Saturday, December 14, 2013
On Education, Blogging, and Perspective*
*This site is not an official publication of the City of Melrose, Melrose High School, or the Athletic Department. All opinions contained within are those of the author alone.
Most of the basketball education occurs at the independent MelroseGirlsBasketball.com site via the basketball blog.
Why not here? First, this site primarily reports available news, limited statistics, and promotional material for Melrose girls basketball. You might read that Jane Doe shot six for six from the free throw line or had fifteen rebounds. You will NEVER read that Jane shot zero for eight, played lethargically, took bad shots, has inherently poor technique, et cetera. A player might have a really difficult overall game, but if she does something positive at an important time, you read THAT and only that. "The star of the team is the team."
The high school players are not professionals and are doing their best. Missed a clutch free throw? Been there, done that. Committed a costly foul? Ditto. Frustrated by a bad official's call? Join the club.
When Jane has a wonderful game (defensively, offensively, balanced floor game), I report it. But I'm not here to carry water for anyone. I am entitled to my opinions; I am not entitled to my own facts. Every sports parent loves and advocates for their child. That doesn't change what happened on or off the court. When you lead your team in scoring with ten points and have ten turnovers, I don't report the individual turnovers. But as a coach, I note both mentally and reflect upon whether that's a happening or a trend.
A hefty dose of education is designed to change behavior. For example, we teach our players what situations are likely to cause turnovers, because turnovers dramatically and statistically reduce a team's chances of success. Certain passes are more likely to be stolen, certain playing behaviors more likely to create turnovers (e.g. violating Mother's Rule about playing in traffic), and so on. Effective coaching alters behavior.
There's a saying that one bad play happens, the second time it's the player, and the third it's the coaching. We regularly tell our young players that it must be OUR bad coaching causing repetitive error. Of course, turnovers are also 'relative' in that a player handling the ball the greatest percentage of the time will likely have more errors than someone who seldom touches it. But that should also be reflected in 'positive plays' like assists and even "hockey assists" the pass leading to the assist.
Also, we tell our players that you play according to what YOUR coach teaches, regardless of how we have taught the skill or principle. We have reasons why we teach what we do, generally reflecting teaching at the highest levels. For example, we teach according to principles outlined in Herb Brown's "Let's Talk Defense," Ernie Woods' "Advanced Basketball Defense", Del Harris' "Winning Defense," and so forth. Where the teams succeed, we credit the players, and where they do not, we own that.
The joy is in the journey not the destination.
Most of the basketball education occurs at the independent MelroseGirlsBasketball.com site via the basketball blog.
Why not here? First, this site primarily reports available news, limited statistics, and promotional material for Melrose girls basketball. You might read that Jane Doe shot six for six from the free throw line or had fifteen rebounds. You will NEVER read that Jane shot zero for eight, played lethargically, took bad shots, has inherently poor technique, et cetera. A player might have a really difficult overall game, but if she does something positive at an important time, you read THAT and only that. "The star of the team is the team."
The high school players are not professionals and are doing their best. Missed a clutch free throw? Been there, done that. Committed a costly foul? Ditto. Frustrated by a bad official's call? Join the club.
When Jane has a wonderful game (defensively, offensively, balanced floor game), I report it. But I'm not here to carry water for anyone. I am entitled to my opinions; I am not entitled to my own facts. Every sports parent loves and advocates for their child. That doesn't change what happened on or off the court. When you lead your team in scoring with ten points and have ten turnovers, I don't report the individual turnovers. But as a coach, I note both mentally and reflect upon whether that's a happening or a trend.
A hefty dose of education is designed to change behavior. For example, we teach our players what situations are likely to cause turnovers, because turnovers dramatically and statistically reduce a team's chances of success. Certain passes are more likely to be stolen, certain playing behaviors more likely to create turnovers (e.g. violating Mother's Rule about playing in traffic), and so on. Effective coaching alters behavior.
There's a saying that one bad play happens, the second time it's the player, and the third it's the coaching. We regularly tell our young players that it must be OUR bad coaching causing repetitive error. Of course, turnovers are also 'relative' in that a player handling the ball the greatest percentage of the time will likely have more errors than someone who seldom touches it. But that should also be reflected in 'positive plays' like assists and even "hockey assists" the pass leading to the assist.
Also, we tell our players that you play according to what YOUR coach teaches, regardless of how we have taught the skill or principle. We have reasons why we teach what we do, generally reflecting teaching at the highest levels. For example, we teach according to principles outlined in Herb Brown's "Let's Talk Defense," Ernie Woods' "Advanced Basketball Defense", Del Harris' "Winning Defense," and so forth. Where the teams succeed, we credit the players, and where they do not, we own that.
The joy is in the journey not the destination.
// posted by Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @ 9:10 AM 
