Staying Sharp On Your White Board and Special Situations

So many games are won and loss by how we as coaches handle late game timeouts and special situations.  Many times its the last 5 or 6 plays of the game and the adjustments you make as a coach in those situations that separates the winners and losers, and it is important to stay sharp in this area in the off-season.  

To keep myself and my coaching staff sharp in our ability to recall plays quickly and efficiently, we have a little activity that we use.  We have identified certain situations that we need to be ready for, and we have written them down on small pieces of paper.  We put them in a bowl and several times a week we pull on one and quickly draw out a play that fits the situation.  We also like to talk about how we would guard that particular action so that we are always thinking about how to put our guys in position defensively to have success against anything somebody might throw at us.

These are the situations we have written down to choose from

-  Set play for your best player
-  Set play against man for a big man
-  Set play against man for a wing
-  Set play against man for your pg
-  BLOB against man (3 sec or less)
-  BLOB against 2-3 (3 sec or less)
-  BLOB against man (5 sec or less)
-  BLOB against 2-3 (5 sec or less)
-  SLOB against man (3 sec or less)
-  SLOB against 2-3 (3 sec or less)
-  SLOB against man (5 sec or less)
-  SLOB against 2-3 (5 sec or less)
-  Set against 2-3
-  Set against 2-3 for a 3
-  Set against 3-2
-  Set against 3-2 for a 3
-  Set against 1-3-1
-  Set against 1-3-1 for a 3
-  Getting the ball in in the back-court against full-court pressure
-  Getting the ball in in the half-court against full-court pressure

It is important to have poise and confidence in timeouts, and proper preparation gives you the confidence you need to draw something up in a late-game timeout that will put your guys in position to make a play and to give your guys a chance to be successful.  Any lack of confidence is noticeable by your players, and if you can't have confidence in your ability to put them in position to be successful, they will also lack the confidence in you.  

In the video below, the guys at NBA Open Court on NBA TV talk about what its like being in an important timeout with a coach you trust and believe in verses a coach with whom you might tune out.

Steve Smith talks about the importance of giving everybody purpose and a role in the plays you draw up.  You don't want guys to feel like they don't have an important role in any play.  If nothing else, drawing up how they can relocate on penetration in case the play breaks down can keep them engaged and ready to answer the bell if they need to make a play.  He also talks about how great coaches, can draw up defensively what you are going to do to take away your 1st and 2nd options.

Isaiah Thomas talks about some of the give and take that comes with drawing up late game situations with your best players.  He spoke about how the coaches that he played for would always ask him where he wanted the ball, and draw up the play accordingly.  

Dennis Scott then talked about the importance of the coach coming into the huddle with confidence in himself and the play that he is about to draw up and the assurance that the confidence gives to the players in the coach and the plan.  

Stay sharp in the off-season and stay prepared; your preparation now will pay dividends in the middle of the season.