Here are another 25 items for Peter Robert Casey’s blog post called “150 Things I Love About Basketball” How many of these do you know first hand? If you get a chance, start your own list – it will help you remember just how great our favorite game has been to you!

Check back here next Monday for 25 more!

1. Darryl Dawkins naming his dunks: I.e. The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam
2. Derrick Rose’s ability to leap and elude defenses on the ground
3. Detroit’s Bad Boys
4. Dick Vitale calling a game
5. Dikembe Mutombo’s finger wag
6. Double Dribble for Nintendo
7. Dr. James Naismith inventing the game as a class assignment
8. Dr. J’s cradle dunk in the ’80 Final
9. Dream Team
10. Duke vs. UNC
11. Dwyane Wade’s love letter to the game
12. Earl “The Pearl” Monroe’s spin move
13. Empty gym workouts
14. Filling out NCAA brackets
15. Final Four Weekend
16. First trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame
17. Five-Star Basketball Camp
18. George Gervin’s finger roll
19. Gerry McNamara’s 2006 Big East Tourney performance
20. God Shammgod’s signature crossover
21. Grandmama
22. Grinell College’s offense
23. Harry Statham’s 995 wins over 43 years McKendree University
24. He Got Game
25. Heaven is a Playground, by Rick Telander

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Peter Robert Casey writes a blog that centers on the relationship between basketball and social media. To celebrate his 150^th blog post he listed 150 things that he loves about basketball. It’s not identical to the same list that I would make but reading it has really made me think about all the great things associated with the greatest game on earth. Here are the first 25:

1. #15 vs. #2 upsets in NCAA Tournament
2. 1979 NCAA Championship Game: Magic vs. Bird
3. 1980′s shorts
4. A crispy pair of Jordans
5. A.C. Green’s 1,192 consecutive games played
6. Above The Rim
7. Adjustable rims
8. Air Force 1s
9. American Basketball Association
10. And 1 Mixtape Volume 1
11. Any Bob Knight interview
12. Bill Russell’s 11 rings
13. Blue Chips
14. Bo Kimble’s lefty tribute
15. Bob Cousy dribbling out the clock
16. Bob Hurley Sr.’s impact on HS basketball and Jersey City
17. Bruce Pearl, exhibit A or B
18. Bryce Drew’s buzzer beater
19. Cameron Indoor Stadium
20. Candace Parker, Chamique Holdsclaw, Carol Blazejowski, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Anne Donovan, Nancy Lieberman, Lynette Woodward
21. Chain nets and park rims with no nets
22. Christian Laettner’s “Shot”
23. Chuck Taylors and tube socks
24. Cleveland Cavs pregame rituals, including LeBron’s signature chalk throw
25. Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins ahead of his time

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The University of Arizona’s Sean Miller says there are 5 questions you must ask yourself when it comes to choosing and evaluating your defense.

1. Can it beat the best teams on your schedule?
2. Can it help you advance in tournaments?
3. Can it get you wins on the road?
4. Can you improve as a team as the season progresses?
5. Do the players in your program improve individually as defenders?

Coach Miller also says there are 5 things you should be measuring when it comes to defense:

1. Total FG%
2. 3 point FG % and attempts
3. Defensive Rebounding %
4. Forced Turnovers
5. Fouls Committed

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While the Run and Jump is primarily a full court pressing system, it can also be run effectively in the half court as well. In 2006 Coach Jim Larranaga used a Run and Jump style half court defense that he called the “Scramble” to lead George Mason University to the NCAA Final Four. (Coach Larranaga has since moved on to the University of Miami)

In the Scramble, the on-ball defender picks up the ballhandler full court and attempts to turn him at least three times before he crosses half court. Once the ball crosses half court the defense executes one of two tactics that are called “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down.”

In “Thumbs Up” the nearest off ball defender rushes the ballhandler just like he would when handling a clear out situation during a full court Run and Jump. Other defenders rotate and look for a possible steal. If the next pass is downward, towards the basket, the trapper follows the ball and sets a second trap. If the pass is horizontal, the defenders fall back and match up with an offensive man once again.

In “Thumbs Down” the trap is going to be set on the first pass receiver in the front court. Since the first pass is usually made to a wing player, the on-ball defender’s goal is to actually beat the pass to the wing. From there, all the principles and rotations are exactly the same as the ones used in the full court Run and Jump. As in “Thumbs Up” the trapper (the original on-ball defender) will rotate off and set a second trap on any downward passes.

This defense can be extremely disruptive by itself but if combined or alternated with the full court Run and Jump, the results could be lethal to the offense!

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A prerequisite to being successful is first understanding the requirements. A great way to do this is to first identify what other successful coaches have done and follow their example. Basketball Coach Bruce Weber includes his list of 10 factors that every team HAS to do in order to be successful in his DVD Mastering the 5 Man Motion:

1. Give your players high goals

2. Players must focus on team goals

3. Everyone must be willing to share and pass the ball

4. Athletes must accept, take pride in, and excel in their individual roles

5. Make the simple play

6. Must LOVE to WIN and HATE to LOSE

7. Find players who are coachable

8. Play defense

9. Work on individual improvement every day

10. Compete every day

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1. Three passes before you shoot unless you have a lay up.
2. Change sides of the floor. (Reverse the ball)
3. Give the defense a chance to make a mistake. (THREE passes you get a good shot and FIVE passes you get a great shot.) (Try this one day in practice when they are going against a set defense make them make 5 passes before they can shoot. You will be amazed at how good of a shot you will get!)
4. Backdoor and overplay.
5. Don’t pass up a screening opportunity.
6. Be strong with the ball. (Catch the ball and face the goal. Hold the ball for two seconds, while you are reading the defense.)
7. Stay wide and high.
8. Look and then make the correct pass.
9. Be able to get open without someone screening for you.
10. Get a buddy to work with on offense. Natural pairs: one man will have the ball and the other two pairs will screen for each other. (talk and eye contact)
11. Don’t worry about spacing on offense. (Use common sense)
12. Use over head passing to move the ball.
13. V-Cut to get open on offense.
14. Call out the man’s name you are screening for on offense.
15. When you screen make contact and straddle the near leg of the defender.

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In a book that he wrote with John Wooden called “Be Quick But Don’t Hurry,” former UCLA Bruin Andy Hill shares John Wooden’s #1 secret to basketball success:

The team with the best players almost always wins!

But what if you don’t have the best players? Then there are really only three options:

1. Get better players
2. Make your current players better by teaching, coaching, and inspiring them
3. Lose much more often than you win

Which one do you choose?

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Watching The World Cup Final last weekend got me thinking about Anson Dorrance, the women’s soccer coach at the University of North Carolina who has won 21 National Championships and one World Cup Championship. A few years ago I read a book by Dorrance called The Vision of a Champion and even though I don’t know much about soccer, I thought it was one of the best coaching books I have ever read. There are so many ideas and strategies in here that apply to all basketball coaches and players and to parents of athletes as well. Here are just a few of the notes that I took while rereading that great book:

Feel as if you are the margin of victory. Be part of the reason your team wins. On a day to day basis, take responsibility for everything: your fitness, whether you win or lose, whether you get to play or sit, whether you are a positive life force or a whiner, whether you are going to improve that day or “coast” Believe that you are in control of everything.

Look like Barbie but play like Attila the Hun

Find things in your game that you can have more control over. For me, that’s my defensive effort and my work ethic

An army of deer led by a lion is more to be feared than an army of lions led by a deer

Watch the best players. A good coach can talk to you about it but you need to see it demonstrated in order to imitate it when you play

To develop into a great player you have to highlight your strengths. . . .You want to focus on getting even better at what you are already good at. Seek to become truly excellent in at least one or two areas of the game.

If you are going to rise to the highest possible level, you need at least one quality that permits you to dominate in some aspect of the game.

Competitive drive is not governed by innate ability but by self discipline and desire.

Like competition, fitness is not a skill

In order to improve, and to foster competitive drive, you must consistently push yourself to places that aren’t comfortable.

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Watching the USA Women’s Soccer Team compete in the World Cup today made me think of something North Carolina’s Anson Dorrance once said about soccer great Mia Hamm:

How hard do YOU work when no one is watching?

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Last week, when speaking to a gym full of campers and parents, Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer said something that is definitely worth thinking about. She said that “Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.”

The more I have thought about this, the more I realize just how true a statement it is. You can coach without enthusiasm but you’ll never be a great one. You can be a player without enthusiasm but you’ll never be a great one. The same holds true with teaching, leading, writing, parenting, etc. Without passion and enthusiasm one will never be able to reach his or her full potential.  Regardless of what you apply this to, this is a great quote to live by! True words of a great CHAMPION!!

Here is some more advice from Coach VanDerveer taken from the Ultimate Coaches’ Career Manual:

1. Enjoy the process. Bring excitement and enthusiasm to the job every day. Always be positive.
2. Do the little things and don’t be above any job. Do whatever it takes to be a great coach.
3. I learned how crucial a teacher can be in nurturing or ruining a student’s passion. A teacher needs to find the trigger inside each student that will release his or her best work. Some students need to be pushed; others need space. Some need every detail explained; others work better on instinct.

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