Don Meyer-12 Absolutes

12 ABSOLUTES OF DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE BASKETBALL

            Regardless of the style of basketball you play-full court, half court, motion offense, or a structured continuity type of offense, man defense, zone or match up, I believe there are 12 ABSOLUTES (6 defensive and 6 offensive) you need to accomplish at both ends of the floor if you wish to be successful in that phase of the game.  I believe these ABSOLUTES need to be clearly communicated to your players and they need to learn these ABSOLUTES and be able to tell you these without hesitation as they apply to your system or style of play. 

DEFENSIVE ABSOLUTES

• NO  EASY BASKETS whether in transition or the half court.  Make the opponent work and ear everything they get.
• NO 2^ND SHOTS of any kind.  Too may good defensive efforts are wasted because of failure to get the defensive rebound. This can be actually demoralizing in many situations.
• NO UNCONTESTED SHOTS- this goes back to #1 somewhat in that we don’t want to allow easy and free looks at the basket.  Don’t allow mediocre shooters to become good ones because you don’t contest the shot.
• NO PENETRATION into that paint/post area.  This means no penetration off the pass as well as the dribble. When the ball enters the middle of the floor and in particular the post area there are too many options available for offense. Try to limit the thins they can do by keeping it out of the middle.  If it does get in there then attack the ball and dig it out as quickly as possible.  Offensive rebounding is also a way a team can get the ball in this area and we have already said in #2 that can’t happen.
• PRESSURE THE BASKETBALL as much as possible. #3 certainly implies pressure on the shot.  Pressure the dribble, the pass, and the catch as well in order to take the individual or team out of their comfort area.  Making the people dribble, pass or catch going away from the basket is a good rule of thumb.  How much you are able to pressure may vary from game to game or year to year depending on your personnel, but going back to #1 were the opponent must earn everything they get is critical.  Make them work!
• COMMUNICATION kind of pulls it all together.  It lets you know that your players understand what it is you are trying to accomplish.  It creates a team cohesiveness and promotes unselfish play.  It says you are in this together and it takes everyone doing there part to be successful.

OFFENSIVE ABSOLUTES

• BEFUNDAMENTALLY SOUND in the basic skills of the game of basketball.  This means the ability to dribble , pass, catch, shoot and rebound the ball without mistakes.  It also means to ability to cut and screen, and space yourself properly.  If you cannot execute the fundamentals of the game it makes no difference what you try to do offensively, you won’t be successful.  John Wooden has always said you need to “quickly and properly execute the fundamentals of the game.”
• GET EASY BASKETS whenever possible.  This would apply to both transition basketball and half court basketball.  This can have a devasting effect on the opponent if you are able to get easy baskets time and time again and then they have to work to get any thing at the other end of the floor.
• SHOT SELECTION is a critical importance.  Take the shots you want, when you want, where you want, and who you want to take them.  Players need to know their roles, accept their roles and fulfill there roles to the best of their ability.  Basketball is not an equal opportunity sport!
• OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING can make up for a lot short comings.  Crash the boards with aggression and get at least 50% of all offensive rebounds available to you. It will have a demoralizing effect on the opponent.  Rebounding is how you win championships. 
• GET THE BALL INSIDE for the higher percentage shot.  The obvious way to get the ball inside is to feed the post.  However, driving the ball to the basket, getting into the lane area in transition, passing the ball to a cutter cutting through the lane, offensive  rebounding are other ways to get the ball inside.  All are excellent scoring opportunities that put constant pressure  on the defense.
• MAKE YOUR FREETHROWS whenever you get to the free throw line. Many coaches make it a goal to make more free throws that the opponent gets.  There is nothing wrong with that, but regardless of whether you are able to do that or not, you have to make your free throws when you get to the line.  It’s been said that 20% to 25% of a teams scoring opportunities come at the free throw line.  This is especially true at “crunch time” of the game.

These ABSOLUTES are not met to be a system of play.  They are meant to guide your thinking as you put together your system or style of play at both offensive and defensive ends of the floor.  As I have studied and watched teams and programs play over the years, it has become apparent to me that the successful programs, regardless of “style” incorporate the above ABSOLUTES into their offensive and defensive thinking and the result has been good, sound, successful basketball. 

Don Meyer Thoughts

 The three items below are thoughts we believe will be of value to coaches, players, and teams. 

     How To Avoid Grievances contains thoughts written by Coach John Wooden in a book called the Art of Living by Wilferd Peterson.  Coach Wooden has many thoughts inscribed in the book but these were some we thought would mean the most to coaches and players.  This book is on our top five list of books we suggest all coaches purchase.  To find the other four go to our website www.coachmeyer.com and punch the coaches corner and go to the must read book section of the coaches corner.

     The Mundanities of Excellence was taken from a clinic given by Paul Patterson of Taylor University at Valparaiso University.

Each fall Coach Keith Freeman and Coach Steve Bruce host a clinic for coaches and each year it is different in it's approach.

Coach Patterson is one of the finest coaches and men that I have ever had the chance to compete against and learn from.

His teams always exceed expectations and he does a better job out of getting more from less than any coach I know.

     The Creed of the Pack is a statement by the players on our 2002-2003 Wolves Basketball Team as to what is important to them and what they stand for.  Until a team can define WHAT'S US & WHAT'S NOT US it will never really have an identity.

Many of the basic thoughts for this creed come from 1st Corinthians 13:1-8. 

     Each of the three items in the newsletter speak in some way to team building.  There are basicall three things a coach does at any level.                      

                                      1)  Recruit

                                      2)  Team Build

                                      3)  Skill Development

We recruit when get the gym open in the evenings, on Saturdays, in the summer, and make our program special and unique.

Team building is an every day job and is the biggest thing we can ever do for the individuals in our programs.  Getting them involved in something bigger than themselves will teach lessons that will last a lifetime.  Skill development involves the fundamentals of the game on both ends of the floor and the mental approach to take the individual skills and perform them properly and quickly for the good of the team.

     We believe that there are four things essential for team building.     

                                                                                     1)   SHARED OWNERSHIP

                                                                                     2)   SHARED SUFFERING

                                                                                     3)   INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

                                                                                     4)   COLLECTIVE PRIDE

    The reason we like our Creed of the Pack is because it is our players.  They worked through it together and they own it.

Any time we can have our players lead by the veterans on our team make decisions we find that those decisions are well thought out and followed with a greater commitment because they own those ideas and decisions.   No, we don't let them drive the bus but we let them help decide how we will feed the team, warm-up before a game, clean up the locker room on the road, and clean up the bus when we get home.

     Shared suffering is key because it pulls us all together.  It is always we, us, and our vs. me, my and mine.  It is our team vs. my time.  The tough tasks and times in life teach the best and longest remembered lessons.  The strength gained by helping and carrying a teammate through tough times helps many a player when he encounters tough situations with his life and/or family.

     The only time we like to use the word individual in our program is when the word responsibility is tacked on the end of it.

We must all be accountable for our attitude and effort for the program to succeed.  This starts with the coaches and then on down from the internal leadership of your team to the rawest rookie.  We would like for each man to be his own captain.   We stress buddy work and buddy coaching with veterans responsible for one or two rookies but each player is ultimately responsible for the work ethic, work habits, and choices he makes on and off the floor.

     Collective pride simply means that team success is what gives us pride.  There is a saying I am fond of that says, "The only thing that can save us is humility".  In looking at the Creed of the Pack the word proud scared me some until I realized that the pride in the pack was an outgrowth of service and unselfish acts of  love listed in the lines above.

     HOW TO AVOID GRIEVANCES

1.   Get all the facts:  what went wrong…not who is to blame.

2.   Stay Calm:  find the solution together.  Do not permit emotion to take  

over.  Reason

3.   Criticize in private:  Listen if you want to be heard.  Disagree without being disagreeable.

4.   Commend before and perhaps after you criticize.  Help save face. 

5.   Keep your criticism constructive.

-Criticism is to correct, help, improve and prevent…not to punish.

-Treat all people with dignity and respect

When in charge; ponder

When in trouble; delegate

When in doubt; mumble

Looking back it seems to me

All the grief that had to be

Left me when the pain was ‘oer

Stronger than I had been before.

Handwritten inserts in John Wooden’s copy of THE ART OF LIVING

By Wilferd Peterson

The copy is forty years old.

CHAMPIONS AND THE MUNDANITY OF EXCELLENCE

Mundane:  Ordinary

Excellence:  Consistently Superior Performance

WHEN LEVELS CHANGE, DEMANDS CHANGE

The changes required to move to a higher level of performance are not quantitative. 

They are QUALITATIVE.

Higher Quality.  Much, Much, Higher Quality.

There is no surplus of quality

QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES TO PRODUCE EXCELLENCE

1.   TECHNIQUE

Champions are ordinary people who do ordinary things extraordinarily well.

2.   DISCIPLINE

Make the practice like games, and the games like practices. 

Coach’s job is to replicate game situations in practice…  Joe Paterno

3.   ATTITUDE OF A CHAMPION

What are they eager to do?  Not willing but eager is the key.

Champions don’t look at it as a sacrifice.  Champions choose to live as champions.

CHAMPIONS BECOME CHAMPIONS BECAUSE THEY DO WHAT CHAMPIONS HAVE TO DO!

Dick Bennett Thoughts

These notes are from a clinic at UW-Green Bay that I was at.  Listening to Coach Bennett is always a learning experience!

 

DICK BENNETT

• Learned everything through trial and error. Early on most of it failed.  You learn the most out of failure, if you can persist through it.
• "Men who achieve greatness do not work more complexly than the average man, but more simply In dealing with complex problems, with the simplicity that is natural to him he goes directly to the point, unaffected by the confusion of details in which another man would have lost himself."
• Recommended “War” by Sebastian Junger
• Collective defense can be so compelling-so addictive, in fact- that eventually it becomes the rationale for why the group exists in the first place. I think almost every man at Restrepo secretly hoped he enemy would make a seriously try at overrunning the place before the deployment came to an end. It was everyone’s worst nightmare but also the thing they hoped for most, some ultimate demonstration of the bond and fighting ability of the men”  From WAR by Junger
• Used this quote to talk about a defensive identity of a team
• If you can have a defensive identity then you will enjoy more success then you ever have before.
• Game Coaching-He was always up when they were on defense because he felt his players needed great motivation from the coaches.  Especially on the road
• Stay on top of the defense and let the offense take care of itself. (Cant be in their ear offensively)
• Wanted to make teams play offense for as long as possible, because offense wants to score as quickly as possible.

10 CONCEPTS

1. Eliminate Losing—What causes you to lose games?  Offensive rebounds, fouls, turnovers, lack of hustle…
2. Choose Personnel wisely—It’s a team game and everyone must put the team 1^st.  More enjoyable to coach & in the long run will make you more successful.  Can’t rehabilitate players at the college level. 
3. Importance of emphasis—Emphasize what matters most to you.  What is important to you?  It’s not what you know, its what THEY (your players) know
4. Players must understand

      -Anticipation is to defense as reaction is to offense

      -Getting Back is to defense as taking care of the all is to Offense

      -Protecting the lane is to defense as Penetration is to offense

5.   Rebounding, loose balls, and turnovers are the X factors—IF you chart 1 thing       it should be these things.  Difference between winning and losing.

6.   Need Non-Negotiatbles—Getting Back on Defense & Sureness with the ball.

7.   Offense must offer sound ball handling potential and an inside/outside     scoring potential.   BALANCE

8.   Quality is the standard of measurement… Evaluate Accordingly—“Don’t       accept in victory, what you wouldn’t in defeat.”  Have a standard

9.   Have an identity.

10. Which Character traits are important to you and your team?

  

• Everything you do and say has to be teachable
• Recruit/develop people of character
• Core Values: Servanthood, passion factor, humility, Unity (the ultimate test of how we play)
• Unity isn’t during team activities its evident on roadtrips when playing time is handed out.  Talk about unity and insist on it!
• “Are you gonna get up” talking about after a loss or a setback.
• Be thankful for defeats because you can learn more from them.

Following is from his last year at Washington State

Defense

• Get back
• Set our D
• Pressure the ball
• Pack off the ball (1 +4) 1 on ball, plus 4 their to help
• Block out and rebound
• Change the game on Defense

       Offense

• Catch & Pass with Sureness
• Run hard when we run
• Break the defense down (Screens, Cuts, Pass, Dribble)
• Take good shots
• Get back or get an offensive rebound

        Characteristics

• We will be humble
• We will be passionate
• We will be unified
• We will be servants
• We will be thankful

Thoughts from Bennett and Wooden

Dick Bennett’s Five Biblical Concepts

1. Don’t be lukewarm.

a. Don’t be spit out of someone’s mouth like lukewarm water.

b. Be passionate about things that matter.

c. Maintain an individual and team hunger.

2. Have the mentality of a servant.

a. Always look for an opportunity to serve.

b. It’s best to serve when you expect nothing in return.

3. Understand and practice humility.

a. James 3:13

b. Consider others better than yourself.

4. Never let the sun go down without resolving all bad situations.

            a. Say what needs to be said now, and then get on with your life.

            b. Don’t let pride hold you back-say you’re sorry.

            c. Live today with the assumption that it will be your last.

5. Maintain an attitude of thanksgiving.

            a. Be thankful for what you have.  Don’t waste time on jealousy.

            b. Consider every situation to be an opportunity for growth.

---Wash your hands of success.

---Success softens, deludes and weakens.

John Wooden

“The way to improve the team is to improve ourselves.” 

“I learned more coaching the year I had the worst record.”

“Do what you are supposed to and success will follow.”

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

“Teach the game, then let them play. Don’t over control.”

“The purpose of discipline is to correct, not punish.”

“I lost my temper but I never lost control.”

“Pay more attention to lesser players in practice.”

“Today’s coaches are too concerned with winning, I never talked about winning.  We played against our capabilities.”

“Don’t mistake activity for achievement.”

• Wooden’s Four Laws of Learning:” Explanation. Demonstration. Correction. Repetition.”

“Master the familiar.”

“Follow criticism with praise.”

“The best teacher is repetition, day after day.”

“Practice always against pressure.”

“Patience means sticking to your game plan.”

Nick Saban process

The scoreboard has nothing to do with the process. Each possession you look across at the opponent and commit yourself to dominate that person. It’s about individuals dominating the individuals they’re playing against. If you can do this…if you can focus on the one possession and wipe out the distractions…then you will be satisfied with the result.

Thoughts from Bob Hurley

Coach Hurley uses an acronym with his team PRIDE
• Preparation
◦ Must practice every situation that can occur in a game
◦ Team gains confidence from knowing that there is nothing that will happen in a game that they are
not prepared for
◦ Last two years in big moments in the state playoffs they have called timeout in front of their bench
and successfully run a sideline out of bounds play that they have rehearsed
• Repetition
◦ Must practice the fundamentals every day
◦ Coach Wooden made his teams execute fundamentals daily in painstaking detail
• Imitation
◦ If you see something that you like and it fits your style, use it
◦ Coach Hurley traveled to California to learn more about a zone defense that he saw and liked
◦ He used it two years ago in the States to help beat St. Patrick's
◦ Coach Parcells – have every coach say something positive to every player during the first fifteen
minutes of practice
• Defense
◦ In order to be successful your team must be committed to playing good defense
• Enthusiasm
◦ You must coach with passion
◦ Players need to see you are passionate and enthusiastic about what you are doing
◦ Your passion and enthusiasm will be contagious
• Social Media
◦ Coach Hurley's daughter monitors his current and former player's Facebook posts
◦ She makes sure that the players posts are appropriate and will not get them into trouble
◦ Coach Hurley requires his players to friend her