Tool of the Day Archive December 2008

December 31 TRUE FREE THROW PERCENTAGE We like a stat that we call "True Free Throw Percentage" to illustrate the importance of one and ones.  We only use it within our team and don't use it to submit to the media for area stats, conference stats, etc... If a player misses a one and one, we count the second shot that he did not shoot as a miss as well.  So, missing the front end of a one and one counts as 0-2 in our true free throw percentage stat.  If a player misses a free throw on purpose at the end of the game (which hasn't happened very often), we don't count that as an attempt in TFP. We also count misses on lane violations as FTA (whether it was an offensive or defensive violation) and award a FTM if the shot goes in, but is taken away because one of our offensive players, other than the shooter himself commits a violation. The purpose of the statistic is to look at the potential points lost from missing front ends of one and ones and to make the free throw percentage reflect the shooter, not other factors. On a related note, we don't count half court or longer heaves at the end of a quarter as a field goal attempt for a player (unless it goes in).  We count it as a team attempt so that the number of missed shots, possessions, and rebounds comes out correctly on our stat sheet.  We don't want to penalize a player's shooting percentage for taking a shot as time is expiring unless it is a shot from a play that we have run or a shot we would take within the flow of our normal offense.

December 30 LAST SECOND SIDE OUT PLAY This is a sideline out of bounds play that the Phoenix Suns ran on Christmas to get a layup and take the lead near the end of the game.  Unfortunately for them, the Spurs had enough time left on the clock for Roger Mason to hit a three to win the game for San Antonio.  The Suns ran this for a basket late in a game earlier in the season, but had the 3 and 5 players from my diagram spaced beyond the three point arc opposite the side where the ball was being inbounded from.  In the version I have animated, they had Shaq (#5 in my diagram) backscreen for Jason Richardson (#3 in my diagram) which forced the defense to respect the lob.Phoenix Sideline Out of Bounds

December 29 FREE ED SCHILLING MANDATORY MOVES WEBINAR We hosted a webinar with Coach Ed Schililng. Coach Schilling broke the single game, season, and career assist records as a player at Miami (Ohio).  His coaching career has included stints as Head Coach at Wright State and as an assistant to John Calipari at UMass, with the New Jersey Nets, and at Memphis.  Coach Schilling is currently the director of Champions Academy where he has trained several current and former NBA and Division I players. You can listen to the audio archive here: http://hoopclinics.com/2009/ed-schilling-webinar/

December 26 QUESTIONS FOR CHOOSING A COLLEGE Here is something that we put in our players' notebooks for them to look at when choosing a college.  It is geared towards those who want to continue to play ball, but has good questions for anyone to consider, college athlete or not. It is one of those things that needs to be revised, but hopefully you and your players can get some ideas from it.Questions to Consider When Choosing a College.

December 23 CLIP FROM ED SCHILLING'S MANDATORY MOVES DVD Today's tool is a segment from the Mandatory Moves DVD just released by Coach Ed Schilling.  I have already watched it twice and think that it is one of the best I have seen for teaching individual moves to all levels of players in my 20 years in coaching. Here is a short segment from the DVD: Ed Schilling Mandatory Moves Sneak Peek

December 22 DAVE ODOM ZONE OFFENSE Here is a segment of a clinic on zone offense given by Dave Odom.  In the segment he discusses a way to distort a zone defense. Dave Odom Zone Offense.

December 18 INTENTIONAL UNINTENTIONAL FOULThis is a link to a blog entry as to how when and why we foul on purpose without getting called for an intentional foul. Intentional Unintentional Foul

December 17 MATURITY IS... Some thoughts that I feel are worth sharing with your team on maturity: Maturity Is...

December 16 PRESS OFFENSE CONCEPTS Regardless of what pattern or scheme you use to break a full court zone press, here are some concepts to consider applying to what you do to make it more effective: Press Offense Concepts

December 15 TOM CREAN STAGGERED DOUBLE BALL SCREEN Here is a ball screen play from Tom Crean that might interest you if you are looking to add some new wrinkles for the 2009 part of your schedule: Tom Crean Staggered Double Ball Screen.

December 12 POISE As everyone is starting to get into the big conference games, rivalry games, holiday tournaments, etc... I think it is very important to constantly coach players on keeping their composure.  I have posted some thoughts that we have shared with our teams for several years on POISE. Poise is an emotional peace which is seemingly inconsistent with the challenge at hand. Poise is developed rather than learned. Poise permits practice to render expected results. Poise is nearly invisible at its strongest, but obvious to all when absent. Click here to read the rest of the post

December 11 MORE REFLECTIVE FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGES I wrote a blog post today about what I consider better measures of a player's scoring effectiveness. The link is: Basketball Shooting Percentages

December 10 KILL BOXES AND POST FOOTWORK Ganon Baker is a tremendous teacher of both perimeter and post individual skills and moves.  Here are two sneak peeks at two of his videos.  In them, he makes three great teaching points: 1)  His terminology and explanation of what he calls "Kill Boxes" and using them as points of emphasis to where to work to get the ball to the lane. 2)  His terminology and teaching of footwork in the post regarding pivoting off the inside foot (confrontational) and off the outside foot (separational) 3)  His idea that for each move, a player (both post and perimeter) needs a counter as well. Click on the link below and then select the Perimeter Play Preview Tab and then the Post Play Preview Tab.  Watching the Perimeter Play Tab first will help with his terminology. You may have to scroll down depending on the size of your screen. Ganon Baker Post and Perimeter Play. Even if you are not interested in purchasing them, I think the samples on this page are worth taking a look at

December 9 ANOTHER TRANSITION IDEA My thought for today is that with some teams that were above average three point shooting teams, we have made 3 on 2 into 2 on 2 by having the ball handler drive to the block, having the wing runner on the ball side go to the corner three point arc and the wing runner on the opposite side of the ball go to the block opposite the ball.  If the player with the ball doesn't have an advantage to score at the basket, we then throw the inside out pass for a corner three.  We like that shot better because the shooter is already square to the pass and to the basket and it is tougher for the defense to recover to the corner.  Again, that is something that we have done with our 3 on 2 situations only with teams that had the skills to run it that way.

December 8 AVOIDING A NEEDLESS TURNOVER There are so few times that you have an advantage break out such as a 3 on 2 or 2 on 1, it is critical to score on them.  I believe that for a 3 on 2 situation, if the player in the middle of the floor is going to throw the ball to one of the players running on the wings, it is imperative that the player be drilled in making a jump stop before passing to keep from picking up a needless charging foul.  Being sloppy in this case can take away a basket.  There is not much the defense can do if they are outnumbered other than look to pick up an offensive foul.  This video from Geno Aureimma illustrates my thought with two players, but it is the same idea if there were another player on the left wing.  Whether you want the player with the ball to give it up at the arc or to get to the free throw line is a decision that depends on your beliefs and the age level you are coaching. Geno Auriemma--avoiding a charge.

December 5 DAILY DOZEN FOR YOUR TEAM LEADERS I have always looked for resources and ways to help our captains and other team leaders to make an impact on the team.  I really like this "Daily Dozen" as a resource to tweak to fit your team and your players to help your veterans be better leaders. It was written by Jeff Janssen, Janssen Sports Leadership Center. Daily to Do's for Team Leaders

December 4 TWO TOOLS TODAY As we get into the season, I think it is important to keep Thad Matta's number one goal for his coaching staff in mind.  "Every day strive to develop a lifelong relationship with all players, managers, and coaches that cannot be broken." From the Xs and Os side of things, if you are looking for some ideas for half court trap defense or offense to break a half court trap, check out our the post that Josh Stinson has on our partner site Perfect Practice: Half Court Trap Defense and Offense

December 3 THE NATURE OF SUCCESS Here is this month's Simple Truths Movie.  Please make sure you have your speakers turned on. The Nature of Success Here is a link to the previous ones we have sent out:  (You will need to click on the "Inspiration" Tab) once you get there. Previous Inspirational Movies. One final follow up from the two e-book quotes that we have put together.  Coach Ron Welch from Kalamazoo Community College has a quote of the day each practice for his Women's team.  In order to emphasize it, twice each practice he will ask a player to recite it and explain what it means to her.  If they are not able to do that, they do some "character building" (a.ka. running).  If the players get it right, they end practice early. If you did not get the first e-book quote in an e-mail when you subscribed to our e-mail service, you can download it here: Coaching Toolbox Quotes Volume I. If you would like to get Quotes Volume II, you can do so by telling two friends about our site.  You can do that by clicking: Tell A Friend

December 2 JAMIE DIXON REBOUNDING DRILL This week's drill is a rebounding Drill from Jamie Dixon Jamie Dixon Rebounding Drill. As always scroll down the page and make sure that your speakers are on. If you read the page in addition to watching the drill, it gives a brief summary of some of his ideas and philosophies regarding practice drills.  I believe that all of us put thought into the structure of our drills that we can come up with a system to get our players competing against their teammates, their own personal bests in a particular drill, or against a standard that you establish.

December 1 DICK BENNETT IDEA Coach Bennett simulated game halftimes in practice by stopping and shooting free throws for ten to fifteen minutes to simulate the cooling down that their bodies experienced during halftime.  They then warmed back up and worked to regain the same intensity and concentration that they were playing with prior to the practice "halftime." I think that having this second half of practice also allows you to simulate adjustments that you might need to make at halftime for the opponent that you are preparing to play next.