Chalk Talk 2007
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BASKETBALL
COACHES
CHALK TALK 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION – JODY CONRADT ..................................................................................................1-3 JILL MCDILL (ROCKWALL HS) Passing Drills ...................................................................................................................4-5 ROYCE HUSEMAN (KINGWOOD HS) Mustang Defensive Drills ................................................................................................5-8 ZACH BOXELL (NAZARETH HS) Man to Man Breakdown Drills ........................................................................................8-11 ANDY ZIHLMAN (BISHOP LYNCH HS) Drills ................................................................................................................................11-14 BOB ROSE (FRISCO HS) Less is More; More is Better............................................................................................15-18 GREG GUILER (ST. MARKS) Philosophy and 2 Sets ......................................................................................................18-22 JEFF LIEBERMAN (THORNDALE HS) A Simple Box and 1 Offense ...........................................................................................23-24 BRENT KIRKLAND (GARDEN CITY HS) 3 Set Plays That Work and 1 Conditioning Drill.............................................................24-25 JOHN VALENZUELA (SAN ANTONIO MADISON HS) Organize to Maximize Planning a Program.....................................................................25-29 JERRY HOFFMAN (COPPELL HS) Quick Hitters....................................................................................................................30-32
Dedicated to Jody Conradt A Basketball Pioneer Many people are very good at their craft, whatever their chosen field. The great ones all seem to excel on a different level and display two outstanding traits; they work their magic where no one else has gone before and they leave a better place for those who follow. Such is the career of recently retired Lady Longhorn basketball coach Jody Conradt at the University of Texas. When Coach Conradt broke into college coaching at Sam Houston State University in 1969 women’s sports were a novelty – if they even existed – on most college campuses. College women’s coaches taught several classes, coached multiple sports, and their salaries were only slightly more than those of high school coaches. Crowds at women’s collegiate sporting events were sparse and TV games were unheard of, since most people felt females lacked physical skills and competitive drive that made male sports so attractive. Those associated with women’s athletics knew better, but few had the courage and endurance to prove the general public wrong. Jody Conradt became the second women’s head basketball coach at the University of Texas in 1976. The program was in its third season. Former coach Rod Paige had enjoyed some success posting a 17-6 record that first season in 1974-75 and following with a 21-7 record in year two. Jody inherited two players from that team and quickly served notice that things would be different at UT by winning 36 games in her first year on the “forty acres”. In order to get exposure for her players and program the Lady Longhorns played anyone and everyone. “We went to a lot of tournaments in those early years and there weren’t’ many rules like today,” said Coach Conradt. She made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for road trips and slept 6 players per room to stay within the small basketball budget. Jody scheduled top ten teams with the intent of rising to their level. Before her retirement after thirty-eight years, the face of women’s collegiate basketball and Texas high school girls’ basketball would change dramatically. In order to appreciate that transformation we must go back to the beginning where Jody and basketball formed a lifetime love affair that served both well. Jody Conradt grew up in Goldthwaite, Texas, (pop. 1,600) in a family of athletes. Her mother Ann played city league softball and her dad Charles played semi-pro baseball, so she and her brother Mike were introduced to athletics at an early age. While her brother participated in several different sports, Jody played the only one available to girls at Goldthwaite – basketball. Averaging 40 points per game for the Lady Eagles, Jody used hard work and a relentless pursuit of excellence. After graduating from high school in 1959, she enrolled at Baylor University where she earned a degree in physical education and averaged 20 points per game during her college career. When asked recently when she decided to be a coach, Jody said, “I originally planned to be a teacher. All the women I admired growing up had been teachers. All of my coaches had been men.” But M.T. Rice, superintendent and girls’ basketball coach at 1
Waco Midway High School would change that. Having seen Jody play, he wanted her to teach his players how to shoot a jump shot, at which she was very good. So began the coaching career of Jody Conradt as she helped Coach Rice teach the Lady Panthers the game of basketball. “I appreciate Mr. Rice giving me a chance to coach. I will be forever grateful to him,” said Coach Conradt recently. The rest of the basketball world dittos that! After four years at Midway, Jody returned to Baylor to earn her Masters degree, graduating in 1969. She then made her entrance into the collegiate coaching ranks at Sam Houston State in Huntsville. Jody taught seven classes and coached three sports. After leading the Bearkats to a 74-23 record in her four years in Huntsville, she left for Arlington State (now UT-Arlington) to start a new women’s athletic program from scratch with a salary offer of $12,000. Still coaching three sports, she led the basketball team to a 43-39 record, improving each year. After qualifying for the national tournament at Arlington, Coach Conradt was hired at the University of Texas in 1976, taking over the two year old program. Although she helped with volleyball the first few years, Jody was finally able to concentrate on basketball for the first time. After that 36-10 first season the Lady Longhorns were 29-10 and finished the season ranked #15, their first national ranking. The UT women continued a steady rise and by the early 80’s they were a fixture in the top five going four consecutive seasons (1984, 85, 86, 87) as the top ranked team in the nation. Being ranked #1 and winning the national championship are two different things. In fact, when you enter the tournament ranked #1 you become a target for every team you play. With that handicap on their shoulders the 1985-86 team put it all together for a 34-0 national championship season earning Coach Conradt the National Coach of the Year award for the third time. The Lady Longhorns were the premier women’s basketball program in the nation. Coach Conradt had moved them from a new program to a national power in ten short years and she wasn’t nearly finished. John Wooden has said that it is hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay there. But, stay at the top is what they did, going 117-15 over the next four years including another Final Four appearance. In her thirty-one years at UT, Coach Conradt played in the post season twenty-seven times including twenty-one NCAA tournaments, eleven Sweet 16’s, five Elite 8’s and three Final Fours. In 1992 Donna Lopiano moved on after having served as women’s athletic director for seventeen years. To find a replacement the University didn’t need to look very far. They hired Coach Conradt as one of the first in the country to handle the difficult dual role of coach and A.D. Under her direction women’s athletics expanded to eleven sports, won forty conference championships and six national titles. When UT booster Red McCombs paid Jody a visit, she was elated when he asked if she could find a way to use $3 million in women’s athletics. The result was UT’s state of the art softball facility. In July of 1998 Jody Conradt was recognized as one of the “Top 50 Women’s Sports Executives” in the nation by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. After sharing her expertise with all Lady Longhorn sports for nine years, Jody moved back to coaching only in 2001 leaving behind opportunities for young girls in all sports. This article is too short to list all of Coach Conradt’s honors, but her greatest legacy is in the testimonials of players and coaches all over the nation. Leta Andrews is the winningest high school girls’ coach in the nation and her three daughters were all a part of Coach Conradt’s program. Only one of the three was a star player in college, but Leta said, “They were all treated so well. She made them work, but also taught them 2
good habits and became a second mom.” Many of Jody’s former players have gone into coaching on every level. Nancy Walling, who played at UT from 1979-83 and is a successful high school coach at Pflugerville, said, “I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t played for her.” Angie Hermesmeyer (1993-97), another successful coach at Pflugerville Connally, said, “Coach Conradt is the reason I am a coach.” Pat Summit, the winningest coach in college basketball stated, “She has left her footprints all over the game. She’s a great friend and mentor.” Jody Conradt has indeed left her footprints on the game. Her dreams that began in Goldthwaite so many years back have now enabled thousands of other girls and women to have avenues once thought impossible. In 1987, when Austin hosted the Women’s Final Four, it was the very first sell-out ever. Since then, the Women’s Final Four has been sold out every year since 1993 and all sixty-three playoff games are now televised. Female athletes play pressure defense and fast break basketball as well as their male counterparts. What Coach Conradt started at UT has now spread everywhere on every level. Jody Conradt has won 900 games – second only to Pat Summit – more than Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith or Bob Knight. She has graduated 99% of her players and been inducted into seven Halls of Fame. Even more important than what she has done is the way she has done it. LSU women’s coach Van Chancellor says simply, “She has done it right.” A&M women’s coach Gary Blair adds, “She has accomplished so much with class and integrity.” Tara VanDeveer of Stanford states, “As good a coach as she is, she is an even better person.” If we could all get those compliments from the people we compete with, our lives would be a success. Jody Conradt has done that and so much more.
The Nation's Leading Source for High School Sports Visit us today at www.MaxPreps.com
3
JILL MCDILL, ROCKWALL HIGH SCHOOL Coach McDill has coached 7 seasons as a varsity coach including 1 season at Crawford and 6 seasons at Rockwall High School. During that time she has led her teams to the playoffs 6 seasons, to the Regional Tournament 5 seasons, and to 3 State Tournaments. In 2007 she led Rockwall High School to the 5A State Championship with a perfect 40–0 record.Coach McDill’s overall record is 201-51 (79.7%), and her playoff record is 24-5 (82.7%). She has been named the Dallas Morning News coach of the year the past two years in a row. In 2007 Coach McDill was named the Texas Girls Coaches’ Association 4A-5A Coach of the Year. Jill has been married for 14 years and has 3 sons.
One aspect of the game that we have tried to focus on the past couple of years is PASSING. When we watched the best teams in the State of Texas play, we realized that our passing skills were no where close to those teams’ skill levels. We now have several drills that focus on our passing. These drills have helped us improve in this very important area. Two of those drills are PRESSURE BOX and 50 PASSES. 1. PRESSURE BOX – This drill takes place on both ends of the court inside the area from the volleyball service line to the volleyball “hit” line (See Diagram)
There are 2 players on offense and 3 players on defense. The 2 players on offense have 30 seconds to protect the ball. The keys on offense are to be strong with the ball, keep your head up, and stay under control. The offensive player without the ball must constantly be moving to get open. The defensive rule is that they must ALWAYS trap the ball. Once the ball leaves one girl’s hands, one of the defensive players must leave and go trap the other player with the ball. The coach is standing on the side with 2 extra basketballs. If a ball is deflected out of bounds or somehow is lost, the coach tosses another ball into the “pressure box”. The coach keeps track of the number of turnovers the offense has in 30 seconds. One turnover isn’t bad. Of course, we’re hoping for zero, but that doesn’t always happen. There are 4
many times (especially when you first start the drill), where they may turn the ball over 3-4 times. We have all 6 girls go on offense (3 different rotations), and then the girls run for the number of turnovers they had multiplied by 2. They run these from sideline to sideline, and they must run hard. 2.
• • • •
50 PASSES DRILL – In this drill, you need to divide everyone into 2 teams. In our case, we would have the Orange team and the White team. Each team starts with a score of 50. The object is to end with a score of zero. Our assistant coach is on the sideline counting down. The scoring is as follows: Pass = -1 point Pass to the block = -3 points Drive into the lane (a foot in the lane) = -3 points Make a layup or any shot = -10 points You want your team to make 50 perfect passes before they turn the ball over. If they shoot the ball and miss, it is the other team’s ball, and their possession is over. Both teams must run from sideline to sideline for the number that they have left. For example, if the coach only gets down to 25, and the team turns the ball over in any way, that team will have to run 12 ½ times across the court. Sometimes we make the drill competitive between the two teams, we say that only the team with the highest number left will have to run. This really increases the defensive pressure and competitiveness of the drill. You can use this drill to work on end of game situations. If it is getting to where the defense is fouling excessively, you may take off 3-5 points for every foul. This drill really forces the offense to work on spacing, and it is great for conditioning. These two simple drills have really improved our passing skills over the past few years.
ROYCE HUSEMAN, KINGWOOD HIGH SCHOOL Royce Huseman grew up in Nazareth, TX, and graduated from West Texas State University. He and his wife, Kim, and their 3 children have lived in Kingwood for 22 years. Huseman began his coaching career as the 1st assistant at Kingwood High School in 1985. In 1991 he became the head coach. His teams have been to the playoffs 10 times. Since 2001 his teams have won 6 district titles, 5 regional tournament berths, regional champs three consecutive years, and state finalists three years running, (05, 06, and 07), winning state in 05. In those 7 years his teams amassed a record of 225 – 39. 5
Mustang Defensive Drills In our program at Kingwood High School we have very simple defensive rules: #1—no easy basket #2—contest every shot Each player must know how to protect the basket and know how to help his teammates when they are beat. We address how to stop easy baskets in these 4 parts of the game: 1.) in transition 2.) in the half court 3.) offensive rebounding in transition and in the half court 4.) turnovers and loose ball buckets Here are 4 of our favorite defensive drills that really establish our defensive philosophy. 4-4-4--Favorite Defensive & Offensive Drill SETUP: 3 even teams (2 offensive, 1 defensive) OBJECTIVE: Defensive team must get three "stops" in a row. An offensive rebound or basket resets "stops" to zero. The offense must take quality shots. PLAY: The offensive team moves, screens, and works for a good shot. If they score or are stopped, they quickly exit the floor and get ready to come back in at half-court. The waiting team comes in immediately and begins play, forcing the defense to communicate & match up quickly. TEACHING POINTS: Talking, ball pressure, proper rotation, contesting shots and boxing out are a premium in order to get three stops in a row. If the defense gets three easy stops, we then focus on our offense to make sure we are taking quality shots every possession. Each team must get 3 stops, if they can't, they run, or at the end of practice, we continue the drill until they do. MAKE the offense work for good shots; this will make you a better team on both ends of the floor.
4 on 3 contest SETUP: 4 offensive players in shell spots (no movement), 3 defensiveplayers, coach with the ball. One offensive player does not rebound. Designate this before play begins. PLAY: Coach throws the ball to any player, closest defender rotates to the ball, the other two rotate to the basket and the nearest ballside threat. The offense passes quickly or skip passes to get an open 3 pointer (5 passes max). The defense continually closes out on the ball and contests every shot. 6
(A player on the ball never closes out on the next pass) On the shot, the 3 defenders must box out the 3 offensive players going to the glass. If the offense rebounds, outlet the ball, spot up, and look for the open 3 again. OBJECTIVE: Intensity, good close outs on every catch, contest every shot, and box out. If the defense misses a close out or gives up an uncontested 3 pointer, they go again.
4 on 3 scramble TEAMS: Split squad into two teams. Offensive team on the baseline, defensive team on the sideline. SETUP: Four offensive players on the baseline; three defensive players on the free throw line (lying down). OBJECTIVE: Intensity, close on every pass, guard the bucket, contest every shot (no layups), and box out on every shot. PLAY: Coach passes the ball to one of the offensive players. Players transition to the other end. Defense gets up and sprints back, first defender back guards the bucket, and the other two communicate one defending the ball and the other defender, the first "ball-side threat." Play (cont.): The offense needs to cut, move, and screen to look for a layup, postup, or a good shot. The closest defender, must rotate to the ball, and the other two must guard the bucket and the nearest ball-side threat. On the shot, the defense must box-out the three offensive players closest to the basket. If the intensity is there, the defense has the ability to effectively stop layups and easy buckets. The three defenders must have a good defensive possession, or they must repeat the drill. Rotation: Three new defensive players step onto the court and four offensive players restart the drill. We give each team 6 offensive possesions, switch offense to defense, keep score. (3's, 2's and 1 pt for an O.R.) Losing team runs. Protect the paint SETUP: divide players into teams of three. OBJECTIVE: Offensive team tries to get both feet into the paint with the ball using dribble penetration, screens, basket cuts or post ups. The defense tries to force the ball to baseline and keep the ball out of the paint. Defensive help must anticipate and help early before the ball reaches the paint. Protect the basket and force the team to kick the ball out, recover and repeat. PLAY: Offense plays, attacking the paint, scoring when the player with the ball gets both feet cleanly in the paint.(without turning it over) They never have to shoot to win. If the defense causes any turnover or steals it they are on offense, they try to score by reaching the paint. The first team to reach the paint 3 times successfully wins. TEACHING POINTS: Defensive players must be in a great stance and be aware of the ball. The next man is the automatic help on penetration and the other must cover the backside block. Recover quickly, pressure the ball, react to any dribble or entry pass. 7
This drill is especially good for your younger players, it keeps them from locking on to the player they are guarding and not knowing where the ball is. To be successful at this drill players must be intense, jump to the ball, and understand they have to work together to get stops.
ZACH BOXELL, NAZARETH HIGH SCHOOL Zach Boxell is beginning his 10th year of coaching. Zach started his career at Lake Dallas where he stayed for two years as an assistant. He then received his first head coaching position at Winters High School where he stayed for three years. He then was the head coach at Whitewright for two years and Blue Ridge for one year. He is currently starting his second year as the head coach at Nazareth High School. In his first year at Nazareth, the Swifts were state champs, giving Nazareth back to back state titles. Zach and his wife, Dominique, have two children. Kasaundra Paige (6), and Jacoby Douglas (4 mon.) Zach is thankful for his family’s support in dealing with all the stresses and demands of a“coach’s life”.
Man to Man Breakdown Drills (teaches defensive positioning along with team rotation)
The drills I am going to share are four drills that my coaching staff and I installed into our weekly practices. These drills helped our players truly understand where they needed to be according to their man, the ball, and how we wanted them to rotate in certain situations. I feel these four drills, along with the regular Shell Drill, have really helped our team become a better defensive team. If you play man to man defense, I hope these drills will be beneficial to your program.
Drill #1: Baseline Drive Away from the Post Side 1. Start out with a PG and two Forwards. 2. Start the ball in the PG position. 3. The defense should be in the correct position according to the ball and their man. (A) defender should be on the ball. (B) & (C) defenders should be sagged off where they can help on penetration & where they can close-out on their man. 4. #1 passes it to #2. Defense should rotate with the pass. (B) on ball, (A) sagged off & (C) both feet in the middle of the paint.
8
Drill #1: Baseline Drive Away from the Post Side (continued) 5. #2 will drive baseline, (B) will funnel him down the baseline. (C) will rotate over & set the trap with (B) just outside the paint. (A) will dive to the backside block to stop backside lay-up, baseline pass, & to be there for backside rebound. 6. When #2 kicks the ball out, the defense will recover back to their man. 7. We will work both sides of the floor where #3 will drive baseline also. We will work this drill a few times and then rotate until everyone has played on defense.
Drill #2: Baseline Drive on the Post Side C
2 3
1
1. Start out with a PG cheated over on the post side, one forward and one post. 2. Start ball in the PG position. 3. Defense should be in the correct position according to the ball and their man. (A) defender on ball. (B) defender is sagged a little off his man where he can help on penetration & can quickly close-out on his man. (C) defender is cupping on top side of the post player. 4. #1 passes to #2. Defense should rotate with pass. (B) on ball. (A) sags off where he can see ball & man. (C) fronts the post.
5. #2 drives baseline. (B) stays on the side of him and does not let him break to the middle. (C) steps out & traps #2 along with (B). (A) dives down on top of #3 when he sees the baseline drive. 6. When ball is kicked out, defense will recover back to their man. 7. We will work both sides. We work this drill a few times & then rotate until everyone has played on defense.
Drill #3: Play Behind the Post & Guards Dig 1. Start out with one Guard, one Forward, & one Post all on the same side of the floor. 2. Start ball in the forward position #2, since that is where most post receives the entry pass. 3. Defense should be in the correct position according to the ball & their man. 4. (A) sagged off a little where he can help on post & close-out on his man. (B) on ball. (C) playing behind #3, trying to push him off the block.
9
Drill #3: Play Behind the Post & Guards Dig (continued) 5. #2 passes it to #3. (C) plays good post defense trying to keep #3 out of the lane. (A) & (B) dive down right on top of #3, trying to dig the ball out. You have to know as a coach if #1 & #2 are good shooters. If just one of them are, you might not want that defender on the good shooter to dive down. If both are, you might have them show like they are going to dive down, but not totally commit so they can close-out on the shooters. You just have to know the strengths & weaknesses of the team you are playing. 6. If post kicks it out, everyone recovers back to their man. 7. You can tell #1 & #2 to pass it back & forth to each other & then either one of them to pass it into #3 to get more movement. The defense has to react to the passes as far as their defensive positioning. 8. We will work both sides. We will work this drill a few times & then rotate until everyone has played on defense.
Drill #4: Front the Post 1. Start out with two forwards, one post, & one guard on the side away from the post. 2. Start ball in forward position #2. 3. Defense should be in the correct position according to the ball & their man. 4. (B) on ball putting hard pressure to make it hard on the passer to make a good pass. (D) fronts #4 & yells front. (C) should have both feet in the middle of the paint, where he can help on lob & still see his man. (A) should be with both feet in the paint angled so he can see the ball & his man.
5. #2 passes it to #4. (D) tries to steal the pass or knock it away. (C) will slide all the way over to #4 & chest him up. (C) will try to steal the pass or knock it away. If we do not get the steal, (D) & (C) will sandwich #4. (A) will dive to the backside block when the lob pass is in the air to stop lay-up on backside, stop the baseline pass to forward, & for backside rebound. (B) will sag off his man seeing ball & man so he can see to hit the boards or be ready to close-out on his man if #4 kicks it back out. 6. We will work both sides. We will work this drill a few times & then rotate until everyone has played on defense.
10
Terms We Use for Reference Points We also use several reference points on the floor to help our defense. We tell our players that the paint is the “collision zone”. Do not let anyone cut through the paint without putting a body on them. We play a sagging man to man defense, so most of the time the on the ball defender will be below the 3 point line. However, if we know an individual player or the team we are playing is a good 3 point shooting team, we will use the term “toe the 3 point line” meaning we want our toes out past the 3 point line when we defend the individual or team. If they are great 3 point shooters, we will use the term “heel the 3 point line” meaning we want our heels out past the 3 point line when we defend the individual or team. These are a few of the terms we use to help give our players reference points so they know how we want them to play in our defensive scheme.
I want to thank some people who have helped me out over the years & who have helped me develop several of my coaching philosophies. I want to thank Ricky Peacock and Matt Bellah who were my assistants at Nazareth last season. They both worked extremely hard in making our team reach their potential. They truly did all the big and little things that help a program be successful. I also want to thank my father, Doug Boxell, (who coaches at Ponder), for always being there for me and for teaching me so much about the game of basketball. I also want to thank Matt Clark who I coached under at Lake Dallas. Coach Clark was a great mentor to me and taught me a lot about the game and coaching profession. There are so many others that I have learned from over the years, such as coaches I have worked with and coached against who have been an inspiration to me. I definitely want to thank TABC for allowing me to share some ideas with the coaching community. TABC does a great job in promoting the growth of basketball, and I am honored to be a part of such a great organization.
ANDY ZIHLMAN, BISHOP LYNCH HIGH SCHOOL Coach Andy Zihlman, a 1972 graduate of Bishop Lynch, begins his 27th season with the Lady Friars. Bishop Lynch holds the national record for most state championships with 24, 21 of which were under Coach Zihlman’s leadership. With a current win record of 681, Zihlman should hit the 700 win milestone in the 2007-08 season. After 17 years as the Dean of Students, in 2001, Zihlman was named Athletic Director for the school. Zihlman has his Bachelor of Science degree in Health and PE, his Master’s of Science degree in Health and PE and his Mid-Management Certification. Twenty-five Lady Friars have gone on to play at the college level including 2007 graduates Maryann Baker (Texas A&M), Jordan Ford (Stephen F. Austin), Lauren Jiles (Stephen F. Austin) and Staley Mullins (Southwestern) and Joirdan Cole (University of Dallas).
11
12
13
14
BOB ROSE, FRISCO HIGH SCHOOL Bob Rose began his coaching career in the Allen ISD. After two years, he made the jump to Frisco High School when it was still a small 3A school. After serving as a ninth grade, Junior Varsity, then Varsity Assistant he took over as the head girls coach in 2002. The Runnin’ Raccoons have made the playoffs in 4 of his 5 years and won two district titles, with the highlight being the 2006-07 trip to the State tournament. Bob is a third generation basketball coach. He and his wife Amber have two children, Corbin (2 years) and Camryn (3 months).
Less is More; More is Better Our Runnin’ Raccoon philosophy is simple: work hard, work smart, and have fun. Good things happen for people willing to work hard. Teams who work smart will get more accomplished in less time. Lastly, people having fun are more willing to come in and work hard. Not every program will be able to do the same things, and shouldn’t, but we have been able to make our philosophy work for us. First, there has to be a plan. My father taught me that you can’t be over-prepared or too meticulous. I grew up watching him write out every practice plan on a legal pad, breaking down each practice into 5 minute or shorter segments. His philosophy was to keep it coming in short quick segments to keep the players focused and working. When I played for him, I learned how nice this was. We didn’t do drills without a purpose or a goal, and we never stood in line for long. Everyone in the gym had to be engaged and ready, just like you need players to be during a game. After the season ends, I plan everything from the last day of school through the state tournament the following year. I use Excel to build a calendar for each month that includes everything from team camps to open gyms. Anything that would involve our players goes on the calendar. Then I add every practice time, from the first official start of the basketball season through the state tournament. It sounds weird, but go ahead and plan what time you would practice in Austin and when you would leave to drive down there. That way you already have it planned if the time comes, and it will be one last thing to worry about. Next, get a good way to plan each practice. You can use a handwritten schedule, or you can use technology and get free planners from companies like www.sidelinesports.com. They have a free version that you can put your drills into and build your practices with the click of a mouse. We always post our workouts for the players so they can see what we will be doing that day. We give a copy to our student assistant who runs the game clock and keeps us on pace throughout the entire practice.
15
More from Less This past season I stole a page from another coach who had won numerous state titles in another sport. They never practiced on game day. It was the hardest change I ever made. I couldn’t make myself give up both game days in a usual basketball week, but I did give up Fridays and we don’t come in on Saturday. We go hard Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, then have a game day walkthrough on Tuesday. This seems crazy, but it forces me as a coach to be more organized and make sure I get the most out of each practice. For our players, it kept them fresh and excited to practice throughout the entire season. It also gives them a chance, during our Friday study halls, to go and meet with teachers and get that extra help to keep their grades as high as possible during basketball season. We also taper our workouts during the season. The easiest way to do it is cut time after the pre-season ends and games begins, then again after pre-district, district first round, and the start of the playoffs. I put all this into my preseason calendar and try to stick to it. If not, I could fall into the trap of overworking my kids as the season goes on and have diminishing returns. You can streamline as the season goes on, since there is less introduction of drills, offenses, and defenses. After the initial bulk of getting stuff in you have adjustments to opponents and fine tuning of skills and drills. Our workouts start out close to the eight hour maximum and taper off to about five hours of practice in our four days (we only use about 45 minutes on our gameday and an hour and a half on our hard days). Each workout starts with individual time, during which the players work alone or with a partner on the skills of their position. We also will pair guards and posts to work post entry, kick-out shooting, and pick and roll work. This changes from week to week based on what we see as our needs. We then move into defense, offensive skill drills, and finish with team offense and situational work. We always make sure to do our offense and situational work when the kids are tired to better simulate the game situation. Competitiveness Some kids are competitive by nature, others have to be taught how to compete. We work every practice on competing and playing with pressure. Taking what I learned from my father, I keep my drills short and competitive. Anytime we can we have a goal and a consequence for not making the goal, we do it. If we are doing 3-man weave, we have to make X number of trips without a ball touching the floor or having a missed layup. Then we’ll run for the drops and misses. It puts pressure on everything they do, just like they will feel in a game. Little Things Make a Big Difference A phrase my father loved to say, “Little things make a big difference.”, or his other favorite, “If you are going to do something, do it right.”. Those were hammered into me growing up and they are so true of having a successful team. Our players are held accountable both on and off the court. We run for trash left in the locker room, shoes/gear left out, jewelry, not having our practice jerseys tucked in, balls not on the 16
rack, and so on. If one kid is late to practice or study hall, then everyone has to run. They quickly learn to call each other and make sure everyone is on the same page. You will also see who your leaders are. They will be the ones “motivating” the players who are a little slower to catch on. Being Physical The first thing I learned coaching girls was, you don’t coach them like girls, you coach them like basketball players. We do have some special drills to get our girls to be more physical and to not shy from contact. Boys wrestle and play tackle from a young age, while most girls are a little different. The first changes I made was eliminating jump balls and out of bounds. Any ball that gets tied up goes to the person who ends up with it. Only the two people who were originally tied up get to be involved until possession is resolved. Our record is just shy of two minutes with two of our more stubborn and physical players. You end up with less jump balls in games, solely from the fact your kids aggressively pull the ball from opponents to avoid tie ups. Eliminating out of bounds teaches our girls to never give up on a ball. We have three drills that we do, “Queen of the Court” and “Bump the Cutter” we do quite a bit, “Pad Drill” we use sparingly. 1. Queen of the Court: This drill is played with two lines on the baseline lane width apart. The coach is at the FT line with the ball and three girls are out inside the lane under the basket. The coach either shoots the ball of can drop it on the floor. The object is for one player to score in the paint v. the other two defenders. We don’t call fouls and it gets very physical. 2. Bump the Cutter Drill: We have a line on one wing with an offensive and defensive player out, the coach is on the other wing. The ball is skip passed over the top to the coach, with the defender dropping into the paint help-side. When the coach says go, the offensive player cuts to the ballside elbow. The defender will cut off the cut and put a forearm in their chest and get contact with the offensive player, denying and redirecting their cut. The offensive player then tries to cut to the ball-side block and get position, the defender maintains contact and denies the entry pass forcing the offensive player out to the ball-side corner. 3. Blocking Pad Drill: Divide into two equal teams. One team (defense) is on the baseline in a single line. The offense is spread around the 3pt line and one player is in the post area. The defense puts out one player who has a football blocking shield (this is Texas, so you should be able to find one laying around). The offensive player has 30 seconds to score as many points in the lane as possible against the player with the pad. There are no fouls and the pad must remain below neck level. The defender also cannot cut the legs out from under the offensive player. When a basket is made, the ball has to be passed back out on the perimeter before the next scoring 17
attempt can be made. Players will usually match up by size on their own. After everyone has gone once, you switch offense to defense and go through again. Losing team runs a :34 (our name for a set of lines or the old “suicide” as many will remember it) Technology Be willing to take advantage of the great technology that is out there today. Video is a wonderful tool, but we can make it do more for us today than ever before. Find a good video editing software, we use www.wiffletree.com. Dick Groff has a great product and charges a one-time price, not a lease. We use our video editor to cut our films and also for statistics. You can then pull up any groups of video you have tagged with the computer while watching it. Our players will get 5-10 minute DVD’s from the game that show what they are doing right and wrong and will have to watch the video for homework. As coaches we will pull all of our offensive possession and defensive possessions and watch them in groups to make trends easier to spot. You can get so specific that it will pull by what offense you are running, fast breaks, etc. The software can be as detailed as you want it to be. Fun Last and most important is fun. You have to make sure the kids enjoy coming to practice and playing the game of basketball. I’m not suggesting you play games and mess around, but you need to make things fast paced and competitive. Have as little down time as possible and keep everyone involved. Our last goal on the board, before every game, is “FUN”. Basketball is a sport and sports should be fun to play. If a kid is having fun, they won’t be as nervous and will make fewer mistakes. It isn’t always easy to convince parents that the game should be fun, but if you are saying it enough, the kids will listen. We try to keep the Runnin’ Raccoon philosophy as simple as possible and I think it has helped us build a successful program. We have a positive atmosphere in the gym and great kids to work with everyday.
GREG GUILER, ST. MARK’S SCHOOL OF TEXAS Greg Guiler is a native of Columbus, Ohio. A four year starter at Canal Winchester High School, he helped compile a 73-22 record but fell short in the state semi-finals to a team led by upstart freshman, LeBron James. Guiler attended Cedarville University on a basketball scholarship, where he became the school’s all-time assist leader. Upon graduating in 2004, he migrated south to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. He has since completed his Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural Ministry and just finished his first year coaching the current SPC state champion St. Mark’s School of Texas. Guiler and his wife, Lea, reside in Dallas. The marvelous beauty of coaching high school basketball is that every season presents a fresh new crop of opportunities. For the vast majority of teams, at least one impact player has been lost to graduation, and now the oh-so-familiar quandary emerges: 18
“What sort of identity will this year’s squad possess?” At the college level, it seems that coaches have the luxury of establishing their preferred style of play and then recruiting pieces to fit their scheme. NBA teams, similarly, can maintain continuity by shelling out the big bucks on long-term contracts. But we prepsters have no clue what to expect come basketball season! Just as soon as we spend all summer perfecting a 5-out, open post offense, the 6’-3” post player we assumed wouldn’t get off the bench arrives from summer vacation five inches taller. So we resort to the 4-out, 1-in secondary break attack, until a German exchange student randomly shows up one month before the season opener with a 6’-6” frame and a real nose for the boards. “The 3-out, 2-in will be unstoppable this year!” we proclaim confidently the day before our first scrimmage. However, our point guard breaks his collarbone in the football season finale and last year’s starting swingman – a silky athlete that does it all – is forced sit out because his grades render him ineligible. “Oh well… I guess we’ll stick with the flex.” There’s no doubt about it – we high school coaches ought to be making millions for the headaches we get to endure. But the truth of the matter is that every single one of us does what we do because the thrill of competition and a genuine love for the development of young student-athletes lights a passionate flame in our bellies that we simply cannot ignore. A professor I once had, Dr. Dwight Pentecost, has been teaching at the same institution for some 50 years, and he continues to do so for the whopping annual salary of $1. Money notwithstanding, he has an insatiable appetite to feed the minds of young men and women – an appetite that we coaches share when it comes to teaching the game of basketball. And even if we were not getting paid to coach, I have to believe that we would still struggle to fall asleep at night with the basketball season looming right around the corner. There is no way I can lay my head on a pillow without beginning to imagine how this year’s team will look by mid-January. Will our guys gel and play well together? Will we peak too early? How many players should be in the regular rotation? Which one(s) will emerge as leaders? Should we have a different psychological approach than last year? Can we press with this group? Can we zone with this group? And, of course, WHAT WILL WE TRY TO IMPLEMENT
OFFENSIVELY IN LIGHT OF THIS YEAR’S PERSONNEL?? It is this final question that keeps my mind racing at nights in anticipation of October 22nd, the day on which I am officially permitted as an independent school coach in the Southwestern Preparatory Conference to begin working with basketball players. It seems that so many different people have so many different offensive approaches, and so many of these philosophies have potential to be effective so much of the time. Therefore, I’d like to devote the remainder of this article to answering the simple, yet complex question, “What should I do?” Should I teach a motion/continuity offense? Should I teach numerous sets/quick-hitters? I have heard some coaches say, “Develop a system that you feel comfortable running, and then stick to it!” Unfortunately, in my case, I have only been coaching for a very short time. Is it wise for me to limit myself to one offensive mindset when I am so inexperienced? And, frankly, could it be dangerous to ever unyieldingly commit to a single system and risk falling into a rut that hinders exposure to new ideas? What if the late Bill Walsh would have simply chosen an existing style of offensive football and stuck with it? Would his innovative creativity have been stymied, such that the “west coast offense” might never have existed? Perhaps it is just my personality, but I would not be satisfied entering every high school season with the exact same offensive game plan. I know that many coaches have compiled 19
incredible win totals with this philosophy, but I get such a thrill out of attempting to morph our schemes to fit the strengths and weaknesses of each year’s revamped roster that I would not be content otherwise (perhaps to my own detriment one day). So what other options do I have? First, let’s consider the pros and cons of teaching a continuity offense. Any kind of motion can be extremely beneficial in that everyone is on the same page. It might take a while for individuals to memorize their responsibilities, but once they do, five solid players can consistently out-execute five terrific athletes. Furthermore, motion allows a coach to keep his team reined in enough to where everyone knows what sorts of shots are expected and where those shots will occur within the offense. As the season progresses and defenses begin to take away predictable movements, counter adjustments can be made, and eventually, all five players learn to read opponents and feed off one another. In the end, a savvy group of disciplined players can wear down and carve up a defense with relentless ball reversals and patient shot selection on every possession. However, what if the other coach throws in a wrinkle at the beginning of the second half? It might take two time outs to help your point guard understand that when he passes and goes to screen away, his man is leaving him to go trap the ball. Or perhaps you expect a conference rival to play man-to-man like they do every year, but they instead use a switch-everything match-up zone that renders both your man-to-man and zone continuities worthless. Ultimately, I think all motion offenses are faced with this same dilemma: is it possible to fully prepare for every defensive nuance? A good motion can win a lot of games, but in the big contests at the end of the year, when an opponent has had ample time to scout and game plan, will a smart coach succeed in giving us a unique look that pushes us outside our comfort zone in ways that minor, in-game adjustments cannot overcome? My gut tells me, “Yes! A good coach will do that!” Therefore, I’m a little reluctant to entirely commit to this style of play. So let’s discuss a second option – the concept of teaching a bunch of set plays. I suppose a lot of coaches probably use a blend of motion offense and set plays, but for the sake of conversation, let’s treat them separately. The nice thing about set plays is that they can grant coaches the peace of mind that better players will be guaranteed better touches. So long as the defense doesn’t do anything drastically unorthodox, you can be fairly certain that the players you want handling the ball the most will receive planned screens in order to get quality touches with higher-percentage scoring opportunities. And, since there is no shot clock in high school, any play that breaks down lends itself to simply being reset and rerun. At the beginning of last season, I remember thinking that I wanted to script the opening five possessions of every half. Tom Izzo, at Michigan State is impressive to me because his teams come out of the blocks exceptionally well, due in part to the time they pour into memorizing sets for the first few possessions. The Spartans’ style is reminiscent of many good football programs, which start games with superbly-scripted opening drives that result in touchdowns and then hunker down and play tough, smart ball the rest of the way. Here are a couple of Izzo’s sets that I like:
20
“Rip Screen Post / Double Down”
“Dribble Hand-Off / Double Away”
So, obviously, there are a lot of good things that can result from running sets, but what are the negatives? Well, as is the case with the motion offenses, well-prepared teams might be able to anticipate what’s coming and create turmoil. Also, I’ve heard some coaches complain that sets can hinder team chemistry at times because most are designed to get the same individuals the bulk of the shots. Role players ought to be able to rally around their teammates, but you know as well as I do that jealousy can easily set in and the leading scorer can become public enemy number one in the locker room. However, I think my biggest frustration with sets is that they require a great deal of repetition. I feel like the guys I get to coach are some of the brightest high school athletes out there. And yet, if I call a time out and try to draw up even the simplest play on the fly, there is little probability that they are going to walk out on the floor and execute. Thus, for us to really learn sets, we have to practice them like crazy, which, of course, carries with it the consequence of not being able to devote more time to basic skill development. The simple reality that structure demands practice time is the primary reason why I currently prefer a third offensive approach – no continuity, no intricate sets… just play! Yes, that sounds a little ridiculous, but before you skip the rest of this article, try to bear with me. I am sixty pages away from finishing Tony Dungy’s biography, Quiet Strength. 21
It topped the list of best-sellers and is a tremendous read for all coaches. Tony Dungy is officially a hero of mine, not just because of his on-the-field record in spite of challenging circumstances but more importantly because of the values he embraces. His definition of “success” revolves around doing ordinary things as well as possible. He writes, “Every team has its own unique set of dispositions, gifts, talents, and opportunities. What they all have in common, however, is the ability to control what they do with those dispositions, gifts, and talents when the opportunities come along” (Dungy, 149). Thus, everything in life is a matter of inches – seeking to perfect the little things to accomplish the great. Quoting George Washington Carver, “When you do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world” (Dungy, 231). On the court, these insights lead me to believe that the best use of my practice time is attention to the common things. I feel like our guys need repetitions shooting, dribbling, passing, defending, rebounding, etc. rather than repetitions on how to execute by going from this spot on the floor to that spot on the floor in ten different set/motion offenses. Furthermore, I want guys in our program to actually play basketball during practice. There is no greater tragedy on the basketball court than a player with fantastic potential being relegated to a certain role with a leash tied so tightly around his neck that he can’t do anything instinctively without feeling compelled to glance over at the bench and see if coach is unhappy. Teach kids offensive principles but then give them the freedom in practice to just play. We will reap the benefits when that same player’s confidence skyrockets under the whistle because there is more encouragement to play instinctively and less pressure to think about whether he might make a mistake running “Texas.” Between you and me, I am terrified heading into this season with no real offensive structure in place. Who will lead us in scoring? I don’t know! We had seven different leading scorers last year. Who will take a big shot for us at the end of a big game? I don’t know! The goal of our staff is to simply cultivate the best basketball players possible and then give them the freedom to do the rest on game day. Yes, there will be times where I’ll fail to fight my constant urge to micromanage players and dictate the flow of a game. But hopefully, as I mature as a coach, I will have the patience to simply teach my players how to do the common things in an uncommon way. How will we look offensively in mid-January? If I succeed in doing my job the way I hope, then I have no idea! The development of our player personnel will determine how we look. Indeed, the marvelous beauty of coaching high school basketball is that every season presents a fresh new crop of opportunities.
22
JEFF LIEBERMAN, THORNDALE HS Jeff Lieberman was born in Milwaukee, WS and grew up in Beachwood, OH. He received is B.S. in Education from TCU and his M.A. in Humanities from California State University. Jeff served as an assistant coach at Burleson (4), Eagle Mountain-Saginaw (8), Aledo (1), Bridgeport (1), and Lake Travis (4). For the past 16 years he as been the varsity boys coach at Thorndale serving as A.D. since 1996. His Bulldogs have won the district title the past 5 years, including 33 consecutive district wins and were state champs in 2007. Jeff has a 321-158 career record as a varsity coach.
A Simple Box and 1 Offense Over the course of the last 16 years, as the head coach at Thorndale High School, I have been fortunate to coach some outstanding individual players. Somewhere during the course of the season, other teams will come out with some type of chaser or combination man/zone defense to try and slow down our top scorer. Like most coaches, we spent time in practice working against zones and man sets, but rarely, if ever worked on a way to attack a combination look. The combo would throw us off as we tried to adjust, usually, during the course of the game. In the past, I used to put the chased player on the baseline and had him work hard to get open by using a post player who was working the blocks. I also tried to just run our normal offense and ignore the chaser. In addition, I would work screens in the backcourt in order to get the ball to our top player, and then let him work up the court so that he couldn’t be denied the ball. We had minimal success with the above mentioned ideas, and, without exception, our guy was always exhausted by the end of the first period just trying to get open, while the defense could simply change out their chasers when needed. This past year, several teams attempted to defend us by chasing our top scorer, Austin Falke, the 1A D1 player of the year in 2007. Realizing that we were about to see a lot of chasers, I came up with a simple attack that made it easy on Austin and also on the rest of the team. In our opening district game, we saw a box and 1 right off the tip. Soon after trying the other methods, I took Austin and placed him on the free throw line, as a high post. Immediately, some good things happened. We were able to run our regular short corner, (1-3-1 look) offense. Austin was able to work the high post area without having to run around and work off screens. When teams played behind him, we gave him the ball and let him work from there. If teams played in front, trying to deny him the ball, we worked to a wing and had Austin pin the defender on his hip. Without much trouble, he was able to catch the ball, facing the basket, with his defender on his hip. As the game progressed, I allowed Austin to pop to a wing spot and he easily got open. Another advantage of playing Austin at the high post, was that he was in great position to pick up offensive rebounds, especially when he was fronted. The hardest place to defend any player is in the middle of the court. So, it made sense to put Austin in this spot. I had other players inbound and bring the ball up so that he could conserve his energy. Despite some great efforts by our opponents, Austin was 23
never held to less than 20 points when chased. Most teams gave up and went back to their base defense. Hopefully, this simple attack will help those of you who are fortunate enough to have a player the caliber of Austin. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions or suggestions.
BRENT KIRKLAND, GARDEN CITY HIGH SCHOOL Brent Kirkland is entering his 8th year at Garden City High School. He has led the Lady Kats to a 181 – 47 record during that time. During the 2006 – 2007 season the Lady Kats finished 33-4 and were the class 1A Division II State Runner-Ups. Coach Kirkland graduated from Sudan High School and Texas Tech University. He and his wife Shana have been married 14 years and have 2 sons, Kellan (12) and Kaison (6).
3 SET PLAYS THAT WORK and 1 GREAT CONDITIONING DRILL Brent Kirkland is entering his 8th year at Garden City High School. He has led the Lady Kats to a 181 – 47 record during that time. During the 2006 – 2007 season the Lady Kats finished 33-4 and were the class 1A Division II State Runner-Ups. Coach Kirkland graduated from Sudan High School and Texas Tech University. He and his wife Shana have been married 14 years and have 2 sons, Kellan (12) and Kaison (6). 3 SET PLAYS THAT WORK and 1 GREAT CONDITIONING DRILL SET PLAY 1 1. The 1 starts the play by coming off the high pick by the 4 looking to pass to the 4 on the back pick by 2. If this is covered 1 should have the elbow jumper. 2. If 2’s defender goes with the 4, 2 should spot up for the 3 pointer 3. 5 ducks in and pins for a bounce pass entry from 1 4. 3 pops to the corner for a shot or to feed 5 in the post
3 5
2 4
1 SET PLAY 2 1. 4 screens down for 2 who pops to the wing and receives the pass from 1. At the same time 3 back picks for 5. 2. After the down screen, 4 sets a cross screen for the 5 who flashes across the lane
3
2
5
4 1
24
SET PLAY 3 1. 1 passes to 2 and cuts off a back pick from 4. 1 continues across the lane and receives a staggered screen from 5 and 3. 2. 4 comes over and screens ( picks up the trash) 3. 1 receives the pass from 2 for the 3 point shot 2
5 3 4 1
SCORE AND SPRINT DRILL – Line 1 passes to line 2 and breaks to the basket, receiving a return pass from line 2 for a layup. Line 2 rebounds and makes an outlet pass to the outlet line and gets in that line. The outlet pass line passes to the person in line 1 who does not have a ball and gets in line 1. The shooter from line 1 sprints to the other end – staying wide and filling the lane – and receives a pass from the coach, who has a rack of balls, for another layup. They get their own rebound and put the ball in the rack and get in line 2.
Line 1 Outlet
Coach Line 2
JOHN VALENZUELA, SAN ANTONIO MADISON HIGH SCHOOL John Valenzuela graduated from UTSA and earned his masters degree from Incarnate Word University. He has been coaching for 23 years with head coaching stops at Castle Hills, First Baptist, St. Mary's Hall, Smithson Valley, San Marcos and San Antonio Madison where his 2007 Mavericks were 36-5 state semi-finalists. John and his wife Rosanne have been married for 13 years and have 6 adopted children, Yvonne (9), Moses (6), Meagan (6), Brian (6), Timothy (5) and Sean (3). He is also the pastor at Faith and Five Stones Bible Church, which meets in the Madison high school cafeteria at 10:30 each Sunday morning.
Organize to Maximize Planning a Program As coaches, we pray for talent. Talent wins games. However, the older I get the more I realize that preparation and organization are more important than talent. Talent can be a headache – yet, talent with preparation wins championships. 25
I never measure our success or defeat by how many games we won; I measure it by evaluating if we surpassed our potential. Did we overachieve? How did we as a coaching staff help our players overachieve? To succeed in such a difficult task, we must have a game and practice plan that makes others want to emulate what we do. The number one thing in our practices is maximum participation. How can we get all our players doing something instead of waiting for their turn in a drill? Secondly, how can we accomplish much in a minimal amount of time? The cliché of working harder and smarter than anyone else is how we will measure ourselves as coaches. Finally, how can we make our practices very competitive and more difficult than any game they will ever face? To begin, without opportunities we can never reach our potential. The giver of these opportunities is the One we give all the credit to. God places us at the right place, at the right time, with the right people. He deserves all the honor and credit. We have 5 truths in our program that guide us – they keep us humble in the high moments and give us strength in the low moments. 1. Do not limit God. We put Him in a box because we lack the faith or strength to run the race he has placed in front of us. I can show you how big your faith is describing how big your God is. 2. God has the answer, even if you do not see the solution. Too many times we think there is no way we can overcome. I rest in this truth when life is hard. It keeps me humble and hungry. 3. Magnify your God, not your problem. We speak more about how big our mountains are and forget how big our God is. He can move the mountains – you cannot. 4. Fight the good fight. Now that we know how big our God is – it is easier to fight the fight He has placed in front of us. It comforts us to fight regardless of the outcome. 5. Let God do it His way-It is better than my way. As the heavens are higher than the earth – so are His ways higher than our ways. Before we can talk about what our players must do, we must mention what we as a coaching staff must bring to the table. We can talk about our expectations for our kidsbut we must tell the players what they expect from us. There are 5 things we will never say as a coaching staff. 1. It will never work. 2. We have never done it that way before. 3. We are doing fine without it. 4. We cannot afford it. 5. We are not ready for it. Every one of these statements is confessions of weakness and inadequacies on our parts as coaches. We must find a way or make a way to reach our goal. Furthermore, we expect several things from our players. Players rise to the expectations we place on them. If we have no expectations, they have no expectations. We as coaches, set the pulse of our program by telling our players what we want from them. There are 5 expectations we demand of our players. If we do not have our hands on this-we will lose them and in doing so, we will lose games. 26
1. Be here and be early. 2. Know what to do and how to do it. 3. Be the solution, not the problem. 4. Be aggressive and mentally tough. 5. Give up the good to be great. Once we have brought order to our staff, and explained what we expect of the players, we place our players in four categories. They are stars, workhorses, problems or deadwood. As coaches, we will shine the stars. As we have adopted these catetgories-we have learned that the real star is the team. Each person in the program will shine the starwe will keep it clean and maintain its importance in our lives. Secondly, we will train our workhorses. When you have a team of talented workhorses, you are getting ready to win quite a few games. The key for coaches is to train the horses. When you have talented stars that do not work or accept your training, you will spend more time fixing your problems than training horses and shining your stars. Please understand that stars can be problems that can get fixed – but they will create a cancerous disease of the “me” that is detrimental to the “we”. When these young men become unfixable-they in turn become deadwood. As a coach, to save the body, you must get rid of the cancer. When a player-regardless of his talent, has become a menace to your program, you must get rid of the deadwood. It must be noted that it takes quite a while before we label a player deadwood. They must prove to us that they are destructive to the program we are trying to build. The hardest part for players to achieve is the title of champion. It is the hardest race they will run. We have to “retrain” them. We must get rid of all the bad habits they have been taught their entire life. When we ask our players who wants to be a champion, every one raises their hand. Yet this past year, we only had 2 players out of 37 that started as freshman and finished as seniors. We break our players up into 4 steps. 1. Boyhood. Boys talk too much. They cannot control their mouth or tongue. They think selfishly. They are infected with the disease of me. They keep their childish ways. They do not think beyond their fingertips. They look at the scorebook to find out how many points they scored. 2. Manhood. Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 13:11 – when I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish things away. We explain to our players that when they put away childish things, they are one step closer to being a champion. Nevertheless, I must add-this is the hardest of all steps for young men. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5, “Lean not on your own understanding.” Players become “coachable” when they lean on others to help them go where they have never been .There are several characteristics of manhood. They are loyalty, cooperation, self-control, honesty, integrity, reliability, and proper character. We measure our players by these characteristics. When a player asks me if he is a man yet, I always say. “No you are not, because you are still asking the question.” 3. Warrior. Once a player has accepted manhood, he becomes easy to train as a warrior. We are no longer fighting each other. We are now equals. We now have the same perspective and thoughts. This is when it becomes easy. Paul wrote in Hebrews 12:1 “let us throw off everything that hinders us and let us 27
run with endurance the race that is set before us.” All of us have a race to run. Many teams are running in different directions. Those teams will never reach their full potential because they are too busy fighting each other. We measure our warriors by these characteristics…skill, condition, industriousness, adaptability, resourcefulness, dedication, fight sacrifice, courage, passion, intensity, and tenacity. It is easy to train someone who thinks this way. Those who have proven themselves in such a manner are those who come to the breakfast of champions every Friday morning in our office with our coaching staff. They will sit in our weekly meetings and give input. 4. Champion. There can be only one. It is the one who is well trained. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24. “But only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize.” In other word, play to win. Many say they play to win, but few train to win. The reason being that they are not warriors, or men, they are still boys. They think like boys. They characteristics of a champion are confident, alert, competitive, ambition, pride, poised, leadership, and team spirit. Many think that championships just happen. It looks easy, but few reach this destination. The journey to this destination is greater than the destination itself. After this tedious training, we can now talk basketball. We believe there are five things that all coaches in the state struggle juggling. These four categories are schemes, shooting, strength and conditioning, special situations and skill development. As we go through the season, we are always fighting to implement all five of these categories in our practices. Too many of us do not have a plan for all five areas. As we look back at the season, we wish we had spent more time on one of these categories and why. We emphasize different areas at different times in the year. For example, we divide our school year into four phases. Phase 1 is the preseason. What we teach in this session is what the players will remembers most. Whatever we emphasize the most and what we terach first is what the players will never forget. Phase 3 is the non-district schedule as well as the three tournaments we face. Note that shooting is still in third place. We do not want to peak with our shooters at this time of the year. That is why shooting receives 50% of our practice in Phase 3 – which is the most important part of the year. It is time to face our district opponents. By this time, our opponents have scouted us and have studied our schemes. We will not surprise them. We spend a majority of our practice on shooting. We want to peak with our shooters by round 2. Hopefully, during round 1 of district our schemes on offense and defense will give us a small edge. At this point, tired legs and worn out bodies must rest. We do not spend much time in the weight room. We will lift two times a week, only to maintain. Not that special situations are second during phase 2 and 3. We spend very little time scrimmaging. If we do scrimmage, we do so late game situations or end of quarters. At times, we also practice beginning of quarters and set goals. Yet in phase 4, we lift every day. It is important to note that we do not practice Saturdays. We believe that our organization during the entire year has given our kids a chance to rest when they need it the most. Tired legs during the district race as well as the playoffs will destroy everything you have worked so hard to achieve. If fatigue makes cowards out of all of us, we believe that proper rest at the proper time makes champions out of all of us.
28
Phase 1 Aug-Oct 1. schemes 2. strength 3. skills 4. shooting 5. specials
Phase 2 Oct-Dec 1. schemes 2. specials 3. shooting 4. skills 5. strength
Phase 3 Dec-March 1. shooting 2. specials 3. schemes 4. skills 5. strength
Phase 4 March-May 1. strength 2. skills 3. shooting 4. schemes 5. specials
The final phase in our organizational agenda is the seven ways to score. Every time a basket is scored in a game, we have our freshman coach chart which way the opponents scored. The seven categories are defense, fastbreak, free throws, inbound plays, rebounding, secondary break and sets. At halftime, as we go in the locker room, our freshman coach writes how we have scored and how they have scored. For example, if our opponent has scored 10 points in the fast break, we will send two players back as soon as we shoot the ball-we will sacrifice points on the offensive glass, but our opponents will now have to score a different way than they scored in the first half. Every coaching staff in the state must prioritize how they want to attack their opponents and how they want to defend their opponents. As you prioritize the seven ways to score, you will develop your personality with your program. There is no right waythere are many ways to win. Some coaches emphasize sets and free throws. They are the half court grind it out team that is difficult to play against. Others are a fast pace, press and attack philosophy. Regardless of whatever you choose, it must fit your personnel. As we have progressed, we have learned much about ourselves as well as our opponents. When we scout an opponent, we determine what their offensive philosophy is by describing how they score. Which are the top three areas in which they score most of their points? Where are the vulnerable in their offensive philosophy as well as their defensive philosophy? This year we are trying something new. Our players will be broken up into four groups. Each group will have a captain. Each group will be responsible for scouting two opponents. They will give us their opponents’ offensive and defensive philosophy. They will tell their teammates how their opponent’s score and which are the top three areas we must defend. They will also formulate to the coaching staff, how we must attack them. This reemphasizes to our players how to defend and attack an opponent. It will teach our players responsibility and accountability. In closing, we believe that our number one job is to win kids, not games. Coaches have never won a game. We have never made a shot in a game or stolen the ball. Yet if we teach our kids that we believe in them and we train them how to win, they will win games for you because you are on the side and you will do all you can to help them maximize their talent. Win kids and they will win games for you. If we teach them how to fish instead of giving them a fish, we will change their world.
Free Scoring Tables & Scoreboards SPORTS IMAGE INC. Contact Nick Schmidt at 214-557-6736 Web site: www.sportsimageinc.com Call TABC at 281-313-8222 for information or a list of Texas schools in the program. 29
Tex Preps Basketball Magazine was named as the TABC’s official publication. Their mission is to recognize the many outstanding High School Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball teams and their coaches and increase media coverage of this exciting sport. The magazine continues its outreach program to High School Athletic Directors, Principals, Librarians and Sports Booster Clubs, along with TABC members, ISD Athletic Directors and high school basketball alumni. To Learn More: Visit www.texprepsbasketball.com or contact Publisher R.V. Baugus:
[email protected] or call 469-878-4289.
JERRY HOFFMAN, COPPELL HIGH SCHOOL Jerry Hoffman is in her first year has the Girl’s Basketball Coach at Coppell High School. She is starting her 23rd season of coaching. The previous three years she has coached at Crockett High School, where she and the Lady Bulldogs compiled a district record of 40-2. Crockett made its first appearance at the UIL state tournament, finishing second behind Canyon High School. Prior to coaching in Crockett Jerry was the head coach at Robinson High School for 16 years, making the playoffs 13 of those years.
Quick Hitters Quick hitting plays are best executed from similar formations. For example, if you run a play out of a four out set, it is best to run two to three plays out of this set rather than eight set plays out of eight different formations. The following plays are very basic and easy to put in, especially if your offense is four out one in. We usually put in several quick hitters during the second half of district play. It gives your team some different options without putting in a completely new offensive set.
30
Four out Open Post Set 3
2
4 1
5 1
4
5
2
3
4
5
4 3
2 1
1
2
5
2
3
4 5 1
3
4
1
5 3
2
This is a very simple quick hitter that can be used when the defense overplays. The 5 looks to pass to the 1 or 2 on the scissor cut. If neither one is open, the 3 should be wide open popping to the top.
31
3
4
1
4
5
5 2
2
1
4
3
4
2 3 5
5 1
3
2
1
On the double pick, the five rolls to the block and the 3 pops to the top of the key. If X5 switches onto the 1, the 1 looks to get the ball inside to the 5. The 3 should be a good shooter as they will be wide open many times. The 4 should flash to the elbow if their man helps
TABC Scholarship Donors 2007-08 Our thanks to the following TABC sponsors that provide the funds for the 12 scholarships we award each year. Please consider them as you order equipment each school year. We appreciate their support.
Shootaway (2), Gandy Ink (2) New Balance (3), DC Sports (1) Baden (2), MaxPreps (2) 32
