Learning from BIG games

Big games are part of every team's schedule. You have to prepare for them. Kentucky and Louisville had a well publicized one yesterday. As much as it was not necessarily the best game ever, in a way it was - because it was real. Yesterday's big game in Lexington proved that sports are played by people, not robots. There may have been moments during the game when the two coaches wished they had robots on the court executing, but the learning and teaching of young men would not have happened.

Yesterday's much-hyped game between two historic rivals provided many lessons for coaches and players alike:

• there is no such thing as TOO MUCH work on individual fundamentals such as shots from in close, layups, footwork (offence and defence), passing, box-outs, close-outs, staying on your feet when defending up fakes, etc.
• players are NOT robots, emotions play a role in their games and those emotions need to be self-controlled (so that their coach is not forced to remove a player 8 seconds in to the game in order to have a nose to nose discussion about maintaining a cool head)
• teams can NEVER GIVE UP, whether they are down 13-1, 25-12 or any other score, there is always an opportunity to fight back and be up 42-41 after plenty of dedicated play
• teams need to always be working on small and large group concepts of spacing, talking, proper rotations, defending ballscreens, group rebounding, trapping, etc.
• given the pace of play and expended energy, proper hydration becomes even more important (to maintain energy, prevent cramps, etc.), especially for the players that will log the most minutes
  
• in order to best replicate a high stakes game versus a tough opponent/traditional rival in an away gym with an unfriendly crowd, practices must resemble chaos with multiple odds stacked against a group of five players that they must then battle through with poise
• a disruptive full court defence must be practiced - yesterday's game proved that a tough D is effective against even the most highly rated and determined point guards (in practice, it also serves to better prepare your own point guard for what they should expect to see from tough opposition - in that way, it is mutually rewarding)
• you don't always have to buy professional dvd's about certain aspects of the sport - taping an important game for your own viewing pleasure and analysis is equally, if not more, beneficial