Lest I be misunderstood, let me begin this post by stating that basketball is just a game, and should not really be compared in any serious manner to warfare. That said, please humor me as I explain my (very limited!) understanding of 18th century battle tactics, and attempt to extend that understanding as a half-serious metaphor for our style of play this season:
European warfare during the time of the American Revolution was very structured and organized. Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in formation lines, faced other soldiers across the field lining up in exactly the same manner, and attempted to blow each other's heads off.This style of battle was effective as long as the enemy adopted the same unspoken customs and rules. However, when the Massachusetts Minutemen refused to line up in a field and instead employed guerrilla tactics of fast moving, smaller scale attacks against the orthodox British lines marching back to Boston, the playing field was evened and the British Redcoats took heavy losses.
Recently, conventional high school basketball has reminded me a bit of orthodox, 18th century European warfare. One team walks the ball up the court, implicitly gives the other team time to set their defense, and then proceeds to attack in a predictable fashion. Both teams play by the traditional rules and customs of what is considered proper play, and inevitably, the team with the greater talent or size (the Redcoats) wins the game.
Our style (based on Coach Walberg's ideas) by comparison, is designed to force teams out of their conventional basketball comfort zones, create confusion and uncertainty, and as a result, be "Minutemen" who defeat teams that we would not beat if we were to play conventionally...
Friday, December 28, 2007
Coaching Effort
For our style (or really any style of play) to be effective against good teams, we have to play very hard. We want to make fatigue a factor through constant substitution and by speeding up the tempo and putting great pressure on the ball. To be successful, our hard needs to be harder than the opposition, and it's certainly not easy for our players to play with that kind of intensity for 32 minutes.
I've heard coaches in every sport say that "you shouldn't have to coach effort" in your players. Maybe in a perfect world (or in the pros) that is true. But I feel that "coaching effort" is perhaps my most important job as a high school coach.
Coaching effort begins by eliminating excuses from your players and that is best accomplished in practice. As Coach Walberg says, you want your players to have a "no excuses" mentality where they are mentally tough enough to not be effected by the referees, the crowd, a missed shot, etc. During our practices we are always striving to create the attacking mindset and tempo that we wish to see from our players on the court. This is done by creating habits through our drills and repetition. I believe strongly that playing hard is a habit, and all behaviors and playing habits (whether good or bad) should be built through repetition in practice.
I've heard coaches in every sport say that "you shouldn't have to coach effort" in your players. Maybe in a perfect world (or in the pros) that is true. But I feel that "coaching effort" is perhaps my most important job as a high school coach.
Coaching effort begins by eliminating excuses from your players and that is best accomplished in practice. As Coach Walberg says, you want your players to have a "no excuses" mentality where they are mentally tough enough to not be effected by the referees, the crowd, a missed shot, etc. During our practices we are always striving to create the attacking mindset and tempo that we wish to see from our players on the court. This is done by creating habits through our drills and repetition. I believe strongly that playing hard is a habit, and all behaviors and playing habits (whether good or bad) should be built through repetition in practice.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Offensive Efficiency and PPP
When I saw Coach Walberg speak at the Mid-South Coach's Clinic this fall, he talked a lot about points per possession and shooting percentages in terms of offensive efficiency and shot selection. The numbers do not lie and they are the foundation upon which we are basing our offensive and defensive tactics this season.
We want to shoot 30% or higher from three point range in every game we play. 30% from behind the arc works out to an average of almost 1.0 points per possession. Another goal is to shoot at least 50% percent from inside the lane. Making half of our shots inside the key is also 1.0 points per possession (ppp.) On the other hand, shooting the midrange at 45% (excellent shooting for most high school teams), only works out to 0.9 ppp. The truly most efficient way to generate offense, however, is to get to the free throw line. Shooting 70% from the line -- a very attainable goal for our varsity team -- is a whopping 1.4 ppp, and the added bonus is that you are getting the other team in foul trouble at the same time!
Therefore, when we are on the offensive end, we want to go to the rack and get fouled as often as possible. (Tonight we shot 47 foul shots, which has got to be a school record!) If our penetration is stopped, we want to kick it out for open three pointers with our feet set in "lock and load" position. Moreover, we want to avoid the midrange jumpshot, and really value the basketball to limit our turnovers (obviously a turnover is 0.0 ppp.) On the defensive end of the court, we are trying to force turnovers, and failing that, force teams to shoot contested midrange jumpers and then rebound the heck out of their misses!
We want to shoot 30% or higher from three point range in every game we play. 30% from behind the arc works out to an average of almost 1.0 points per possession. Another goal is to shoot at least 50% percent from inside the lane. Making half of our shots inside the key is also 1.0 points per possession (ppp.) On the other hand, shooting the midrange at 45% (excellent shooting for most high school teams), only works out to 0.9 ppp. The truly most efficient way to generate offense, however, is to get to the free throw line. Shooting 70% from the line -- a very attainable goal for our varsity team -- is a whopping 1.4 ppp, and the added bonus is that you are getting the other team in foul trouble at the same time!
Therefore, when we are on the offensive end, we want to go to the rack and get fouled as often as possible. (Tonight we shot 47 foul shots, which has got to be a school record!) If our penetration is stopped, we want to kick it out for open three pointers with our feet set in "lock and load" position. Moreover, we want to avoid the midrange jumpshot, and really value the basketball to limit our turnovers (obviously a turnover is 0.0 ppp.) On the defensive end of the court, we are trying to force turnovers, and failing that, force teams to shoot contested midrange jumpers and then rebound the heck out of their misses!
Friday, December 21, 2007
"We like threes, but we love layups!"
Last night, our varsity opened play in our annual holiday tournament with a good performance against the Barrie School from Montgomery County. In the first half we did a nice job of using our defense to force the scrambled tempo that we want, and we were able to force a lot of turnovers in the backcourt. We also executed our zone offense sets very well, and we shot a sizzling 12 for 17 (71%) from behind the arc in the first half. Our hot shooting put the game away early, and we were up 60 to 19 at the half.
However, as a coaching staff, we were disappointed that we only got to the foul line eight times for the game. We have a lot of guys who can really shoot the three, but we have to be very careful about settling for threes -- especially contested threes. For our offense to truly "run on all cylinders" we have to have an attacking mentality and be able to get in the lane under control, "create bumps" and make good decisions with the ball. One of our goals in every game is to make more foul shots than the other team attempts, and we did not come close to accomplishing that last night. As Coach Walberg says, "We like threes, but we love layups." We need to continue to work hard in practice to instill that attacking mentality in our players.
However, as a coaching staff, we were disappointed that we only got to the foul line eight times for the game. We have a lot of guys who can really shoot the three, but we have to be very careful about settling for threes -- especially contested threes. For our offense to truly "run on all cylinders" we have to have an attacking mentality and be able to get in the lane under control, "create bumps" and make good decisions with the ball. One of our goals in every game is to make more foul shots than the other team attempts, and we did not come close to accomplishing that last night. As Coach Walberg says, "We like threes, but we love layups." We need to continue to work hard in practice to instill that attacking mentality in our players.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Commitment
I remember a quote from Pete Carril where he said something like 'winning covers up a lot of problems, and losing exposes them.' My young junior varsity squad has not won a game this season yet (0-6, after going undefeated in a lower division of our league, the MIAA, last season), and I have been thinking a lot recently about my expectations for our players.
I recognize that playing high school basketball in our program is not easy. It's very difficult for 14 and 15 year-olds to balance the time demands of academics, family, church, social lives, etc, along with a demanding schedule of games and practices. It might be even harder for some players (and parents) when the team is not winning. For some kids, maybe it is just too difficult.
Being successful in basketball or anything you do requires commitment, teamwork, discipline, and a lot of hard work. It's not easy, and it's not supposed to be easy. Losing, on the other hand, requires absolutely nothing...
I recognize that playing high school basketball in our program is not easy. It's very difficult for 14 and 15 year-olds to balance the time demands of academics, family, church, social lives, etc, along with a demanding schedule of games and practices. It might be even harder for some players (and parents) when the team is not winning. For some kids, maybe it is just too difficult.
Being successful in basketball or anything you do requires commitment, teamwork, discipline, and a lot of hard work. It's not easy, and it's not supposed to be easy. Losing, on the other hand, requires absolutely nothing...
Friday, December 14, 2007
Two categories of offensive play?
I saw a quote somewhere attributed to Pete Newell that said that there are basically two main "genres" of offense: screening games, where you try to jam up the middle, create "blocks" much as in football, and take advantage of the fact that referees are generally reluctant to whistle a moving screen, and spacing games where you attempt to open up the lane area under the rim and create 1 v. 1 opportunities for your players. Popular offense such as Blocker / Mover, Bobby Knight passing game, Flex, Swing, and High/Low are examples of the former, while sets such as the Princeton Offense, Buna Offense, Phoenix Suns offense, the Triangle, and Dribble Drive Motion are examples of the latter methodology.
In the last few years, I have become increasingly interested in learning about spacing games such as the Princeton Offense, Four Corners, and AASAA/Dribble Drive Motion. We are currently running Vance Walberg's AASAA (also called The Dribble Drive Motion) with our Varsity and JV teams this season. This offense, most famously employed by John Calipari at Memphis, relies heavily on dribble penetration and the ability to shoot from behind the arc. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this style of play is that the mid-range jumper is not a part of the offense. Even if wide open, we do not allow our players to shoot 15 to 18 foot jumpers -- a mid-range shot is an automatic turnover in practice. We refer to this philosophy as "Key or Three" or "Lane or Rain." Not surprisingly, eliminating the mid-range game has and continues to be a tough sell for many of our current players (not to mention their parents!)
The idea is to create an "extra point" mentality where your players are looking to get in the lane and get fouled, or get that extra point from beyond the arc. We feel strongly as coaches that the mid-range shot is really a sort of cop-out or compromise a lot of times -- in fact, we try to sell our players on the idea that the mid-range is offense for "wusses." We want them to be good enough and tough enough off the dribble to get in the lane and finish with contact or to pitch in out for the uncontested three. this "Lane or Rain" style creates excellent spacing for our perimeter players to dribble penetrate, and spacing the floor properly off our penetration creates open looks for our shooters from beyond the arc. In this offense, if you can really get to the rack as a player you will thrive, but if you can shoot it, we love you too.
As for post players (which we unfortunately are not blessed to really have this particular season), they need to be athletic, skilled enough to play on the perimeter, and possess good hands and finishing instincts. We don't have a place in this style of play for a big, slow kids, but we do have various calls and sets in which we will feed the ball inside for a post player to operate on the block or at the elbow.
In the last few years, I have become increasingly interested in learning about spacing games such as the Princeton Offense, Four Corners, and AASAA/Dribble Drive Motion. We are currently running Vance Walberg's AASAA (also called The Dribble Drive Motion) with our Varsity and JV teams this season. This offense, most famously employed by John Calipari at Memphis, relies heavily on dribble penetration and the ability to shoot from behind the arc. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this style of play is that the mid-range jumper is not a part of the offense. Even if wide open, we do not allow our players to shoot 15 to 18 foot jumpers -- a mid-range shot is an automatic turnover in practice. We refer to this philosophy as "Key or Three" or "Lane or Rain." Not surprisingly, eliminating the mid-range game has and continues to be a tough sell for many of our current players (not to mention their parents!)
The idea is to create an "extra point" mentality where your players are looking to get in the lane and get fouled, or get that extra point from beyond the arc. We feel strongly as coaches that the mid-range shot is really a sort of cop-out or compromise a lot of times -- in fact, we try to sell our players on the idea that the mid-range is offense for "wusses." We want them to be good enough and tough enough off the dribble to get in the lane and finish with contact or to pitch in out for the uncontested three. this "Lane or Rain" style creates excellent spacing for our perimeter players to dribble penetrate, and spacing the floor properly off our penetration creates open looks for our shooters from beyond the arc. In this offense, if you can really get to the rack as a player you will thrive, but if you can shoot it, we love you too.
As for post players (which we unfortunately are not blessed to really have this particular season), they need to be athletic, skilled enough to play on the perimeter, and possess good hands and finishing instincts. We don't have a place in this style of play for a big, slow kids, but we do have various calls and sets in which we will feed the ball inside for a post player to operate on the block or at the elbow.
Welcome
Welcome to Attack Basketball. I am Associate Head Boy's Varsity Coach at Glenelg Country School, a small, private school in Maryland. In this forum -- which I am approaching as a kind of online coaching journal -- I hope to share some thoughts and discuss various topics of interest dealing with basketball strategy and coaching in general. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)