I'm not sure what criteria is used to determine if someone is a "legend" or not but I do know I have been extremely fortunate to have been influenced during my coaching days by some of the best. Let me share
a few "pearls" of wisdom from one of them ....
SEVEN THINGS THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOSE
1. Reaching on defense.
When you reach you tend to stop moving your feet! You also often
end up putting yourself out of position and destroy your balance.
2. Silence
Scared teams tend to be quiet teams. Most players can't shut up in
class yet when they step on the floor they are silent. Consider
teaching them "what to say." Teams that talk tend to be
intimidating!
3. Low Hands
Active high hands distract & deflect. Failure to closeout with hands
up will get you beat.
4. Over Helping by the "Bigs"
You want to help across NOT up. Bigs helping "up" leave the basket
unprotected!
5. Help Side Stands & Fails to Recover
You don't get beat on the help you get beat on the recovery!
6. Late to Help/Trap
Late to help is no help at all.
7. Lack of Floor Burns
If your players won't get on the floor, you are going to lose
possessions.
.... Dick Bennett
Dick Bennett was a highly successful coach at the University of Wisconsin
and revived the men's basketball program at Washington State. His son
Tony is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Virginia. I first heard him (Dick) speak at a FCA retreat in Colorado. At that time, he was teaching what I call the "up the line on the line" man defense and I really bought into it. He (Coach Dick Bennett) adapted as he moved up the coaching ladder and soon realized what may have been successful at
Wisconsin-Stevens Point would not be affective at the University of Wisconsin.
After Dick left the University of Wisconsin, he was replaced by Bo Ryan
who has since retired and was replaced by the current Badger coach
Greg Gard. Both Coach Ryan and Coach Gard pattern their defensive
approach after the "pack line" defense started by Dick Bennett.
The "blocker mover" man offense that Tony Bennett uses at the University of Virginia also comes from his father. In very simplistic terms, the blocker mover offense is about assigning roles to the five players on the floor. "Blockers" are screeners while "movers" are the players using those screens. Coach Dick Bennett used this offense way back in his Wisconsin-Stevens Point days.
If imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery, then Dick Bennett has
been highly respected and admired for a very long time. Many high school coaches in Wisconsin and Washington have program that were built around the "backline" defense and some form of motion offense adapted
from the blocker mover offense.
I have heard Dick Bennett speak in person and have several of his coaching
dvds. Regardless of your defensive and offensive philosophies I think you
can benefit from listening and viewing his work.
On a side note. Coach Dick Bennett and his son Tony have a very close relationship. If you do a goggle search, you can find information about
Dick's struggles with anxiety while watching his son coach. Its emotional and yet inspiring as they both deal with some issues that Dick has struggled with.
I don't know of ANYTHING I did defensively or offensively that I did not adapt
from someone else. Dick Bennett was one of those individuals I took ideas
and concepts from. Part of coaching is finding what will fit you then being
capable of adapting it to your current coaching situation.
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