So two road losses to the top two teams in our division by a total of 5 points. So between last season and this that is the last 5 in conference road losses all by less than 6 points. Obviously my first reaction is always what can I do?
The reality is that we win and lose games over 40 minutes. We play up and down getting everyone in and out regularly. Though we play this way to promote depth there are regularly players in the game who are best streaky and and worst routinely weak. As a result our positive streaks do not outweigh our negative moments over the course of the game.
I would still trust my 8-12 more then all of our opponents 8 -12. Unfortunately we seem to never be able to take advantage of their 8-12 with our top kids they way their top kids take advantage of ours. We continue to play team ball to score, when their best player or two we'll smell blood in the water and go for a quick 4-6 points exploiting that. Our best kid will be a layup then pass the rest of the shift. We get more greedy when we miss shots then after we make them.
The short term solutions are paying closer attention to matchups or shortening the bench. The long term are to make the bottom 6 players closer in skills to the top 6 so their is no noticeable drop off when they go in the game.
This feels like the conversation I keep running in circles with in regards to how we play zone. We get all sorts of open shots that we can't make. I don't think we need a new zone offense, we need to be able to shoot the ball better. That can't happen over the course of a week, but I'm not willing sacrifice long term player development to beat some 15 year olds that want to stand in the key learning nothing about how to defend. Oh, except that we can't shoot and that may beat us.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Season Reflection #3 - Song Time
We've instituted a pregame ritual this year. Before we leave for the floor we sing a doctored Version of Lukey's boat. Fundy's boat is not intended as a rallying cry but more as a commitment too each other. I figure if teenage guys will sing a silly song in front of each other then being comfortable communicating on the court shouldn't be a big deal?
Though what do you do if superstar won't sing along?
Fundy's boat is painted blue - Ha me boys!
Fundy's boat is painted blue, she's the prettiest boat I ever knew.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh,
Fundy's boat's got a fine fore cuddy - ha me boys!
Fundy's boat's got a fine fore cuddy, and every inch is chinked with putty.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh,
Fundy's boat has high top sails - ha me boys.
Fundy's boat has high top sails, the sheets are planted with copper nails.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh.
Though what do you do if superstar won't sing along?
Fundy's boat is painted blue - Ha me boys!
Fundy's boat is painted blue, she's the prettiest boat I ever knew.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh,
Fundy's boat's got a fine fore cuddy - ha me boys!
Fundy's boat's got a fine fore cuddy, and every inch is chinked with putty.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh,
Fundy's boat has high top sails - ha me boys.
Fundy's boat has high top sails, the sheets are planted with copper nails.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh.
Fundy's boat is painted blue - Ha me boys!
Fundy's boat is painted blue, she's the prettiest boat I ever knew.
A ha me boys - a riddle I eh,
Friday, November 27, 2009
Season Reflection #2 - Leadership
Bill Bradley once wrote:
Leadership means getting people to think, believe, see and do what they might not have without you. It means possessing the vision to set the right goal and the decisveness to pursue it single-mindedly. In means being aware of the fears and anxietyies felt by those you lead even as you urge them to overcome those fears. It can appear in a speech before hundreds of people or in a dilaogue with one other person - or simply by example.
I love this quote. It helps me to refocus when I get concerned over things beyond my control. The last few weeks I've been worried about our leadership in house. I've got 2 players who kids certainly look up to athletically and skill wise who will be ones with the ball in their hands in big moments, but neither of them are kids that other players look to emulate or support. Neither is the sort of kid the others would take a bullet for. On the other hand I've got a kid that every one loves, the emodies commitment and hard work but in big moments he won't even be able to get open let alone take over the game at either end because of his phsyical deficiencies.
The solution I continue to remind my self of is to identify the problem. If I think the problem is leadership then I need to define what leadership is and then go looking to see where we fall short.
In this light I don't have a leadership problem. I know exactly who everyone is looking to and whose attitude and performance makes people around them better. I know who our leader is and so do the kids. We just wish it was someone else. They'll do anything for that kid but he isn't the one charging them on to victory. We'll just have to hope Calvin Sampson isn't right and that your best player doesn't have to be your leader?
I've had other captains that weren't my best players have great moments of leadership (though in their defense they were a lot closer to being our top performer then this young person):
- We were in the midle of what would have been a huge upset on the road vs. the one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the province at any level. At half time we had let a 14 point lead slip away to end up tied at 53. This was primarly due to the best of their 4 university bound players deciding to take over and end the half going on a 14 point run himself culminating in a huge dunk. As I came into the locker room my captain was going round the room trying to keep kids fired up and saying "Just because he can dunk doesn't mean their pg won't keep turning it over!"
- I had a Captain that was facing an overtime game vs a cross town rival we'd never beaten. At that moment 3 of our best athletes told us they had to leave because they had an commitment to another sporting event. Instead of fighting or getting mad, my captain grabbed everyone else and said "Forget them. If they don't want to stay and win thats too bad, but we're all staying to win this." They did leave, and we did win.
- We had a freshmen on the line in our gym game tied 4 seconds left. He made the first, but back rimmed the second. The other team grabbed the defensive board and that palyer took 2 dribble towards half and heaved a 50+ footer that went in. On the way off the floor our captain went over and grabbed the freshmen saying "Hey, you won that game. If I'ld boxed a little harder and made someone else get the rebound that doesn't happen."
So I guess leadership isn't always about who you would get the ball too, though it wouldn't hurt if it could be. We'll have to see where we go from here.
Leadership means getting people to think, believe, see and do what they might not have without you. It means possessing the vision to set the right goal and the decisveness to pursue it single-mindedly. In means being aware of the fears and anxietyies felt by those you lead even as you urge them to overcome those fears. It can appear in a speech before hundreds of people or in a dilaogue with one other person - or simply by example.
I love this quote. It helps me to refocus when I get concerned over things beyond my control. The last few weeks I've been worried about our leadership in house. I've got 2 players who kids certainly look up to athletically and skill wise who will be ones with the ball in their hands in big moments, but neither of them are kids that other players look to emulate or support. Neither is the sort of kid the others would take a bullet for. On the other hand I've got a kid that every one loves, the emodies commitment and hard work but in big moments he won't even be able to get open let alone take over the game at either end because of his phsyical deficiencies.
The solution I continue to remind my self of is to identify the problem. If I think the problem is leadership then I need to define what leadership is and then go looking to see where we fall short.
In this light I don't have a leadership problem. I know exactly who everyone is looking to and whose attitude and performance makes people around them better. I know who our leader is and so do the kids. We just wish it was someone else. They'll do anything for that kid but he isn't the one charging them on to victory. We'll just have to hope Calvin Sampson isn't right and that your best player doesn't have to be your leader?
I've had other captains that weren't my best players have great moments of leadership (though in their defense they were a lot closer to being our top performer then this young person):
- We were in the midle of what would have been a huge upset on the road vs. the one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the province at any level. At half time we had let a 14 point lead slip away to end up tied at 53. This was primarly due to the best of their 4 university bound players deciding to take over and end the half going on a 14 point run himself culminating in a huge dunk. As I came into the locker room my captain was going round the room trying to keep kids fired up and saying "Just because he can dunk doesn't mean their pg won't keep turning it over!"
- I had a Captain that was facing an overtime game vs a cross town rival we'd never beaten. At that moment 3 of our best athletes told us they had to leave because they had an commitment to another sporting event. Instead of fighting or getting mad, my captain grabbed everyone else and said "Forget them. If they don't want to stay and win thats too bad, but we're all staying to win this." They did leave, and we did win.
- We had a freshmen on the line in our gym game tied 4 seconds left. He made the first, but back rimmed the second. The other team grabbed the defensive board and that palyer took 2 dribble towards half and heaved a 50+ footer that went in. On the way off the floor our captain went over and grabbed the freshmen saying "Hey, you won that game. If I'ld boxed a little harder and made someone else get the rebound that doesn't happen."
So I guess leadership isn't always about who you would get the ball too, though it wouldn't hurt if it could be. We'll have to see where we go from here.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Basketball Season Reflection #1 - Superstar
I'm not a superstar's coach. I preach 5 guys on offense working together the open guy will make the shot, 5 guys on defense will stop 1 ball, and we talk about our 12 being better then anyone elses best 5-6.
The truth is after all that is said and done I expect our best player(s) to the be the best players every single posseision.Is that unreasonable? Probably, but if you can't handle unreasonable then having any interaction with me is probably not going to go well.
This year I'm in a position with the kid who holds the keys to our kingdom's success being a phenominal athlete and talent. The only issue is that if he were any more relaxed I would have to water him.
I am not the sort of coach who is going to draw up plays to make sure so and so gets their shots. I expect the team on the floor (with consultation from me) to recognize the options available and get the player in the best situation to score the ball. What I face is we still have kids who can't make unconstested anything, and a kid who could play at the next level willing to defer to them.
I'm sure if I talked to my coaching colleagues about this I would get advice about winning the kid over, or giving him more responsibility, or even trying to find a connection to inspire him to greatness. The reality is we have a pretty good connection, and he does mean well, its just not a big deal to him. When I say "its" I mean everything, win/loss, score/shutout, getting yelled at getting hugged, its all the same so long as he's out there running around he's ok with that. If he's not out there running around he just sits back and waits for his turn.
What do you do with a superstar who's relaxed indifference would make the Budha jealous?
The truth is after all that is said and done I expect our best player(s) to the be the best players every single posseision.Is that unreasonable? Probably, but if you can't handle unreasonable then having any interaction with me is probably not going to go well.
This year I'm in a position with the kid who holds the keys to our kingdom's success being a phenominal athlete and talent. The only issue is that if he were any more relaxed I would have to water him.
I am not the sort of coach who is going to draw up plays to make sure so and so gets their shots. I expect the team on the floor (with consultation from me) to recognize the options available and get the player in the best situation to score the ball. What I face is we still have kids who can't make unconstested anything, and a kid who could play at the next level willing to defer to them.
I'm sure if I talked to my coaching colleagues about this I would get advice about winning the kid over, or giving him more responsibility, or even trying to find a connection to inspire him to greatness. The reality is we have a pretty good connection, and he does mean well, its just not a big deal to him. When I say "its" I mean everything, win/loss, score/shutout, getting yelled at getting hugged, its all the same so long as he's out there running around he's ok with that. If he's not out there running around he just sits back and waits for his turn.
What do you do with a superstar who's relaxed indifference would make the Budha jealous?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tryouts
Some lessons learned from tryouts:
1 - As the Stones once sang: "You don't always get what you want!" The team you envisioned is not always the team you get to have. As a player the position you wanted or thought you were going to have suddenly gets upgraded or down graded based on the turnout and what everyone else has done. How do you manage this? Dialogue. Kids, especially teenagers are not going to go to the adult in charge with their feelings first. They will go to their peers, teammates, and family first. Get all sorts of feedback that is not yours and then come at you with info and attitudes that weren't there intially. Be up front let kids know the score and have real conversations about the situation that you and they are both in.
2 - Doritos kids aren't ready for a marathon or a sprint. If you happen to have a tryout at a level where the it is the first time kids have moving up to a new playing field and set of expectations, bench the conditioning. You will be able to tell 20 minutes in who has wind and who doesn't. You also will not be able to tell who has any potential game if all your yougn kids can't move in stance, catch, shoot or play because they weren't physically prepared and you burned them out before evaluating skills. If you want to see who has heart, or build toughness or whatever other reason you could have for turning a tryout into a track practice, go ahead. Save it until day 2 or 3 though, you want to make sure you know who has what and what you want, before you start seeing kids drop and wondering they want you.
3 - Load the concepts. Especially in a read and react 24-8 game kids need to be able to co-ordinate their bodies, minds and the ball. Don't save introducing your offensive concepts or defensive concepts until the team is picked. You need to know who will keep up mentally before you see who keeps up physically. You can make them be in better shape much faster then you can effect the speed of their learning. Find out what your basketball IQ level is, you can run them later. Seriously, a player you cut is not going to run down the road and tell Coach x what your running. Besides if they do and that effects your chances of beating coach x I would spend more time making your kids better and less on your stuff.
4 - Why are they on your team? I constantly tell my kids that if they are on the team it is because I can see them being useful for us in meaningful situations. If that kid is not going to be then why are you keeping them. Its great that their nice, they work hard, they'd be a good teammate. What else could they be doing with all those attributes to make your school, community or another program better? Instead you let the kid come out, rot on the bench and he doesn't contribute positively to anything. I like having a hard working practice with lots of kids too, but I want it to reflect game. If they are on the team they should be playing, if they are not playing why are they on the team?
1 - As the Stones once sang: "You don't always get what you want!" The team you envisioned is not always the team you get to have. As a player the position you wanted or thought you were going to have suddenly gets upgraded or down graded based on the turnout and what everyone else has done. How do you manage this? Dialogue. Kids, especially teenagers are not going to go to the adult in charge with their feelings first. They will go to their peers, teammates, and family first. Get all sorts of feedback that is not yours and then come at you with info and attitudes that weren't there intially. Be up front let kids know the score and have real conversations about the situation that you and they are both in.
2 - Doritos kids aren't ready for a marathon or a sprint. If you happen to have a tryout at a level where the it is the first time kids have moving up to a new playing field and set of expectations, bench the conditioning. You will be able to tell 20 minutes in who has wind and who doesn't. You also will not be able to tell who has any potential game if all your yougn kids can't move in stance, catch, shoot or play because they weren't physically prepared and you burned them out before evaluating skills. If you want to see who has heart, or build toughness or whatever other reason you could have for turning a tryout into a track practice, go ahead. Save it until day 2 or 3 though, you want to make sure you know who has what and what you want, before you start seeing kids drop and wondering they want you.
3 - Load the concepts. Especially in a read and react 24-8 game kids need to be able to co-ordinate their bodies, minds and the ball. Don't save introducing your offensive concepts or defensive concepts until the team is picked. You need to know who will keep up mentally before you see who keeps up physically. You can make them be in better shape much faster then you can effect the speed of their learning. Find out what your basketball IQ level is, you can run them later. Seriously, a player you cut is not going to run down the road and tell Coach x what your running. Besides if they do and that effects your chances of beating coach x I would spend more time making your kids better and less on your stuff.
4 - Why are they on your team? I constantly tell my kids that if they are on the team it is because I can see them being useful for us in meaningful situations. If that kid is not going to be then why are you keeping them. Its great that their nice, they work hard, they'd be a good teammate. What else could they be doing with all those attributes to make your school, community or another program better? Instead you let the kid come out, rot on the bench and he doesn't contribute positively to anything. I like having a hard working practice with lots of kids too, but I want it to reflect game. If they are on the team they should be playing, if they are not playing why are they on the team?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Winning Isn't Complicated . . .
Winning isn't hard! It requires hard work to win meaningfully but the formula is pretty easy.
1 - Be more skilled.
2 - Be in better physical condition.
3 - Work harder.
4 - Train Harder.
5 - Compete at everything like its the most meaningful think you do.
That's it. The only thing you can't train is genetics.
If you show up to a game more trained, more fit, more intense, more prepared and more able you win.
Think about it like this: One team has all the taller girls. The other team has all the shorter girls but they are as fast and strong/ faster and stronger with better skills, better work ethic and more preparation. How many people would believe the taller team would win???
"Many have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." - B. Knight
1 - Be more skilled.
2 - Be in better physical condition.
3 - Work harder.
4 - Train Harder.
5 - Compete at everything like its the most meaningful think you do.
That's it. The only thing you can't train is genetics.
If you show up to a game more trained, more fit, more intense, more prepared and more able you win.
Think about it like this: One team has all the taller girls. The other team has all the shorter girls but they are as fast and strong/ faster and stronger with better skills, better work ethic and more preparation. How many people would believe the taller team would win???
"Many have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win." - B. Knight
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Silly Defensive Question???
I get constantly teased by parent responses after the game."Its over there Coach!" or "I saw it coach!" The "it" in question is the basketball. The reason for the teasing is fans will hear me constantly barking out the seemingly obvious question "Where is the ball?"
Now a 250lbs man hopping up and down the sideline screaming about whereabouts of the only orange object in the game which has everyone's focus could be laughable. It is in fact! The issue is that I am trying to cue up an important concept in my kids defensively.
Our defense is predicated on the simple concept of: We want the ball!
What is the first step? Knowing where the ball is! What is the second step? Working as a group to get it.
My feelings on defense are pretty well known to people who watch us play at all. There is one ball, if you get it the other team can't score. Over the years we've done different things defensively: zone, m2m, traps, matchups . . . you name it I've tried it. The constant has been you pressure the basketball. If the ball is pressured we can get it.
If the player with the ball is allowed options we must defend those options. If the player with the ball has to dribble because it is the only option left to avoid pyschotic pressure then we need to defend one option. If you are guarding a player without the ball you need to shift to help stop the ball or cover for a teammate who is going to be helping stop the ball.
We go through a lot of the same questions and comments with first time players in the program: Coach my guy is a shooter! But I'll get beat on a cut! But what about the screens/ cuts to the basket? My answer is pretty standard, they can't score they don't have the ball. If we make the guy with the ball bounce it into trouble, then stop him and make him try to get it out of trouble he'll throw us the ball.
A player under tremendous pressure from one or two defenders is not thinking clearly or making great reads. They are trying to get rid of the ball without making a decision that is going to get them benched. So if we pressure them and leave their only options to be things that will risk getting them benched if it doesn't work, we should end up with the ball a lot and their best kids in a lot of trouble with their coach.
"Where is the ball?" If we stop it they don't score. If we get it they can't score and their coach is ticked off.
Know where the ball is and load up on the ball and the ball's options. No one else can hurt us until the get it. Pretty simple stuff.
Now a 250lbs man hopping up and down the sideline screaming about whereabouts of the only orange object in the game which has everyone's focus could be laughable. It is in fact! The issue is that I am trying to cue up an important concept in my kids defensively.
Our defense is predicated on the simple concept of: We want the ball!
What is the first step? Knowing where the ball is! What is the second step? Working as a group to get it.
My feelings on defense are pretty well known to people who watch us play at all. There is one ball, if you get it the other team can't score. Over the years we've done different things defensively: zone, m2m, traps, matchups . . . you name it I've tried it. The constant has been you pressure the basketball. If the ball is pressured we can get it.
If the player with the ball is allowed options we must defend those options. If the player with the ball has to dribble because it is the only option left to avoid pyschotic pressure then we need to defend one option. If you are guarding a player without the ball you need to shift to help stop the ball or cover for a teammate who is going to be helping stop the ball.
We go through a lot of the same questions and comments with first time players in the program: Coach my guy is a shooter! But I'll get beat on a cut! But what about the screens/ cuts to the basket? My answer is pretty standard, they can't score they don't have the ball. If we make the guy with the ball bounce it into trouble, then stop him and make him try to get it out of trouble he'll throw us the ball.
A player under tremendous pressure from one or two defenders is not thinking clearly or making great reads. They are trying to get rid of the ball without making a decision that is going to get them benched. So if we pressure them and leave their only options to be things that will risk getting them benched if it doesn't work, we should end up with the ball a lot and their best kids in a lot of trouble with their coach.
"Where is the ball?" If we stop it they don't score. If we get it they can't score and their coach is ticked off.
Know where the ball is and load up on the ball and the ball's options. No one else can hurt us until the get it. Pretty simple stuff.
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