A couple of discussions inspired me to reflect further about Dean Smith and delve deeper into his coaching philosophy and leadership style. Certainly, this post may have been timelier had I published it at the time of Smith’s passing in 2015 but I feel that the thoughts remain relevant because of his lasting impact on the game. When I began coaching, I was drawn to Smith’s methods because of his winning track record and the fact that he was one of the limited numbers of coaches who had published a book that was easily available in the 1990s. To me, …
Delay of Game
Hockey fans and media members are awash in consternation after a recent game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers. Wednesday night, the Flyers responded to the Lightning’s 1-3-1 zone by holding the puck in a formation reminiscent of North Carolina’s “Four Corners” offense. Twice, referees blew the whistle and called for a face-off due to the inaction.
A March to Madness
The execution during the second half of Tuesday’s Duke-Carolina was poor. There were some very sketchy turnovers and players did not display good awareness of the time and score situation. Case in point, the Heels were down three with about eighteen seconds to play. Two-for-one is a viable strategy but you need to go for the quick two quickly. Instead, Carolina ran around with like chickens with their heads cut off, tried a two with mere seconds remaining, missed, and fouled. Carolina had used their last timeout after a score to set the defence. They executed good ball pressure and …