Turning Points

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Mark Seeberg

Here’s Part III in our “Charlie Coles” series on the evolution of offensive theory and best practice.

If you’ve been following along, you’ve met Charlie, the colorful and highly successful coach of Miami of Ohio back in 1999, the last time the school played in the NCAA tourney prior to this past season’s appearance, and learned of his fascination with all things offense – its enduring principles and axioms, its elements and underlying structure.

In his honor, Part II took us on a pseudo archaeological dig in which we explored “artifacts” of three different offenses we called Doc, Mac, and Noah.

Recall that these offenses were developed and played in eras spanning roughly 100 years, yet were remarkably similar to one another, even as they responded to vastly different circumstances, rules, and “customs” particular to their own spot on basketball’s historic timeline.

Charlie Coles, Where Are You, Part II

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Mark Seeberg

In Part I, we met the late Charlie Coles, the highly successful and colorful coach of Miami of Ohio who, in addition to coaching, taught a highly entertaining course in basketball theory during his 16 years at the university.

Charlie’s focus was offensive theory. In both the gym and classroom, he searched for the key that would unlock its secret code, revealing its enduring principles and best practices, its elements and underlying structure.

With your help, I promised to continue his quest, but before we can assume Charlie’s role as code breaker, we’ve got to become archaeologists… we’ve got to excavate different offenses from different eras and study the artifacts we find.

That’s the only way to unpack offense’s secret code.

Continue

A jump shot is better than a layup, Part 3

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Mark Seeberg

Several weeks ago, we posed a provocative proposition – a jump shot is better than a layup – and set out to prove it. In Part 1, we traced the historic evolution of basketball and how coaching philosophy and strategy differed from one region to the next, but finally collided in the 1930s and 40s when Stanford’s Hank Luisetti and Wyoming’s Kenny Sailors dazzled the country with their one-handed jump shooting. In Part 2, we explored the nature of jump shooting and its dramatic impact on basketball. Now, in this final post on the subject, we’ll offer three proofs for our proposition.

A jump shot is better than a layup, Part 2

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Mark Seeberg

In Part 1 we traced basketball’s early history culminating in Hank Luisetti and Kenny Sailors’ historic appearances in New York’s Madison Square Garden where they challenged the orthodoxy of the day by shooting one-handed while airborne. In Part II, we’ll explore the evolution of shooting styles in greater detail and show how the modern jump shot transformed basketball in four key ways.

A jump shot is better than a layup

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Mark Seeberg

When I launched my blog in 2014, I outlined ten immutable laws or principles that define the nature of basketball and govern its play. These laws are fundamental to understanding, coaching, and playing basketball. Once mastered they form a prism through which one can “see” the game, appreciate its simplicity, and master its subtleties. At the center of the ten is the all-important Fifth Law: A jump shot is better than a layup. For me it’s the cornerstone on which modern basketball theory rests and why I named my site better than a layup. Over the next few weeks, I’ll unpack this law in a series of three posts. Here’s Part I.

better than a layup

Challenging Basketball's Conventional Wisdom

Category Archives: Coaching Philosophy

Turning Points

Charlie Coles, Where Are You, Part II

A jump shot is better than a layup, Part 3

A jump shot is better than a layup, Part 2

A jump shot is better than a layup