It’s been dead around here for a while as I’m currently working on a new site with a different angle from this one, that site drops soon. However in the meantime…..Sam Neter from the excellent UK Basketball coverage website Hoopsfix has unveiled his latest venture. Back British Basketball is a new website aimed at getting the home nations behind Team-GB’s bid for Olympic glory in 2012. Check out Sam’s press release below, it’s going to be huge….

Basketball is one of the few sports in the Olympics where the home nation doesn’t get an automatic qualification. FIBA President Bob Elphinston in April 2010 announced that in order for Team GB to secure a place in the Olympics they would need to qualify for Eurobasket 2011, a campaign that begins with their scheduled games this coming August.

The campaign which includes online, some experiential marketing, merchandise and advertising will be seeded out across social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. The site will prompt people to show their support through purchasing branded T-Shirts, downloading banners, twibbons, website badges, desktop wallpapers and other merchandise.  Fans will be able to submit photos, videos and comments fuelling the content on the site.

Sam Neter, Editor: Hoopsfix www.hoopsfix.com

‘The fact that Team GB has met and exceeded every goal FIBA has set out for them so far; yet they still don’t have a guaranteed place in 2012 is outrageous particularly given the fact that the UK is the host nation. As a committed fan I intend to drive this campaign and do everything in my power to get the nation on board and increase Team GB’s following ensuring their every chance of success in August’

Notes:

The Great Britain basketball team were formed on December 1^st, 2005 when the home nation’s respective governing bodies England Basketball, Basketball Scotland and Basketball Wales joined forces to field a competitive team for international competition after London secured the 2012 Olympics. In their first competitive campaign they got promoted from Division B to Division A allowing them to compete for a place at the European Championships (Eurobasket). They qualified for Eurobasket 2009 on their first attempt, but went 0-3 without their star player Luol Deng, pushing world champions Spain to the brink of defeat.

Contact: Sam Neter, Sam@hoopsfix.com 07841591550

Disclaimer: I am not a particular fan of Lebron James. Undoubtedly he is a great player, some things he does I agree with, others I don’t. That said….

Lebron James was called for an offensive foul last night after barging into Luol Deng on a drive. It was a good defensive play from Deng but James wasn’t happy in the postgame interview.

I saw him backpedaling. Me as a driver, I’m watching the defender’s feet. I’m seeing if he’s stationed or is still moving. To me, I felt like he was still backpedaling, and as soon as I saw him backpedaling, that’s when I decided to take off. They called a charge. I haven’t seen the replay, but I know exactly what I’ve seen on the court with the defender right in front of me.

-Lebron James

The rules aren’t really on Lebron’s side here though. The actual NBA rule clarification on contact is:

A player may continue to move after gaining a guarding position in the path of an opponent provided he is not moving directly or obliquely toward his opponent when contact occurs.

So…Lebron is applying an incorrect understanding of the rules when he plays the game, and expecting calls to go a certain way, which they don’t. However, Lebron’s biggest mistake here is that he can’t let it go. By elucidating his case in the postgame interview he’s actually displaying his ignorance of the rules, as well as his inability to lose gracefully.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Lebron has thrown his toys out of the pram about a late-game call and been, well, wrong. Exhibit B: The Crab Dribble.

OK so some people will be saying ‘so what?’ but in the wake of David Stern’s warning to players and coaches about criticising referees, it seems sensible that you at least know the rules before criticising those enforcing them.

A player looks for the entry pass

In lower level basketball a dominant post player can lead a team to success almost on their own. Many teams have taller players, but combine that height with a talent for playing the position (strength, footwork, finishing) and that player can dominate an entire league. Two of the teams I’ve recently worked with have had such a player, and yet we only posted average results for the season.

When we looked at the box scores, our big guys were getting baskets so it wasn’t immediately obvious that this was where our problems were coming from. However, during our games I started to observe that most of their scores were coming from second chance opportunities and from fast breaks (they both excelled at running as part of a break). The problem became clear, we just couldn’t get them the ball in the half-court. They were getting in good position to receive the ball, but our guards didn’t make the pass, or made a poor entry pass.

When you can’t get the ball to the post in the half-court it means you’re actually taking away a lot of other opportunities to be successful and win the game. These include:

• Three Point Shooting: If you are able to establish a dominant presence in the post it forces your opponents to direct extra attention to that area of the court, double or even triple teaming your post player. This frees up your perimeter shooters on the outside to take open shots. Without drawing perimeter defenders into the post, you allow shooters to be matched up with 1-to-1, reducing their opportunities to do damage.
• Foul Trouble: By getting a lot of looks around the basket you increase the chances of getting to the line and getting opposing big men in foul trouble. Of course this enables you to get easy points from the stripe but also helps your team down the line as intimidating defensive players can be taken out of the game, allowing your guards to flourish and penetrate without the threat of being blocked.
• Psychological Boost: Getting your big guy early touches of the ball can boost their confidence and allow them to settle into the game. This can obviously benefit you later in the game when you need your dominant players to step up (Dwight Howard suffers a lot when he can’t get into the game early and it affects his overall performance). It also allows you to set out your offensive strategy and observe the way your opponent is going to defend it, allowing you to tweak elements to your advantage later on.


Shaquille O'Neal receives the ball in the post

Not getting the ball into the post hurts us in a variety of ways, not only taking away the opportunity of our post players to score, but indirectly limiting the effectiveness of our slashers and shooters. For this reason, I think entry-passing is one of the most overlooked, important skills in the game. Great positioning in the post is worth nothing if we aren’t able to get the ball to our big guys. Often I find that post players are the best at making entry passes, because they know what is required from the pass!

Let’s look at the anatomy of an entry pass:

• Create the Opportunity: If a post player has established good position by sealing his defender, it’s important to create the opportunity for a pass by developing the correct angle. The perfect line for the pass should run straight between the guard, post player and the basket. This is essential as it stops the defender from reaching and stealing the pass. However it also needs to be done quickly so the post player doesn’t lose his position on the low block.
• Recognise the Opportunity: The first key to making the entry pass is to correctly read the opportunity in front of you. I’m watching the Lakers vs Portland game as I write this post and have just watched Lamar Odom establish position with a mismatch on the low block and Shannon Brown overlook him to take (and miss) a contested three-point shot. A poor decision by Brown and one that can be eliminated by teaching players to recognise the opportunity and ensuring they always look to feed the post where that opportunity exists.
• Hit the Hand: This is the most important element as it determines the effectiveness of the player catching the ball. Once the post player has established position, the passer needs to make an accurate pass just outside the reach of the receiving player’s open hand. Too close the body and the opponent gets an opportunity to reach in for the steal, too far out and the player can’t move to the ball quickly enough. Too many guards identify the open post player, but deliver a poor pass causing a turnover. If the pass is in perfect position, it allows the post player to be effective off the catch, giving them the opportunity for a quick post-up move or a face up towards basket. A poor pass will either cause a turnover, or significantly decrease the potential effectiveness of the post player as they give up effort and, crucially, positioning in order to control the ball.
• Be Available for the Escape: Once the ball has been delivered into the post, the perimeter player needs to be aware of the situation that is developing (double team, spacing) and react accordingly. Either diving towards the corner (or pulling high) to force the defensive player to choose between doubling down low or guarding the three. Or cutting through and taking the defender away from the play to allow the big guy to work.

Entry passing is a key skill for any player, particularly those playing on the perimeter, as it can open up varied offensive opportunities and put pressure on the opposition defense, surely two of the things that all coaches strive for.

Also posted on CoachesFraternity.com

I know this came out a couple of weeks ago but I only just found it sitting in my drafts list and thought it was still worthy of a mention. ‘The Street Stops Here’ is a documentary about St. Anthony’s HS in New Jersey. More specifically, about the basketball program led by legendary coach Bob Hurley. I haven’t seen the film (although am getting hold of a copy from America, review once it arrives) but it seems from clips and articles I’ve read about Hurley it sounds like it’s going to be a great watch.

Stockton never missed a pass

A while ago I was reading an article by Kevin Eastman about the need to eliminate ‘late passers’ from your team. Immediately this struck a chord with me as I had identified the problem he spoke about but never really defined it in such clear terms in my thinking. Passing is a key skill that all players (regardless of position) must have a solid grasp of. However this post is not about passing as such. It’s about the mentality of those players that are on the floor running your offense.

Coach Eastman uses the term ‘late passer’ to describe a player who does not hit a shooter as soon as they become free. This is a point that we must emphasise during drills to make sure it is embedded in the mindset of our team. Too often shooting drills are treated as a catch-and-shoot drill by players. Coaches must make sure players know they are a pass-catch-and-shoot drill. Without a great pass into the shooter’s ‘shot-pocket’ (the area just above his hip on his strong side where he would usually begin his shooting motion) the chances of the shot being released in time with a crisp motion are decreased. As the level of competition increases, the demand on the quality of the pass also increases.

It is easy to see why Eastman has identified this as a key aspect in his coaching role. He is constantly working with arguably the greatest catch-and-shoot player in the history of the NBA in Ray Allen. The Boston coaching staff compiles huge amounts of information on the mechanics of Allen’s shot and his particular quirks that can be honed further and further to improve his already legendary jumpshooting ability.

At the level I am working at this area is less important because defenses are slower at chasing around screens and closing out shooters. However I include in my definition of ‘late passers’ another problem which I think is vitally important to eradicate at lower level basketball and is even possibly inspired by the greatness of many of today’s premier passers.

Many players today look to make an assist on every pass they make. Passes across the top to initate an offense are boring. Passes to the wing followed by a screen away are boring. Every time these players catch the ball they are looking to make an individual attacking move to the basket or looking to make a wonder pass that leads to a basket. This can be a real problem when your team is less creative in the wing positions or you are playing against a sagging defense for example (more likely at lower levels). The defense sits off and there is no space to attack the basket for an easy score. We then must employ these ‘boring’ passes to start moving the defense and create those easy score opportunities.

‘If there’s anything that bothers Armond [Hill, Boston Assistant Coach] more than anything,’ Coach Rivers said, ‘it’s when the ball stops. You can hear him all game, “Move it, move it.” You see him in the huddle, that’s what he’s ticked off about.’

My most commonly-used instruction during practise and games is ‘move the ball!’. One of the most frustrating occurrences for me as a coach is to see potential openings on the floor and have players not pass the ball to initiate good attacking opportunities. The key word here is ‘potential’. Whereas ‘late passers’ will only see the immediate assist opportunity, those players with the ability to read the game will see the potential for a ‘hockey assist’. In hockey, the player that passes to the assisting player also gets credit for an assist, recognising the importance of multiple plays leading up to the score, rather than the immediately preceding pass.

The ‘hockey assist’ is a statistic that coaches should definitely think about recording in practise/games. I intend to do so for next season as I think it recognises (to a certain degree) those players who are prepared to keep the ball moving without waiting to make the wonder assist pass. The clear disadvantage to having ‘late passers’ of this type on your team is that the ball can become very stagnant on the offensive end and your team sets/continuity can break down very easily.

I was coaching a game a few weeks ago and our opponents (the best team in the league) hit several threes in a row on us. I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened to us and watching the next possession it was easy to see why.

The key weakness was that our low post player wasn’t rotating up to the shooter when the ball was swung quickly around the top. We’d never experienced this before because we had been so used to not having to rotate in the proper way in other games, that our players had simply gotten out of the habit of doing it.

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Playing against teams that couldn’t stretch our defense or move the ball quickly had made us lazy. We thought it was fine to sit on the low block and wait for the inevitable drive into the middle where we could swarm the ball, or the badly missed three-point attempt where we could easily secure the rebound and get out on the break.

It takes a special desire to keep playing defense the right way, even when it seems unnecessary. Playing lazy for several games creates a deadly complacency in your team. You might win those games by large margins because of the quality of opponent, but how many coaches will be aware of the harm their team is secretly inflicting on itself?

This is more likely to be a problem for University teams who often play in BUCS and/or National League and also a local league. In every game, regardless of the level of opponent, we must hold our players accountable for everything. We must demand hustle and effort on every play. We should strive to emulate those great coaches who coach a game where they are up 40 the same as if they were down 40, demanding everything from their team.

“No one is bigger than the team. You’re going to be on time, you’re going play hard, you’re going to know your job and you’re going to know when to pass and shoot. If you can’t do those four things you’re not getting time here and we don’t care who you are.”

-Hubie Brown

This quote is one my all-time favourite basketball quotes, possibly my number one. It really harks back to a time of no-nonsense coaching by the likes of Brown and Bobby Knight. Very few of these coaches still around in the NBA. Jerry Sloan and Gregg Popovich are still doing their own thing in Utah and San Antonio, but mainly coaches are too afraid to upset their powerful stars. More on this later.

This kind of attitude needs to be instilled in your team from day one. We need to eliminate selfish behaviour and get everyone on (and around) the team to buy into these concepts. It only takes one guy, one dissenting voice to create tension in the team and jeopardise your chances of success.

I like this quote for two main reasons. Firstly, it immediately demands accountability from players and links that with their playing time. One of the major gripes from players is ‘I don’t get enough minutes’. Hearing this complaint is a total alarm bell for me, alerting me to a player with a negative attitude straight away. The player with the correct attitude asks, ‘Coach, I’m not getting as many minutes as I’d like, what can I do to improve my game and contribute more to the team’.

I have a lot of time for any player that comes to me with that attitude and will immediately engage that player with the things they can do to improve their game. All players have faults, and we must be honest about them. Players that genuinely want to improve do not shy away from the truths about their performance. Brown’s quote gives clear expectations about the traits he desires from his players, and makes it clear that if you aren’t willing to engage then ‘you’re not getting time here’.

The second reason I like the quote is that he makes it clear that no player is ‘above the law’. If your star player comes in late or takes a night off then they get the same treatment as everyone else. This is essential in order to maintain consistency and credibility to your leadership.

In the modern game, this style of hard-nosed coaching only really works in one place, the NCAA. In the NCAA, the coach is king. You only have to look as far as Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski. These coaches are all celebrities, highly paid figureheads for their institutions. Some move around and bring success to multiple programs (Calipari, Pitino) whereas others have remained at their college for many years. They are the real stars, not the players.

If a dissenting player emerges at a college, that’s the end of them. The coach’s say is final and they’re out of there. His way or the highway. That leaves us with the other two ends of the spectrum: amateur basketball (99.9% of your clubs up and down whichever country you are in) and professional basketball (NBA). In amateur basketball, most players are there for fun. They don’t want to be yelled at, dictated to or shaped. They want, for the most part, to crossover like Iverson and shoot fadeaway after ugly fadeaway like Kobe. Good luck to the coach that disapproves because they have no power to influence them otherwise. The player can just quit and find another team. They don’t care who they’re playing for, there are other teams that will give them minutes.

In the NBA, there’s a very different problem. Players are the stars and the coaches take the fall for failures (sometimes deservedly, sometimes not). Let’s imagine Lebron James turns around tomorrow and says to Danny Ferry, ‘Fire Mike Brown or I’m skipping town to hang with Jay-Z in Brooklyn next year’. Does anyone out there think he wouldn’t do it? Sure it might damage James’ reputation, but actually, would it? Wouldn’t the media, his representatives, hell even the NBA try and spin it in his favour? All those entities that have so much to lose if Lebron was to lose some of his public standing.

This isn’t just hypotheticals though. Anfernee Hardaway (my all-time favourite player) turned the knife on Brian Hill in 1996-97 and the current Los Angeles Clippers front office is holding off appointing a new head coach reportedly because they think they might be able to lure a superstar with the promise of giving them free reign over the coaching hire.

Of course, these systems aren’t going to change. But we as coaches know the gold standard. Those players who have progressed through the ranks with never a dissenting voice. John Stockton and Karl Malone with Sloan in Utah, Tim Duncan in San Antonio with Popovich. The players that represent an exemplary instance of their coaches vision on the court and in the practise gym.

It is our duty to instill these values early, so that players also recognise the gold standard. Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever to play the game. Scottie Pippen was a great all-round player with amazing defensive skills. Would those two legends have been so successful without Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Bill Cartwright, BJ Armstrong and Ron Harper. There’s a reason that guys like Derek Fisher and Michael Finley are still hanging around the league. They know how to play the game the right way.

They know that ‘no one is bigger than the team’.

Yesterday Leeds Carnegie broadcast their two (Men/Women) EBL Division One games live online through their website. The game was streamed by students from the Leeds Met University’s Film and Production degree course. Apart from some frenetic cutting to a variety of different angles as people were trying to follow the action (a half-court panning camera with some cutaways would have been much better), I was very impressed with the standard of production and delivery.

It got me thinking back to a discussion I’d had several times with our Men’s Head Coach about the way different departments within universities could help each other out and get some real community going between the various disciplines. Most Universities are not elite sporting institutions. Leeds, Sheffield, Loughborough, Manchester, Worcester are exceptional places that have placed a level of emphasis on sporting achievement and have the budget to attract great players and coaches and invest in services and ‘luxuries’ that others can’t.

Why don’t more sports teams get in contact with academic departments and offer opportunities for students to get involved in the club and get some experience in their chosen field? Accountancy majors can do your budget and expenditure, marketing majors can construct all your publicity materials. Film majors can record games and practices, journalism majors can submit your match reports to local press and physio majors can work with your team and provide support. These students should jump at the chance to get some real experience on their CVs before graduating while contributing to the sporting identity and legacy of their university.

I’d even go so far as asking a business/management major to be the president of the club. Run it like a proper club, making and evaluating coach recruitment and general strategy. In my university’s constitution, it is required for all signatory positions (president, secretary, treasurer) to be members of the club. Simple, just pay their joining fee (£25) and essentially ‘hire’ them in. If they have some knowledge of the game that’s great, if not it doesn’t matter. They can do what they are good at and let the players take care of business on the court. It is a great way of a) bringing together a community around the club, b) utilising assets which are basically on your doorstep and offer a mutually beneficial relationship and c) establishing a sound organisational structure which promotes accountability and offers clear strategic goals.

Those universities that are short of funding for sporting endeavors should definitely be aspiring to this model of interdisciplinary assistance in order to create a stronger brand and clear organisational structures upon which they can build. I am interested in developing a blueprint for this model and would be really interested to hear from anyone who has experience of anything like this within their institution, or who has ideas to contribute.

I was watching the Lakers @ Orlando game the other day and it was a great game. Kobe butting heads with Matt Barnes and both teams just going a good job of executing. All in all, a great advert for NBA basketball from two of the top teams this season. However, the Lakers lost the game (in my opinion) because of a fundamental mistake committed by Bryant with just under a minute remaining.

Kobe gets the ball and makes a dribble move towards the basket before pulling a step-back move to shoot the three. Nothing but net, however Kobe’s right foot was squarely on the three-point line as he took off for the shot.

A couple of inches. That was the difference between win and loss. If Kobe hits the three, the Lakers tie the game and can take it to OT or win it with a stop. As it is, Kobe’s two leaves them down one and requires them to foul to get the ball back. Orlando closes out from the line and Los Angeles lose the game.

For me, this is one of those little details that non-basketball people will say ‘so what?’ to. However as coaches we must pick on these details, for it is the attention to intricate details which separate elite players and coaches from good ones. Stepping on the line when shooting threes is one of my pet hates and I make a big deal of it every time one of my players does it in practice. I’ll even knock scores off in three-point shooting drills if a player steps on the line. It’s one of those things I will not ‘let go’. As Kevin Eastman (Assistant Coach of the Boston Celtics) says:

What players need a better understanding of is that little things – the details – are often what determine the outcome; master the details!

If you have established a good shooting opportunity on the perimeter, you need to make sure you maximize your points from that opportunity. Let’s say your team makes ten threes per game. If each of those threes is shot with a foot on the line, that’s ten points lost. That’s the same as missing ten free throws; five layups or missing three of those outside shots altogether. These are not trivial details, they are game-changing and game-deciding details that we must control and correct by drawing proper attention to their importance to our players and ensuring that they are maximizing their points potential when they are in open shooting positions.

As the trade deadline came to a close a week ago, Boston shipped a veteran shooter Eddie House and two young bench players to New York in exchange for Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry.

I’ve liked House since 2005, his lone season with D’Antoni’s run and gun outfit in Phoenix. If you’ve read Jack McCullum’s book ‘Seven Seconds or Less’ then you’ll know why. House comes across a thoroughly likable guy, team orientated and friendly to everyone despite being a bench player. What stands out about House, apart from his always positive demeanor, is his ridiculously quick release on those trademark threes. He’s a short guy at 6’1, so needs to be able to hoist those bombs up over oncoming defenders, but even so, he must have the quickest release in the league. He was never going to be famous for his defense but he was, like Leon Powe (who the Celtics let go earlier in the season), one of the ‘good guys’ and I’ll be sorry to see him go.

Great job by the Boston organization to give him a huge reception on his return with New York a couple of nights ago. Something they didn’t have to do but just adds to the classy reputation of the most successful franchise in basketball. House spoke to reporters after the game and said:

That was a class move by the organization. It was great. It just shows how much they appreciate me and I really appreciate them and all the opportunities they gave me.

Below is the video that the Celtics played on their Jumbotron as House prepared to enter the game for the first time.