Winning is Giving

By Brian Williams on February 22, 2013

From our basketball poems file… We have more basketball poems, prose, basketball quotes, and inspirational articles in our FILING CABINET.

Winning is giving your best self away
Winning is serving with grace every day
You’ll know that you’ve won when your friends say it’s true.
“I like who I am when I’m around you.
You look for the best in the others you see
And you help us become who we’re trying to be.”

Winning is helping someone who’s down
It’s sharing a smile instead of a frown.

It’s giving your children a hug by the fire
And sharing the values and dreams that inspire.

It’s giving your parents the message “I care.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for being so fair.”

Winners are willing to give more than get
Their favors are free, you’re never in debt.

Winning is giving one hundred percent
It’s paying your dues, your taxes, your rent
It’s trying and doing, not crying and stewing.

Winners respect every color and creed,
They share and they care for everyone’s need.

The losers keep betting that winning is getting
But there’s one law that they keep forgetting
And this is the Law you can live and believe
The more that you give, the more you’ll receive!

Basketball Plays Chips Inbounds

By Brian Williams on February 21, 2013

Scroll Down the page to see the plays.

This inbounds play can be run against a man to man defense or a zone defense.

The same play can be run from 3 different alignments.

These are plays run by Tom Izzo. I received them in a set of notes sent to me by Steve Smiley. The notes were taken by Jim Ponchak.

Chips Triangle

3 and 5 cut to corners

2 cuts down the middle of the paint

1 pops back as a safety

4 passes to 3

2 screens for 4

3 passes the ball out to 1

3 screens in for 2

Chips Line

3 and 5 cut to corners

2 cuts down the middle of the paint

1 pops back as a safety

4 passes to 3

The rest of the play is run just like Chips Triangle above.

Chips Box

3 and 5 cut to corners

2 cuts down the middle of the paint

1 pops back as a safety

4 passes to 3

The rest of the play is run just like Chips Triangle above.

Frank Martin Defensive Concepts

By Brian Williams on February 20, 2013

These are some defensive concepts from Frank Martin, Men’s Basketball Coach the University of South Carolina.

Don’t cheat your kids. It’s the reason you coach. Someone kicked your butt into doing it right. Don’t allow your kids to slide.
If you allow [your opponent] to set up, play, and establish their identity, they’ll beat you.
Defense starts with pressure offense. Run every time. We’re going to put you on your heels
“I believe in making [our opponents] throw long passes.”

Communication, “If you care about winning, you talk to your
teammates!”
Teams now are either going to shoot 3’s or layups. If they dribble drive, it’s going to be a dunk. There is no in-between game anymore.” – Prepare accordingly.
Teams don’t get easy baskets against set defenses that are back and ready to guard.

Re: Wing Denial Backdoor Cuts, On-ball defender responsible for the lob (ball pressure will eliminate easy look as well as make the pass longer, higher, slower). 1 pass away (deny position) is responsible for taking away the bounce pass.
Passes go over or under the defense; never THROUGH the defense. Create long passes.
Opponents never catch the ball facing the basket. Defender should apply so much pressure that they always catch with back to the bucket.

Teaching point: On ball defense – “Crawl up in him.” [I like this terminology. Creates an image of a low stance]
Teaching point: On ball defense – “Crack of your ass to the glass.” Nose on top hip.
Basic philosophy: No layups. No 3’s. Hard 2’s
Put tennis balls in the hands of the defenders, especially in 1-on-1 drills.

Keeps hands off the offense and eliminates hand checking.
“We don’t accept being screened.”
Teaching point: 1 pass away – “Shrink the gap.” On the line, up the line.

When a dribble drive occurs, we don’t teach the 1-pass-away to open up and turn his back to the offense. We teach our guys to plug the gap with their butt. This allows our guys to see their man the whole time and makes for quicker close outs.

Click here for information on the complete basketball practice e-book
“130 Great Ideas to Get a Lot More Accomplished in Practice”

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Basketball Drills Skill Development

By Brian Williams on February 19, 2013

Some ideas on ways to improve taking care of the basketball.

Limiting turnovers is one of the most important stats.

Worst thing to do against a press is to stand – make a cut, if it is the wrong cut, make another cut

Best way to beat a trap, look to split the trap

You will win a lot of games if you can take care of the basketball

Keep what you do as simple as possible.Just because you are thinking about the game all the time, does not mean your players do —— keep your stuff simple

Move and Counter Drill

Defense throws a high arcing pass to the offense
Offense rips the ball while defense gets into the shirt of the offense
Offense drives by the defense (the defense cannot move laterally)
Offense tries to finish over the help defender at the rim, use a counter move if needed
Keys
1. Be tough (with the initial rip and with the finish)
2. Use counter move on a big defender
3. Work both sides of the floor

2 vs. 1 Half Court

Screener hands the ball off to the offense
Defensive man starts next to the offensive man
Once the ball is handed to the offensive player, the offensive player uses the screener to shake the defender
1. Offensive player tries to score on the help defender or dish to weak side offensive player (probably a bounce pass)
2. The original ball defender can rotate to the other offensive player
Keys
1. Bounce pass is usually the best pass because close out with high hands
2. Get tight off of screen
3. Work both sides of the floor

3 Straight Lines Drill

Offense gets 1 dribble

Have to advance the ball up the floor

Defense needs to stop the ball from being advanced

Offense has to stay in their designated lane

Offense has to make game cuts — look to beat the defense deep

Use North and South dribbles

Option
You can make a rule that the ball always has to go back to the middle man

3 on 2 Full Court

Offense gets 2 dribbles

Defense traps and rotates

When in a trap, don’t shift weight back

Try and split the trap

3 Guards Drill

1 guard tries to advance the ball against 2 defenders

Try to split the defenders or attack the slower of the 2

Arizona Post Up Basketball Play

By Brian Williams on February 18, 2013

This man to man play is from an old edition of the Basketball Coaching Newsletter from the Arizona Men’s program.

They simply call it “Cross Screen Post Up.” I like the screen the screener action

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5 sets ball screen for 1

4 fills the point

3 and 5 set a staggered double screen for 2

The basketball is reversed from 1 to 4 and then to 2

5 turns and uses a screen from 3

4 screens at the free throw line for 3

Mental Toughness for Basketball

By Brian Williams on February 15, 2013

Just like every other area of basketball, a coach must study mental toughness and have a well thought through plan to help players develop and improve their mental toughness.

There are hundreds and hundreds of definitions of mental toughness. Here is a place to start as mental toughness applies to basketball.

“Mental toughness is the ability to control thoughts and actions and maintain a focus on what is truly important in a calm and poised way under competitive pressure.”

It is important that your players know and can explain whatever you define mental toughness to be.

Here are some ideas for things you can do to improve the basketball mental toughness in the players in your program.

Take time every practice to rehearse different pressure situations that arise in games. Having a definite plan that players have practiced will help them focus on what to do under pressure and less on the pressure itself.
Make it a point of emphasis that bad body language, moping, pouting, displays of disgust with officials, and other negative behaviors are training the players for failure. Correct them any time they occur in practice, games, or in the locker room.
The coaching staff needs to be a role model of poise and self control. Players will feed off of you and draw confidence from your mental toughness.
We are always better at things we have had experience and success with. Use the fact that the mind does not differentiate between a real and an imagined experience. Work with your players on visualizing success and performing skills the correct way.
Do not allow anyone in your program to accept or make excuses. Excuses are permission to give up. Excuses keep us from pushing past our comfort zones which allows us to grow and accomplish new and difficult achievements. Click the following link for more on: Mental Toughness and excuses.

Point out times in your game films or games you record on TV when a lack of poise and mental toughness by an individual cost a team a chance to win.
Have some type of phrase you can use when a player makes a mistake to focus them back on mental toughness and what is happening next in the game. A simple phrase such as “Play through it!” can be your signal to them that we need to get on to the next play.
Teach players when they make a mistake to recognize it, admit it, learn from it so that it doesn’t happen again, and then forget it so that it doesn’t affect any more plays.
Write down individual and team goals and make committments to attending to the details of accomplishing the goals beyond the current comfort level. Great basketball players and teams practice beyond their comfort zones.
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.

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.
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.
Sports Psychologist Jim Loehr has described “the four emotional markers of mental toughness:”

Emotional Flexibility–The ability to handle different situations in a balanced or nondefensive manner. Emotional flexibility also speaks to the skill of drawing on a wide range of positive emotions–humor, fight spirit, pleasure.

Emotional Responsiveness–You are emotionally engaged in the competitive situation, not withdrawn.

Emotional Strength–The ability to handle great emotional force and sustain your fighting spirit no matter what the circumstances.

Emotional Resiliency–Being able to handle setbacks and recovering quickly from them.