A Coach's Diary

'We trust you until you give us a reason not to trust you.' 'Just be great at what you're good at.  You know you're really good at something.  Identify it and then work your brains out to be great at it.'

... and not how to make mistakes and excuses. The importance of holding yourself accountable, now as an athlete, and in the future as an adult and a professional.  Right now, showing up late, or missing an assignment, or not blocking out does not mean the end of the world.  However, at some point, coming in late or turning in an assignment late at work could cost you your job.  When the stakes get higher, it is important to know that you have spent your career learning how to make mistakes and how to make excuses.

It’s not even about winning or losing.  It’s about getting the best out of every player.  Being a woman does not change their job description.  You never go after somebody’s heart or their core; you go after what they did.  You coach actions.

The 2-2-1 press is a common full court defense used to slow down the offense, making them second guess themselves with soft traps and playing the passing lanes.  Its important for your players to have a plan on how to attack this press and how to move, manipulate, and read the defense.  The video below shows a simple but effective way to attack a 2-2-1 press. Most teams have one guard on the ball and the other guard taking away middle, allowing the guard to guard pass.  By allowing you to reverse the ball, they are hoping you use up your 10 seconds in the back court or turn you over when you start to panic when rushing to get the ball across the timeline. Being aggressively patient and knowing who to attack and when is key to beating the press efficiently.  Having your guards beat their man and attack the forwards on the wing makes the defense rotate and opens up their teammates. When you attack the forward, the lob to your teammate leaking up th...

During our 2 week professional development leading into the new school year, we had an inspirational speaker come in to talk to us about maintaining our well-being as teachers and living 'our best life' so that we are able to give our students and athletes our A-game every day.  Early in his lecture, he brought up this scenario: "Imagine, 20-30 years from now, a few of your former students or former athletes are sitting around at a bar, or a coffee shop, or a birthday party.  Do they even remember you?  Do they mention you?  And if you are brought up in conversation, what would you want them to say about you and their time with you?" As speaker Alex Saenz then told us that morning, every day you are on stage for your legacy.  We are living, every day, our legacy.  What legacy are you living?  What legacy are you leaving to the one's you serve and lead? He also stated that we all build a reputation and that your students and your peers not...

The teams with the best players have the best chance at success.  Discipline, structure, togetherness, and great plays all factor in as well, but all other things being equal, players win games.  So, its important to help your players get better in 1 on 1 situations.  Plays are setup to get you in a 1 on 1 situation where you can make a play. Below are notes from the older Don Eddy video above. Be a threat every time you catch.   Use your jab series to feel out and move the defense. - Ball in your pocket - Back straight so you’re ready to shoot - Ball is ‘set’ in your pocket - Fake the drive to shoot/ Fake the shot to drive - Fakes are short steps, drives are long steps Live Ball Moves - Show and Go - Jab - Cross step - Rocker step - Shot fake - Opposite On The Dribble - Cut off dribble - Counter dribble - Retreat dribble - Shot fake - Power shot Drill It - 1 on 0 is a great way to introduce and rep the moves - Dummy 1 on 1...

All credit to this post goes to Hoopskills.com and you can read the original version here . Legendary Hank Iba (Henry Iba) coached Oklahoma State to two NCAA Championships and the United States Olympic team to two gold medals (and one silver medal) with teams made up entirely of amateurs. Coach Iba used to teach that there are six main areas of focus if you want to win consistently. The more of these areas that you and your team master, the more games you will win. If only a couple areas are mastered, then you're possibly in for a long season. 1. Transition Defense -  Good transition defense helps eliminate layups, open threes and fouls while scrambling to cover up, which greatly increases your chances of winning. Teams should have separate plans for getting back after missed shots and turnovers and also for getting back after a made field goal or free throw. Being strong in this area lets the defense play 5 on 5 instead of playing 3 on 1 or 4 on 2. 2. Half-Court Defens...

Steven Adams is a very solid big in the NBA.  He is not flashy, and he doesn't not have myriad of post moves, but he can be effective, especially receiving passes rolling to the block off of pick and roll action.  The video below shows the different options Adams has rolling to the basket. For our girls, we want them to be able to execute the following moves on rolls for either a layup or to draw a foul: On The Roll - Regular layup - Reverse layup - Power layup (with or without a shot fake) - Power reverse layup (with or without a shot fake) - Step across and finish (with or without a shot fake) - Catch into up and under - Dribble into up and under - Catch and shoot On the Pop - Catch and shoot - Catch and rip through for pull-up or shot - Jab baseline into drive - Rocker series