The Moments That Take Your Breath Away

An excerpt from the chapter on Competence, in "The Simple Guide to Coaching Girls Basketball."

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Competent coaches inspire.  They help players love the game.  The more they love the game, the harder they’ll play, the more they’ll enjoy practice, and the more they’ll work to improve. Encouragement is the fuel that drives great accomplishment.  Have fans see your team go after 50-50 balls like somebody stole something from them and attack the basket like it’s the last game they’ll ever get to play.

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The X’s and O’s that count most are your execution of fundamentals and the moments your fans experience.  George Strait says it lyrically, “life’s not the breath you take...but the moments that take your breath away.”  Seeing a player explode to the basket off the dribble and score with their weak hand over a taller, athletic player is the moment that I coach for. 

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Pete Newell used to like to say, “they’re not cattle. Teach them why.”  Extending that analogy, cattle ‘playing hard’ are a stampede.  Players need direction to channel their skills.  Coaches need the relentless passion to make the dream reality.

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You need to have at least four different ways to get your best scorer into scoring situations.  You have to define this ahead of time.  For starters, you have isolation plays, back door cuts, a variety of ways to set up the pick-and-roll, staggered screens, double screens, slip screens, and so on.  The challenge isn’t to devise schemes that work, but develop the players who can execute them.