Shot Allocation vs Shot Distribution

in honor of Coach Rick Majerus

When I think of Coach Majerus the first image that pops into my mind is the image of a 300 lb man sweating through a t-shirt while giving a presentation at a camp in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a warm day and even warmer for Coach Majerus. If you are a true basketball junkie, I would suggest you read his book if you have not already done so. The title of his book is, "My Life on a Napkin." The day I heard him speak his topic was post play and unfortunately, we were not allowed to record his segment. It was an amazingly detailed presentation on post play. There was no need for notes or handouts. In minutes, he had all of us coaches in the palm of his hand. We were awed by his knowledge and passion for the game. You just can't fake passion. If you do a quick search you can find dvd's and articles on such things as 4 out 1 in motion offense and the triangle and two defense

he used at Utah. I even have an old cassette he made on zone offense.

"I was WIDE OPEN!"

He was much like Don Meyer for me personally. I could not listen to Coach Majerus and not learn something. One phrase he often repeated when he spoke about offense was "shot allocation vs shot distribution." I, of course, being a bit dense just let the phrase go by without giving much thought about what it meant and how it might influence how you play.

Let's assume your team gets 60 shots in a game and you play 8 players. Do you want the shots distributed equally say each starter gets 10 shots and the 6-8 players get 10 total. My guess is you know if you follow this train of thought it going to lead your team into more defeats than victories. Your best offensive players are going to be allotted more shots than those players who cannot/do not shoot well. After the game, is when you can determine what happened in terms of shot distribution. Shot distribution is about who actually took the shots. When you look at the shot chart(s) after

the game, did your best shooters take the most shots?

Several years ago we had a last shot situation in which the third best shooter on the floor took the last shot. It was my fault. I allowed the team to play with the last possession because I was concerned if we called a

timeout the opposition would change their defense. What was most disappointing to me was the players on the floor did not understand who should have taken the last shot and that was my fault.

Whenever you question a player as to why he took a shot he invariable says because I was WIDE OPEN! (I often bit my tongue, because I wanted to say .... "there was a reason you were wide open.") Some people you guard by not guarding them! There are some coaches who believe their team benefits

more from taking a poor shot rather than take the risk of turning the ball

over. I understand players need to have confidence to be effective shooters

and I know coaches need to believe in their player's shooting ability BUT there are times you need to address who, what and when shots are taken or

you are not only doing a disservice to your team but also to the player.

Keeping shooting statistics in practice can be a good starting point in having a conversation with players about shot selection. I have a drill some coaches use in which shooters can earn "a three point license." I always like the idea of EARNING the right to do something. Yea, I know I am "old school."

Another drill we used in camp was called 3 minute 3's. Each shooter sees how many 3's they can make in 3 minutes. They rebound their own shot. You determine how many attempts they must have in 3 minutes. I strongly

suggest another player counts the attempts and makes. Record the results

and determine the percentage standard you want each player to reach.