Coaching Fundamentals Is a Difference Maker

This is a clip from an episode titled “What Could Have Been”  from NBA TV’s “Open Court.”  In this clip, they are discussing the career of Tracy McGrady.  Tracy McGrady was a very talented and versatile scorer and star in the NBA from 1997 – 2013.  He was a 7 time all-star and led the league in scoring twice.  He was also known as a big time superstar, who in his prime, could not lead his team out of the first round of the NBA playoffs.

In the clip, Steve Kerr questions McGrady’s ‘fire’ and suggests that this lack of ‘fire’ kept him from being greater than what he was.

Some of the other guys jump to McGrady’s defense, expressing that him being able to do what he did as a professional in the NBA shows that he did indeed have that ‘fire.’ 

McGrady skipped college, jumping straight to the NBA out Mt. Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina.  Kenny Smith said something very interesting about the growth in learning that you get from going to college and that you miss out on when you skip that part of the process.  He talked about how you learn to be on your own in college,you learn to lead in college, and you learn the fundamentals of the game in college.  Kenny talks about how the fundamentals of the game is something that really separated Michael Jordan from the McGrady’s, the Kobe’s, and the LeBron’s (I do believe Kobe has great fundamentals, something he’s credited to growing up in Italy).  He says that it wasn’t just Jordan’s natural talent, but the fact that he had great fundamentals to go along with his amazing athleticism, and Smith said that those fundamentals were the difference in what made MJ who he was.

Isaiah Thomas piggy-backed on Kenny and talked about how great of coaching MJ received.  This clip missed this, but Thomas observed that Jordan played for two hall of fame coaches, Dean Smith and Phil Jackson, and that the quality of coaching that a player receives is a difference maker in a player reaching his full potential.  He also spoke on the coaching that Larry Bird received and Bird’s ‘flawless’ fundamentals and how he never made a mistake in terms of his setup for his shot or using his right hand or left and to finish, and that Bird’s fundamental setup was so good that it gave him more time to make a play because he was always in position.

Isaiah said that we can sometimes mistake that ‘fire in the belly’ for old fashion fundamental ‘know-how.’  When guys don’t have the fundamental know-how and a strong fundamental base, they have to be more ‘tricky’ with the ball and try to create more.

As a coach, it is great to hear that NBA veterans and NBA greats recognize the difference between a player who has great fundamentals, taught through great coaching, and a player who has the talent and athleticism but who might not have as strong of a fundamental base.

Now, Kerr might have had a point in his observation of T-Mac; T-Mac has talked about how he sometimes slept of 20 hours a day as a rookie, and his minutes increased when his work ethic as a professional improved, and when you are talking about Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, you are talking about two guys who have reputations for being among the most competitive guys in sports.  But, it is great hearing commentary on the importance of quality teaching in coaching.