One of the things that can’t be taught to a young player is poise. They can learn poise, but typically it comes with experience. Whenever you watch a game of junior high players both teams usually play some sort of press and that is why. Poise is something that is acquired through experience.

I get a lot of coaches asking about how they can teach their guards to beat a full court pressure defense. I have to say that this is something that must be practiced like crazy. Kids simply don’t grow up and get taught ball handling against pressure defense and it shows.

I grew up as a shooting guard who never really brought the ball up the court. I could handle the ball with either hand but I never experienced man to man ball pressure until I was moved to a point guard. In fact, I remember as a sophomore I was being trained as a point guard and a guy went to guard me full court. I simply dribbled past him as fast I could and attacked the basket because I didn’t see it for what was really happening. The coach called a timeout and he said “you know they aren’t in a full court press, he’s just guarding you man to man so stay in the offense.” It was eye opening for me as I grew into that role.

There are a number of strategies for beating full court defense but getting past your man and into the front court is the best way to go. I mean, if you can simply make a move and dribble quickly past your defender you have done your job. Too often players believe that between the legs and behind the back are what get the job done but that is rarely the case. Some simple moves can be practiced such as:

Backing the ball off: When the defender cuts you off you simply take two hard dribbles backward to create space before you push forward again. Push off hard with your front foot and create the space before the defense adjusts. A simple burst of speed will then get you past your man.

Use the court: Players need to understand that they aren’t confined to a small space on the court to use. There is nothing stopping you from going from sideline to sideline so understand where you are and what you can do.

Relax: Players stress sometimes over the whole task of getting the inbounds pass and trying to get rid of it before the pressure comes. In reality just get the ball and analyze the situation. No defensive player should be able to stop the offense without fouling them and I honestly believe that. If I want to get past someone then he’s going to have to foul me to stop me so relax and see the game as it really is. The game is simply about getting your team the best shot possible to give your team the best chance to score more than the other team. Don’t panic and treat it one possession at a time.

Involve Teammates: if you are really struggling against the pressure let one of your posts or call one of your post players down the floor to set a pick on your man. If you get jumped by another player then back the ball off to create space and find the player who set the pick for you. Again, have a plan for each situation that can come up so that nothing surprises you.

These things only improve when you practice and get comfortable in these situations. It isn’t something that can be read and accomplished. It isn’t fun to practice this because someone has to play pressure defense while the other works on ball handling but if there is anything a coach looks for it is someone who is willing and able to do both; so work on it.

Bookmark It

Understand that each coach is different and the better player you are the easier it is for a coach to overlook certain areas. What players need to understand is that the majority of division I schools are midmajor or low major schools and that there is nothing wrong with playing at that level. Davidson is considered a mid/low major school yet they have the best player in the country right now in Stephen Curry. Curry was barely recruited even though his father was a legend at Virginia Tech and a great pro. Some coaches look at different things and I thought I’d cover 3 that, in my opinion, are overlooked and underappreciated.

1. Practice Habits: Coaches can go watch players practice but the good coaches watch a player before and after practice to see what his habits are. They like to be a little anonymous so the player doesn’t know he’s watching. What are they looking at? Warmup habits, leadership habits and structure. Coaches want kids who love the game and are willing to play and play it right. By watching beforehand and seeing a kid out early and warming up correctly before going it to his ‘ritual’, it can make all the difference in the world. The best players stay after and keep shooting. You couldn’t get me out of the gym after practice ended and I still love it to this day.

2. Attitude: This is a 2 way street here and players need to be aware. If you are a great player this isn’t as important as if you aren’t a great player. Here is what I mean. Coaches go around and talk to teachers, other students, principals, security guards…you name it. They want to get unbiased opinions by other people in the school as to what type of a person you are. Coaches understand that players always try to put their best foot forward so by asking others they get a good sense of what a kid is really like. Be mindful of this because it can make a low major player a mid major one and a mid major a high major. High major players can get away with more here.

3. Respect for Parents and Coaches: Coaches want kids who are willing to be coached and not react. It is just as important during a practice as to how a kid reacts while being coached as it is to how he plays. Does the player look the coach in the eye? Does the player respond to criticism? Does the player show respect to his parents? All these things play a giant role in deciding if a kid is getting a scholarship or not.

Coaches want kids who have talent, love the game, respect the game by always playing hard and win. Kids that come from winning programs have a much easier time getting their educations paid for. Winning breeds winning and the more coaches surround themselves with winners, the better their program can become.

Bookmark It

Often you will hear a coach or a player refer to the chemistry that teams either have or don’t have and I get various opinions of how chemistry happens on the team level. While some say that chemistry is about how the players get along together others say that chemistry is strictly related to how well the team actually plays together.

Team A: Goes out to dinner after games and the players play video games at night at each others houses. The team is full of best friends but has a 10-20 record. Does this team have chemistry?

Team B: This team has the same talent as Team A but they don’t hang out after games or talk on the phone or play video games together. This team separates once the game ends and they all go their seperate ways once practice ends also. This team has a 10-20 record. Does this team have chemistry?

Chemistry to me is an overrated trait. I’ve been on several teams where everyone got along well and we meshed as a group but we lost a lot of games. Our chemistry was never questioned in the process of us losing all those games. On the other hand I’ve been on plenty of winning teams where I couldn’t tell you anything about the guys I played with yet we were a great team. Our on court chemistry was critical to our success in my opinion because on those teams, for whatever reason, we really understand what we had to do and we worked hard together to get it done. How can a coach create this?

I don’t think a coach can create chemistry other than trying to add pieces to a team that he knows will mesh well with each other. For example: I could’ve told you that Allen Iverson going to Detroit would work out just the way it is. Iverson is a guy that needs the ball and he’s not in control anymore. Dumars should’ve seen this because all of us could see it. It isn’t Iverson’s fault, but he just doesn’t mesh with the system there.

Have you ever watched the Nuggets play and wonder why Anthony Carter plays? He’s horrible. He can’t shoot at all, he plays cheap shot defense, he’s an average passer. He plays because of all those things. Carter knows his role and he does it. If he came in and shot the ball and tried to be a scorer he would be replaced right away by someone else. When Carter plays it is to get the ball to the scorers and most NBA teams have role players like this.

I will watch some college games sometimes and wonder how certain teams lose. I watch North Carolina this season and wonder how they lost twice already this year because talent wise it shouldn’t happen, but they are missing something and it isn’t all there yet. That something, I believe, is a buy in of the role of each player. I think that somewhere along the way, those kids aren’t buying in to the role that is laid out for them by coach Williams and that’s the last link to great team chemistry. The best coaches get the players to buy in to the team concept and chemistry is created.

Bookmark It

I must state that as an Illini fan, who was spurned when Bill Self left for Kansas, I’m not the biggest fan of the guy. I believe him to be an average coach but an excellent recruiter and the other day we learned one of his secrets for recruiting. Please read this as not being completely serious at all but there is a little something there.

In case you didn’t hear, Self was watching John Wall play the other night. When the game ended, Self approached the coaches to wish them well. That is well played by Self and well within the rules of recruiting. While the mix was going on a hand was extended and words were exchanged that went like this “i can’t talk to you but you played really well’. I admit this is something that the NCAA shouldn’t really worry about and the spirit of the law wasn’t violated here, but the letter was. Coaches can’t talk to prospective players during certain portions of the year and this was one of them.

What i like is this line “i can’t talk to you but…”. That is the best recruiting line ever and I use it on people all the time. How often do we say that line to someone when trying to compliment them or tell them something that we don’t want accountability for. I do it all the time. “I shouldn’t say this but you look really good in that outfit” or “I’m not telling you that my computer password is 88888.” The list goes on and on. The line “I can’t talk to you but…” clearly signifies the desire to shake off accountability for what was about to take place. The best part is that it really shouldn’t matter. We know that shoe companies can funnel money to these kids and have been for a while. We know that the AAU circuit gets these kids cash if they are good enough and willing to take it. I just have a hard time believing that OJ Mayo didn’t take a pay cut going to the NBA. I don’t have proof though.

Bill Self is not a rule breaker and his intention wasn’t to break the rules. In reality it may end up costing him John Wall as a recruit. Can Wall sign with Kansas now that many programs would love to see Kansas lose out on some kids? If he does sign with Kansas it may open up more doors and windows into the program and you never know what you’ll find. That’s why i’m most interested…I want to see how Bill Self plays this one the rest of the way because he is a good recruiter.

Bookmark It

As some of you know I am not the greatest fan of the bounce pass. I think it is too slow and shooters don’t like to shoot off the bounce pass. However the bounce pass does have it’s moments and I thought I’d go over those times now.

1. Post Entry: i believe in the bounce pass as an option for a post entry pass. Post defense has gotten tough and physical over the years and the refs allow more and more contact. That contact makes the entry pass more difficult. I believe that the entry pass to the post is a lost art and one that needs to be practiced over and over. It is a pass where angle is extremely important. Let’s look at a defensive scenario. Any good defense will pressure the ball so that each pass is contested. Poor defenses don’t contest passes. If you are playing against a good defense you have to understand how difficult the post entry pass can be. A low hard bounce pass is one that can get past the initial defender and become handled by the post player without the defense being able to contest it much. If the pass is slow and bouncy you can expect to be on the bench because slow passes are the worst and slow bounce passes are the worst type of those.

2. Fast break: I believe the last pass before the layup can be a bounce pass on the fast break in situations where a 2-1 or 3-2 is ongoing. Understand the situation and that a bounce pass is slower. You can lead the offense with a bounce pass because it gives the player time to get to the ball.

3. Back door cuts: A bounce pass is very effective as a pass to a player who is making a back door cut. The defense can keep their hands in the passing lane, but a bounce pass to a back door cutter has a better chance to get through for a layup. Again, understand that a bounce pass is slower but more effective because of the difficulty to steal in this situation. These passes must be practiced to be perfected.

Bookmark It

Good coaches are all over the place and all levels of basketball. There is nothing I like watching more than a well coached basketball team. I watched Duke last night and as much as I hope they lose every game, you have to respect the way that team is coached. Coach K clearly outcoached Paul Hewitt on every level. Georgia Tech came out and gave their best shot but Coach K adjusted and Paul Hewitt didn’t. I decided to list my 3 obvious things that make a good coach:

1. Preparation: Rick Majerus was famous for saying that if you gave him time to prepare for a game he could beat anyone and I believed it. When he was in his prime at Utah they were a well prepared team and got far every year in the tourney. He knew his opponent and what their strengths and weaknesses were and attacked them. He went after matchups and mismatches and coached that way. Good coaches always understand what they have in their cupboard and how to get at everyone else.

2. Adjustments: This is probably the thing that sets coaches apart and it is the ability to make adjustments on the fly based on what the team is doing against you. When teams play Syracuse they know they will see the 2-3 zone and when teams play Illinois they know they are getting man to man the entire game but it is the different wrinkles that coaches throw in there as the game goes that sets them apart. Last night I watched Illinois vs Michigan and the first half was ugly but in the 2nd half Illinois adjusted well to what Michigan was trying to do against them. Instead of going small to match Michigan, Bruce Weber decided to stay big and went with his 7 footer. As a result, MIke Tisdale scored 24 points en route to an Illini victory. Weber adjusted in a subtle way that was the exact right move.

3. Understand situations: Inbound plays from all angles, shot clock situations, foul trouble. All these things play into how a game turns out. Inbound plays can get easy shots and easy points in certain cases. When the shot clock is running down does a coach have a solution for that? When the player gets 2 fouls does the coach leave him in with the chance to get the 3rd before the half ends. These things are all real and happy every game. Coaches should break the game down to possessions and understand how precious each opportunity is. When the game is broken down this way the best coaches truly shine.

Bookmark It

The guy keeps defending his ‘crab’ dribble as not traveling but it is clearly traveling any way you look at it. Lebron Crab Dribble
If you break it down Lebron could have avoided the travel by simply completing a jump stop in the middle of the key and then dunked it from there as we’ve seen him do several times. His argument is that he had dribbled making his first step a half step. However, his dribble is picked up and then he completes 2 additional LONG steps after the fact and travels.

People have been asking about a ‘crab’ dribble and if it is a real move and it is taught but not always referred to as a crab dribble. As Jalen Rose points out in the clip, a crab dribble is typically used by a post player with his back to the defender. While Lebron may have executed the crab dribble correctly, the travel was also correctly called. Sorry Lebron…but you are still the best player in the NBA.

Bookmark It

Like all good coaches, Roy Williams teaches help defense and he knows he has the athletes who are able to recover quick enough to get a hand in the face of the shooters. In fact, most coaches believe that the defense should be at the same level of the ball so that they can help in case someone drives to the basket. North Carolina did this yesterday against BC and BC had the shooters to make them pay. Boston College is a unique team to watch because of the way they are coached. They run an old school offense that is comparable to the option in football. In the west we call it flex or spots and i don’t know what they call it out there, but it works well for BC. When Carolina pressured too much Tyrese Rice was able to get past his man and force help defense. Then he would dish it out to prepared open shooters who knocked down shots all night long. It didn’t help the Heels that they were plagued by the memory of Rice scoring 46 on them in a game last year so that any time he did drive they were aware of it.

Basically it came down to BC hitting 9 3’s and only having 10 turnovers. 6 of those turnovers were from Rice so the rest of the team had a collective great game holding on to the ball against a team that is known for pressure defense. It was an impressive game and one that should go down in coaches memory banks as a way to beat teams who play pressure defense.

Bookmark It