Control?

One thing I've always noticed (and appreciated) about coaching the system is that by this point in the season, it runs almost on cruise control.  If you have trained your players in the various offensive and defensive options, they should by now have some sense of independence in how they play the game.

Conventional ball, on the other hand, has a strong element of coaching control in it.  The coach calls plays, substitutes players, changes defenses, calls timeouts.  It is very much "Coach-centric."  And, in my opinion, more stressful as a result.  Again, that's why many System coaches take a seat at the far end of the bench, illustrating that they are not--and don't need to be--in the center of the action during a game.

On our trip to Las Vegas last month, I chatted with the men's basketball coach from one of the colleges we were scheduled to play. (They were in men's bracket of the same tournament.) This coach was interested in our style, but commented, "I could never coach that way... there just doesn't seem to be an opportunity for the coach to control what happens on the court."

In fact, there is.  That opportunity is called "practice."