So Reggie Evans put his foot under Chris Bosh as he released a jumpshot, rolling his ankle. In response, Rasho Nesterovic punched Evans the next time that he attempted a lay-up. “Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”– Arthur Conan Doyle Do the Right Thing depicts Mookie – a pizza delivery boy – as he tries to balance his employer, family, partner and son, and community. He eventually tosses a garbage can through the pizzeria window. After being told how he would always be welcome at the …
The Rivalry
Can determination trump talent? Apparently so, according to The Rivalry by John Taylor. The battles between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and their respective teams are detailed within the context of the growth of the game throughout the 1960s. Chamberlain was one of the most prolific post scorers in the history of basketball yet during the ten seasons that their careers overlapped, Russell and the Celtics claimed the Association title nine times. The book delves into the psychological warfare waged between the two. For example, once Russell blocked Chamberlain twice on the same possession. When Chamberlain recovered the loose ball, …
Minimalism
I was coaching a team that won a league title on Sunday and I didn’t do anything. The credit – as usual – belongs to the team and I was fortunate to coach a team where all the players contributed. Aside from getting one of the referee’s attention and touching my shoulders once midway through the first half, I made sure that I stayed out of my team’s way. Screens permitted ballhandlers to get to the key, traps and pressure forced turnovers, and the team won the rebounding battle. In the previous round, the team had started slowly and needed …
That Championship Season
Myriad films have employed basketball as a plot device (Hoosiers), a Sisyphean obstacle for the protagonist (Hoop Dreams), and an outlet for a character’s creativity (Finding Forrester); That Championship Season utilizes the sport as a symbol of what has been lost. Four high school teammates reunite with their coach twenty-four years after their state championship triumph. During the intervening years, they have married, pursued their careers, and gone their separate ways. “We lost something boys.”– Coach Delaney Subtle changes were made to the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title. For example, the play emphasizes how compromising their personal …
Four Lessons from Lute Olson
Reading Lute!, an autobiography by the longstanding coach of the Arizona Wildcats, provided interesting food for thought. First of all, the calm and composed appearance of Lute Olson belies an insatiable enthusiasm for basketball and unwavering loyalty towards those who play on the teams that he coaches. Olson’s fifty-year career links the game’s past to its present, from Pete Newell and John Wooden to Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski, from the Pacific Coast to the Mid-West and back. The book is typical of most sports autobiographies and will not contend for the Pulitzer Prize. Yet the text remains capable of …
The Basketball Gods
Tex Winter says that a team must pay tribute to the basketball gods in order to succeed, his metaphor to inspire players to practice solid fundamentals and teamwork. According to the 1958 National Coach of the Year, the team that executes at both ends of floor the best will be rewarded. Fortunately, I was coaching a team that was able to benefit from this today, directly and indirectly. Directly because poise and control resulted in quality scoring chances and defensive pressure produced turnovers and indirectly because fate assessed the opponent with a bizarre technical foul when a player removed their …
The Last Season
I am sorely disappointed with Phil Jackson. Irrespective of the tremendous work he has performed during the current season, he took an enormous step back in the coaching profession due to the publication of his fifth novel: The Last Season. Jackson’s chronicle of the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers season seems to break several confidences. What happens in the huddle, the locker room, the team bus, the plan, training camp, the video room, or an office should stay within the team, despite the dollars a publisher may promise. Apparently, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson have a very tenuous relationship; how will …
Assertiveness and Coaching
Different coaches have different personalities, which contribute to the diversity of sport. Some display more energy than others, some have a stage presence, and some have a sense of humour about their job. Nevertheless, there is more than one way to coach successfully. Coaching and control are synonymous in the minds of many individuals inside and outside the profession but that is not an accurate description. Coaches motivate student-athletes to reach their potential as a group. Crafting systems that best suit the team is part of that task, managing every single detail of the team is not. Creating accountability among …
All-Star Game Notes
Although nothing could top Charles Barkley outracing Dick Bavetta, I thought that there were other interesting moments during the Association All-Star weekend worth noting: Dwight Howard took advantage of opportunities during Sunday’s game and Saturday’s dunk contest to make a name for himself. Howard’s athleticism and power are possibly beyond peer in the Association. Nevertheless, the weekend’s results highlight that there is still room for improvement for the top pick in the 2004 draft. If Howard acquires post moves – on the block and elbow – and a greater range for his jumper than he will truly become unstoppable. Even …
Overtime Reflection
When faced with a choice between a book about Crime and Punishment and another about screening and rolling, perhaps only the mentally ill would choose the book about ball. Coaches and players can get stuck in the details like they are the lightning sand. Although he could write an essay on the subject, Bill Bradley only needed a sense of where he was to succeed on the court. Recently I was coaching during crunch time of a game and I made things too difficult for the team. Basketball should be simple. In the final minute of overtime, I wanted to …
The Wages of Wins
Reading The Wages of Wins by David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook raised interesting questions regarding assessment and evaluation. Factions contributing to victories and the rational behind coaching decisions were studied among other issues. Statistics are more prolific than ever before but whether the numbers are correctly applied remains to be determined. Scoring and winsFortunately, the authors scrutinized the Association extensively, finding that scoring is highly correlated to winning. Therefore coaches should play the five players who contribute to the highest scoring rate (who also limit the opponent’s scoring rate). A player can affect points per …
Watching the Association on ESPN
“How can you give up a wide open three followed by an offensive rebound on the other side of the court?”– Bill Walton, during the Spurs-Rockets game on 24 January 2007 Team defence is getting worse and worse in the Association and beyond. Conversely it seems like the screen and roll play is getting better and better. Inbounding under their basket with few seconds remaining on the shot clock, the Spurs set a double screen for Ginobli on the foul line. Ginobli curled the screen, received a pass, and made the lay-up. Earlier in the evening, Marion set a ballscreen …
Three Lessons from Jack Donohue
Recently, I read Dream Big Dreams: The Jack Donohue Story by Mike Hickey, a thoroughly entertaining biography that is required reading for Canadian Basketball coaches. Both Andy Higgins – who knew Coach Donohue personally – and I found the book to be very insightful and had difficulty putting it down. I’ve listed three lessons any coach can take from Jack Donohue’s life and coaching career. Helping Players: Jack Donohue helped the Canadian Senior Men’s National Team, the College of the Holy Cross, and Power Memorial players, among others, lessons about teamwork, responsibility, sacrifice, and enjoying life, that they remember to …
Leadership Failure
After losing to the Miami Heat 99-77, T.J. Ford commented that “Being out there with Chris, I don’t have to make plays all the time. And now I’m finding myself having to make a lot more plays and sometimes trying to make too many plays. And I think that’s what happened tonight with so many turnovers.” Disappointing comments from a disappointing player during a disappointing season. Not to mention irresponsible, idiotic, and irritating. A team’s point guard should want to make plays, not shy away from them. To demonstrate good leadership and improve performance under pressure, T. J. Ford – …
Toronto-Michigan All-Star Game 2006
The Michigan Basketball All-Stars defeated the Toronto All-Stars over the weekend. It was a boring game to watch — there was a lot of one on one with four players watching. Toronto started the game with a really cool PHX set. Yonas Berhle came off a high rub going to his right, looked to turn the corner, and kicked to Jessie Simmons for a wide open three. That was a really good read but it was all downhill from there. Michigan killed Toronto with defence and rebounding. At times, Toronto was effective in transition; other times the ballhandler would jack …
Endings and Beginnings
Watching the bookends of two practices this week, I thought about work ethic and attention to detail. The middles may have been the most intense and focused practices one could imagine but since I didn’t see them I can’t write about them. I thought about how one starts and finishes something is a tremendous barometer of how they will complete the whole. Consistency shouldn’t take days off. Execution counts and there’s a reason that coaches harp on it. I don’t think it bodes well when bigs eschew running in their lanes, littles neglect to read their defenders, and many stand …