GOLD STANDARD COACHING @CoachLok

2-Guard is a continuity offense designed to allow four perimeter players equal opportunity to be in all spots at sometime during the continuity. This is the initial cut and the basic ball reversal. Four players need to be able to function on the perimeter and it helps if the high post is a decent passer, as you will see later. Over the next couple weeks we'll add some options and specials that make this a pretty comprehensive offense that you can build on and use from the youth level on up. Check back soon.

Those immersed in the basketball community will read “Advantage Disadvantage” and recognize many of the “usual suspects” and familiar situations that will make you chuckle… or bring your emotions to anger, disgust, sadness, excitement, and joy. Readers foreign to the world of hoops will gain some insight into the machinations of prep basketball, recruiting, officiating, and the cracks in the system that allows the slime to sometimes find it’s way into our beautiful game. “Advantage Disadvantage” is a fictional tale with high school basketball as the backdrop for an intriguing story of a cast of characters that challenges you to examine the purity of amateur sports. We get to know some individuals who are faced with some very real life temptations and we follow them while they try to reconcile right from wrong – all while wondering whether their decisions will prove to be an Advantage or a Disadvantage.

USC head football coach Pete Carroll uses the ability to play multiple sports when evaluating prospective recruits. He says, “I want guys that are so special athletically, so competitive that they can compete in more than one [sport] here at USC. It’s really important that guys are well-rounded and just have this tendency for competitiveness that they have to express somewhere.” “We want [athletes to] show that it’s really, really important for them to excel and [that] they have that special will and that competitiveness that can really define a desire to be something unique,” Carroll explains. According to Carroll, the hunger to compete is what gets a player noticed. Being a well-rounded athlete, playing multiple sports and attending combines and camps will make coaches pay attention to your abilities. He says, “All of that is [just] guys looking for a chance to compete and learn, but also show who they are and what they’re all about. That’s why I like to see guys play other sports to...

There was the Amazing Mets motto "You Gotta Believe!" ; Jose Lima proclaiming Lima Time by exclaiming "Believe It"; the Golden State Warriors "We Believe!" and the most famous Al Michael's line at the end of the Miracle on Ice when he's heard screaming "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" In sports we always talk about what we believe, we can achieve. Every coach, teacher, and parent needs to check out this video and realize how we can make a difference in kid's lives. One statement, one action by a teacher or coach can mean so much and seemingly small moments can help to shape their life’s direction. After seeing this, I am sure that you will feel pretty good about the next generation. Here is the text from the speech, and there are plenty of nuggets that should speak to each of us: "I believe in me. Do you believe in me? Do you believe I can stand up here, fearless, and talk to all 20,000 of you? Hey, Charles Rice Learning Cent...

Here are a few thoughts that might make the use of Player Notebooks and Playbooks most effective. I've used them some years and some years we didn't. Not really sure why. Sometimes it can become a chore to police their use at first. But if you feel strongly enough that their use will be effective - it may be worth it. Having one place to store schedules, tournament brackets, workout schedules, charts, or the players meetings and appointments is simply a good organizational skill that you are teaching your players that may carry on later in life. There were plenty of times we need to bring our Faculty Handbook to meetings or they may be in a business meeting where they must show up with their Operations Manual. And if they do play at the next level, they may very well be expected to take care of their playbook. They already take notebooks and text books to their classes - basketball is our class and it is not unreasonable to think that they can be responsible to do the same. We ...

The "Golden Triangle" is a, somewhat, overused description of some of the most important, wealthiest, or influential geographic areas in many parts of the planet. i like to refer to another very important piece of real estate as the "Golden Triangle" -the area a step outside each block to the midpoint of the FT line. For rebounding purposes, we emphasize all FIVE defenders getting into the "Golden Triangle" where a majority of the rebounds fall (statistically it's probably more like an ellipse - but that's nitpicking!: ?) We talk a lot about geometry and anticipating rebounding angles. Perimeter shots will be in the air only a little more than a second. That gives the defender time to get position between your man & the basket, make contact stop his progress, then get in the "Golden Triangle". If the defensive player is too deep in the "Golden Triangle" that's when they must block out to create space and get to the outsk...

Every really good team I've been associated with had great senior leadership...at the end of the bench. 3 or 4 mature kids that had been program players, understood their role, practiced their rear-ends off, and were willing to help others achieve their goals. The bench was less "squirrelly" and those players understood the way we did things so they could be another set of eyes for the players that did play. Those teams always had 4 or 5 guys that might not be as good a basketball player as the top 3-5 players on the JV team. But why have those underclassroom at the end of a 15 player bench when they can get more reps and minutes on the Junior Varsity. Make those players feel special on a daily basis, praise them relentlessly, mention them to reporters, let them know that their efforts are as important as the top 8 players, lavish them on Senior Night, and make a big deal about them at the banquet. Often times, those are the kids that keep in touchthe most, come back the ...

I apologize in advance - I'm about to vent, ramble, and get on my soapbox. You've been warned! The days of the dictator coach are behind us. We need to find other methods of teaching and relating to players that are more meaningful than "My way or the highway." There are too many "highways" for kids to choose from. These days persuading is far more effective long term, than coersion. It is not my way, or my X's & O's that help us succeed. It is their daily efforts. You want kids to learn to do things because it is the right thing to do - not because they are afraid of the consequence or looking forward to a reward. Methods are adjusting for classroom teachers, and the basketball community needs to keep up with the times. In the classroom, teachers are continually finding ways of making their subjects more relevant and useful to their students, and applicable to the world that they live in. Most players(and students) now want to know “why” somethi...

When kids get down on themselves after a mistake, it is about *how they feel*. Feelings CAN"T be wrong. They are what they are. You can't tell someone not to *feel* a certain way. (Those that are married sure know what I'm talking about !:?) What you can try to help him realize is that allowing those feelings to effect his play is not being productive. As a sophomore he is probably trying so hard to earn respect from you and his teammates that he is pressing. I agree that it would not be effective having the other players talk with him. What he probably *feels* is, " I'm having a crummy day, I've let you and the team down, whoa is me, how will I ever be able to do anything right again, nobody loves me, everybody hates me, think I'll eat some worms." What we need to do is to help players get over those feelings and, as you say, toughen up. Mental toughness is just the ability to overcome obstacles and look forward to accepting a challenge. We help pla...

How many times before a game do you hear a coach or a player say, "take the guy who has you"? This happens more often in situations when no scouting is possible prior to the game to determine more appropriate matchups. So, generally, they guard someone of similar size, the point guard takes the point guard, the off-guard takes the off-guard, and so on...and vice-versa. This NBA Playoff season I heard more about "cross-matching" than I had ever before. "Cross-matching" is when defensive players on one team are guarding different players than are guarding them at the other end. During the Lakers/Celtics NBA Championship Series it happened often when Kobe Bryant would guard Rajon Rondo at one end, but at the other end Paul Pierce or Ray Allen were the preferred matchup on Bryant. This also would occur more often in situations where teams would switch screens and complete a possession with different matchups than where they started. That's where the probl...

You may have missed this report. Two boys were shooting hoops near the Championship Parade route, when one is attacked by a vicious Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy fires the basketball and managed to hit the dog in the head and thwart its attack. A reporter who was strolling by sees the incident, and rushes over to interview the boy. "Young Celtic Fan Saves friend from Vicious Animal..." he starts writing in his notebook. "But, I'm not a Celtics Fan," the little hero replied. "Sorry, since we're in Boston, I just assumed you were," said the reporter and starts again. "Red Sox Fan Rescues Friend from Horrific attack..." he continued writing in his notebook. "I'm not a Red Sox fan either!" The boy said. "I assumed everyone in Boston was either for the Celtics or the Red Sox. So, what team do you root for?" the reporter asked. "I'm a Knick fan!" the child beamed. The reporter starts a new she...

One of the most impressive aspects of the Lakers' rise back to the upper echelon of NBA teams, to me, is the manner in which Phil Jackson has allowed the team to develop. What was once a young, erratic and mistake-prone team is now back among the league's elite. Along with Kobe Bryant becoming a better leader and teammate, Jackson's patience and commitment to his players gave the players the confidence to begin to approach their potential. Phil is often criticized for being hesitant to call timeouts or substitute when players struggle, but that has also proved to be a strength. He trusts his players to make decisions and allows them to play through some difficult times by trying to self-correct their own behavior and performance. This gives players some freedom to play without the fear that a mistake will result in a substitute being sent to the scorers table or that an irate coach will call a timeout to read the player the riot act. Without this confidence the players may ...

One of the main differences between the Celtic defense and the Lakers defense (when they choose to play some( is the manner in which they *contest shots*. The Lakers, as coached by Phil Jackson, attempt to get to shooters but are instructed *not to leave their feet*. Jackson is somewhat of an "old school" coach and this is just how you played in the '60s and '70s. PJ has been true to that philosophy throughout his days as a coach. The Celtics, on the other hand, CONTEST shots! Maybe part of this is Garnett's influence, but Doc Rivers also played in a different era where leaving your feet is a little more acceptable. His final coach as a player, Larry Brown, really believed in contesting shots. The bottom line to a good defensive system puts players in position to contest as many shots as possible. The Lakers, typically, are not a very good off ball defensive team, and you need to be to contest shots. Players miss contested shots. And they tend to make open shots. ...

Some people claim that Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, a nine-time National Basketball Association champion, ripped referees for giving Boston a huge free throw edge that helped the Celtics win Sunday. This is how Phil Jackson's post-game press conference began: What are you most struck by, your rally at the end or your difficulty scoring points on them the first three quarters? (Laughing) I'm more struck at the fact that Leon Powe gets more foul shots than our whole team does in 14 minutes of play. That's ridiculous. You can't play from a deficit like that that we had in that half, 19 to 2 in the first half in situations like that. I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached in The Finals. Unbelievable. ... Phil answered a later question with," The referees referee an illusion. Our guys look like the ball was partially stripped when they were getting raked but it was in the crowd so the referees let that type of thing go."...

Recently, on the Coaching Hoops Email Group a bunch of coaches were asked, "What are some times in your life where you had to sacrifice things for the better of your career? Or when did you have to put things on a higher priority list then you'd like? I think that another question to ask might be "... are some times in your life where you had to sacrifice your career for the betterment of your life?" As coaches we make choices as to what level we want to coach, and many of us enter the profession with the desire to coach at the highest level possible. As those opportunities are presented to us it becomes time to decide what is really important to us and what we are willing to do - and how we are willing to live to have "a career". Coaches spend a lot of time developing a Coaching Philosophy, but do we spend time regarding our Career Philosophy? We have Team Goals, but do we have Daily Life Goals? We work really hard at creating a winning Team Culture, but...