of how the program worked.

The league was run by the players. The seniors to be (this year's juniors) were the "coach/GM" of each team. Each senior had their own team, unless there were not enough kids, then there could be two junior leaders per team. Before the season, all the players that wanted to play signed up for the "draft". The draft was open to basketball and non basketball players in grades 7-11. It was open to non basketball players so there were enough players to play and were more than 2-3 teams. Each team had 7 players which was enough so that everyone played a lot but also guarded against players not showing up or being injured and still having enough to play. If there were a few players that did not get drafted they became "free agents". Free agents still came to all the games and were thrown on teams when players were injured or did not show. Even if everyone showed we usually found the free agents a team and some minutes. By the end of the year, all the free agents had found permanent homes with one team or another. The juniors got copies made of the rosters so everyone had a copy. There was also a team in the league of seniors who wanted to play.

After the draft, the juniors had a meeting and set out all the rules and regulations for the league. They then shared those rules with their individual teams, in a team meeting (very informal). The rules, as I remember them, were:
1. Play full court
2. Play to 21
3. No cherry picking
4. Call own fouls
5. Arguments about fouls equal ejection for the game
6. Home team in dark, away team in white (or go shirts/skins if someone forgot colors)
Those were the ones I can remember. The games themselves were played on the blacktop court outside the school. After that, the juniors set the schedule for who played who, what time, and who was home and away. The juniors got copies of the schedule and gave them to the players on their teams.

The juniors also got to pick the type of offense they ran. And it was interesting how that helped the basketball IQ of those juniors. I remember a team of all guards who basically ran Grinnell style and another team who had two bigs and ran a slow down high-low type offense. Of course the offenses were extremely simple, and usually became free lance at some point, but at least the thinking was there. They tried to push all man defense, didn't always work, but did for the most part.

We played one (or two, can't remember) night a week and one game a night - I was allowed to play because a lot of family and friends lived in the town. It was funny how the competition grew as the season progressed. They kept an official standings board where they displayed the records and who was where.

The last few weeks of the league were playoffs were a champion was crowned. All they won was bragging right but it was worth playing for.

The league was great for us. It made us competitive, taught us how to play, and taught the older guys how to lead. It gave us a chance to just get out, play, and have fun. This is something that does not happen enough anymore, in my humble opinion. Kids don't get to just play for the joy of playing which is sad. But this was an opportunity for a lot of kids to get that joy. I also think it helped a couple of kids who didn't play basketball before go out, and that is important in a small town.

The only major thing I would do different, maybe, is expand the league to kids in the immediate area so you could have more teams and a little more talent to play against. Have all the kids from your town on a few teams, and then bring a team or two from each of the neighboring towns for variety. I would also have the league run shorter. Ours ran I think from beginning of May through the middle of August and it was too long. I think a two month season would be perfect with the possibility of a second season if enough kids wanted to reup.

I would recommend this program to any coach, especially one that coaches in a smaller community.