We need to teach our players to see what we want to accomplish. They must embrace our CORE BASKETBALL PHILOSOPHY, a blend of traditional and contemporary basketball theory. First, the statistical success of a basketball team correlates with:
- Shooting percentage differential
- Rebounding differential
- Turnover differential
- Free throws taken, made, and allowed
Seems easy enough, right? What does that translate to in a defensive message?
We want our opponents, at best, to get ONE BAD SHOT. That implies ball pressure, team defense, communication, and RELENTLESS rebounding on the defensive boards. We reiterate our ETC message…EFFORT, TEAMWORK, COMMUNICATION. And we want to PREVENT EASY BASKETS…uncontested shots, transition with numbers, and putbacks (offensive rebounds).
We constantly quiz them on what we expect, how we want them to defend, and how team play (perimeter pressure helps the post defense play structurally correct defense) matters. Some of our players actually read the blog!
Why don’t they teach Shakespeare in third grade? Because most third graders aren’t ready for it. And so it is with our players, as some players are not ready for some elements at a given time. On the other hand, some of our ‘basketball students’ are not only prepared but want advanced basketball concepts earlier.
We want our players to succeed, but we need to give them the right message. For example, just because we assign a player more ballhandling responsibilities doesn’t mean we don’t want her to rebound. Every player knows that we expect defense and that we value the “90 percent”, meaning the ninety percent of a game that a player doesn’t have the ball.
I like the “sandwich technique” of mixing correction between praise. We need our players to become confident, adding value not just on the court, but in the classroom, and leaders in the community.
