Blog

Coach,
Every player on your team should be able to make a lay-up 95% of the time. Shooting 50% from the field (from the field = anything other than a lay-up or a slam dunk) is what pro's shoot; I would not expect your players to be much better than that.

Given this information it makes sense for your team to shoot lay-ups as often as possible. Yes, eventually your opponents will realize this is your offensive strategy; dare them to stop you.
Here's how; your first basketball shooting drills are lay-ups: standing, jumping, running full speed, running half speed, contested and uncontested; once your team is hitting uncontested lay-ups 70% of the time, set up a token defense to hinder them.
Once your team is hitting lay-ups as a team 70% of the time against a token defense then lightly ramp up the pressure. If you take it s l o w l y results will come faster than if you push on the defensive side too hard and too fast. Since you're ratcheting up the defensive pressure s l o w l y you are giving yourself all the time necessary to teach proper defensive moves, stances, and postures. Soon your players will be shooting difficult lay-ups over serious defensive pressure at a 70% clip, in practice.

OK, so how do you get your players open to receive a pass under the basket during a game? Mismatches. Exploiting mismatches. Creating mismatches and exploiting mismatches. Scoring opportunities in basketball are developed around mismatches. Mismatches present themselves in many different ways during the course of a basketball game.
Some obvious examples are: A fast break opportunity after a defense gathers up a rebound, becoming the offense, and a player is down court under the basket all alone. An accurate full court pass to that open player turns into an uncontested layup; Because of a broken play a 5'2" point guard is down in the paint guarding a 6'9" power forward. A good inlet pass to the post results in what is essentially an uncontested layup; Because of a switch in man-to-man coverage a 6'11" center is out on the perimeter guarding a 6' point guard. Using a beautiful cross over dribble and a blow by move the point guard drives in for an uncontested layup. These are just three examples of mismatches created during the flow of a game.

An offense's responsibility is creating, recognizing, then taking advantage of mismatches. This is what ALL offensive plays are designed to do. If a designed play fails, then a team looks to create a mismatch and exploit that mismatch with a one-on-one move, a pick and roll move, or a give and go move, whichever one will exploit the most obvious mismatch presently on the court. An open player under the basket is without a doubt the best mismatch on the court. Three plays that create an open man under the basket are a pick and roll, a give and go, and a back door (which is generally created as option #2 from a one on one, a pick and roll, or a give and go) play. If your players really understand the theories and branch theories behind these simple basketball offenses, that same understanding will afford you the knowledge to properly defend any basketball offense with a simple, elegant, and effective basketball defense.
You cannot really understand these underlying theories and branch theories from reading about them. This understanding is nurtured through experience.

Coach Lambert Testimonial:
"Shooting Coach Dave Jones' program is awesome, phenomenal, unlike any other shooting coaching instruction. Many shooting instructions teach mechanics, the Shooting Coach attacks teaching from a subconscious level so players learn to shoot unconsciously. His studies in physiology incorporated with his basketball knowledge has proven to be very successful."


POINT GUARD

Being a point guard is really no more difficult than other positions in basketball - all positions have their challenges and rewards. I'll say this though, normally 6'11" players have a more difficult time handling the ball than 5' players do, so knowing that let'scontinue.

I want my point guards, there's always at least one back-up, to be an assistant coach. That means my point guards know all the plays we run offensively and defensively, what each position's responsibilities are for each play we run on both ends of the court and why we run each play. I want my point guard creating mismatch situations for his/her teammates and his/her self. I want my point guard communicating with me while s/he's playing and communicating with teammates. I want my point guard to understand what offense our opponents are running against us, and why. I want my point guard to understand what defense our opponents are running against us, and why. If our point guard is not our team captain, I want my point guard to have excellent communication with our team's captain - I believe the team captain is the most valuable asset a coach possess!!! I want my point guard to be responsible enough to always be setting an excellent example for teammates to follow, on and off the court. A point guard should have excellent court vision. A point guard should have a very high basketball IQ that comes from studying the ins and outs of the game of basketball. A point guard should be an excellent ball handler. A point guard should be an excellent passer, understand passing lanes and how to create them. A point guard should have great non-verbal communication skills. A point guard should know where his/her teammates are most effective, get them open and get them the ball when that opportunity presents itself. A point guard needs control of his/her emotions. A point guard needs to develop several speeds. A point guard needs to understand the game from the perspective of a coach so s/he can see plays, opportunities, and trends as they develop.

GOLF SWING AND BASKETBALL SHOT

A letter I wrote to a Golf Coach:
Most Coaches I discuss zone or flow with are too ingrained in their own system to "zoom out" and see another approach for what it's worth or they have absolutely no working knowledge of 'flow state' at all. I understand we are discussing golf, but our main discussion is realizing the flow state at will. In my mind a golf swing and a free throw are identical situations.

I completely agree with your statement that focus is key, but I also believe that during the shot there are two perspectives needing to be focused on simultaneously (maintaining the zone between holes is another wonderful subject with it's own simple techniques). I don't believe a person is capable of separating things being worked on in practice from the actuality of competition. In a perfect world, which is what a professional's life should emulate, practice is a conscious discipline and competition should be an unconscious discipline.
Neuro-Lingustic-Programming (NLP) teaches when the past is defined and the future, and path to the future, is designed we integrate the two to perform, and be, in the present. In golf the past is the lie and the future is the hole and/or the next lie. Pros and their caddies have enough experience to select the proper club for the shot. The more specific and smaller the target the golfer can imagine for the next lie the more the golfer's unconscious or imagination is engaged [unconscious focus]. The smaller the target the golfer has (the ball is too large a target) for the club to hit (like hitting a specific dimple or a specific blade of grass for the perfect divot) the more intense the focus of the conscious mind and the more present the golfer [conscious focus]. When both the golfer's unconscious and conscious are congruently engaged on the shot the golfer is incapable of thinking about mechanics and is relying on the unconscious for the proper swing for the proper shot for the proper lie. [Conscious] thinking about any part of the shot's mechanics (such as 'flow' or 'smooth' or 'fully rotate') interrupts the 'flow' of the unconscious and the focus of attention of the conscious thus removing the golfer from the present.
I use a similar technique for free throws. Results? Scary!

RESPONSE:
Indeed Dave, you summed it up perfectly.
"[Conscious] thinking about any part of the shot's mechanics ('flow' or 'smooth' or 'fully rotate') interrupts the 'flow' of the unconscious and the focus of attention of the conscious thus removing the golfer from the present."

I'd like to have a chat with you, your approach to basketball coaching is the same as mine for golf. Too many get dragged into the world of conscious control of their actions and we know that is not where you find performance in any life activity. I ask the question of golf coaches, "tell me 1 other activity you perform successfully whilst consciously trying to control your physical actions?". The silence is always deafening. Erroneous conscious thoughts will block the athlete's 'vision' every time and this is most evident when in a 'perceived' pressure situation. This is due to a lack of 'control' of their attentional focus. There is no need to focus on the sub-conscious mind. It needs to be left in peace to do what it does best in life - manage our physical actions without conscious interference.

THE CHAIN
Can any coach learn to become a winning coach?
Most coaches played the game at some level progressing through the coaching ranks; assistant coach > head coach AAU > college assistant > college head coach > pro assistant > pro head coach. Basketball IQ grows with experience and coaching IQ is different than playing IQ.

If your team's free throw shooting percentage was over 90% would it change the way you coach? Would you not want to draw fouls... especially on the defensive end of the court? That's a turnover that scores points almost every time. Would you need to cajole your team into playing tough defense or communicate while on the court or will your team be coming to you for advanced defensive theories now that they see defense as an aspect of offense?
With five players as one mind on the court there will be lots of layups from your half court offense and layups resulting from many fast break opportunities. The more layups your team shoots the higher your field goal percentage. If fifty percent of your shots are layups then at a minimum your field goal percentage should be fifty percent. When your team recognizes and exploits mismatches your team is going to get many easy basket attempts.

The feelings of winning on the playground and winning an NBA Championship are as different as night is to day.
"If you're not a nerd you're going to work for one" is a phrase currently being bandied about. Most people still don't understand that being a nerd is the launching platform for the most fun you've ever had. Not that it's not fun to "bust a move" on the asphalt, but "bust a move" on hardwood at the highest level for some really high echelon jollies. So learn the mental aspect of basketball and learn how to wage war. Creative coaching is rare. Most coaches teach only what they've learned from other coaches when the best education any coach gets comes directly from players. Winning teams are self-policed. Winning teams will win with or without a coach on the court. Many avenues lead to this unique situation but for space's sake I'm going to explore only one and from only one perspective.

High school coaches are guaranteed four years with players, that's quite a long time, longer than most other stages of coaching [normally]. However, that influence over players can be extended even further... three to five years further. Have all your players coach younger players. Your influence will be passed on through them to other coaches and to the players on those younger teams. How much easier will it be for you to communicate and build strategies with players that have coached and actually think about the game from a coaching perspective? When these players are on the court will they be proactive or reactive to the game's constantly changing situations? When those younger players your players have coached reach high school, they will arrive with insight to your basketball theories and when they in turn begin coaching younger players they will grow into your system in astounding ways which will expand your theories and your basketball coaching IQ. This never stops feeding on itself.

The only way of predicting the future is creating it. You can hope your new players will thrive in your system or you can guarantee it. Begin now and before next season your team will understand why it's important to report to the first practice in shape and your team will be hungry to learn and understand not just skills but theory. There are no rules preventing a coach from mentoring less experienced coaches and that dynamic completely changes the relationship you have with your team and your future players.

How much better a coach will you become after you begin coaching coaches? A good teacher always learns more than the student. Adapting theory to skills is too limiting, it's much more explosive to hone and create skills that adapt to theory.

Now I ask again, can any coach learn to become a winning coach?

Layup Drills