Program Blueprint

Beware of Season Slippage

By Coach Brian Williams on February 5, 2020

This article is republished with permission. The original article appears at Beware of Season Slippage.

We’re at that stage of the season. No matter the current level of success of our teams, coaches and players alike are susceptible to mid-season doldrums. The reasons are varied but include the following:

Pre-season and early season excitement are on the decline.
Schedules get daunting and can beat down a team or individual players.
At various levels, travel alone can be exhausting. (I’ve always said that if normal non- basketball playing persons JUST traveled the NBA schedule or many college schedules, it would knock them on their butts.)
Conference opponents’ scouting gets more detailed and actions that were easier in November and December become harder in January and February.
Both players and coaches forget small, basic thoughts that keep them on track. As examples, “Block out your man as far as away from the rim as possible-so as to “own” more space on long rebounds” and “You need to close out on a shooter in stages-you can’t get there all at once.”
Human nature takes over and many people “big-time” the familiar.

Whatever the reasons, all coaches have to be on guard for season slippage. The other night I was watching a team on the tube that I see often and very soon I observed that they were 5-10% “off” in the energy and focus area. That’s all it takes to slip enough to be significant and the team in question got behind by double digits. After the half, the energy and focus resumed to normal for this team but the first half damage had been done and the comeback came up short.

If a coach knows or suspects slippage from his team, there is no better way to illustrate this to players than by isolating on video 5 possessions with high energy and focus from an earlier game and compare them to 5 lower energy possessions from a recent game. Graphic proof always resonates better with players than verbal generalizations.

How do you prevent slippage with your teams? Let us know in the comments section below.

Limiting Reactionary Subbing

By Coach Brian Williams on January 24, 2020

This article is republished with permission. The original article appears at Limiting Reactionary Subbing.

To expound on the past Hoop Coach article , “Thoughts on Playing Rotations”, we’d like to share some thoughts on a related subject.

Whether or not we’ve ever labeled the type of substitution we’re about to discuss as “reactionary substitution”, we all clearly know the practice.

At one time or another (and maybe even regularly) we’ve all yanked certain (or even all) players on a mistake (or even all mistakes).

Sometimes we have done it in a dramatic fashion, embarrassing the player and others for sure, and maybe even ourselves in the process.

If we’ve been smart about it, we’ve watched other coaches pull players on mistakes in subtle ways (as late as possible during a dead ball, during a time-out, after the first of two foul shots and other such moments) so as to avoid the embarrassing aspect of the method.

Of course, we’re all entitled to sub any way we wish but I contend that the less we sub in a reactionary way, the better off our team will be in the long run. The following are some thoughts to consider:

Generally, a consistent rotation is preferable. The more players know why and when they will play, their preparation can be better which can help them acclimate to the game more quickly. Of course, team and individual matchups and other factors enter into the equation but we’re talking in general terms.
In support of the consistent rotation theory, just recollect your own playing days and how important it was for you to understand your role as well as you possibly could.
Players who get the hook on first mistakes play “looking over their shoulders”. Obviously, this is not an ideal way to play as it never breeds confidence into these players.
Even worse than yanking some players on first mistakes is allowing other players to play with total immunity by allowing them to make large numbers of similar mistakes.
We’re obviously not talking about effort gaffes or sharing the ball concerns. Most of have very little tolerance in these areas.
If we do have to pull players quickly, we’d be well advised to learn and practice the subtle tricks mentioned earlier in this post. The less we sub in a reactionary way, and if and when we do, doing it in ways where we don’t “lose” that player will go a long way into building the strongest rotation possible.

Concepts on Winning basketball

By Coach Brian Williams on January 20, 2020

This article was written and submitted by retired High School Coach Dave Millhollin.

I have included more information about his coaching career at the end of the article.

Caoch Millhollin has contributed several insightful articles to the site. You can find links to more of them at the bottom of this post under the “Related Posts” tab.

If you would like to contact Coach Millhollin, email me and I will put you in touch with him.

The importance of shot selection, defensive strategies, and rebounding

Why are basketball games won or lost? The answer to this question can be incredibly simple or quite complicated. Coaches spend unbelievable amounts of time and energy on this topic, most of the time, they realize the obvious but fail to understand the simple.

This article is intended to delve into the simple answers of the question.

Basketball has been at the center of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up I played on the playground and played organized ball of one kind or another from the 3^rd grade through college. My dad was a high school and Jr high coach. I have coached girls and boys from the second grade through high school throughout my adult life and I was a high school boys varsity coach for 27 years. Through all of this I don’t think I fully understood the essence of Winning Basketball until about half way through my high school coaching career (around age 40).

All my experience and observation of the game of basketball has led me to what I believe to be the essential elements to Winning Basketball. It can be summed up like this:

“Teams that take better shots and get more rebounds have a tendency to win more games than teams that don’t.”

Most of us believe teams who take good shots are more likely to shoot a high % and because of that; improve their chances of winning. Most of us also believe that teams who control the boards have a better chance of winning than teams who don’t. I think most of us are correct.

The effect of good shots on rebounding

Missed good shots result in more offensive rebounding opportunities for the shooting team.

If you want to get offensive rebounds; take good shots.

Missed good shots also result in fewer fast break opportunities form the opposition.

If you want to stop your opponents’ fast breaks; take good shots.

CRITICAL CONCEPT; Teach your team to take shots the other team can’t fast break on.

The effect of defense on rebounding

There are three questions every coach should ask himself regarding defense;

Is our defense giving up good shots?
Is our defense putting our opponents on the free throw line?
Is our defense giving up offensive boards to our opponents?

For offensive transition oriented offensive teams there is a 4^th question;

Is our defense giving us fast break opportunities?

I asked Bo Ryan one summer about this topic and he said his defensive philosophy was to try to get his opponents to take bad two point shot attempts, then get the rebound. His teams did it through defensive containment.

Here are some helpful defensive ideas that can produce opponent bad shots:

Don’t let them run their offense;
- Take away their entry passes and entry drives
- Don’t let them get the ball where they want it
Don’t let the high post or low post catch the ball
Play defense with hands up
Close out “head up” or PUSHING ELBOW
Collapse with help (early) on drives and recover to kick outs early
Deny the ball to their scorers in the spots they score from
Teach how to defend the “lanes”; passing lanes, driving lanes and cutting lanes
Teach “never let your man cross your face or back” for individual off ball defense
Shade shooting hand on close outs
Do not over deny off the ball; do not encourage back door cuts.
Double the ball early on isolation plays
Switch all “away screens”
Apply “smart” pressure that does not foul and does not give drives or backdoors
Finish all defensive drills with block out or “face out” (for 3s) execution
Defensive communication

Some of the things on the above list are not what most coaches are used to. My teams quite were served very well from; not allowing the ball in to the low or high post. Think about it; teams score from the low post either from post moves, free throws on drawing foul down there, offensive rebounds from missed low post shots or from kick out or kick > swing passes out of the low post. It is amazing to me how many teams at every level allow the ball to be caught at the block!

As for the high post; when the ball goes there to an impact forward or post, that player normally scores, unless he is helped on. When he is helped on he kicks it to a player who is open for a shot or drive. We believe that getting the ball to the high or low post helps teams get good shots; therefore, keeping teams from getting the ball there can significantly reduce their chances of getting good shots.

The other two things on the above list most coaches are not used to, but served the teams we coached significantly well are; playing defense with hands up and closing out from the baseline side (pushing elbow), not “sideline, baseline”. We wanted the drive to go to the elbow one dribble with immediate help, then recover quickly to the kick out pass. This reduced baseline fouls and fouls on our bigs. This greatly reduced our team fouls and opponent free throw attempts, just as important, it lead to poor % two point attempts from our opponents.

This defensive approach greatly increased our defensive rebounding and almost eliminated opponent offensive rebounding opportunities. Remember; offensive rebounding increases teams’ ability to score on put-backs, open kick out shots and fouls on the put-back.

Rebounding

Shot selection and defense are the two biggest keys to rebounding. I believe that if coaches would spend as much time teaching and working on these keys as they do on heart, toughness and effort; their teams would get more rebounds. I am not suggesting to stop teaching heart, toughness and effort. What I am saying is that as far as priorities are concerned when it comes to rebounding they should be, in my opinion;

Shot selection and Defense
Rebounding concepts and techniques
Heart, toughness and effort

In that order

Our teams were pretty tough and played hard with heart but, funny as it might sound; my teams routinely outrebounded teams that were tougher than us and beat teams that played harder than we did.

Execution by playing smart with proper technique brings about winning.

About the author of this article, Coach Dave Millhollin In fourteen years at Ponderosa High School, Coach Dave’s teams won 260 games (.665). From 2000 through 2009 Ponderosa won 207 games over a ten year stretch which included four SVC Conference Championships and two CIF Section final four appearances. Over his 27 year Boys Varsity Coaching career, Coach Dave posted 391 wins, produced 20 college basketball players and was named SVC Coach of the Year four times. At Ponderosa, Coach Dave’s teams were #1 in California in team defense five times and in 2008 Ponderosa was the top defensive team in the Nation among shot clock states. Over Coach Millhollin’s last five seasons (2005-6 through 2009-2010; 136 games) Ponderosa averaged a composite 50% total field goal percentage, 58% two point field goal percentage and 32% three point field goal percentage. Since retiring from High School coaching in 2010, Coach Dave has been actively involved in coaching Jr High level School and AAU teams as well as and running instructional basketball clinics from the primary grades through the College level.

Playing with Purpose on Purpose Part 2 “Advanced Purpose”

By Coach Brian Williams on December 1, 2019

This article was written and submitted by retired High School Coach Dave Millhollin.

I have included more information about his coaching career at the end of the article.

Caoch Millhollin has contributed several insightful articles to the site. You can find links to more of them at the bottom of this post under the “Related Posts” tab.

If you would like to contact Coach Millhollin, email me and I will put you in touch with him.

Playing with Purpose on purpose (Part 2) “Advanced Purpose”

Teaching basketball language and vocabulary

There are three kinds of basketball language; “regular basketball language”, this language includes formal and slang basketball terms and is used by commentators, coaches, players, social media and on the playground. Most players understand this language fairly well by the time you will get them as high school or college players.

The second language is “the language of your opposition”, here your players only really need to know what certain words the opposition might use to describe a strategy or tactic they might use such words as “Bronco” meaning flex, or “23” meaning 2-3 zone, or “fist” pick and roll, etc.

By knowing your oppositions’ vocabularies, your team can intercept verbal cues in order to counter opposing tactics and strategies.

The third language is “your team’s language”; the language of your program. This is the most important language you can teach and most coaches don’t realize how important this one can be. As you teach the elements of your program, based on your Purpose and goals, you can develop a vocabulary and language unique to your team. For example: regarding the concept of “matching up”, we used two different phrases/words to communicate that idea; “divide up” and “meba” (which is short for Amoeba). In this case nobody else we ever played used these words, for our opposition it was a different language, for our guys they understood what those words meant and for some reason, our guys did a better job of “matching up” quickly and effectively using our language.

As your team learns the language, coaches should use that language not just in teaching and communicating your programs stuff but also when discussing the stuff opposing teams run as well; you describe their stuff in your language. For example: if your half-court trap is called “2red” and the team you are playing runs a 1-2-2 half court trap, you would refer to it as “12red” on a scouting report.

Pre-game goals and scouting reports

Before every game our coaching staff prepares scouting reports, these reports contain the following things for our players to understand:

Paragraph describing an overall profile of our opponent
List of opponent offenses and press breaks
List of opponent defenses and presses
Inbounds plays (if significant)
Breakdown of each of their important players
Your offensive keys and goals (what you have to do offensively to win)
Your defensive keys and goals (what you have to do defensively to win)
A list of what offenses you are going to open the game with
A list of what defenses you are going to open the game with
A brief motivational message at the bottom of the page

If possible, we would hand out our pre-game goals and scouting reports the before the game so players had a chance to go over it prior to our game day pre game meeting.

Teaching the philosophy and style of play of your opponents

(player empowerment)

Taking the time to explain your opponents’ style of play and the philosophy behind those styles of play is a very important part of playing with purpose. As you teach each style and philosophy, it is crucial that you also teach the strengths and weaknesses of each style of play with comparisons to your team’s style and philosophy. This process makes it much easier for your team to understand your keys to success against each of your opponents.

Example;

For athletic teams that like to score from defensive pressure into offensive transition and from offensive rebounds; we used to use the phrase; “Take their legs away”. Our players understood that this meant that if we took shots that are difficult for opponents to fast break from and if we played great contain defense; helping on drives allowing only poor quality mid-range shots and blocked out for every defensive rebound; we would have a good chance of winning, (even though our opponent may be much more athletic than us).

A big part of teaching the philosophy and style of play of our opponents, we came up with “Categories”, examples such as:

Athletic teams that like to press, drive, fast break and crash the offensive boards
Methodical, (mostly “suburban teams”) that execute half-court offense well and have good offensive and defensive fundamentals
Teams with one or two dominant scorers
Zone teams
Teams with one or more big men that like to pound it inside
Perimeter oriented teams

Our players would learn the essential keys we must execute in order to be successful against any of the teams on our schedule.

For pre-season games, especially tournaments; we would quickly develop a “categorical profile” of each opponent as we developed our scouting reports, for league and playoffs, we would develop more comprehensive and detailed scouting reports.

At tournaments or if we took out team to scout a pre-season opponent (or by the use of film) we would divide the team into two groups. For bracketed tournaments we would have one group focus on one team and the other group focus on the other team. Each group would be assigned a leader to coordinate the group and the groups would sit separately with their binders out and have scouting report paper to take notes on and for diagram purposes.

At half time they would compare notes and put the teams into categories. Then they would talk about our “keys for success” against those teams.

Single games where we were scouting only one of the teams playing; one group would scout the team’s offense and the other group would scout their defense, then after the game we get pizza and discuss what we observed and come up with our “keys”

We found this process to be quite intimidating and impressive to our opponents; a group of guys dressed in team gear coming into the gym, sitting in an organized manner with binders out evaluating the game in an organized “PURPOSFUL” manner; no headphones or earbuds on, no cell phones out, no goofing around with great chemistry and focus.

Coaches who take the time to comprehensively teach this stuff can create teams that understand their opponents’ philosophies and styles of play better than opponents themselves do.

Prioritizing skills and concept teaching over scouting and film

I’ve just covered quite a bit of information on pre-game scouting preparation and I believe it is very important; it’s a coaching protocol that pre-occupies many coaches and puts a huge emphasis on scouting, film breakdown, scout teams and “scout recognition” execution.

While I believe these things are important and should be addressed; my background as a player and coach has been much more pre-occupied by fundamental skills and concept teaching with an emphasis understanding the various ways the game is played then developing a particular style of play most conducive to success with our teams (this style will differ some depending on our players any given season).

That being said, I believe coaches should spend most of their time teaching their players how to play and how to play against all different kinds of situations and circumstances. Teams, players and coaches should be able to adjust to every circumstance their opponents throw at them and adapt without having to spend countless hours ahead of time breaking down film, going over scouting reports and conducting walk throughs.

This “balanced approach” is the one I took during my coaching career and all my coaching role models and mentors from the time I played to throughout my coaching career had similar priorities.

Stay tuned for Part 3; Communication, Control, Coaching to Win and Credibility (in progress).

Help Your Coaches Improve and Attract Top Players with Video

By Coach Brian Williams on October 13, 2018

Club athletes gravitate to great coaches. Equip your coach with the best video tools to draw in the best talent.

The biggest influence on a player’s choice in clubs is the coach.

We surveyed nearly 1,000 players across four sports to understand what they want from a club. When we asked them to rank the most important factors when choosing their club, coaching came in first — by a lot. Players depend on their coaches to make smart decisions, help them improve and get to the next level.

Just like athletes, coaches are constantly developing. It’s essential to equip them with the best possible tools to help them grow and succeed. Video empowers your coaches’ improvement in ways no other tool can.

Provide Clarity

Video gives coaches a new perspective on things they might have missed live. In addition to providing a second angle, it allows coaches to relive the contest in a no-pressure environment and make level-headed decisions.

“Sometimes in a fast-paced game, it’s very, very difficult to understand what you could have done better,’ Jonny Burns, the technical development director for Florida Celtic Soccer Club, said. “To have that ability to go back and watch those scenarios that evening or the next day, it really gives a knowledge of what could have been done better. We make sure the games are analyzed as quickly as possible so the coaches can go back and evaluate.”

The human mind is affected by the misinformation effect. Previous experiences, mood, biases and others opinions warp our memories and cause us to incorrectly recall what actually happened.

Video snaps the mind back to reality by providing a clear, unbiased account that gets everyone on the same page.

Develop Athletes

Players count on their coaches to identify weaknesses, help them improve and put them in the best position to further their careers. No individual plays a more important role in an athlete’s growth, and players seek out leaders to drive their development.

Video is the best teaching tool because it shows the player exactly what happened. It’s one thing for a coach to tell an athlete what needs to improve, but actually showing the action brings a higher level of understanding and helps them pick up concepts much quicker.

“Sometimes you just need to sit down in a video session with a player and show them the things we’ve been telling them,” Chris Leonard, director of the Pilipa`a girls volleyball team, said. “You can kind of see that moment where the light bulb goes on for players and they go, ‘Oh, that’s what you mean.’”

Club coaches don’t get much time with their players, but video gives them a chance to develop on their own time. Coaches can create playlists of clips, complete with comments and drawings, and share them with athletes to study when they’re away from the team.

Add Depth to the Data

Stats have become an essential part of the evaluation process, but relying solely on the numbers limits their power. When stats are linked to video, they take on new life.

With Hudl, simply click on a stat to create a playlist. The review process is easier and less daunting when you can quickly jump to the exact moments in the game you want to see. It also speeds things up for athletes with shorter attention spans.

“Stats show a lot of different things,” Brendan Smith, the director of ASA Hoops, said. “It’s not just how many shots did you hit and miss. You’re getting rebounds and you’re getting assists. You’re getting charges taken. Someone can feel a real sense of worth on a team that may not score a lot of points. Now they have other ways to prove their value.”

Athletes want strong coaches and they recognize clubs that employ the best. Recruit the top talent to your club by giving your coaches the tools they need to improve their athletes’ experiences. Find more insights on the current club culture in our full survey report.

Making the Most of My Off-Season

By Coach Brian Williams on September 9, 2018

I received this post from Randy Lambert, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Division III Maryville College in Maryville, TN. Coach Lambert has accumulated 701 victories in his college coaching career!

One of the more frustrating things I deal with is trying to make the most of our pre-season. Because of NCAA rules, we are not allowed to be on the court with our players until October 15th. All of our workouts must be voluntary and monitored by our upperclassmen.

Regardless of the level, I think these basic ideas will apply to any basketball program. We emphasize to our players the importance of having a personal plan to follow and holding yourself accountable to the plan.

Editor’s note from Brian: Regardless of what your governing body’s rules allow you to do prior to the start of practice, some good thoughts to share with your players any time of year.

Making the Most of My Off-Season

The Intangibles

• Be a Leader- By example or vocally, project enthusiasm by my constant “reminders” of the price we pay for success.
• Be a good teammate- We are a family and I must do what I can to bring us together.
• Be coachable- Buy-in with my teammates to the process.
• Demonstrate toughness- In everything I do, eliminate the ABC’s: arguing, blaming and complaining.
• Minimize the distractions- Get my life in order off the court (academically, socially, and spiritually) to insure the ultimate productivity on the court.

The “Givens”

• Be in the best possible condition- We play fast and I have to be in shape and able to run the floor.
• Bring physicality to my position- I must be as strong as I can be to be physical and manage the demands of a season.
• Know my role- With the help of my coaches, carve out my role for this team.
• Maintain composure- Be poised and in control of my emotions through every situation.
• Be fundamental and a student of the game- The foundation of my skills will determine my effectiveness as a player.

The Dream

• Run the floor- I will try to be one of the first ones back on every offensive and defensive possession.
• Take good shots- Be a finisher and value efficiency by sharing the ball and hitting the open man.
• Defend and motivate your team to get stops- Coach yourself to stay in a stance and rotate to provide good help.
• Rebound- Be the best rebounder at your position and initiate contact on your blockouts.
• Play team basketball and incorporate sound principles on both ends of the floor