Reading Screens

When reading screens, look at the defender, not the ball - you know where the ball is already. Watch CSK execute a simple single-single baseline screen play. The defender goes over top and the cutter makes the correct read and success follows - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tl6pn86kJE

Horns into Crossscreen Set

Below is an offensive set run by Barcelona at the 2010 Euroleague Basketball Championships. This set shows how you can combine offensive sequences to create a set. Barcelona runs a ballscreen horns action (which isn't as effective as it could be because the ballhandler does not get to the shoulder of the screen) into a basic crossscreen downscreen sequence. In this case Barcelona forces the switch on the crossscreen so now a guard is covering a post at the rim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e04m38_JBXE

Team Building Lessons from NBA Playoffs

Congrats to the Lakers and Celtics for a great series. Here is a an article highlighting 5 Team-Building Lessons from the NBA Playoffs. The 5 lessons are 1. Experience Matters, 2. Managing Seasoned Teams Takes a Deft Touch, 3. Build a Deep Bench, 4. Strive to Reduce Turnover and 5. Compete Hard and Follow Through

http://www.inc.com/ss/5-team-building-lessons-nba-playoffs?slide=0#1

Larry Brown Pre-Draft Workout

In the spirit of the time of year here is an NBA Pre-Draft Workout by Larry Brown of the Charlotte Bobcats. Unlike some of the other individual workouts I have seen where they focus only on individual skills by running them through game-like shooting and ballhandling drills (and some 2 on 2 or 3 on 3, Larry Brown has some of their potential draftees running some offensive sequences (Transition ballscreen, flare into wing ballscreen). I am guessing he wants to see how the players learn and pick up concepts as I know from recruiting at our level this is one of the toughest most important things to evaluate - how do players learn? That is why I like to watch players in a practice or developmental environment and not just a game situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giOC6udzTy0

Individual Workout

Santa Clara Basketball Spring Workout - Watch their individuals - http://tinyurl.com/2ejupqw
- Some great drills and ideas to inspire your team's individual player development
- This is the time of year where you earn your players trust and respect because of the extra time and energy you put into helping them improve

Learning from other sports

Especially at the highest levels, there are many lessons provided by watching other sports. A football reference was already tweeted (22 players, only one has the ball, what are other 21 doing?), great to cross reference. If open to it, you can learn from other areas and then apply/reinforce the teaching to basketball. At the moment, soccer is on the world stage - what does it teach us?

• be visible to the ball (don't get "three in a row")
• importance of spacing (don't allow one defender to cover two offensive players)
• be unselfish, set a screen for a teammate and you'll be rewarded
• simple concept of "give and go" works, even at the highest levels
• defend by seeing the ball, your check, plus other players
• play with toughness, pick yourself up and get back to help your team
• whining at officials will not help your team
• play hard and smart (be efficient with energy, don't just run around)
• footwork is very important (must be worked on to succeed)
• "fake it to make it" (sell it well in order to create an advantage)
• good things happen when you get to the net
  

Phil Jackson on Player's In-Game Responsibilities

Some excellent insight on how Phil Jackson foster independence in his players from a June 9 interview by Kevin Ding in the OCREGSTER.COM

It is not about empowering as much as developing the mindset that your players are responsible for helping to determine what is effective and what is not in the flow of a game.

Q. That two man game that Kobe and Derek were running last night, is that a wrinkle of the triangle offense or some of their improvise drawn up on their own?

PHIL JACKSON: No, it’s just the most basic format we have, based on strong side fill and get the ball moving and what happens. But in the process of a couple actions that went on prior to that, they recommended that this is a place where we can go that’ll make a difference. They don’t want to come off Kobe to have to deal with it.

So, you know, we can take advantage of this, and we did.

Q. Is that something that you empower the players to be able to come to you and suggest that type of thing?

PHIL JACKSON: It’s really their responsibility, it’s not even empowering. It’s their responsibility to understand how they’re being played inside and what we do and recommend those things and make the adjustments on court. That’s what they’re to do, the veterans.

A visit with Coach Wooden

Many books have been written by, and about, the late Coach John Wooden. His accomplishments are well-documented. His quotes and teachings are legendary. Watching the following will give you pause to reflect. The link below will take you to a 2001 presentation (thanks to Ted.com) by Coach - it is worth watching again and again, especially with a pen and paper nearby.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_winning_and_success.html

How Ray Allen Got Open in Game 2

CAN-AM On-Court Basketball Coaching Clinic Can-Am 2010 is in the books - please send me any feedback. It was a great clinic as Kampe, Odom and Casey were all excellent with their presentations. Notes, tweets and video will be available shortly.

Till then enjoy this look by TrueHoop at how Ray Allen got open last night in Game 2 of the NBA finals:
http://espn.go....com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/16522/how-ray-allen-gets-open#

Can-Am coaching clinic a success

Following in the success and tradition of previous Can-Am coaching clinics, the 2010 clinic has now wrapped up, been enjoyed and appreciated by plenty of coaches. Special thanks to ALL of the attending coaches, especially those that brought friends and traveled great distances! Once again, we are grateful to the many friends and supporters that promoted the clinic and reinforced the values of sharing.

This years guest presenters, coaches Dave Odom, Don Casey, and Greg Kampe, gave all of the coaches tremendous content, shared several stories (illustrating examples of what is required to be a better player at any level), and demonstrated their expertise with wonderful passion. Thanks again to all three of them for their support and willingness to share. When combined with Coach Oliver's session of practice drills and individual workouts, the overall clinic provided a fantastic opportunity for learning. Stay tuned to the blog, Twitter, and Facebook fan pages for continued learning from the clinic.

Final thanks are owed to the University of Windsor Athletic Dept. and staff, valued clinic sponsors, COBA, host hotel (Holiday Inn Select, Windsor), Windsor Lancer coaches and players (the men and women that worked very hard on court both days), drivers of the guest coaches, and countless volunteers that helped along the way. Next year's clinic is only 12 months away, and the work has already begun!

Player Development Camp - Shooting

Elite Shooting Camp presented by COBA/Windsor Basketball

Date: June 25-26
Ages: 8 to 16, Male and Female Players
Cost: $80

Time: 8 hours of instruction

• Session 1 - Friday, 6:00-9:00pm
• Session 2 - Saturday, 9:00am-12:00pm
• Session 3 - Saturday, 1:00-3:00pm

COBA/Windsor Basketball Elite Shooting Camp
Pure shooters are made, not born. Pure shooting is a learned behavior. Learn and practice the fundamentals of shooting, working towards shooting excellence. Drills and programs will emphasize footwork and the mental aspect of shooting, to help maximize execution from the perimeter and to improve consistency in different offensive situations. Instruction will be led by Coach Chris Oliver plus a staff of university players and coaches.

DURING ELITE SHOOTING CAMP

• Develop a confident mindset and elimination of fear
• Knowledge and understanding of the bio-mechanics of the shot
• Identification, cause, and correction of the most common shooting errors
• Knowledge of the skills necessary to catch and shoot, dribble and shoot
• Instruction necessary to do an analysis of a person shooting a basketball

Go to https://web4.uwindsor.ca/units/athletics/scforms.nsf/Registration?OpenForm to register online or contact Coach Oliver directly at coliver@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext.4047.

Communication Ideas

• We would all rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism
• Brutal Truth / Must have credibility
• Kids today don’t know the difference between criticism & instruction – Larry Brown
• If all I can do is stand up and clap then that is how I contribute
• Whisper criticism & yell praise
• Everyone is reached in a different way

Don Meyer Thoughts & Wisdoms

• Best locker room sign / “If you are going to bite butts with a bear you better get the 1st bite” / Being aggressive
• Better keep the quality of shots down for opponents
• Know who you are what are you comfortable with / not just what someone else had success with
• Vomit Offense – Come down and throw it up
• Can’t coach idiots / better have guys that we can teach / want to learn
• Talking on the edge of reckless abandon with our communicating
• Pressure the ball as much as possible without allowing penetration or fouling
• Wooden to his leaders - Must be our hardest workers / Price of Greatness is responsibility
• Take care of stuff off the floor / Invest time with teammates. Get everyone included and let the coaches take care of everything else
• Pat Riley would spend 1.5 hours for a 10 minute talk / Preparation

Player Development Camp - Perimeter Skills

Elite Perimeter Skills Camp presented by COBA/Windsor Basketball

Date: June 18-19
Ages: 8 to 16, Male and Female Players
Cost: $80

Time: 8 hours of instruction

• Session 1 - Friday, 6:00-9:00pm
• Session 2 - Saturday, 9:00am-12:00pm
• Session 3 - Saturday, 1:00-3:00pm

COBA/Windsor Basketball Elite Perimeter Skills Camp
This is a special camp to improve your offensive skills. Taught by Coach Chris Oliver plus his staff of university players and coaches, this camp focuses on only one thing - offensive basketball! Designed for both female and male basketball players, this is a unique opportunity to learn about aggressive offensive skills. Your entire camp experience will be tailored to shooting, passing, ball-handling, moving without the basketball, and one-on-one moves. This is all about YOUR offensive skills, so no full-court games will be played (just one-on-one, two-on-two, plus three-on-three in order to practice what will be taught).

DURING ELITE PERIMETER SKILLS CAMP

• Develop a confident attacking mindset
• Knowledge and understanding of the concepts of offensive basketball
• Identification, cause, and correction of the most common fundamental errors
• Knowledge of the skills necessary to catch, shoot, dribble, and attack on offense
• Game-like understanding of the application of offensive perimeter skills

Go to https://web4.uwindsor.ca/units/athletics/scforms.nsf/Registration?OpenForm to register online or contact Coach Oliver directly at coliver@uwindsor.ca or 519-253-3000, ext.4047.

Zone Offense Concepts

To prepare you for Don Casey's topic at the 2010 Can-Am Coaching Clinic - The Temple of Zones - we wanted to present some past clinic zone offense notes from Don Meyer.

Zone Offense:
1. Beat it down the floor
2. Rebound
3. Get ball in the pocket with players that can make plays looking Rim, Post & Opposite
4. Screen out, Seal out / Forward guarding guy, passes to top & makes cut off screen into pocket. Post then seals out on forward on catch
5. Throw back into 3 or 4 players / Loop Flash. Cut thru on baseline with 4-man off post screen. Loop shooter to top & flash opposite wing. Same action
6. Loop Skip / Post up the next defender. Make defender go over the top of the screen in to allow pass to baseline to post

Also here is a commonly used overload set play vs. a 2-3 Zone in video format: