The NEDA program leaves tomorrow afternoon to go on a trip to Paris and Brussels to compete against France and Belgium's centralized training groups. It is doubtful that I will have the time to update the site before we get back on the 26th of April. Hopefully I will have a million new ideas come out of our competition.
Look for more postings in early May before my time here is done (May13th)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Easter Vacation
Sorry, too busy around here to get a post in today or yesterday.
We are going on a little break until Tuesday of next week, so there will be no new posts until then.
Tyler
We are going on a little break until Tuesday of next week, so there will be no new posts until then.
Tyler
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Zone Attack
Three things came out of today that I really enjoyed.
#1.
The warm up that we do every day called movement prep (which I assume Mike has sent that out to most people) is so valuable for us. The movements are designed to warm up your nervous system as well as your core, while working on balance and flexibility. How's that for killing a few birds with one stone? It is undoubtedly something I'm going to take with me wherever I end up coaching.
The great part about it that I didn't mention is the chance it gives the coaching staff to mentally prep the athletes.
Today practice focus was zone attack. Just about every drill that we did today led up to attacking a zone, it doesn't really matter what form of a zone, but it was a 2-3. So as the kids are doinig movement prep, the assistant coaches go around and give a completely individualized mini coaching clinic.
A typical conversation goes like this:
Coach: "What is your plan of atack today?" or "what are you going to try to improve on today?"
Athlete: "Uhhhhhhhh, I'm want to penetrate & pitch against the zone ." or "dribble attack"
Coach: "Ok, what ways are there to dribble against a zone?"
Athlete: "Well... you can penetrate... you can..."
Coach makes the athlete think about it, then guides the learning.
Coach: "Ok good, that's called spliting. Now what if we have a little two on one with a defender on the top. What can I do to get my teammate an open shot?"
Athlete: "You can dribble right at the defender and make them guard you?"
Coach: "Right, that's called a freeze dribble. Now there is one more way. Sometimes I want to try to get a defender to move out of position, so what I can do is laterally dribble out of their area while they guard me. That's called a dribble push or dribble pull, then my teammate can move into the space that the defender vacated."
Total time, 3 minutes. The player just reviewed the three types of effective dribbling against a zone defense, including the vocabulary necessary to be able to talk about it with their coaches and teammates. Powerfull.
I know I've talked about this subject before, but I really believe that this is a great way to improve your players performance. It lets you connect individually with each player before practice begins and gives you a chance to assess how they are doing that day. Some days an athlete's focus might just be that they want to focus on keeping their concentration and giving energy to the group because they are so tired that day from doing homework all night. So when a player starts to fatigue and makes a mental mistake, instead of jumping down their throat, you know the background information and can remind them to push through the fatigue.
#2.
We did some 5 on 5 attacking a zone out of a basic set. We had about two minutes to teach 5 girls a little set to attack a 2-3 zone. The overall theme on offense was to attack using the short corner. These are two different ways of getting there. The first group got this little set to attack out of.
First Set
O1 dribbles right at the top defender (X1) using a freeze dribble to get that player to guard her.
The situation has been created where a pass to O3 on the wing will have to be guarded by a bottom defender (X3).
At the same time, O4 screens in X3 to allow O3 to get a closeout as well as to keep the middle bottom defender player from cheating to either side before the pass is made.
After the pass, O1 will space out, trying to make X1 guard air, and O2 will be pushed to the baseline by the movement of O1.
Once X3 gets around O4 to closeout, O4 has a decision to make.
If O4 thinks that they can go seal X5 in good position to catch the ball and score, she will run in and seal X5 under the rim, we will get her the ball and she will score.
If X5 is playing outside the key on the ball side (in good position), O4 will slide to the short corner to try to draw X5 even further away from the front of the rim and out of position.
You can see that a catch by O4 in the short corner can lead to easy scores.
X5 basically must get out and guard O4. That leaves a gaping hole in the bottom of the zone.
O5 could now crash to the hoop and seal X4 for an easy post to post score. If the defense tries to take that away by having X4 jump in front of the cut, then a few more passes will be required before we find an open look.
This is where the diagonal skip will break down a zone.
O4 sends the ball up to a properly spaced out O1, who can either nail the jump shot (if X2 doesn't closeout) or make the pass-pass complete by sending it to O2 in the corner (if X2 doesn't closeout).
This was just a simple way to get a look on the first side and then get into motion.
Second Set
The idea of this set is the same as the last.
O5 screens in the top of the zone, O1 freeze dribbles X1 (makes X1 guard her) then passes to O3. O3 can start low and blast up to the wing to further entice X3 into guarding her.
O5 now has the same decision as in the other set.
If I can seal X5 at the rim, I'll do it. If not, exit to short corner, and drag X5 out with me.
If O4 was smart enough to seal out X4 when the ball was on the weak side, she just has to hold her seal for O5 to dump it in.
There are a number of things to do here, including the skip for 3 that we looked at in the last set.
On the pass to O5, O3 can give and go hard to the basket.
O4 can cut to the high post to draw X4 away from the paint. O4 can also "seal out" on any of the defenders, creating a seam that O5 can pass or drive into.
The theme behind both sets is drawing defenders out of their natural areas. Using dribbles and cuts to distort the zone and cause confusion as to who will guard who.
#3.
The third thing that a few of the girls thought I should include in today's post was another little mental training moment that occured at the end of practice.
We had just finished a fairly competitive 5 on 5 scrimmage that went to overtime and the girls competed very hard in the second half of it. The next drill was a shooting drill, one where everyone is supposed to count as all twelve players take shots. Well, mabye because we had some players still sore about losing the scrimmage or maybe they were tired from a long hard practice, but the energy was not there.
So after the drill we call them in for a second and Coach MacKay makes the observation.
Mike: "How was our energy in that last drill?"
Girls: "Not that good really"
Mike: "How was our counting?"
Girls: "Not very consistent"
Mike: "I agree. I noticed that some people only would count when they made a shot. If they missed a few, they get down and frustrated and internal and not give energy to the group. I have also noticed that from you in games. If you aren't scoring, sometimes you get frustrated and the energy goes down with you. Being consistent with your energy is really important, because those emotional ups and downs will ruin your performance."
Another good example of using mental training in the gym.
Ok, that should be enough for today!
#1.
The warm up that we do every day called movement prep (which I assume Mike has sent that out to most people) is so valuable for us. The movements are designed to warm up your nervous system as well as your core, while working on balance and flexibility. How's that for killing a few birds with one stone? It is undoubtedly something I'm going to take with me wherever I end up coaching.
The great part about it that I didn't mention is the chance it gives the coaching staff to mentally prep the athletes.
Today practice focus was zone attack. Just about every drill that we did today led up to attacking a zone, it doesn't really matter what form of a zone, but it was a 2-3. So as the kids are doinig movement prep, the assistant coaches go around and give a completely individualized mini coaching clinic.
A typical conversation goes like this:
Coach: "What is your plan of atack today?" or "what are you going to try to improve on today?"
Athlete: "Uhhhhhhhh, I'm want to penetrate & pitch against the zone ." or "dribble attack"
Coach: "Ok, what ways are there to dribble against a zone?"
Athlete: "Well... you can penetrate... you can..."
Coach makes the athlete think about it, then guides the learning.
Coach: "Ok good, that's called spliting. Now what if we have a little two on one with a defender on the top. What can I do to get my teammate an open shot?"
Athlete: "You can dribble right at the defender and make them guard you?"
Coach: "Right, that's called a freeze dribble. Now there is one more way. Sometimes I want to try to get a defender to move out of position, so what I can do is laterally dribble out of their area while they guard me. That's called a dribble push or dribble pull, then my teammate can move into the space that the defender vacated."
Total time, 3 minutes. The player just reviewed the three types of effective dribbling against a zone defense, including the vocabulary necessary to be able to talk about it with their coaches and teammates. Powerfull.
I know I've talked about this subject before, but I really believe that this is a great way to improve your players performance. It lets you connect individually with each player before practice begins and gives you a chance to assess how they are doing that day. Some days an athlete's focus might just be that they want to focus on keeping their concentration and giving energy to the group because they are so tired that day from doing homework all night. So when a player starts to fatigue and makes a mental mistake, instead of jumping down their throat, you know the background information and can remind them to push through the fatigue.
#2.
We did some 5 on 5 attacking a zone out of a basic set. We had about two minutes to teach 5 girls a little set to attack a 2-3 zone. The overall theme on offense was to attack using the short corner. These are two different ways of getting there. The first group got this little set to attack out of.
First Set
O1 dribbles right at the top defender (X1) using a freeze dribble to get that player to guard her.The situation has been created where a pass to O3 on the wing will have to be guarded by a bottom defender (X3).
At the same time, O4 screens in X3 to allow O3 to get a closeout as well as to keep the middle bottom defender player from cheating to either side before the pass is made.
After the pass, O1 will space out, trying to make X1 guard air, and O2 will be pushed to the baseline by the movement of O1.
Once X3 gets around O4 to closeout, O4 has a decision to make.
If O4 thinks that they can go seal X5 in good position to catch the ball and score, she will run in and seal X5 under the rim, we will get her the ball and she will score.
If X5 is playing outside the key on the ball side (in good position), O4 will slide to the short corner to try to draw X5 even further away from the front of the rim and out of position.
You can see that a catch by O4 in the short corner can lead to easy scores.
X5 basically must get out and guard O4. That leaves a gaping hole in the bottom of the zone.
O5 could now crash to the hoop and seal X4 for an easy post to post score. If the defense tries to take that away by having X4 jump in front of the cut, then a few more passes will be required before we find an open look.
This is where the diagonal skip will break down a zone.
O4 sends the ball up to a properly spaced out O1, who can either nail the jump shot (if X2 doesn't closeout) or make the pass-pass complete by sending it to O2 in the corner (if X2 doesn't closeout).
This was just a simple way to get a look on the first side and then get into motion.
Second Set
The idea of this set is the same as the last.
O5 screens in the top of the zone, O1 freeze dribbles X1 (makes X1 guard her) then passes to O3. O3 can start low and blast up to the wing to further entice X3 into guarding her.
O5 now has the same decision as in the other set.
If I can seal X5 at the rim, I'll do it. If not, exit to short corner, and drag X5 out with me.
If O4 was smart enough to seal out X4 when the ball was on the weak side, she just has to hold her seal for O5 to dump it in.
There are a number of things to do here, including the skip for 3 that we looked at in the last set.
On the pass to O5, O3 can give and go hard to the basket.
O4 can cut to the high post to draw X4 away from the paint. O4 can also "seal out" on any of the defenders, creating a seam that O5 can pass or drive into.
The theme behind both sets is drawing defenders out of their natural areas. Using dribbles and cuts to distort the zone and cause confusion as to who will guard who.
#3.
The third thing that a few of the girls thought I should include in today's post was another little mental training moment that occured at the end of practice.
We had just finished a fairly competitive 5 on 5 scrimmage that went to overtime and the girls competed very hard in the second half of it. The next drill was a shooting drill, one where everyone is supposed to count as all twelve players take shots. Well, mabye because we had some players still sore about losing the scrimmage or maybe they were tired from a long hard practice, but the energy was not there.
So after the drill we call them in for a second and Coach MacKay makes the observation.
Mike: "How was our energy in that last drill?"
Girls: "Not that good really"
Mike: "How was our counting?"
Girls: "Not very consistent"
Mike: "I agree. I noticed that some people only would count when they made a shot. If they missed a few, they get down and frustrated and internal and not give energy to the group. I have also noticed that from you in games. If you aren't scoring, sometimes you get frustrated and the energy goes down with you. Being consistent with your energy is really important, because those emotional ups and downs will ruin your performance."
Another good example of using mental training in the gym.
Ok, that should be enough for today!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Greatness
CNN Article on Greatness
Interesting article and very topical around the NEDA headquarters lately.
Here's what I got out of it:
They took the first 20 paragraphs explaining how innate 'talent' is insignificant in how the best of the best get to where they are. Apparently they have a burning fire inside them driving them to improve from a very young age.
Fair enough, I agree with all of that.
What made me shake my head a little bit was the last few paragraphs when they quote - "Some people are much more motivated than others, and that's the existential question I cannot answer - why." So then what is the message? Some people are born with the innate drive to improve, and that is what turns people into special performers.
Well that doesn't provide hope for many people out there. So if coming into the gym and practicing feels like a chore or is boring to you sometimes, you can't be a special player? I need some examples of people turning that switch on later in life and "getting it".
The Michael Jordan story is probably the best example of a late bloomer figuring it all out but I'll bet he had that quality in him before he was cut from his high school team.
Christine and I were watching some middle school kids do some footwork drills in the dance studio that our offices overlook and we could see what every single coach in the world has seen. Some kids were working hard, trying their best and doing every detail their instructor showed them. They were doing when the coach watched, they were doing it when no one was there, they were doing it when no one was cheering them on, or giving them energy. Then on the other side of the room were the kids that were going through the motions. Coach would come over and try to encourage them "go faster", "push", etc., and they would speed up a little bit. Coach turns around and in a few minutes they are back shortcutting their way to mediocrity.
So the question is how do you get it? I've seen people who didn't have it somehow get motivated, but can it last forever? Most people will have a talk with their coach, or go watch Hoosiers and come out of it refreshed and start working the right way, but does it last forever?
The next interesting thing that I took out of this article (and that NEDA has been reinforcing) is that this is now the #1 most important thing in coaching. Teaching skills and movement patterns and decision making and all of that stuff is important, but teaching the mental approach to the game is far and away the most critical thing you can do as a coach.
If this is the number one factor that determines whether or not someone will achieve greatness, then we need to figure out how it works and what we need to do to shape and mold it so that it is a long term fix, not a short term band-aid.
Sefu Bernard just sent around this well written article on the same subject.
New York Times article on greatness
Interesting article and very topical around the NEDA headquarters lately.
Here's what I got out of it:
They took the first 20 paragraphs explaining how innate 'talent' is insignificant in how the best of the best get to where they are. Apparently they have a burning fire inside them driving them to improve from a very young age.
Fair enough, I agree with all of that.
What made me shake my head a little bit was the last few paragraphs when they quote - "Some people are much more motivated than others, and that's the existential question I cannot answer - why." So then what is the message? Some people are born with the innate drive to improve, and that is what turns people into special performers.
Well that doesn't provide hope for many people out there. So if coming into the gym and practicing feels like a chore or is boring to you sometimes, you can't be a special player? I need some examples of people turning that switch on later in life and "getting it".
The Michael Jordan story is probably the best example of a late bloomer figuring it all out but I'll bet he had that quality in him before he was cut from his high school team.
Christine and I were watching some middle school kids do some footwork drills in the dance studio that our offices overlook and we could see what every single coach in the world has seen. Some kids were working hard, trying their best and doing every detail their instructor showed them. They were doing when the coach watched, they were doing it when no one was there, they were doing it when no one was cheering them on, or giving them energy. Then on the other side of the room were the kids that were going through the motions. Coach would come over and try to encourage them "go faster", "push", etc., and they would speed up a little bit. Coach turns around and in a few minutes they are back shortcutting their way to mediocrity.
So the question is how do you get it? I've seen people who didn't have it somehow get motivated, but can it last forever? Most people will have a talk with their coach, or go watch Hoosiers and come out of it refreshed and start working the right way, but does it last forever?
The next interesting thing that I took out of this article (and that NEDA has been reinforcing) is that this is now the #1 most important thing in coaching. Teaching skills and movement patterns and decision making and all of that stuff is important, but teaching the mental approach to the game is far and away the most critical thing you can do as a coach.
If this is the number one factor that determines whether or not someone will achieve greatness, then we need to figure out how it works and what we need to do to shape and mold it so that it is a long term fix, not a short term band-aid.
Sefu Bernard just sent around this well written article on the same subject.
New York Times article on greatness
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Another sample practice
Taking a day off from posting today, and I'll leave you with a sample practice from the NEDA program.
On this particular day we were doing a zone atttack progression.
Feb. 27th – Zone Progressions
On this particular day we were doing a zone atttack progression.
Feb. 27th – Zone Progressions
7:20 Shooting progression warm-up
7:28 Movement Prep – partners with loaded movement
7:40 CONDITIONING – sideline passing into penetration shooting
7:45 CONDITIONING – 2 on 2 transition defense
7:53 Motion versus Zone Review
Geography lesson
o Perimeter spots (7)
o Post spots (9)
Concept #1 – “Spacing” - Gaps + Seals/Screens = CREATES SEAMS
o Wide at the wing, deep at the point
o Post player – defense inside “screen in”, defense is outside “ seal up”
§ Combine and “screen in” with “ seal out”
7:58 Games Approach 4 on 4 – TYLER WATCH DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING
No cutting or dribbling – transition defense after shot
Score you stay on offense – first team to 4
* score by passing the ball – pass fakes, move in and out and up and down in gaps to create seams. Make a pass and move away from your pass “offset”
* posts – pop and seal
* Perimeter – who is guarding you, who is guarding your teammate
8:05 Concept #2 – “ Cutting”
Fill a spot someone has just left. Cut behind the defense into space vacated by defender
Perimeters – who defends the first pass? Who defends the post? Who defends the skip? Wing to corner and defense bumps – cut away
Post Cuts – Exit Cut – leave post to become a perimeter. Improve passing angle – 2 seconds in and 2 seconds out
Exchange cut – go hi/lo with teammate (diagonal or vertical)
Vertical cut – go hi/lo or lo/hi with your own cut
Horizontal cut – from right to left/left to right
Influence cut – drag a defender out of position – “seal up”
IF/THEN cuts – HIGH POST READ - if bottom defender covers the wing and partner post is low and opposite of ball – dive front rim. Low post run diagonal cut to high post
IF/THEN cuts – LOW POST READ – if bottom defender covers the wing and middle defender cheats up to guard ball side high/mid post – horizontal cut. Opposite wing can dive rim – fill a spot someone has just left
8:15 Games Approach 5 on 5 – TYLER WATCH DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING
Spacing + Cutting and NO PENETRATION, + 2 for 3 sides to score
8:25 SHOOTING
Perimeters - Skips for threes – keep track of makes and takes
Zara, Yinka and Krysten – post to post passing
8:33 Concept #3 – “Dribble”
Dribble pull a defender further out of position. Concept of filling a spot someone has just left. Cut behind the defense into space vacated by defender. Works well with an exit cut – post and perimeter working together.
Dribble push – as perimeter pulls a teammate into space created behind – push another teammate through to fill space on second side of floor.
Freeze dribble – perimeter player pentrate at inside foot of next defender to create shot for next offensive player. Post screens in next defender – post and perimeter working together.
8:40 Games Approach – 4 on 4 – TYLER WATCH DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING
+3 for anything scored off the concept of penetrate/rotate/pass/pass
SLOW DOWN
8:50 Scrimmage – TYLER versus MIKE
9:00 Cool Down
· 4 minute free throws
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Mental Training
Mental Toughness. All coaches want their players to have this skill. Some kids seem to have it, and other kids don't. I think it is one of the least taught non-basketball fundamentals there is.
A lot of coaches have had sports psych people come in and do classroom sessions with their team, or take them on team building events designed to introduce them to the fundamentals of mental training skills. That stuff is always great and wonderfull, but the real mental training interventions need to be made on the court by the coach.
My work here at the NEDA program has been so beneficial to see how coaches implement mental training into their practices.
One of my favorite mental skills that we have talked about is the IPS, or ideal performance state. Most of the work I had done in the NCCP courses about it were very much based on handouts and things to do outside of practice to see how you prepare yourself for competition. The focus here has been to trim that idea down and just talk about "it".
Everybody has coached a practice where the players had "it". It might have been for a whole practice, it might have been for just one drill, but everyone had seen it when all 12 players have been competing, focused and energized.
So how do you get it? That's the biggest question. A great start is analyzing the last sentence of the previous paragraph. "When all 12 players have been competing, focused and energized.
Mike McKay calls them "ICE goals" - Intensity, Concentration, Enthusiasm
Intensity is the physical side of performance. Working hard with full effort until the last whistle.
Concentration is the mental side of performance. Having your mind on task and focused.
Enthusiasm is the emotional side of performance. Giving energy to others in the group.
In order to be at peak performance, these three areas need to be engaged. When your team has it, you will do well. When they don't have it, what can you do to get it back? The first step to take is to identify in practice when you have "it" and when you don't. Then you can begin to figure out what to do to get things back the way they should be or how to stay there.
Billie Jean King once said that she had won matches in which her physical and her emotional side were on but her mental side was lacking.
She also won matches when her emotional and her mental side were on but her physical side was not.
She said she never won a match when her emotional state wasn't right.
My apologies to Mike Mckay for "borrowing" all of this material from our conversations.
A lot of coaches have had sports psych people come in and do classroom sessions with their team, or take them on team building events designed to introduce them to the fundamentals of mental training skills. That stuff is always great and wonderfull, but the real mental training interventions need to be made on the court by the coach.
My work here at the NEDA program has been so beneficial to see how coaches implement mental training into their practices.
One of my favorite mental skills that we have talked about is the IPS, or ideal performance state. Most of the work I had done in the NCCP courses about it were very much based on handouts and things to do outside of practice to see how you prepare yourself for competition. The focus here has been to trim that idea down and just talk about "it".
Everybody has coached a practice where the players had "it". It might have been for a whole practice, it might have been for just one drill, but everyone had seen it when all 12 players have been competing, focused and energized.
So how do you get it? That's the biggest question. A great start is analyzing the last sentence of the previous paragraph. "When all 12 players have been competing, focused and energized.
Mike McKay calls them "ICE goals" - Intensity, Concentration, Enthusiasm
Intensity is the physical side of performance. Working hard with full effort until the last whistle.
Concentration is the mental side of performance. Having your mind on task and focused.
Enthusiasm is the emotional side of performance. Giving energy to others in the group.
In order to be at peak performance, these three areas need to be engaged. When your team has it, you will do well. When they don't have it, what can you do to get it back? The first step to take is to identify in practice when you have "it" and when you don't. Then you can begin to figure out what to do to get things back the way they should be or how to stay there.
Billie Jean King once said that she had won matches in which her physical and her emotional side were on but her mental side was lacking.
She also won matches when her emotional and her mental side were on but her physical side was not.
She said she never won a match when her emotional state wasn't right.
My apologies to Mike Mckay for "borrowing" all of this material from our conversations.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Good Day
I thought we had a very good drill today in practice. The NEDA wing players were grouped together today for about 30 minutes to work on some common weaknesses that the group possesses. Coach Greg Francis and I talked a little bit after a recent game about some of the shortcomings our wing players have, and we turned that into a drill for today.
We had six players and after doing some work on throwing and catching some hard passes, we went into a 3 on 3 drill.
Our observations from the game were that our girls were taking a lot of shots over help defense. We would have no trouble getting by our own player, but when the next level defenders would come to help, we would try to take some tough contested shots. Usually the correct read when you draw help is to kick the ball to the open player (with a few notable exceptions, such as late game/shot clock situations, against a player in foul trouble, etc.)
So the emphasis in the drill was that as soon as a help defender took a step to come help, you had to kick the ball out. We made the girls play pure pass & cut offense so that we could get more opportunities to work on reading help defenders on penetration.
The second observation that we worked into the drill was that any time our perimeter players caught the ball, they would go into the classic stand-up-straight-with-the-ball-over-your-head-and-watch-people-stand-there stance. As soon as one player holds the ball like that in motion offense, half of the floor grinds to a halt.
The addition to the drill was that a player who caught the ball had to either shoot, pass, or attack the rim with the dribble or it was a turnover.
The post drill debrief showed that the girls had taken away a few important lessons from the drill. Their feedback was that they had the most success when:
1. They had good spacing.
We had to address this point a few times in the drill, especially after a penetration. If the penetrator doesn't sprint out to the 3 point line after kicking the ball out, the other two players only have the option to shoot or pass.
2. They kicked the ball before the help got to them.
If they waited for the defense to get to them and then picked the ball up to try to make a pass, it was too late. When they made the pass on the help defender's first step towards the help, it gave open shots and closeouts to their teammates.
3. They caught the ball like scorers.
This one is critical, and something I'm going to make a point of watching from now on. If you don't catch the ball like a shooter, no one is going to play you. You don't have to shoot it, you don't have to drive the ball, but the difference in making your defender play you like a scorer and play you like a passer is a significant one.
These were good learning points for the girls, and I think with more emphasis, they can become habits.
I'm going to have another large layoff inbetween posts, our March break starts tomorrow
We had six players and after doing some work on throwing and catching some hard passes, we went into a 3 on 3 drill.
Our observations from the game were that our girls were taking a lot of shots over help defense. We would have no trouble getting by our own player, but when the next level defenders would come to help, we would try to take some tough contested shots. Usually the correct read when you draw help is to kick the ball to the open player (with a few notable exceptions, such as late game/shot clock situations, against a player in foul trouble, etc.)
So the emphasis in the drill was that as soon as a help defender took a step to come help, you had to kick the ball out. We made the girls play pure pass & cut offense so that we could get more opportunities to work on reading help defenders on penetration.
The second observation that we worked into the drill was that any time our perimeter players caught the ball, they would go into the classic stand-up-straight-with-the-ball-over-your-head-and-watch-people-stand-there stance. As soon as one player holds the ball like that in motion offense, half of the floor grinds to a halt.
The addition to the drill was that a player who caught the ball had to either shoot, pass, or attack the rim with the dribble or it was a turnover.
The post drill debrief showed that the girls had taken away a few important lessons from the drill. Their feedback was that they had the most success when:
1. They had good spacing.
We had to address this point a few times in the drill, especially after a penetration. If the penetrator doesn't sprint out to the 3 point line after kicking the ball out, the other two players only have the option to shoot or pass.
2. They kicked the ball before the help got to them.
If they waited for the defense to get to them and then picked the ball up to try to make a pass, it was too late. When they made the pass on the help defender's first step towards the help, it gave open shots and closeouts to their teammates.
3. They caught the ball like scorers.
This one is critical, and something I'm going to make a point of watching from now on. If you don't catch the ball like a shooter, no one is going to play you. You don't have to shoot it, you don't have to drive the ball, but the difference in making your defender play you like a scorer and play you like a passer is a significant one.
These were good learning points for the girls, and I think with more emphasis, they can become habits.
I'm going to have another large layoff inbetween posts, our March break starts tomorrow
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Science of Basketball
There is none.
I don't think we know very much about this game.
I am not sure which has had a bigger influence on what most coaches teach, tradition, or trial and error.
Trial and error I don't really have a problem with. I think that's the most natural way for something to become more efficient. I am a big fan of evolution, and really, trial and error is exactly that. As Mike MacKay likes to say , "you always have to be innovating and improving". Good saying, it basically describes evolution.
Where I do have a problem is in the 'tradition' of coaching. I think a lot of what we teach is outdated. Let me rephrase that. I don't think we know why we teach a lot of the things that we do.
The obvious example is the two-hand chest pass. I would say at least 95% of all kids that played mini-basketball were taught this skill. Why do we teach a pass that starts in the middle of the body, takes a big step towards the target, and flicks the wrists outward as the ball is released? I'm not 100% sure. Is it because kids need that much strength to get the ball to a target? Is it because when the game was invented you couldn't stand that close to an offensive player while they tried to pass the ball? I honestly don't know.
How often do you think that a two hand chest pass is thrown in the finals of the world championship? I don't know either, that's the point.
The game is an ever-evolving entity.
That is why I have a big problem with the NBA. The NBA is a giant recycling system. The coaches are former players or former assistant coaches. All the players have coming up watching the NBA, striving to be like the NBA players. The whole system is based so much on itself that it's become a house of cards. The American NBA style of basketball has been passed by on the international stage. If you aren't constantly re-evaluating and improving what you are trying to teach and you aren't innovating new ways to get things done, you're a dinosaur, you'll be passed by.
The game doesn't care.
That's what I absolutely love about the game. If you aren't killing yourself to get it done, to get better, fine, someone else is. The game moves on. Player or coach, the game doesn't care.
I don't think we know very much about this game.
I am not sure which has had a bigger influence on what most coaches teach, tradition, or trial and error.
Trial and error I don't really have a problem with. I think that's the most natural way for something to become more efficient. I am a big fan of evolution, and really, trial and error is exactly that. As Mike MacKay likes to say , "you always have to be innovating and improving". Good saying, it basically describes evolution.
Where I do have a problem is in the 'tradition' of coaching. I think a lot of what we teach is outdated. Let me rephrase that. I don't think we know why we teach a lot of the things that we do.
The obvious example is the two-hand chest pass. I would say at least 95% of all kids that played mini-basketball were taught this skill. Why do we teach a pass that starts in the middle of the body, takes a big step towards the target, and flicks the wrists outward as the ball is released? I'm not 100% sure. Is it because kids need that much strength to get the ball to a target? Is it because when the game was invented you couldn't stand that close to an offensive player while they tried to pass the ball? I honestly don't know.
How often do you think that a two hand chest pass is thrown in the finals of the world championship? I don't know either, that's the point.
The game is an ever-evolving entity.
That is why I have a big problem with the NBA. The NBA is a giant recycling system. The coaches are former players or former assistant coaches. All the players have coming up watching the NBA, striving to be like the NBA players. The whole system is based so much on itself that it's become a house of cards. The American NBA style of basketball has been passed by on the international stage. If you aren't constantly re-evaluating and improving what you are trying to teach and you aren't innovating new ways to get things done, you're a dinosaur, you'll be passed by.
The game doesn't care.
That's what I absolutely love about the game. If you aren't killing yourself to get it done, to get better, fine, someone else is. The game moves on. Player or coach, the game doesn't care.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Pressure
This week of Allison and Mike has been great. It is always good to see how the coaches at a higher level are teaching things. I absolutely love seeing the level of detail that they operate on when watching the game of basketball.
Whether it's a pull up jump shot or a team running 4 out motion, they have an intimate understanding of how to build up a skill from the very basics.
I think that is what is missing in all of the coaching education that I have ever received. When you watch people coach, a lot of the time you see them correcting the final product. In order to be able to correct the final product though, you need to know how to build it from the ground up. Books on sets and drills are absolutely everywhere, but what seems more important to me is the actual logical progression of a skill.
To me that is the reason that we can't build perfect basketball players in this world. Laying the foundations of movement and understanding at the right time in a kid's development just doesn't happen. If anyone knows how to teach basketball from start to finish, from 6 years old to 65 I'd love to meet them. Anyone who is close to even knowing that works with the highest level athletes, tweaking their game and performance to get a little bit better. The coaches working at the most important levels (our youngest players) are usually the ones that haven't had that background of breaking down skills and movements, and from what they've observed from the master coaches, the game is all about correcting performance.
Correcting is all well and good if you know how to put it together from scratch. The most effective coaches are the ones that are constantly trying to figure out better ways to teach things. More logical ways to describe how a skill works.
Anyways, I didn't mean to make that part so long.
The best thing that I have gotten out of Allison and Mike is that they have reminded us of how intense practice needs to be to improve. As time goes on, practice always falls into that rut known as "comfort". Your players get comfortable playing at one speed, you get comfortable with them going as hard as they are and the days start to go by. They are stil playing hard of course, but not playing as hard as they can. The only way to improve is to compete the hell out of every drill.
They brought that mentality to us and you could feel the "uncomfortableness" in the gym. Now people are pressuring the ball so hard that we can't make a pass by our own defender. The defense is working so hard that the offense turns in the old barnyard offense - 5 chickens running around with their heads cut off.
So now the offense has to play with mental intensity but not be physically out of control. That is exactly what happens when you play a better team. You have to contend with great defensive pressure and be poised (one of their favorite terms) enough to think abut what you are trying to do and how to do it. "Play fast but don't hurry" instantly comes to mind.
So if your team is better defensively than it is offensively (or more athletic then they are skilled, which we definitely are) you can really get after each other and improve your offense. Sure it will look ugly until you learn to play with some poise, but it's got to get ugly if it's ever going to get better.
Whether it's a pull up jump shot or a team running 4 out motion, they have an intimate understanding of how to build up a skill from the very basics.
I think that is what is missing in all of the coaching education that I have ever received. When you watch people coach, a lot of the time you see them correcting the final product. In order to be able to correct the final product though, you need to know how to build it from the ground up. Books on sets and drills are absolutely everywhere, but what seems more important to me is the actual logical progression of a skill.
To me that is the reason that we can't build perfect basketball players in this world. Laying the foundations of movement and understanding at the right time in a kid's development just doesn't happen. If anyone knows how to teach basketball from start to finish, from 6 years old to 65 I'd love to meet them. Anyone who is close to even knowing that works with the highest level athletes, tweaking their game and performance to get a little bit better. The coaches working at the most important levels (our youngest players) are usually the ones that haven't had that background of breaking down skills and movements, and from what they've observed from the master coaches, the game is all about correcting performance.
Correcting is all well and good if you know how to put it together from scratch. The most effective coaches are the ones that are constantly trying to figure out better ways to teach things. More logical ways to describe how a skill works.
Anyways, I didn't mean to make that part so long.
The best thing that I have gotten out of Allison and Mike is that they have reminded us of how intense practice needs to be to improve. As time goes on, practice always falls into that rut known as "comfort". Your players get comfortable playing at one speed, you get comfortable with them going as hard as they are and the days start to go by. They are stil playing hard of course, but not playing as hard as they can. The only way to improve is to compete the hell out of every drill.
They brought that mentality to us and you could feel the "uncomfortableness" in the gym. Now people are pressuring the ball so hard that we can't make a pass by our own defender. The defense is working so hard that the offense turns in the old barnyard offense - 5 chickens running around with their heads cut off.
So now the offense has to play with mental intensity but not be physically out of control. That is exactly what happens when you play a better team. You have to contend with great defensive pressure and be poised (one of their favorite terms) enough to think abut what you are trying to do and how to do it. "Play fast but don't hurry" instantly comes to mind.
So if your team is better defensively than it is offensively (or more athletic then they are skilled, which we definitely are) you can really get after each other and improve your offense. Sure it will look ugly until you learn to play with some poise, but it's got to get ugly if it's ever going to get better.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Todays' Practice Plan
Today's post is to give you an idea of what Allison and Mike McNeill had for a practice plan for the NEDA girls. I have described the drills and given the emphasis listed on the practice plan as well as the actual points that came out of executing the drill.
February 8th, 2007
7:15 am Warmup
7:30 am Creative Layups
Description: Players start in a line at the wing, each with a ball. Players drive game-speed to the hoop practicing different styles & angles of layups.
Emphasis: ginobili layups (weaving steps)
fake pass layup
reverse layup
hook layup
7:35 am 6 spot shooting
Description: 2 lines are needed, one with balls, the other without. 6 spots on the floor to shoot from, 3 on each side. First time, line without balls starts from near center, vertically aligned with the swing spot (edge of the wide key). They sprint in and receive a pass from the other line, which is in the corner. Goal is to simulate transition jump shot.
Second time, lines are at each wing spot (foul line extended - 3 point line). Same idea, using inside foot pivots this time.
Last time, one line is in the corner (outside the three), the other is at the opposite swing. Player sprints up as if coming off a down screen and shoot using inside pivot.
Same spots on the other side of the floor are used.
Emphasis: Quick 1-2 footwork on inside pivot.
If throwing a pass to a curling player, throw it to their inside shoulder so that they catch it in their shot pocket.
7:45 am 3 player weave with a runner
Description: 4 lines on the baseline. Three players weave to the other end, the other sprints to the far basket. When the sprinter is at the right spot, the weavers pass the ball. She does a layup and begins to sprint the other way. Weavers get the rebound and weave back. All players have to sprint to finish the drill in the key.
Emphasis: Head up - pass the ball in rhythym
Pass is better early than late
Can alter this to 2 on 2 on the way back (shooter & passer play defense)
7:50 am Contest the shot drill
Description: Groups of 2. One player at the edge of their shooting range, one defender with the ball starts under the hoop. Player with the ball passes to offense and sprints to a close-out. Offense has the shot or one dribble. Players switch positions after the shot is taken (no box out). You get one point for a score and -2 if your rebound bounces twice before you get it.
Emphasis: If closing out on what you think is a shot, don't run right at the shooter, run slightly to the shooting hand side so you can run by them instead of running into them.
Dribble jumper shooting % is way lower than stand and catch shooting %
7:55 am Dribble Hand-offs
Description: Groups of three at a basket. All three players are on offense. Pass the ball from swing to swing and the reciever will do a "dribble-at" with the wing on her side. Coaches give reads.
Emphasis: Drag the arc before coming off the dribble hand-off
Player with the ball dribbles at the inside of her teammate's defender (the coach)
Run right at the dribbler's nose to force the defener to give you a read.
Come hip to hip off of the handoff.
Reads: Defender tries to "muscle it" or "cheat" over top - cutter goes back door
Defender trails - curl around and go to the hoop
Defender goes underneath the hand-off - pop and either shoot, or attack the closeout, opposite of the way the defender recovers around the handoff.
8:05 am 3 on 3 end line
Description: 3 players on offense outside the 3 point line. 3 on defense under the hoop. Rest of players are out of bounds on the baseline. Coach has the ball under the basket and passes out to one of the offensive players. Defenders close out and play live 3 on 3. Just a different way to get into playing 3 on 3.
Emphasis: Patience - we want 2 good screening acions
Work on the handoffs
Work on post triangles
Attack!
8:15 am Defensive footwork - wave series - hip turns
Description: Players start all in the half court facing the coach with plenty of space.
Emphasis: Work on hip turn defensive footwork
Hips remain the same level
push with your back leg, not pull with your front leg
8:22 am Defending ball screens
Description: Groups of 4 - 2 on 2 working on the details of going over-under on a ball pick.
8:30 am 5 on 5 - 1.5 drill
Description: 5 on 5 that starts from half court. You play at one end, transition to the other end, and transition back. Then the drill stops and we reset with the other team starting on offense. One team gets 2 offensive possessions, the other teams gets 1 offensive possession each time. It ends up being a more controlled scrimmage.
By this time it was 9:15 and time for the girls to get ready for school.
I could do a whole post on the hip turns, the dribble handoffs and over/under on ball picks. Some day I probably will.
A few tidbits that came out of the coaches mouths were:
2 bad decisions in a 24 second shot clock means that you are getting a bad shot.
The offense starts as soon as you get down the floor. Don't wait for the ball to be dribbled into the swing before starting any action. Movement!
We as a group need to get better at finding our team's advantage and using it. Sometimes we tend to play "equal opportunity" offense when that isn't your best chance of scoring or your most intellignet way.
Long one today, fingers are cramped.
February 8th, 2007
7:15 am Warmup
7:30 am Creative Layups
Description: Players start in a line at the wing, each with a ball. Players drive game-speed to the hoop practicing different styles & angles of layups.
Emphasis: ginobili layups (weaving steps)
fake pass layup
reverse layup
hook layup
7:35 am 6 spot shooting
Description: 2 lines are needed, one with balls, the other without. 6 spots on the floor to shoot from, 3 on each side. First time, line without balls starts from near center, vertically aligned with the swing spot (edge of the wide key). They sprint in and receive a pass from the other line, which is in the corner. Goal is to simulate transition jump shot.
Second time, lines are at each wing spot (foul line extended - 3 point line). Same idea, using inside foot pivots this time.
Last time, one line is in the corner (outside the three), the other is at the opposite swing. Player sprints up as if coming off a down screen and shoot using inside pivot.
Same spots on the other side of the floor are used.
Emphasis: Quick 1-2 footwork on inside pivot.
If throwing a pass to a curling player, throw it to their inside shoulder so that they catch it in their shot pocket.
7:45 am 3 player weave with a runner
Description: 4 lines on the baseline. Three players weave to the other end, the other sprints to the far basket. When the sprinter is at the right spot, the weavers pass the ball. She does a layup and begins to sprint the other way. Weavers get the rebound and weave back. All players have to sprint to finish the drill in the key.
Emphasis: Head up - pass the ball in rhythym
Pass is better early than late
Can alter this to 2 on 2 on the way back (shooter & passer play defense)
7:50 am Contest the shot drill
Description: Groups of 2. One player at the edge of their shooting range, one defender with the ball starts under the hoop. Player with the ball passes to offense and sprints to a close-out. Offense has the shot or one dribble. Players switch positions after the shot is taken (no box out). You get one point for a score and -2 if your rebound bounces twice before you get it.
Emphasis: If closing out on what you think is a shot, don't run right at the shooter, run slightly to the shooting hand side so you can run by them instead of running into them.
Dribble jumper shooting % is way lower than stand and catch shooting %
7:55 am Dribble Hand-offs
Description: Groups of three at a basket. All three players are on offense. Pass the ball from swing to swing and the reciever will do a "dribble-at" with the wing on her side. Coaches give reads.
Emphasis: Drag the arc before coming off the dribble hand-off
Player with the ball dribbles at the inside of her teammate's defender (the coach)
Run right at the dribbler's nose to force the defener to give you a read.
Come hip to hip off of the handoff.
Reads: Defender tries to "muscle it" or "cheat" over top - cutter goes back door
Defender trails - curl around and go to the hoop
Defender goes underneath the hand-off - pop and either shoot, or attack the closeout, opposite of the way the defender recovers around the handoff.
8:05 am 3 on 3 end line
Description: 3 players on offense outside the 3 point line. 3 on defense under the hoop. Rest of players are out of bounds on the baseline. Coach has the ball under the basket and passes out to one of the offensive players. Defenders close out and play live 3 on 3. Just a different way to get into playing 3 on 3.
Emphasis: Patience - we want 2 good screening acions
Work on the handoffs
Work on post triangles
Attack!
8:15 am Defensive footwork - wave series - hip turns
Description: Players start all in the half court facing the coach with plenty of space.
Emphasis: Work on hip turn defensive footwork
Hips remain the same level
push with your back leg, not pull with your front leg
8:22 am Defending ball screens
Description: Groups of 4 - 2 on 2 working on the details of going over-under on a ball pick.
8:30 am 5 on 5 - 1.5 drill
Description: 5 on 5 that starts from half court. You play at one end, transition to the other end, and transition back. Then the drill stops and we reset with the other team starting on offense. One team gets 2 offensive possessions, the other teams gets 1 offensive possession each time. It ends up being a more controlled scrimmage.
By this time it was 9:15 and time for the girls to get ready for school.
I could do a whole post on the hip turns, the dribble handoffs and over/under on ball picks. Some day I probably will.
A few tidbits that came out of the coaches mouths were:
2 bad decisions in a 24 second shot clock means that you are getting a bad shot.
The offense starts as soon as you get down the floor. Don't wait for the ball to be dribbled into the swing before starting any action. Movement!
We as a group need to get better at finding our team's advantage and using it. Sometimes we tend to play "equal opportunity" offense when that isn't your best chance of scoring or your most intellignet way.
Long one today, fingers are cramped.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Practice makes perfect?
National Women's head coach Allison McNeill and assistant coach Mike McNeill are in town to lead a few practices at the National Elite Development Academy. While I was up to my eyeballs in the technical details that these two were imparting to our players, I was more impacted by a different kind of observation Allison shared with the group. After we had finished a random drill, she called the group in and summed up the situation perfectly.
"You aren't finishing drills right now."
"It's great that you guys are in here practicing every day, getting your work done in the weight room, and all of that," she said "but everybody is doing that."
"If you don't approach every drill like it's the last possession of a game, you aren't going to improve."
Simple feedback that in all reality, is going to determine whether or not these 12 girls will ever be players. Every single one of them has the physical tools to be all-whatever.
Just being at practice means nothing. Performing every drill means nothing. If you don't have the attitude that every repetition you perform is life or death, this game won't take you very far. It's not about doing it as hard as the coach wants, or doing it hard enough to win, it's about doing it the right way every time.
"You aren't finishing drills right now."
"It's great that you guys are in here practicing every day, getting your work done in the weight room, and all of that," she said "but everybody is doing that."
"If you don't approach every drill like it's the last possession of a game, you aren't going to improve."
Simple feedback that in all reality, is going to determine whether or not these 12 girls will ever be players. Every single one of them has the physical tools to be all-whatever.
Just being at practice means nothing. Performing every drill means nothing. If you don't have the attitude that every repetition you perform is life or death, this game won't take you very far. It's not about doing it as hard as the coach wants, or doing it hard enough to win, it's about doing it the right way every time.
Monday, February 5, 2007
1 on 1
Best way to improve your game.
When you deconstruct a practice, if you don't do a one on one drill, how many times in a practice will your players have to guard someone as if the game depended on it? 15 times? 10 times? You can sometimes get through an entire practice without ever having to really get down and defend.
Playing one on one is so good for so many reasons. My favorite thing about it is that you have to learn how to read an opposing player, which is really learning how to create an advantage and then use it. Girls do not play enough 1 on 1 basketball at any level to get the amount of reps that it takes to impact your game.
The biggest thing I hear in the Canadian Basketball scene (on the women's side) is that we can't score. I think we are doing a tremendous job here at NEDA of teaching the girls how to play conceptual 5 on 5 basketball. The work we have done on motion offense so far is incredible, at times we run it as well as anyone. But at the risk of sounding old-school, (I know I'm not that old) a lot of the time, the game comes down to who can create that little advantage and use it.
The simplest way I can describe offensive basketball is creating advantages, then attacking them. Very flexible terms that can be applied to almost any philosophy. If you think you have an advantage because your post player is 4 inches taller than the other post, you dump it in. If your defender is in a situation where they have to close out on you, you have that advantage. If you have the skills to "break down" the player guarding you, your team will play off the advantage that you will create. Using screening is a great way to create an advantage.
The Suns are a great team to watch for a few reasons. First of all, they try to create an advantage every second that they have the ball by fast breaking all the time. Part of the reason it works so well because the pendulum that is the NBA has been firmly swung to the side of slow-it down half court offense. 10 years of NBA players played in a league where you might only score a fast-break lay-up off a defensive rebound once a year. The other reason that the Suns are so darn good is that Steve Nash is the best in the game at playing with ball picks. Every time you set a pick on the ball, a little advantage is created. The Suns understand that they have an advantage in those situations and so they run them a ton.
It all goes back to that understanding of how to use an advantage. But as we all know, you can have the best offense in the world and create advantages all day, but if you don't have the individual skills to put the ball in the hoop, it doesn't matter.
You want the skills? Play one on one.
When you deconstruct a practice, if you don't do a one on one drill, how many times in a practice will your players have to guard someone as if the game depended on it? 15 times? 10 times? You can sometimes get through an entire practice without ever having to really get down and defend.
Playing one on one is so good for so many reasons. My favorite thing about it is that you have to learn how to read an opposing player, which is really learning how to create an advantage and then use it. Girls do not play enough 1 on 1 basketball at any level to get the amount of reps that it takes to impact your game.
The biggest thing I hear in the Canadian Basketball scene (on the women's side) is that we can't score. I think we are doing a tremendous job here at NEDA of teaching the girls how to play conceptual 5 on 5 basketball. The work we have done on motion offense so far is incredible, at times we run it as well as anyone. But at the risk of sounding old-school, (I know I'm not that old) a lot of the time, the game comes down to who can create that little advantage and use it.
The simplest way I can describe offensive basketball is creating advantages, then attacking them. Very flexible terms that can be applied to almost any philosophy. If you think you have an advantage because your post player is 4 inches taller than the other post, you dump it in. If your defender is in a situation where they have to close out on you, you have that advantage. If you have the skills to "break down" the player guarding you, your team will play off the advantage that you will create. Using screening is a great way to create an advantage.
The Suns are a great team to watch for a few reasons. First of all, they try to create an advantage every second that they have the ball by fast breaking all the time. Part of the reason it works so well because the pendulum that is the NBA has been firmly swung to the side of slow-it down half court offense. 10 years of NBA players played in a league where you might only score a fast-break lay-up off a defensive rebound once a year. The other reason that the Suns are so darn good is that Steve Nash is the best in the game at playing with ball picks. Every time you set a pick on the ball, a little advantage is created. The Suns understand that they have an advantage in those situations and so they run them a ton.
It all goes back to that understanding of how to use an advantage. But as we all know, you can have the best offense in the world and create advantages all day, but if you don't have the individual skills to put the ball in the hoop, it doesn't matter.
You want the skills? Play one on one.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Practice Breakdowns
There are some interesting things going here at NEDA these days. Right now a project we are working on is figuring out what % of each practice is devoted to which drills and which skills then integrating it into our YPI. The main outcome of the project is eventually to find or develop software that will allow a coach to manage practice planning with their yearly planning instrument.
It would be so interesting to know that in the last month you spent 28% of your practice time working on shooting for example. Or that you spent 15% of your practice time on movement skills.
There are a lot of interesting ways to represent the data that is formed by collecting all of your practice plans together.
Obviously the YPI document that everyone can picture is nice, and it could be filled out automatically by the program after you type in your practice plans. I think a lot/most CIS coaches already do their practice planning on a computer, this would be no different, except the program would ask you to take special care in describing the name of drills you are running.
The next interesting view would come if you click on either a date in the YPI, which would take you directly to the practice plan for that specific day. In our context, clicking on the name of a drill would bring up a detailed desription, or taking it even further, a video clip of the NEDA players executing a particular drill.
Clicking on a category name in the YPI (like "picks" or "defensive transition") would bring up a list of the days that you worked on those things or possibly a list of all of the drills that work on either of those aspects of the game.
It would be an amazing tool for the education of other coaches out there. It would also be usefull for coaches just looking to get a better handle on what they are doing in their own context without doing all of the work to go through and analize what they are doing.
There are a lot of possibilities with this software. The only question now is whether or not it already exists. Hopefully it has already been invented (and we'll find out in the coming weeks) or I might have to make this my first million dollars.
Tyler
It would be so interesting to know that in the last month you spent 28% of your practice time working on shooting for example. Or that you spent 15% of your practice time on movement skills.
There are a lot of interesting ways to represent the data that is formed by collecting all of your practice plans together.
Obviously the YPI document that everyone can picture is nice, and it could be filled out automatically by the program after you type in your practice plans. I think a lot/most CIS coaches already do their practice planning on a computer, this would be no different, except the program would ask you to take special care in describing the name of drills you are running.
The next interesting view would come if you click on either a date in the YPI, which would take you directly to the practice plan for that specific day. In our context, clicking on the name of a drill would bring up a detailed desription, or taking it even further, a video clip of the NEDA players executing a particular drill.
Clicking on a category name in the YPI (like "picks" or "defensive transition") would bring up a list of the days that you worked on those things or possibly a list of all of the drills that work on either of those aspects of the game.
It would be an amazing tool for the education of other coaches out there. It would also be usefull for coaches just looking to get a better handle on what they are doing in their own context without doing all of the work to go through and analize what they are doing.
There are a lot of possibilities with this software. The only question now is whether or not it already exists. Hopefully it has already been invented (and we'll find out in the coming weeks) or I might have to make this my first million dollars.
Tyler
Monday, January 22, 2007
4 Out Motion Game with Screens
Today's post is about a few of the little details that go into effective screening action, and a few of the things that we harp on day in and day out.
The most important detail is the concept of who decides what kind of screen will be set. In Canada's motion, the person closest to the baseline leads the action and will either call "Come get me." or "Use me." That person closest to the baseline has to determine which screen will create the biggest advantage for the team, and then communicate it with her teammates.
Sometimes this is determined by a player's offensive strengths. If that player is a good shooter, they may want to call for a down screen from the top player (Krysten, come get me!) to try to get free on the perimeter. If they see their teammate in the swing spot is a good shooter, they might go set a flare screen. (Use me Elyse, use me!) A lot of our best cutters like to set flare screens for our shooters so that they can be second cutters and get open flashing to the rim.
Sometimes you can pick and choose your screens based on your teammates' strengths, but other times you may have to set a particular screen based on how the defense is playing you. If the defender on the girl closest to the baseline is sagging off in the paint, then we don't want to call for a downscreen because the screener will have no space to roll to. In this case the player should go and set a flare screen for her teammate at the swing spot. If the defender is playing tight to the player on the baseline, then there is good spacing for a down screen.
After the players start to understand why setting a particular screen is the right thing to do, you have to iron out the details of how to correctly set the screen, and how to use the screen.
The first detail that cannot be overlooked is that you have to be a cutter first. If you pass the ball and want to set a screen, you have to make your defender play you honestly before you go to set one. By cutting first you begin to add some unpredictability.
We say "quick to set, slow to use" Which is a bit misleading. What we mean is that you want to get to the spot quickly, and we want the player using the screen not to rush through the decision making process. Once the screen gets there, you have all the time in the world to make your read. Once you do make your read though, your pace should jump right back up again as you and the screener explode on your cuts.
Those are the main points that you'll hear coming from the Burridge Gym on any given morning.
Tyler
The most important detail is the concept of who decides what kind of screen will be set. In Canada's motion, the person closest to the baseline leads the action and will either call "Come get me." or "Use me." That person closest to the baseline has to determine which screen will create the biggest advantage for the team, and then communicate it with her teammates.
Sometimes this is determined by a player's offensive strengths. If that player is a good shooter, they may want to call for a down screen from the top player (Krysten, come get me!) to try to get free on the perimeter. If they see their teammate in the swing spot is a good shooter, they might go set a flare screen. (Use me Elyse, use me!) A lot of our best cutters like to set flare screens for our shooters so that they can be second cutters and get open flashing to the rim.
Sometimes you can pick and choose your screens based on your teammates' strengths, but other times you may have to set a particular screen based on how the defense is playing you. If the defender on the girl closest to the baseline is sagging off in the paint, then we don't want to call for a downscreen because the screener will have no space to roll to. In this case the player should go and set a flare screen for her teammate at the swing spot. If the defender is playing tight to the player on the baseline, then there is good spacing for a down screen.
After the players start to understand why setting a particular screen is the right thing to do, you have to iron out the details of how to correctly set the screen, and how to use the screen.
The first detail that cannot be overlooked is that you have to be a cutter first. If you pass the ball and want to set a screen, you have to make your defender play you honestly before you go to set one. By cutting first you begin to add some unpredictability.
We say "quick to set, slow to use" Which is a bit misleading. What we mean is that you want to get to the spot quickly, and we want the player using the screen not to rush through the decision making process. Once the screen gets there, you have all the time in the world to make your read. Once you do make your read though, your pace should jump right back up again as you and the screener explode on your cuts.
Those are the main points that you'll hear coming from the Burridge Gym on any given morning.
Tyler
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
The Play Action Screen
One of my favorite themes in the game of basketball is 'unpredictability'.
Right now we are working a lot on buliding a plan as you play the game of basketball. It's one of the game's invisible skills that is crucial to your success. Building a plan is used offensively and defensively to make you think about what your team's strengths are and what your opponents' strengths are. An example would be if you are defending a great shooter, then your plan would involve not giving them much room when they catch it, trailing them on down screens and flare screens, etc.
Well what you'll find when you play against really good defensive teams is that they are very good at taking your strengths away. If they know that you're going to pass the ball to the wing and have your post step out and set a pick, they will be very good at defending it. Where you have to catch them is by being unpredictable.
A play action screen would be , for example, a point guard passing to the wing, and going to screen away. The girl coming off the screen, if she's not open, would come set a pick on the wing. This action is extremely hard to defend. Sometimes the way you defend the first screen will get you out of position for the second screen. Sometimes players are caught off guard by the action.
One of my big beliefs is that you've always got to be putting the wrong ideas in your opponents heads. I've always looked at it from an individual perspective, but this is doing it as a team in the same way.
Tyler
Right now we are working a lot on buliding a plan as you play the game of basketball. It's one of the game's invisible skills that is crucial to your success. Building a plan is used offensively and defensively to make you think about what your team's strengths are and what your opponents' strengths are. An example would be if you are defending a great shooter, then your plan would involve not giving them much room when they catch it, trailing them on down screens and flare screens, etc.
Well what you'll find when you play against really good defensive teams is that they are very good at taking your strengths away. If they know that you're going to pass the ball to the wing and have your post step out and set a pick, they will be very good at defending it. Where you have to catch them is by being unpredictable.
A play action screen would be , for example, a point guard passing to the wing, and going to screen away. The girl coming off the screen, if she's not open, would come set a pick on the wing. This action is extremely hard to defend. Sometimes the way you defend the first screen will get you out of position for the second screen. Sometimes players are caught off guard by the action.
One of my big beliefs is that you've always got to be putting the wrong ideas in your opponents heads. I've always looked at it from an individual perspective, but this is doing it as a team in the same way.
Tyler
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Self Directed Athletes
One of the biggest goals of the NEDA program is to create a group of girls that will end up being 12 leaders wherever they go when they finish the program. In genereal, we as coaches do WAY too much for our athletes. In order for our little birdies to fly, we have to encourage them to leave the nest every once in a while. This means they have to get out of their comfort zone and get used to leading others. It seems very few athletes these days are natural born leaders that can just step in and be the type of captiains that you want.
The need for independant thinking athletes has undeniably increased since Canada has adopted FIBA rules. The ability of your athletes to form their own plan of what needs to be done and then communicate that plan to their teammates is what will make effective leaders. Once a game starts you only get so many chances to stop everything and get your athletes back on the same page. That is why it is so crucial for all five players on the floor to be thinking and analyzing.
One of the best drills I have seen to let the players be leaders is the "Time & Score Drill". There are so many great subtle chances for the players to lead each other. It starts when the coach asks an athlete to make two even teams. That means one player gets to lead the group while the others listen. Then the coach selects one player from each team to come get the details of the time and score situation. When the athletes come over, they are given no information, they have to ask for everything. Questions like "what is the score?" or "how much time is left" come out first. Then other questions start to pop out like "who's ball is it?", "how much time is on the 24 second clock?", where is the ball being taken out?". So the athletes really have to think about what is important in a late game situation. Then they get to go back to their teams and explain the situation. Now that they know the situation they have to come up with a plan for how to attack. Do we score quick, do we press, etc. It really gives the players the responsibilty and experience necessary to grow as leaders.
Leadership is a skill that needs work just as much as shooting or ball handling. Finding creative ways to work situations where they can improve their leadership skills is crucial.
Tyler
The need for independant thinking athletes has undeniably increased since Canada has adopted FIBA rules. The ability of your athletes to form their own plan of what needs to be done and then communicate that plan to their teammates is what will make effective leaders. Once a game starts you only get so many chances to stop everything and get your athletes back on the same page. That is why it is so crucial for all five players on the floor to be thinking and analyzing.
One of the best drills I have seen to let the players be leaders is the "Time & Score Drill". There are so many great subtle chances for the players to lead each other. It starts when the coach asks an athlete to make two even teams. That means one player gets to lead the group while the others listen. Then the coach selects one player from each team to come get the details of the time and score situation. When the athletes come over, they are given no information, they have to ask for everything. Questions like "what is the score?" or "how much time is left" come out first. Then other questions start to pop out like "who's ball is it?", "how much time is on the 24 second clock?", where is the ball being taken out?". So the athletes really have to think about what is important in a late game situation. Then they get to go back to their teams and explain the situation. Now that they know the situation they have to come up with a plan for how to attack. Do we score quick, do we press, etc. It really gives the players the responsibilty and experience necessary to grow as leaders.
Leadership is a skill that needs work just as much as shooting or ball handling. Finding creative ways to work situations where they can improve their leadership skills is crucial.
Tyler
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Man to Man Pressure
Today we did some work on full court man to man pressure. I will explain the main concepts we have used individually and then how we integrated them into a team of 5.
We have done a lot of individual work in the past on what we call "mirror" drills, where one player has to mirror the movements of the other player. Fundamentally, this is individual defence. We gave them two different ways to guard a ball handler in full court defence. "Channelling" is sometimes referred to as "forcing" by a lot of coaches. This is when the defender tries to influence the ball carrier to only go in one direction (in this case a sideline is preferable). We use the word channelling because as Mike McKay would say "you can't really force a great player to go one way or the other." The other option, "turning" is used when you think you are quicker than the ball handler and you can beat them to a spot and get them to turn.
We taught these concepts emphasizing the various footwork that you need to match the speed of the offensive player. If the ball handler is walking or jogging, the defender can usually slide or backwards gallop with them. If the ball handler starts to sprint, the defender will have to use a cross over step.
To integrate the individual play into team play, we used a one on three drill. The offensive player would start in the corner of her backcourt with the ball and a defender on her. The defender would start in position to channel the ball handler. The second defender is at half court, guarding an imaginary offensive player, and the third defender is in the middle of the back court, also guarding an imaginary player. When the offensive player starts to dribble, the ball defender must try to either channel her or turn her. If she plans to channel, she gives a verbal signal to her teammate on the sideline (Channel!, Kelsey, I'm channelling!) as well as a visual signal of an open palm to that teammate. If she plans to turn her player, she gives a similar verbal signal to her teammate in the center of the court and uses the "hang loose" signal with her other hand as a visual. When either trap is accomplished, we taught them a "jump switch" where the trap stays for one second, then the trapper will switch players with the ball defender, and the ball defender will run back and rotate to the open player.
The next step in the progression is to play four on four full court with the ball out of bounds on the endline. We set the four offensive players up in a box formation to make it easier to understand the trapping and rotation by the defense. We worked on influencing the guard to catch the ball going towards to corner so that it was easier to channel her to the sideline when she caught it. If the ball defender decided to channel her, the sideline player would come for a trap (we weren't specific about when or where) and the other two girls would rotate. If the ball defender decided to turn her player, then the her teammate would come to the sideline and do a blindside trap.
The main problems that we had were in communication (this takes a lot) and rotation. Specifically, girls defending weakside players were not close enough to the ball to be able to rotate if there was a trap.
I love the way we taught the pressure because it is completely strategy independant. These concepts of turning or channeling will fit in where ever you play under any system. So to me, the girls added some things to their toolboxes that they can take to team and fit in right away. Basketball Canada has a really good approach here of focusing on teaching concepts.
Tyler
If I had more time I would have written a shorter post.
We have done a lot of individual work in the past on what we call "mirror" drills, where one player has to mirror the movements of the other player. Fundamentally, this is individual defence. We gave them two different ways to guard a ball handler in full court defence. "Channelling" is sometimes referred to as "forcing" by a lot of coaches. This is when the defender tries to influence the ball carrier to only go in one direction (in this case a sideline is preferable). We use the word channelling because as Mike McKay would say "you can't really force a great player to go one way or the other." The other option, "turning" is used when you think you are quicker than the ball handler and you can beat them to a spot and get them to turn.
We taught these concepts emphasizing the various footwork that you need to match the speed of the offensive player. If the ball handler is walking or jogging, the defender can usually slide or backwards gallop with them. If the ball handler starts to sprint, the defender will have to use a cross over step.
To integrate the individual play into team play, we used a one on three drill. The offensive player would start in the corner of her backcourt with the ball and a defender on her. The defender would start in position to channel the ball handler. The second defender is at half court, guarding an imaginary offensive player, and the third defender is in the middle of the back court, also guarding an imaginary player. When the offensive player starts to dribble, the ball defender must try to either channel her or turn her. If she plans to channel, she gives a verbal signal to her teammate on the sideline (Channel!, Kelsey, I'm channelling!) as well as a visual signal of an open palm to that teammate. If she plans to turn her player, she gives a similar verbal signal to her teammate in the center of the court and uses the "hang loose" signal with her other hand as a visual. When either trap is accomplished, we taught them a "jump switch" where the trap stays for one second, then the trapper will switch players with the ball defender, and the ball defender will run back and rotate to the open player.
The next step in the progression is to play four on four full court with the ball out of bounds on the endline. We set the four offensive players up in a box formation to make it easier to understand the trapping and rotation by the defense. We worked on influencing the guard to catch the ball going towards to corner so that it was easier to channel her to the sideline when she caught it. If the ball defender decided to channel her, the sideline player would come for a trap (we weren't specific about when or where) and the other two girls would rotate. If the ball defender decided to turn her player, then the her teammate would come to the sideline and do a blindside trap.
The main problems that we had were in communication (this takes a lot) and rotation. Specifically, girls defending weakside players were not close enough to the ball to be able to rotate if there was a trap.
I love the way we taught the pressure because it is completely strategy independant. These concepts of turning or channeling will fit in where ever you play under any system. So to me, the girls added some things to their toolboxes that they can take to team and fit in right away. Basketball Canada has a really good approach here of focusing on teaching concepts.
Tyler
If I had more time I would have written a shorter post.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Christmas Vacation
Oops, I forgot to put up an away message before I left for the Christmas break. Anyways, we're back now and just had our first practice this morning. For today's post I'm going to put up today's practice plan. There is a lot there and we didn't get to all of it. A lot of it is a roadmap for where we want to be by the end of the week. Feel free to post or email any questions you have.
We didn't have time to cover anything in red.
Tyler
We didn't have time to cover anything in red.
Tyler
January 9th
7:20 Welcome back
· favorite Christmas gift
· favorite Christmas memory
7:30 Warm-up Ladder Drills – anytime coaches drop ball you stop and attack
* run through * two in, diagonal up - two beside
* lateral two in, diagonal two back,
* carioca – three down, two back
* 3 crossovers down, 2 slides back
7:40 Movement Prep
7:48 Transition Pyramid
Kalisha Kelsey
Christine Vanessa
Zara Yinka
Kaitlyn Jenny
Ali Takima
Krysten
7:55 Shoot - 3 player 2 ball shooting
Kelsey Takima Krysten Christine
Kalisha Kaitlyn Jenny Vanessa
Krysten Zara Ali Tyler
· 1 minute x 3 (record ….)
8:00 Defensive Footwork – Mike
· review hip turn, crossovers, slide (5 minutes)
· review turn and channel (10 minutes)
o Who are you? Who are you guarding?
o Communicate the movements
· 1 on 3 – rotate from face of from behind
· introduce full court pressure – TOMORROW !!!
o guarding ball out of bounds
o quick traps
8:15 Attacking pressure – global players
* 1 on 1 dribbling – RIP to start
- crab and go, spin, pop back to square
- 2 up, 2 back and ATTACK. Get shoulder to hip. Create space and look to get D on your back
* 1 on 2 dribbling
- pull back and take on slower
- pick-up and step through (fake high, step low)
- pick-up and throw off leg (close to sideline)
* 2 on 3 dribbling
- fake high, pass low OR fake low, pass high
- spacing – circle cuts, ‘J’ cuts with double teams
- give and go’s
* 2 on 2 with parameters TOMORROW !!!
8:30 Press break review – Hard, linear cuts
· inbounds to 1 or 2 – pass to other guard cutting hard middle
· inbounds to 1 or 2 – pass back to 4 who passes to 5 – 2 flashes hard sideline, 1 cuts double middle
· inbounds to 1 or 2 – pass back to 4 and take on
· inbounds to 3 (fake to 5) – 2 cuts hard first then 1 cuts double middle
· inbounds to 5 – 1 cuts hard middle, 2 fills in behind for double middle
8:39 Scrimmage – 5 on 5 – working on pressure and attacking pressure
· Christine take offense, Mike/Tyler take defense
· Start off free throw
· Turnovers – 4 and your team loses
8:50 Shooting
Four player, 2 ball – down screens
· HARD cuts, details
· Curl, pop, fade
8:55 3 on 3 on a side – down screens
Mike watch screening defense, Tyler watch rebounding, Christine watch reads – coach on the fly
9:05 Shooting
· free throw shooting – 4 minutes
9:10 Stretch and off to school
· book meetings starting Thursday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
· game versus Dawson this Friday at 4:30 at Westdale
· Saturday testing
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