One of the most meaningful statistics a coach should look at is turnovers. How many did you force and how many did you have? Obviously you want to be + in that crucial category. Among my many shortcoming was
a failure to breakdown our turnovers by categories. How many were dribbling errors? How many were pivoting errors? How many passing and catching errors? I would include 3 second violations but I think they are no longer part of the rule book! (Just an editorial opinion.)
One of the things I found frustrating in coaching was when high school
players, with limited skills, tried to imitate college/pro players. Obviously,
College/pro players are, for the most part, highly skilled. Convincing
high school athletes that they should focus on mastering fundamental
skills can be a challenge at times.
Passing & Catching Observations (And I hope teaching points.)
A. Pass with TWO hands. Yes, this is a personal pet peeve of mine. I am not
saying you can't throw a one handed pass. In fact, we taught what called
a "flick" pass but it starts from holding the ball with TWO hands. I became
a bit "unglued" with the one hand pass off the dribble. I would tell player's
unless the ball has become a rather large yo yo you are committed. There
is no pass fake with a one handed pass off the dribble. Yes, I realize if you
throw a baseball pass it is one handed pass but you still begin the pass
with two hands on the ball.
B. Catch with TWO hands. Almost every high school game I watch I see the
ball turned over because the receiver of a pass sticks up one hand instead
of using two. LACK OF FOCUS AND JUST PLAIN LAZINESS GETS YOU BEAT.
C. Meet the pass. It is the responsibility of the receiver to shorten the length
of the pass. Forgive me for pointing this out, but it seems to me the less
time the ball is in the air, the less chance it will be deflected or intercepted.
Not all passing turnovers are the fault of the passer.
D. Don't leave your feet to pass the ball. You may or may not agree with this,
but if it was good enough for Morgan Wooten, it's good enough for me. I
know our athletes are capable of leaving their feet to execute a
pass but I have issues with it for at least two reason;
1) We teach our players to only leave your feet to shoot the ball and not to
pass it. We therefore want our players to begin moving into rebounding
areas when someone leaves their feet. So they are not expecting a pass.
2) When you leave your feet to pass you seldom come down in the same
spot and thus leave yourself vulnerable to committing a charging foul.
E. Fake a pass to make a pass. This teaching point is important when
attempting to feed the post. If the defender's hands are up ball fake to
"freeze" the hands then bounce pass by the defender. If his hands are
down, ball fake low and throw the ball by the defender.
F. Pass the ball AWAY from the defender. Most passes are being defended
and inexperience as well as poorly focused players will throw the ball
directly to the receiver as if he is not being guarded!
G. Catch and face. At the half court level, catch and get your eyes on the
rim.
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