Category Archives: Coaching Philosophy

How Many Passes?

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Remember those early scenes in Hoosiers when Coach Norman Dale drills his Hickory High team in his offensive philosophy?

“How many passes?” he implores.

“Four!”

And several scenes later, “How many times are we gonna pass off? How many?”

“Four!”

And then just before their first game, “Guys, remember what we worked on in practice. I wanna see it on the court! How many times are we gonna pass before we shoot? How many?

“Four!”

And then early in the game, Rade, the team’s self-centered hothead, challenges Dale, jacking up several long jumpers without once passing the ball. Dale immediately benches him and even after losing another player to fouls, refuses to reinsert him, content to finish the game with only four players on the floor.

It’s the film’s defining moment because it reveals Coach Dale’s character – his insistence on team work and discipline and selflessness, his belief that there’s a “right way” to play the game that is more important than the outcome. At that point we’re not sure why, but for Norman Dale, this is his last chance, the end of the line. He’s willing to lose the game, infuriate his team and its fans, and risk his job, all for principle. If he retreats now, he knows he will lose everything.

Twenty-nine years since its debut I’m not surprised by the film’s enduring fascination. It’s got everything – the David versus Goliath story line, the celebration of small town virtues, the quiet insistence on integrity, second chances, and the possibility of redemption no matter the depth of personal failing.

But I’m forever amused by how much importance Hoosiers’ fans continue to place on coach Dale’s dictum: four passes. Continue reading…

Time Trumps Territory

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In competitive sports, coaches and players seek to control two elements fundamental to many games – time and space.

By time, I mean a range of things from the pace or tempo of play to the concepts of timing and rhythm as players attempt to harmonize their movements with one another and with the various time limits inherent in games governed by a clock.

As we shall see, basketball is fundamentally a game of time. The elimination of the jump ball after made baskets and free throws in the late 1930’s transformed basketball into a game of continuous action with teams converting from offense to defense and back again in near seamless fashion. In basketball we don’t “conquer and hold territory” – instead we “pass through it.” It’s a game of transition.

Understanding this reality affects how you “see” the game and consequently how you coach or play it. In fact, one’s ability to manage time most often determines who wins and who loses.

Truly, time trumps territory is the first law of basketball.

Click here to read Basketball’s First Law

Advice to a Young Player

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At the tail end of last season, one of my clients asked me to take a look at some YouTube footage of his high school junior in action and to offer advice for his development. The video featured the young man’s ball handling and shooting routine – jukes and drives to the rim, step-back jump shots and lots of threes. I don’t think he missed a single shot during the entire video clip. It was impressive.

Here’s the response I emailed to the dad. (I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent!)

“Bob, just watched the footage of Tim in action — very neat!

I’ve been out of the game for a long time… and obviously I haven’t seen Tim in an actual game. But here are a couple of ideas to consider in his development:

• Beware of “game stoppers” — I want a dribbler to go somewhere with the ball as quickly and simply as possible; a lot of kids waste the possession with an array of dribbling motion that actually contributes little or nothing to the offensive attack. They effectively “stop the game.”

• Develop skills without the ball — cutting, moving, creating space; using angles, change of direction, and quickness to become un-guardable; playing defense with your feet and heart.

• Develop a midrange jumper, particularly the 8-12’ pull-up jumper. The college three-point line will eventually be moved back — better get ready for it. AAU coaches and ESPN glamorize dramatic dunks and corner threes but the best players remain those who are offensive threats from multiple spots on the floor.

Finally, watch this video of Austin Carr setting the NCAA tournament record of 61 points — without the advantage of the three-pointer. At 6’3” he averaged 38 points per game and shot 52% from the field. Never a wasted movement. He kept everything simple and epitomized the advice offered above.

Good luck!”

A Guy Who Gets It

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If you haven’t met Rick Torbett you should. I don’t mean face-to-face but on-line by visiting him at his very fine website. That’s where I first discovered him several years ago.

Torbett is a successful, seasoned coach with a passion to teach the game. Midway through his career he became frustrated with the annual routine of teaching motion, set plays, and various forms of continuity offense only to see them breakdown in the face of a live game. “My players became very good at running plays, but they never learned how to play… If I could change everything and start from nothing,” he told his assistant, “I would teach players how to play by principle.”

He searched for a way to teach the underlying principles of offense in a systematic, “layer by layer” manner that could be used by any age group but in ways that would accommodate their differing levels of maturity. After five years “in the lab,” as he describes it, he hit upon an offensive system he calls the “Read and React.”

What I especially like about Torbett is his refreshing honesty as he relates his growth as a coach and his epiphany that basketball is not a game of mechanical exactitude but one of spontaneity and freelance. He believes that “players should know when they’re being over-played without the ball and can go back-door. Players should know when their defender is out of position and can be beaten by forgetting ‘the play’ and ripping the ball to the goal. Players should see slight openings in the defense that a coach on the sidelines can’t and take advantage of them.” And he insists that players can learn these instinctive reactions if only their coaches would get out of the way and stop trying to control everything that takes place on the floor.

I think he’s right on target.

Take a look at Coach Torbett’s web site. You’ll enjoy what you find there.