These notes, reflections and observations by Alan Keane (England u18 National Team Head Coach) from the FIBA U18 European Championship 2019 is too good not to share – much less to allow to get lost in the Twitterverse. Raw. Candid. Actionable. This is the kind of share that helps to deepen our collective perspective of …
Some of the most exciting plays in a basketball come from the inbound passer. Begs the question: If the inbound pass is so important, how are we as coaches developing this competency in players?
Many refer to it as POSITIONLESS play. Years ago, while working with Canada Basketball, we had referred to it as developing the ‘global’ player (i.e. players that could shoot, pass, and dribble from all positions). Perhaps, better said, it’s PERMISSION-LESS… players are no longer seeking permission to initiate from multiple positions, in multiple ways. Perhaps, …
At all levels of play, the principle verticality is difficult to officiate. It’s just as challenging to coach. Yet, just because it’s difficult does not mean it’s something that we should avoid teaching—especially since the ability to defend at the rim without fouling is the difference between winning and losing. So, what is the “rule of verticality” …
Separating fact from opinion is one of the hardest challenges coaches face. It’s human nature for perspective to be clouded. And, notions of effective coaching are not immune to the myths of success (e.g. falling prey to it’s always been done that way and struggling to distinguish between because of and in spite of.) “Stay down in your stance… Don’t cross your feet when …
“Imagine your reaction if, before a big game, the referees got all the players together from both teams and announced that, in addition to the usual rules of the game, they were going to call every player for a violation any time he got off-balance. An off-balance shot, a pivot against a double-team, a pass …
Beware of great plays. Common sense might seem to tell you that great plays make the difference between a good player and a mediocre player, but most coaches would disagree. More often, they would say, great plays (or the attempts to make great plays) are what make good players mediocre. Many players are mediocre because …
I’m going through some of my basketball clinic notes and came across this ‘checklist’ from Ettore Messina on post player development… Here are the five (5) questions any coach or young post player must be able to answer ‘Yes!’ to in order to be able to be a contributor on their basketball team. Can the …
There are a lot of basketball coaches — especially those working with youth basketball players — that get upset at their team when their players don’t secure the rebound. To an extent, that’s understandable. A good coach knows the value of possessions and that offensive and defensive rebounding will have a huge impact on the …