My Motion Offense Video

After over a month away from writing, I want to get back into it this late summer and fall. Life got busy and I really didn't have all that much to say.

With that said, I spent a few days last week putting together a video on my baby, the 4 out 1 in motion offense. I think the video is pretty good, with the exception of a few mix ups. But hey, for my first time it wasn't bad at all. I'll be putting together some other basketball related videos in the next few weeks and hope to post them on here. So enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!


offense.

The Makings of a Successful Season

This season I was lucky enough to be able to coach a 7th grade AAU team for the Minnesota Heat with the Hoops Czar himself. Willie Vang's Heat organization couldn't be run any better and Coaching with the Czar is a trip. It was an outstanding experience to say the least. We were blessed with a GREAT group of players and parents. These players showed up every day, worked hard, and were a joy to coach! They listened to what they were told and attempted to apply it. Equally as impressive was the support of the parents, not a single issue all year. Bottom line, this was a "Dream Team" for me to coach. There is not a coach in America who had it easier than I did this year!

When it came to winning, we were alright. We ended up being just below .500 for the season. The players enjoyed themselves as did the coaches. How did we have such a positive season without winning a ton of games? Quite honestly, the majority of the reason was we were blessed with a perfect storm of players and families that bought into our mission and are just all around outstanding people. I do think that our goals, mission, and approach had something to do with it as well. Below are some things that we did this year that I believe allowed us to have a wildly successful season even though our record was average.

1. Our emphasis was on development, improvement, and playing hard. 
    From day 1 we told our guys that our only job was to get better and the wins would
    come. I think that this approach is helpful because players can focus on the process
    instead of the result. I it also allowed us to praise effort, attitude, and improvement over
    wins and losses. Once you start to emphasize wins and not the system, you are going
    to lose guys if the wins don't come.

2. We used a mentor-leader style of coaching that empowered our players. 
    I used to be a yeller and a screamer. I've thrown trash cans, broke clip boards,
    and yelled in player's faces. But as I've grown I've realized that players are not out
    here trying to screw up. (Thanks Coach Novak) So instead of yelling and screaming
    when players made mistakes, we TAUGHT and RETAUGHT. That doesn't mean there
   were not consequences (pushups in practice, etc), but we tried hard to empower our
   players instead of belittle them. We wanted them to have a positive experience and
   were very meticulous about that.

3. We emphasized character over wins. 
   Until you are teaching players how to be good young men and women you really are
   not coaching. We tried this year to introduce some character pieces and help them
   develop as people. I think this is a key to getting buy in from all parties - show it's
   about more than wins and about more than satisfying your ego as a coach.

4. We played with a team first mentality.
   We push players to share the ball, take open shots, etc. I think when you cater to
   a star it puts stress on the rest of the team.



I think if you can do these four things every year you will have positive results. If you go out and try hard to give every player a positive experience, good things will come. It's easy to say that it's 7th grade AAU and that's easier than high school. I agree with that, to a point. You can still go out of your way to be positive with your players, teach character, acknowledge growth and acknowledge the contributions of every player. Lastly, I would again like to publicly thank the players I had the opportunity to work with, as well as their parents. They are great people who gave me the most fun season of basketball I have ever had!

Trusting the Process (And the System)

I believe the game should be played and taught in a certain way. That way is similar to many and different from many, but it's the way I believe things should be done. I think it's important that no matter what you believe, you have to trust the process and trust your system. That was one of the cardinal mistakes that I made as the varsity coach at South Tama, I didn't trust the process or the system. It was my first head coaching job, I was nervous, and wanted to win. So I tried a number of different things that didn't fit my process in order to try be successful. Of course they didn't work and I wish I would have trusted the process and the system. We would have been far more successful if I had.

What got me thinking about trusting the process was the 7th grade AAU team I coach. We went 2-2 this weekend beating the same team twice and losing to two other solid teams. We are not quite there yet, but we have flashes of brilliance. When we met as a team after those two losses I wasn't second guessing myself or the system that we run. I was able to smile at them and just tell them to trust the process and that we would get better. More importantly it wasn't just lip service. I believe that we will get better as the year goes on. After eight years I have become comfortable with the way we do things and I am able to fully trust the process! I am not sure if there is a more liberating feeling in coaching.

A Great Tip for Teaching a Skill: The Right, Wrong, Right Method

Just like salmon return to the same river year after year to spawn I keep returning to Daniel Coyle's "The Little Book of Talent" for great stuff on teaching. If you have not bought this book yet, you are really missing out. There are tons of tips like the one below.

This weekend, one of the things I stumbled onto was the right-wrong-right teaching method. He calls it something else, but I like this name better. Anyway, the premise of the method is for a player to do a skill the correct way once, the wrong way a second time, and the right way again the third time. Then you move on. It's simple and quick, yet hammers the point home in the athlete's brain. It demonstrates right vs wrong. It puts a spotlight on the correct way to do the skill and how it should look/feel.

For example, we will use the method this week with closeouts. Our number one issue with closeouts is that players do not put their hands up enough to contest shots. So when we start on closeouts, I'm going to have them do it correctly with hands up, then do it without hands, and then do it with hands again. That way it will help lock into their brain the proper way to do a closeout.

Again, if you haven't gotten his book you need to. Also visit his blog (http://thetalentcode.com/) which is always updated with great tips.

Tips for Effective Correction

Correcting a player is an important job for a coach - it's what we do! We are constantly correcting players on skills, strategy, and execution. When great coaches correct, it's an art form. There is a method to properly correcting players. When you correct players in the proper way they both listen and understand. Below are some important points to creating the art of correction. I have gotten these from a variety of places, but they are all good.

1. Be POSITIVE
    - This is the biggest thing that great teachers of
       the game do. They approach a mistake as
      a positive opportunity for growth. Be as positive as you can when you are
      correcting a player.

2. Be Honest
   - This is the most important part with great teachers. Be honest in your assessment
      and the rest will fall into place.

3. Stick to the Facts
   - The correction is not a judgement of the person, but just a fact. Try to stay away from
      good and bad, and stick to phrases such as "try this".

4. Make it a Suggestion, Not a Demand
   - People in general respond better to suggestions than demands. Use phrases such
     as "I think that" or "my suggestion here would be". You will get better results.

5. Teach in Bullets, Not Paragraphs
    - Keep the correction short and sweet. Give the important information quickly,
      then get out and let them correct it!

6. Tell Them Something They Did Well
    - Make sure to mentions something they are doing well in the situation.
      For example, if they are traveling on a catch and  attack, but  they are
      doing a good job of pushing the ball, compliment  the push out but
      then tell them how not to travel.

7. Correct and Walk Away
   - After you make a correction, walk way and let the player digest it.
     That doesn't mean don't come  back and check, but give them a
     minute to process.

8. Praise The Correction
   - When the correct it and do it right, make sure to catch them and
     praise them.

9. It's Ok to Struggle
   - If they are struggling slow it down and teach.
   - Find a different way to explain the process.



Well there you have it, there are some different things that will help you to be a better correction artist!

 

State Tournament Tidbits: Day 1 and 2

Logo Courtesy of MSHSL.org

Spent the last two days at the Minnesota High School State Tournament. This is the 19th straight year my dad and I have attended. It's always fun to watch the best of the best compete on the biggest stage! There are also lots of great coaching points to be had! At this time of the year, coaches pull out all the stops in order to get the win. Also, with teams come from different areas of the state that may use different tactics than are the norm in our area.  Below are some of the best things that I have pulled out from the last two days.





Brainerd's BLOB Series
I got to see 28-1 Brainerd for the first time at the tournament. I will admit I was really skeptical that their record was over-inflated because they didn't play any teams from the metro. They were, however, the real deal! They ran some GREAT 5 out motion offense and this slick inbounds series.

The set starts in a 4 across. The ballside block (5) popps up to the elbow and receives the ball. The ballside corner (1) cuts to the ball and the inbounder fills the corner.

The BLOB has two options. In first one, the corner player (1) takes the handoff and drives to the rim. The other post (5) can lift to the elbow or cut to the backside block on the drive.

 

 

The other option is that they fake the handoff. The elbow player (4) can turn and go attack. As the handoff is faked, the backside block player (5) sets a flex screen for the wing in the opposite corner(3) who comes off of it to the basket.

 



Quentin Hooker's Footwork
Quentin Hooker is a Mr. Basketball Finalist who will be taking a full ride to the University of North Dakota next year. He is fun to watch and very fundamentally skilled. Something I noticed about him was that every time he changed direction he would quickly chop his feet while making the read. This was especially evident when he was coming off the pick and roll. It's something I want to look into more and figure out why he does it and how to teach it.



Perham Motion Entry
Let me preface this by saying that I hate the dribble handoff. With that said, I like that Perham did with this and think that it makes a great entry into the four or five out motion.

It's a five out motion with the guy you want to post up at the wing. The entry starts with the guard to wing pass and the guard cuts through. As the guard cuts through, the wing with the ball (5) starts to dribble at the corner.

As the wing (5) dribbles at the corner (2), the corner makes a read. If the corner's (2) defender is sagging off, he comes up and takes the dribble handoff. The player making the handoff (5) butt screens and then rolls to the block and they look to go inside. If it's four out, we can space and leave the guy there, if it's five out we can just play.

If the defender denies the handoff or pass, the corner (2) backcuts for a layup.

Lakeville North Late Game Situational Defense
Lakeville North was playing Park Center in the first round on Wednesday. The game was tied with 6 seconds left in regulation. Park Center called a time-out in order to set up a last second play. Their star is Quentin Hooker, who was mentioned above. Everyone in the gym knew that Quentin was going to take the last shot. And to everyone's surprise Lakeville North came out in a Box and 1 on Hooker. It totally threw Park Center off and ended up forcing Park Center into a poor shot. They still won in overtime, but the Box and 1 out of the timeout was definitely a surprise because North had not played it all game.


Upsala Dribble Drive Motion Sets
Vern Capelle is a coach from Upsala that runs some great dribble drive, he even a dribble drive DVD out. Below are two dribble drive sets that they ran into their dribble drive motion. He used these late in the game in order to put it away. Both involved the use of dead water screens.


The first one starts with the wings in the corners, a post, the point at half court, and the other guard setting the deadwater screen at the three point line. The guard comes off of it and goes to the rack. He either takes the shot, dumps down to the post, or kicks out for a three.

Coach Capelle went to this look when the other team started to really get out and deny the passes. I thought it was great. They got a bucket off it which sealed the deal for them. In this set, he brought the wings out super high. This eliminated the help and when the guard went off the screen there was no one there to prevent the layup.

There were a bunch of other small things, but these were some that I really thought were good - and a little big different. Enjoy!

Late Game IQ- The Jump Ball Situation

Image courtesy of Twiiter account

I was watching the Conference USA Title Game between Memphis and Southern Miss. Pete Gillen and Dave Ryan were annoucning the game, and Coach Gillen  made a great point about understanding late game situations. Memphis had the ball, the lead, and the posession arrow. Southern Miss was pressuring Memphis all over the floor and trapping the ball. Coach Gillen mentioned that Memphis players should be sure to just take a jump ball if they got in trouble, instead of throwing a crazy pass, because they had the posession arrow. It won't be a turnover; they can just take the ball out of bounds. What a simple, yet great, thought! It's not something we've worked with our guys on but surely will now. What a great piece of basketball IQ!