Sunday, May 27, 2012
Express Yourself
Cross-post from the blog at MelroseGirlsBasketball.com.
Legendary coach Pete Newell believed that high school coaches were the most important part of the game. BUT he decried the reduction of BASKETBALL TEACHING, lack of creativity, and forcing players into systems.
He had a saying about players, “they aren’t cattle”. He asked coaches to take advantage of the players’ intellect, helping them understand WHY.
Newell’s approach worked because he had such magnificent teaching skills, reducing harder concepts to easier ones. And it’s simple to understand why some of his biggest fans included Bobby Knight and Mike Krzyzewski, who had their own phenomenal coaching success.
What does that mean for you, the player? First, consider what you know, ponder what you don’t, and ask how to bridge that gap. Second, while we KNOW you aren’t cattle, we don’t want you to be robots. The joy of basketball comes from both understanding and execution, implementation of concepts (passing and cutting, skills) with team play creatively.
As a coach, I ask myself “where are my players succeeding” and “where do they need conceptual help”?
The players know our corny sayings, but they haven’t fully embraced all of our truisms. Here’s a partial list:
- “The ball is gold.”
- Eighty percent of the game is mental.
- Defense and rebounding determine the success of a team. Offense determines how much the margin.
- Basketball is a game of mistakes.
- See the game.
- Read and react.
- A confident player becomes a successful player.
- Believe in yourself.
- A bad shot is no different than a turnover.
- The defensive rebound is not secured until it’s in the hands of the guard.
- Shoot to score, not just to shoot.
- Layups and free throws win games.
- Great defensive teams view advancement of the ball into the paint as having a few outcomes: steals, deflections, blocks, and defensive rebounds…not layups.
- Create. Create separation with cuts, passes, and off the dribble. Create chaos on defense.
- Basketball is sharing; help your teammate to get open offensively and to prevent scoring defensively.
// posted by Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @ 7:52 AM 
