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These are some zone attack principles from former Auburn Coach Sonny Smith.

You can attack a zone by moving the ball or moving people.  We use a combination of ball movement and people movement.

1. Have a Gap Rule.  That means getting between a baseline and wing defender.  We use a saddle dribble to gap so that we are only facing one defender and not two when dribbling between them.  We don’t dribble straight into the gap, we dribble at one of the defender’s shoulders.

2.  Have a Screening Rule.  Do you screen people?  Do you screen the interior or the perimeter of the zone?  We screen the interior of the zone more than we screen the perimeter.

3.  Have a Dribble Rule.  Our dribble rule is that if I dribble toward you, you run away from me.  If I am behind the dribbler, I follow the ball.  This rule helps maintain our spacing and helps us get shot by throwing back to the trailer when the zone shifts.

4.  Have a Flash or Duck In rule.  We flash from the front of the zone, the interior of the zone, or from behind the zone.  We like to get behind the zone so that the defense cannot see us.  We define a flash to be a short burst or a quick cut.

5.  Have a Cutter Rule.  Do you want to cut from the strongside to the weakside or from the weakside to the strongside?  We feel that cutters from strong to weak are better than from weak to strong.  That way we are not running players into the heart of the defense and it sets us up with good ball reversal and skip pass possibilities.

6.  Have a Step Out Rule.  You have to reverse the ball to beat the zone, so step your post players out to the high post to assist in ball reversal.

7.  Have a Post Cross Rule.  We X our posts when the basketball is on the wing.  We run the second cutter right off the hip of the first cutter.  Make sure you know whether your players shoot better off the move or stationary.  That applies to both your interior and perimeter players.

8.  Have a Man Behind the Zone Rule.  Do you stand him or cut him?  When we cut him, he goes from side to side and then into the heart of the defense.  We like to stand a man in the short corner.

9.  Fake a Pass to Make a Pass Rule.

10.  Diagonal Rule.  Do you make diagonal cuts and diagonal passes?  We feel that is very important.

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This basketball drill is from the Xavier University men’s team.

“Can you do conditioning with a ball in your hand instead of just running?” This drill evolved from this question.

Drill involves 10 players —5 on offense vs. 5 on defense. It is executed for :45-:60 seconds in the NBA and :90 seconds in college.

Rules: No dribbling, no screening, no shooting. Emphasize passing! As one player has the ball the other four offensive players make 10-15 ft. cuts — no 3 ft. cuts are allowed.

The drill is initiated by a coach or manager who is out of bounds. This initial pass does not count. From this pass forward every time a pass is completed the receiver yells the # on the catch. A coach always encourages offensive movement. Anytime that you make a pass as a player you then cut.

On any deflected pass or turnover pass a manager or coach who is out of bounds quickly passes the ball to an offensive player to keep the pace of the drill moving. This pass is not counted.

As a defender, your responsibility is to NOT allow your man to receive a pass. Deny everywhere. At the end of the allotted time you count the number of catches by the offense as a unit, or the number of catches by individual players. The drill flip flops with the offense going to defense and the defense going to offense. Use two rotations. Great conditioner, very competitive, high accountability. Beware of “brother in law” deals happening. Make players guard different offensive players.

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I have had this in my files for a while…

Being a basketball player does not imply merely wearing the uniform and just being a member of a squad. There are many more important phases to think about if you want to be a winner not only in basketball but in life as well. Ask yourself these questions, and answer them honestly.

1.  Are you coachable? Can you take coaching? Can you take criticism without ever looking for an alibi? Are you a “know it all”? Will you always do your very best to try to improve?

2.  Are you possessed with the spirit of competition which fires an intense desire to win? Does it bother you to lose?

3.  Are you willing to practice or do_you want to practice? You must want to work every day with the same zeal, speed, and determination you use during a ball game. Do you have two speeds‑‑a Practice speed and a game speed? The great playes of the past were the ones who had one speed, and it was the same every day, every practice, every game. If you loaf and cheat in practice, you will loaf and cheat in a game.

4.  Are you willing to make sacrifices? Conditioning to play is not fun. It is stark punishment at times. Training is exacting; the responsibility is heavy. It is rough and includes personal denials in order to remain in tiptop condition, but it has its rewards. You thrill with an inner glow that reflects a feeling of happiness when you are able to dive and save a ball from going out‑of‑bounds. The only way for you to remain in good shape is never to get out of it.

5.  Do you have an ardent desire to improve? Will you practice the things you cannot do three times longer than the things you can do? Are you willing to put in long grinding hours, concentrating on a skill until you have perfected it? Are you eager to work so diligently at the skills you lack that they eventually become your strongest assets?

6.  Do you have the ability to think under fire? Can you concentrate on the work to be accomplished at the moment? Can you shut out from your mind a previous failure, success, rule infraction, or personal insult in order to give undivided attention to the offensive and defensive maneuver in the here and now? Games are not won by yesterday’s score, but by what is happening now, at this moment.

7.  Are you willing to be impersonal‑toward your opponent? Do you shut out all personal feelings about your opponent except to beat him as often and quickly as you can, in accordance with the rules? Our experiences have taught us that the moment a player becomes personal he plays only to release individual grievances and ceases to play basketball as a team member.

8.  Are you willing to study just as hard as you did before coming out for basketball? Basketball was never meant to take the place of studies. The athletic tail must never wag the academic dog. If you must eliminate something from your schedule, it must not be study time. First things come first, and your academic growth is of paramount importance.

9.  Do you believe in your school, your team, and your coach? Your school is as good as you make it. Your coach is a genuine employee of your school given the responsibility of coaching, not his team, but your team. Are you willing to work toward that spirit of oneness so that everyone possesses the feeling of belonging through their contribution? Will you keep uppermost in mind that when a coach blisters the team with criticism his remarks are never meant to be personal affronts? The only intent is to pressure you to want to correct your mistakes so that success for everyone results. Despite his scathing remarks he loves all of you as if you were his very own.

10. Will you strive daily to improve your muscular coordination and speed.  Basketball is a game of movement and daily drills will tend to speed up your reaction time. Speed and coordination are necessary ingredients in a winning combination.

Finally, remember this saying: Hard work guarantees nothing, But lack of it does.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coachingincluding basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

 

Even though he coached a different sport, I have always studied anything I can find that was written by Bill Walsh.  After reading his book “Finding the Winning Edge,” I concluded that his label as a genius did come from his knowledge and ability, but was also attributed to a thorough planning, meticulous preparation, an incredible attention to detail– and all of it is in writing.

Here are some notes from his “Staying on Course” section about dealing with an extended losing streak.  In my first year as a varsity head coach, we lost our first six games in a row before ending up 10-10 on the season.  I don’t wish that on you, but almost every basketball coach must deal with that at some point, so hopefully you can file these thoughts if that rainy day comes.

Restraint must be exercised in blaming a single player or a group of players for the losses.

Continue to emphasize the development of the players’s individual skills–regardless of whether the team is losing or winning games.  Such development will translate to improvement on the field which will eventually pay dividends in the winning column.

Maintain your level of professional ethics.

Do everything possible not to personalize your team’s losses.  Exhibit an inner toughness emanating from three of the most effective survival tools-composure, patience, and common sense.

Hold regular discussions with members of your coaching staff on the potential impact of continued losing on human nature.  Using examples of previous situations involving disruption in turmoil, you should review about individuals can turn against each other.  These matter should be discussed both in staff meetings and on an individual basis.  To a point, these discussions help prevent coaches from falling prey to losing their nerve.

Maintain team standards.  Every rule and practice that was in place before the losing streak began should continue to be followed.  The atmosphere in meetings and on the field should be retained.  The atmosphere should not become tougher or more intense, nor should it become more lax or loose.

All teaching efforts and presentations should remain the same.  Expectations from the players should remain unchanged.

Be careful not to label any concept or idea that you’re implementing as the ” thing that is going to get this team back on track.” If you’re proposed plan doesn’t work and you fall into a practice of instituting a gimmick each week in an attempt to reverse the team’s losing ways, the players can begin to lose faith in your abilities to identify the team’s problems and correct them.  This admonition includes the old saying, ” we’re going to get back to fundamentals and concentrate on basics,” as being the singular answer to the team’s dilemma.

Don’t isolate yourself.  Regardless of how poorly the team does, you must be highly visible doing your job and assisting others in doing theirs.

The focus must be on properly executing the next game plan not on your opponent, the team’s chances of winning, etc.

The detail oriented.  Pay attention to every detail including teaching techniques, carrying out a sinus, maintaining established organizational procedures, etc.

Avoid continually threatening or chastising your players.  Eventually your players may tune out such verbal assaults.

Keep in mind that as the losses mount, the individual relationships between you and the players become critical.  These relationships will be the key to holding the squad together.  You must, however, your role as the top executive.

You can click the link below to find out more about the book:

Bill Walsh: Finding the Winning Edge

While I am going through my file of notes, here are some notes I have from a clinic on mental training given by Dr. James Jarvis.

At the end of this post, there is a link to read more ideas regarding mental toughness

1.  The mind does not know the difference between a real and an imagined event, that is why visualization and self talk are so powerful.

2.  The ideal performance state is calm on the inside and energized and alert on the outside.

3.  Two factors that seem to be consistent for athletes “in the zone” are preparation (both mental and physical).  The second factor is the ability to maintain concentration.

4.  Statistics show that locker room pep talks don’t seem to do much good a low keyed suggestions and stories do seem to be of some benefit.

5.  The most powerful motivators come from within.  Team spirit and expectations are extremely powerful motivators.  This takes place when there’s commitment to a shared goal.  The goal is an internal decision to do something rather than to wait for external forces to make something happen.

6.  Emphasize performance goals as well as outcome goals.  Performance goals are things like being ready to play, giving 100%, having a great attitude, always looking confident, sticking to your performance rituals maintaining concentration, and attaining individual goals such as individual free throw percentage.

7.  Two points about goal setting:  goals should always be written down and athletes must be committed to attending to the details of accomplishing the goals beyond their comfort level.  Great athletes practice beyond their comfort zones.

8.  Commitment to narrow your focus is a major key.  Players need to see what they need to do to reach their goals and not be distracted.

9.  Ones realistic goals are set, next step is preparation for competition.  Aside from previous success in competition, nothing gives an athlete greater confidence than thorough preparation.

10.  John Wooden model:  Practice the physical skills until they are so automatic that you can perform them without thinking under stressful competition.

11.  The key to consistency is concentration.

12.  Five keys to maintaining concentration in competition.

Stick to performance rituals before and during the game.  Load your players with performance rituals.  It keeps their minds from wandering.

Eye control.  Players and keep their eyes on the court.  If a player is looking into the crowd that player is losing focus.  The mind follows the eyes.

Emotional control.  Nothing blows up concentration more than losing emotional control.  Just as the mind follows the eyes, the emotions follow breathing.  If someone is upset, their breathing is shallow.  Teach players to lose their temper to take slow deep breaths.

Make use of visualization during competition.

Stay in the present moment.  The most important play in basketball is the one that is happening right now.  Human beings tend to not be in the present.  We’re either worrying about the past or worrying about the future.  Those projections into the future are almost always negative.  For example a player standing at the free throw line is thinking “what will happen if a miss the shot?” All these projections into the future are 90% negative in 90% untrue, but it really affects performance.  Emphasize two players to keep their minds in the present because that’s where the action is.

Here is a link to read 12 more ideas regarding mental toughness:  Mental Toughness

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coaching including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

These leadership concepts are from Richard Marcinko’s book, Rogue Warrior.  He was the founder of Seal Team 6.  These concepts were developed for the military, but have lessons that can be applied to coaching basketball as well.

1. I will lead from the front.

2. Everyone must prove himself and earn what he gets.

3. Better training leads to better performance.

4. The easy way is not the best way.  If it is tough, then you are doing it right.

5. Keep it simple.

6. Don’t assume anything.

7. Don’t ask someone to do something that you would not do yourself.

8. Questions he asks himself to start each day

What is my mission today?

Was I always this way?

What will satisfy me?

Do I ever recognize defeat?

How can I turn today’s negatives into positives?

What is my ultimate goal?

9.  I will test new ideas on myself first.

10. I am totally committed to what I believe and will risk all that I have for these beliefs.

11. I will back my subordinates completely when they take reasonable risks to help me achieve my goals.

12. I will not punish subordinate’s mistakes, except for when they do not learn from their mistakes.

13. I will not be afraid to take action, almost any action is better than inaction.  Sometimes not acting is the boldest action of all.

14. I will always make it crystal clear where I stand and what I believe.

15. I will be easy to find and at the center of the action.

Click here to read a part of the book

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coaching including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!