Floppy Cross Screen Action

Here is a Floppy Cross screen action by Barcelona - Variations on simple concepts such as a cross screen action can disguise a simple action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6NlMB2jPWA
When designing your plays consider adding sequences together to disguise the intent. This will confuse the defense and present the defense with multiple things to defend. Remember also to not complicate things too much as simplicity is sometimes the best option when it comes to getting your best match-up the scoring opportunity.

Understanding Athletes

Coaches, as this blog has mentioned previously, need to embrace the new media - especially when considering the social and communication behavior of their athletes. This weekend, an interesting discussion was repeated from an earlier broadcast of Spark on cbc.ca - the link follows. Essentially, it covered how people of all ages now view friendships, contacts, rank people, along with how they communicate and what is important to them. If nothing else, the discussion is thought-provoking, especially for coaches attempting to cross generation gaps:

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/02/full-interview-danah-boyd-and-william-deresiewicz-on-friendship/

To view an article that goes into further detail, go to:

http://chronicle.com/article/Faux-Friendship/49308/

Defending Screens - Dave Odom

Dave Odom talks about how he defends screens on defense. He is all about disruption of offensive player movements. He suggests you should bump the screener off their path to disrupt the timing and placement of the screen. Check it out at http://cobacampblog.blogspot.com/

Making a difference

The concept that coaches "get what they accept" is so simple and so true. At the peak of any season, beyond a team sharing the ball and making their shots, coaches often comment that championships come down to aspects such as defense, rebounding, and ball protection.

That said, why are players allowed to come in to the gym and not work with a purpose, even if they are in for extra/leisure time? The small changes will make the big difference. Granted, the sport needs to be fun but consider the following:

• if a player walks in to an empty gym and sees a ball they will likely pick it up and dribble it - they would be more effective going through a short series of dribble moves
• if a player is simply taking shots, get them to move to new spots, move laterally or inside/outside, chart their progress, take a set number, don't just shoot
• emphasize footwork, don't simply shoot close to the rim, self-pass to imitate a post reception and then work on various moves to each shoulder
• throw the ball off the backboard, work on rebounds, catch above the head with two hands, protect the ball at the chin, work on strong wide pivots with a look downcourt
• pass the ball off a wall, practice good pass reception to strong ball protection - applies to post players and perimeter players, vary the body location of the catch (chin, overhead, hip, etc)
• work on slides, digs, loose balls, close-outs - these can be done without a partner
  

Why they play

Never lose sight of why people, the very young to the quite old, play sports. In general, there are three main reasons that vary in importance during a sport career - enjoy the sport, spend time with friends, improve in the sport. Coaches need to be mindful of why athletes participate. For a child, they may be trying the sport for sheer enjoyment purposes. For a teenage or varsity athlete, they may be trying to increase skill sets in order to reach a next level. For adults, sport may offer a regular gathering of friends with like interests.

That said, a coach or leader is entrusted with many important responsibilities, some of which are listed below:

• provide a safe environment
• make the sport appealing to their audience, even if the athlete is paid
  
• improve the ability of the athlete through appropriate instruction and challenges
  
• understand the participant's goals and help them towards achievement
• make the sport experience positive so that participation continues and it is looked back upon with fondness
  

Post Defense Strategy

An example of a defender digging on the post to disrupt the offensive player's post move Digging on the post is a great way to disrupt the offensive post player without committing 100% to a double team. How to execute a dig: The closest ballside defender faces the baseline or top (depending on your preference of positioning. When the ball is entered into the post, the ballside wing defender moves into position halfway between the post and their check. On the post offensive players dribble they attack the ball for a second and recover to their check.

Program Humility

Coaches should seek to remind their players that they are privileged and should be grateful. Some ways to help players grow and build humility in to programs:

• volunteer at schools, read for kids, teach them games and skills (players will quickly see the positive impact in the lives of youth, teachers will be thankful for the generosity and help, fans will be fostered)
• serve meals for the less fortunate at a soup kitchen (team meals and per diems will no longer be taken for granted or be unappreciated)
• help the elderly in care facilities or assist at a hospital (will remind players that good health is not a given and needs to be maintained)
• travel as a team, whether close or far, to other cities and gyms (it will reinforce the importance of togetherness, the value of the home gym and locker room, plus the ease of the local routine versus the displacement and sometimes inconvenience of travel)
• assist in times of crisis or local emergencies, such as weather-related events like floods or storms (reminds of calm, focus, and dedication to task in the face of adversity)
• overall, an "other" focus will lead to player and team growth
  

Look Opposite

Sometimes, in order to truly grasp a concept, players need to look at the opposite of what is requested or required. What does that mean? Essentially, they need to BE the type of player that they do NOT like to play against. This theory has been promoted by successful coaches (Knight, Hurley, etc) over the decades. Examples:

• if a guard struggles against an aggressive defender that gives them no space to work then that guard should defend that way when they don't have the ball
• if a post player does not like to take a beating when working in the attack areas close to the rim then they should be a punishing post defender themselves
• if a perimeter defender feels that they play good close-out defense but still manage to be late versus a quick shooter then they need to improve their own quick shot release
• defensively, if a player does not like to defend versus big, quick, strong attackers that are constantly working then they should be that way when they are on offense
• offensively, if a player does not like to be punished by a defender that makes plenty of contact, gives no space, and seems to react properly to every move then they themselves need to defend in that manner
  

Communication

That communication is important is certainly an understatement. Need a reminder? Try getting your point across to somebody that does not speak your language. What tools do you have in that situation? Cues, both verbal and non, play a role. Some thoughts to consider and reinforce for a new season:

• recognize how you receive communication and it will help with how you send (if YOU don't listen when somebody rambles then DON'T be long-winded yourself)
• use cues with your players so that they can better establish what you mean/want (put your hand in the air when you say "hold" then they will understand the command when just the hand signal is used)
• understand that today's players are fundamentally very different from the previous generation and need different communication as a result (if you need evidence, volunteer to work at a camp of teenage players - they speak a unique language)
• embrace the new ways of communicating - the entire world is using sound bites, not long documentary pieces, you need to do the same
• utilize social media to your advantage - there is a reason that brief text messages and tweets are more popular than email and articles (some people want you to get your message across in 140 characters or you may lose their attention)
• timeouts are moments of communication with increased importance - use the brief time to get across two short messages (don't try to tell them all you know about the sport PLUS do remember that players may only recall the LAST thing you told them anyway)
  

Creativity in the off-season

To achieve different or better results, the same actions can't be taken. We've all heard the famous quote about insanity. All too often, coaches don't take advantage of their off-season in order to be creative with new approaches in the next season. To challenge yourself and change the way you see things, consider trying the following:

• read a different style of book (i.e. not just bball drills, but an adventure mystery when you would normally read a biography)
• try puzzles - word search, crossword, sudoku, brain teasers
• go to a practice or game and close your eyes for a short while and just listen to the game - what do you hear?
• watch a practice or game with the sound off - what do you focus on? how does the experience help you view the game differently?
• as a coach you are supposed to be a model and example - ask if that is how you lead and actually live when it comes to health, nutrition, exercise - what do people see?
• watch another sport (i.e. recently soccer on the world stage or football), pay attention to what works in that sport that will help your team (emphasis on footwork, spacing, fakes, etc) - reinforce/apply the lessons to bball
  

High INT Offensive Rebounding Drill

This drill works on offensive rebounding intensity and competitiveness. Starting practice with short high intensity drills can set the right tone for the type of practice you want on a particular day. Developing rebounding skill is essentially an emphasis more than a technique. This means that you must emphasize rebounding in all your drills/competitive situations and not just in a specific rebounding drill. But a drill like this one can help set the tone for the intensity required to be a successful rebounding player and team.

Can-Am 2010 Clinic Footage - Greg Kampe Set Play

Set play - 1-4 Ballscreen from Greg Kampe (Oakland Univ) at Can-Am 2010 Coaching Clinic. Coach Kampe provides some of the options and in additional footage he went through the counters for the play.



Interested in getting a copy of the Can-Am 2010 Coaching Clinic hosted at the University of Windsor? Clinic sessions for Greg Kampe (2), Dave Odom (3) and Chris Oliver (1) are available at a cost $30 for 2 DVD's and include shipping/handling (Please note the clinic footage is not professional quality but the audio and video are more than sufficient for learning from the coaches). Contact cobacamp@hotmail.com for more info or to order today.

Horns Ballscreen Action

The horns action is a simple double high ballscreen play that is run by many teams. The difference here is how Barcelona distorts the screening angle and position by moving the screeners prior to the point guard using the ballscreen. If you do run a lot of ballscreen consider changing the angle and position by using 1. Late Pivots (screener changes the angle at the last possible second), 2. Sprint to Screen (screener sprints to screen to disrupt the hedge defender), 3. Screen to Screen (The screener is screened before they go to set the ballscreen, again with the goal of disrupting the hedge) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSTrD8PtBA0

Fun Serious Skill Development

Serious skill development in a fun way - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hPu8c6UIIs - Different and in a foreign language but give it a chance as conceptually it is a pretty cool way of training. It appears to be a training academy as there are a few more videos and organization is called MusicBasket.