I left right after practice tonight and headed back home to catch the second half of ONU vs. Purdue-Calumet, a battle for first place in the CCAC.
After managing to sneak in unnoticed, I parked myself in an upper corner of the bleachers opposite the bench, happy to see Olivet start the second half with a 59-50 lead. ONU stretched it to 12, using an "Off" press against PCU's unusual press attack, in which they spread out in the back court and then flashed one or both of the deep receivers up to provide options for the inbounder. I guess "Off" worked pretty well against it, because Olivet forced 37 turnovers, making me proud of the great job that my former assistant and now head coach Lauren Stamatis is doing!
Offensively, ONU had to attack a 1-3-1 zone all night, and did a nice job moving the ball and spotting up in the curl and fade spots for open threes. They also penetrated effectively, something many system teams seem to forget about against zones, but which ONU used to good advantage.
I hear the final score was ONU 108- PCU 100, but I must confess that I couldn't take it. I was a basket case watching my old team play, and had to leave with 8 minutes to play. Call me a coward, but now I comprehend the truth of what my wife told me when I got home:
"Now you understand what I went through for 14 years!"
Thursday, January 3, 2013
ORBs
NCC 90- ELMHURST 97
93 FGAs
39 Threes
32% ORBs
38 Turnovers
+26 Shots
Comments: When you force 38 turnovers and create a +26 shot differential, you ought to win. Unfortunately we came up short in our first conference game on the road. We did a nice job in the second half, coming from 22 down to cut the lead to 4 points, but if you've learned how to interpret our "Formula Goals" above, you can easily see that ORBs were once again our Achilles heel.
I've said for years that offensive rebounding is the Rodney Dangerfield of basketball statistics... it gets no respect. Most coaches in conventional basketball don't even keep this stat, and if they do they are only concerned with the raw total ("We got 12 O-Boards tonight!"), not being aware that ORB's must be calculated relative to total missed shots in order for the stat to be meaningful.
Anyway, last night we only had 6 ORBs at halftime for a stellar 19%. No wonder we were down. In the second half we captured 45% and that accounts for our improved second half performance (outscoring Elmhurst 49-44). And by the way, we didn't do any rebounding drills in the second half. Offensive rebounding is not about technique and drilling... it's about desire and awareness.
Moral of the story: Offense sells tickets... but offensive rebounding wins games.
93 FGAs
39 Threes
32% ORBs
38 Turnovers
+26 Shots
Comments: When you force 38 turnovers and create a +26 shot differential, you ought to win. Unfortunately we came up short in our first conference game on the road. We did a nice job in the second half, coming from 22 down to cut the lead to 4 points, but if you've learned how to interpret our "Formula Goals" above, you can easily see that ORBs were once again our Achilles heel.
I've said for years that offensive rebounding is the Rodney Dangerfield of basketball statistics... it gets no respect. Most coaches in conventional basketball don't even keep this stat, and if they do they are only concerned with the raw total ("We got 12 O-Boards tonight!"), not being aware that ORB's must be calculated relative to total missed shots in order for the stat to be meaningful.
Anyway, last night we only had 6 ORBs at halftime for a stellar 19%. No wonder we were down. In the second half we captured 45% and that accounts for our improved second half performance (outscoring Elmhurst 49-44). And by the way, we didn't do any rebounding drills in the second half. Offensive rebounding is not about technique and drilling... it's about desire and awareness.
Moral of the story: Offense sells tickets... but offensive rebounding wins games.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Break 'em down, build 'em up
Something most people don't know about me is that when I was in college I was a member of the Men's Glee Club, an all male choral group. I joined Men's Glee only after the basketball coach informed me (via a cut list) that he really didn't need any 6-3 centers on his team.
But our director, Mr. Halvorsen, was a great teacher who made learning easy and fun. (He was so good that we referred to him as "Coach.") Under him, we committed dozens of pieces of music to memory, and I never forgot the teaching method he used: whole-part-whole.
First, Coach would have our accompanist play the entire piece through on the piano, as we followed along by reading our part in the musical score. Then starting with the basses, he would have the pianist play the first line of their part only, after which the basses would sing their part. Then the baritones would do the same, after which Coach would have the basses and baritones combine their parts and sing together. He would repeat this process with the first and second tenors, and finally put all four parts together before moving on to the next line.
Part by part, we would put the entire number together, committing it to memory while he gave us constant feedback to smooth off the rough edges. We would review and polish the piece the next day, and return to it as often as possible in the days leading up to a concert, making sure we were sharp. And that is what coaching is... demonstrate the big picture, break it down, build it up, review and polish until it's perfect.
I'm not as patient as Coach was. I get irritated with poor execution... but not frustrated. Irritation is just my natural mode of coaching, and reflects my personality and my perfectionistic nature. I get irritated because I want players to execute flawlessly at game speed. Flawlessly, at game speed. That's the standard and until that happens, I'm not particularly warm and fuzzy, though I DO like praising even imperfect attempts as long as I'm seeing effort, concentration, and improvement.
But I don't get frustrated. Frustration implies there's nothing the coach can do to get the team to execute, resulting in a feeling of helplessness. No. You are never helpless. There is always always something you can do to get your team to execute flawlessly at game speed (or at least moving in that direction). What can you do? Break them down, build them up. Whole-part-whole.
Players will execute precisely as well as you expect them to... precisely as well as you demand they do. There's always a way to get better.
But our director, Mr. Halvorsen, was a great teacher who made learning easy and fun. (He was so good that we referred to him as "Coach.") Under him, we committed dozens of pieces of music to memory, and I never forgot the teaching method he used: whole-part-whole.
First, Coach would have our accompanist play the entire piece through on the piano, as we followed along by reading our part in the musical score. Then starting with the basses, he would have the pianist play the first line of their part only, after which the basses would sing their part. Then the baritones would do the same, after which Coach would have the basses and baritones combine their parts and sing together. He would repeat this process with the first and second tenors, and finally put all four parts together before moving on to the next line.
Part by part, we would put the entire number together, committing it to memory while he gave us constant feedback to smooth off the rough edges. We would review and polish the piece the next day, and return to it as often as possible in the days leading up to a concert, making sure we were sharp. And that is what coaching is... demonstrate the big picture, break it down, build it up, review and polish until it's perfect.
I'm not as patient as Coach was. I get irritated with poor execution... but not frustrated. Irritation is just my natural mode of coaching, and reflects my personality and my perfectionistic nature. I get irritated because I want players to execute flawlessly at game speed. Flawlessly, at game speed. That's the standard and until that happens, I'm not particularly warm and fuzzy, though I DO like praising even imperfect attempts as long as I'm seeing effort, concentration, and improvement.
But I don't get frustrated. Frustration implies there's nothing the coach can do to get the team to execute, resulting in a feeling of helplessness. No. You are never helpless. There is always always something you can do to get your team to execute flawlessly at game speed (or at least moving in that direction). What can you do? Break them down, build them up. Whole-part-whole.
Players will execute precisely as well as you expect them to... precisely as well as you demand they do. There's always a way to get better.
Back from the Break!
I always love coming back from Christmas break.
Players are refreshed and although our timing is typically sloppy the first few days, there's no substitute for fresh legs. In addition, something seems to happen during the time off, like a gestation period. Everything they learned in the fall semester percolates and we often have our best performances right after the break.
So, our first two practices have been good as we work on the fast break and our press. We know that it will take some time to get back to the level of conditioning we had before Christmas, and working on the break is the way we did it on Sunday evening, using our "Fast Break Cycles" drill (2 1/2 cycles, with a different player shooting on each possession), and the "5/5 Blockout" drill (rebound and break off a coaches shot, 1 cycle, no press, then reset).
Yesterday we reviewed the press and I still really like our "Free Throw Press" drill for that purpose. Our defensive team shoots a free throw, and presses the opponent whether the shot is made or missed. Once the ball crosses halfcourt, the offensive team must align in a spread-delay set (2-1-2 alignment) and attempt to hold the ball (no shot allowed) while we work to take away lag and high post passes.
We use the shot clock in this drill, putting up 15 seconds and starting it when the opponent first touches the ball. We then have 15 seconds to force a turnover, and will work on our "Fast Break after a steal" situation if that occurs. This drill is the most realistic way we know of teaching players to prevent an opponent from holding the ball on us, as failure to take away lags becomes very apparent. We must constantly remind players during defensive transition that they must run to a person (trap, lag or high post) rather than sprinting back inside the arc first, which is their initial instinct.
We've made a lot of progress in this area, and many others, but with the new semester and the beginning of conference play on Wednesday, we'll see how far we've come, and whether the "light bulb" is ready to come on.
Players are refreshed and although our timing is typically sloppy the first few days, there's no substitute for fresh legs. In addition, something seems to happen during the time off, like a gestation period. Everything they learned in the fall semester percolates and we often have our best performances right after the break.
So, our first two practices have been good as we work on the fast break and our press. We know that it will take some time to get back to the level of conditioning we had before Christmas, and working on the break is the way we did it on Sunday evening, using our "Fast Break Cycles" drill (2 1/2 cycles, with a different player shooting on each possession), and the "5/5 Blockout" drill (rebound and break off a coaches shot, 1 cycle, no press, then reset).
Yesterday we reviewed the press and I still really like our "Free Throw Press" drill for that purpose. Our defensive team shoots a free throw, and presses the opponent whether the shot is made or missed. Once the ball crosses halfcourt, the offensive team must align in a spread-delay set (2-1-2 alignment) and attempt to hold the ball (no shot allowed) while we work to take away lag and high post passes.
We use the shot clock in this drill, putting up 15 seconds and starting it when the opponent first touches the ball. We then have 15 seconds to force a turnover, and will work on our "Fast Break after a steal" situation if that occurs. This drill is the most realistic way we know of teaching players to prevent an opponent from holding the ball on us, as failure to take away lags becomes very apparent. We must constantly remind players during defensive transition that they must run to a person (trap, lag or high post) rather than sprinting back inside the arc first, which is their initial instinct.
We've made a lot of progress in this area, and many others, but with the new semester and the beginning of conference play on Wednesday, we'll see how far we've come, and whether the "light bulb" is ready to come on.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Halftime!
Sorry for the long break since my last blog post, but we've been at a tournament in Las Vegas all week and I just got back. I'm headed out for some family time in the morning, too, and we'll be back up and running at NCC on Dec 30, so I won't post again until then. But here are our Vegas results...
NCC 75- UW OSHKOSH 95
74 FGAs
32 Threes
23% ORBs
30 TOs
+8 Shots
Goals met: ZERO
COMMENTS: You can see how we struggled again to get ORBs. But after the game we watched film and I think the kids are finally starting to understand that against good teams you have to WILL yourself to get to the boards.
Oshkosh was very sound defensively, but we didn't do ourselves any favors with our offensive spacing: instead of playing on the fades and curls, we were positioning ourselves at the wings and curls...Oh, but wait! We don't have a wing spot. Maybe that's why we didn't have any room to break down the defense with penetration.
Oshkosh was also one of the first opponents who has tried to run a ball control game plan on us, using a Spread-Delay 2-1-2 set, and our defensive reactions were just too slow to keep them from holding the ball on us (thus the slow tempo and low FGAs).
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why you need to play a tough schedule in the pre-season. They expose your weaknesses and force you to improve. Some of our previous opponents were weaker, and we frankly got away with playing half-speed defensively. A good team will burn you, but that's how you learn! As I always told my teams at ONU, "The key to success is failure."
NCC 104- GOUCHER 90
95 FGAs
52 Threes
33% ORBs (60% in the second half!)
33 TOs
+14 shots
GOALS MET: 4
COMMENTS: Much better performance against a very athletic Goucher team. They attacked the press exactly opposite of the way UW-Oshkosh did in yesterday's game: got it in to their quick PG and split traps all day. Maybe we learned a lesson... against Spread-Delay pass oriented press breakers, you have to get up in their grill and force them to dribble and make bad passes, but versus teams trying to beat your press with speed, you must play the trap by keeping a cushion and containing the ball-handler, without giving in to the temptation to reach for the ball, which just doesn't work against quick guards.
In general, we felt really good about the win, and about our third 100 point game in the past four games. Now we head home for the Christmas break and are looking forward to the beginning of the CCIW season starting on January 2nd! But before taking a brief holiday blogging sabbatical, I wanted to quickly recap the fall semester by assessing where we I think are right now:
Exactly where we should be. One of the things that relaxes me as a coach is understanding that it's nonsense to tell yourself, "We ought to be better." No, you are exactly as good as you have any right to expect, given your talent level, practice habits, and strength of schedule. So don't waste any emotional energy thinking you should be better than you are. As my older cousin Darrell told me on the golf course when I was 13, "Doug, you aren't good enough yet to be getting this upset about playing bad." Point taken.
BUT, regardless of where you are at this point in the season, you should be getting better. You should be seeing improvement, and you should be pretty close to the "light bulb" phase of the season, where almost overnight the players seem to just get it, taking a quantum leap forward in their execution, and in their confidence. That's one thing you'll notice about System teams: barring serious injuries, they almost always are a lot better in January and February than they were in November.
You might respond by saying, "Isn't that true of all basketball teams?" No, it isn't. A lot of non-System teams actually get worse late in the season because of the physical and emotional toll of grinding practices and lack of PT from your bottom five, who tend to then create drama's that eat away at your practice work ethic and game success. System teams, on the other hand, tend to be (for the most part) comparatively happy. Happy players are more productive players, I think, because fun is a pretty good motivator.
In addition, from a technical standpoint the other thing that makes System teams better in the second half of the season is that
In other words, your team after Christmas break will be happier, fresher, and smarter. Why shouldn't they win?
So, until December 30, Merry Christmas!
NCC 75- UW OSHKOSH 95
74 FGAs
32 Threes
23% ORBs
30 TOs
+8 Shots
Goals met: ZERO
COMMENTS: You can see how we struggled again to get ORBs. But after the game we watched film and I think the kids are finally starting to understand that against good teams you have to WILL yourself to get to the boards.
Oshkosh was very sound defensively, but we didn't do ourselves any favors with our offensive spacing: instead of playing on the fades and curls, we were positioning ourselves at the wings and curls...Oh, but wait! We don't have a wing spot. Maybe that's why we didn't have any room to break down the defense with penetration.
Oshkosh was also one of the first opponents who has tried to run a ball control game plan on us, using a Spread-Delay 2-1-2 set, and our defensive reactions were just too slow to keep them from holding the ball on us (thus the slow tempo and low FGAs).
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why you need to play a tough schedule in the pre-season. They expose your weaknesses and force you to improve. Some of our previous opponents were weaker, and we frankly got away with playing half-speed defensively. A good team will burn you, but that's how you learn! As I always told my teams at ONU, "The key to success is failure."
NCC 104- GOUCHER 90
95 FGAs
52 Threes
33% ORBs (60% in the second half!)
33 TOs
+14 shots
GOALS MET: 4
COMMENTS: Much better performance against a very athletic Goucher team. They attacked the press exactly opposite of the way UW-Oshkosh did in yesterday's game: got it in to their quick PG and split traps all day. Maybe we learned a lesson... against Spread-Delay pass oriented press breakers, you have to get up in their grill and force them to dribble and make bad passes, but versus teams trying to beat your press with speed, you must play the trap by keeping a cushion and containing the ball-handler, without giving in to the temptation to reach for the ball, which just doesn't work against quick guards.
In general, we felt really good about the win, and about our third 100 point game in the past four games. Now we head home for the Christmas break and are looking forward to the beginning of the CCIW season starting on January 2nd! But before taking a brief holiday blogging sabbatical, I wanted to quickly recap the fall semester by assessing where we I think are right now:
Exactly where we should be. One of the things that relaxes me as a coach is understanding that it's nonsense to tell yourself, "We ought to be better." No, you are exactly as good as you have any right to expect, given your talent level, practice habits, and strength of schedule. So don't waste any emotional energy thinking you should be better than you are. As my older cousin Darrell told me on the golf course when I was 13, "Doug, you aren't good enough yet to be getting this upset about playing bad." Point taken.
BUT, regardless of where you are at this point in the season, you should be getting better. You should be seeing improvement, and you should be pretty close to the "light bulb" phase of the season, where almost overnight the players seem to just get it, taking a quantum leap forward in their execution, and in their confidence. That's one thing you'll notice about System teams: barring serious injuries, they almost always are a lot better in January and February than they were in November.
You might respond by saying, "Isn't that true of all basketball teams?" No, it isn't. A lot of non-System teams actually get worse late in the season because of the physical and emotional toll of grinding practices and lack of PT from your bottom five, who tend to then create drama's that eat away at your practice work ethic and game success. System teams, on the other hand, tend to be (for the most part) comparatively happy. Happy players are more productive players, I think, because fun is a pretty good motivator.
In addition, from a technical standpoint the other thing that makes System teams better in the second half of the season is that
- their offense flows more smoothly because roles are being accepted and players aren't needing to think as much, and
- their defense starts to anticipate better and players begins to intercept or deflect to those passes they were just missing a month earlier.
In other words, your team after Christmas break will be happier, fresher, and smarter. Why shouldn't they win?
So, until December 30, Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Paranoia and Game Plans
You know from my previous comments that I love Football Coaches, but goodness gracious, they are one paranoid group of individuals.
I always get a kick out of watching the head coach or his offensive coordinator hold up a 4-color, laminated game plan by which to cover their mouths as they radio in the next play to their quarterbacks. No doubt in the devious world of pro and college football, they must go to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves from the opposing team's Coach-in-charge-of-Lipreading.
Admittedly, I did very much enjoy working as team manager for my college's head football coach, Dewey King. Dewey was a wonderful, gruff man... and as paranoid as the rest of them when it came to varsity contests on Saturday afternoon. But he also called plays for the JV games on Monday evening, where he had a decidedly less suspicious nature (Nobody gets fired for losing JV games).
Dewey would send in the play via messenger guard: "Split Right Pro Slot Near, Tricky Red X Flash Z Whirligig 436 Whammo" (You know how FB coaches just love their play-calling terminology!) If the play made 10 yards, Dewey forgot all about his Football Coaches Creedo to be sneaky, and just yelled out, for all the world to hear, "RUN IT AGAIN!" And he would keep doing that until the opponent figured out how to stop the play. But normally, those sacred game plans and play calls are double-top secret to Football Coaches.
I, too, like creating a game plan, having made this a habit over the past 15 years. Here's my process:
First, I tear out a sheet of paper from a yellow legal pad, fold it in half, then again into thirds to make a trifold that will fit in my shirt or jacket pocket (no laminating required). Next, I take out my pencil (one color only), and divide the front cover of the tri-fold into 4 quadrants. In the upper left quadrant goes a list of our offensive attacks: Zone offense, Man offense, Dead Ball plays, and our Delay Game. In the top right quadrant I list the defenses: On and Off presses (plus any press variations we are using for this game), and our blowout or lead-protect defense (usually a 2-3 zone).
In the lower left quadrant go our Sideline and Underneath Out of Bounds plays, and any last shot special plays we might (or might not) have ready for that game. For easy reference, I circle any of the OB plays that can be used versus a zone. Finally, in the lower right quadrant I write the opposing team, their coach, the date, and the names of the three officials so I know who I'm yelling at during the game.
On the back of this tri-fold I draw a half-court diagram and place on it the number's of our opponent's starting five. Next to their numbers, I write the names of the five players in our "Finishing Group."
I then open up one of the flaps and write on the inside of the plan any key things I want the team to focus on for this game. Usually, like every game, I write
"REBOUND!!!" along with a brief list of what we expect the opponent to do (1-3-1 Zone, 3-up Press Break).
During the game, while I'm sitting there on the end of the bench watching the world go by, I'll occasionally pull out the plan, and jot down (again, on the inside flap) any ideas or problems I see with our play, things to be corrected at the next practice. Usually, I list things like "REBOUND!!!" or "PGs get to the rim!" or "We have no IDEA how to run OB 4!!!" etc, etc.
The odd thing is that I almost never refer to my plan during the game. But if I didn't have it in my pocket, I'd feel unprepared to make those few decisions necessary during a typical System game. I must confess that it has become something of a superstition with me to go through this planning process, like tying my right shoe first before every game... or was it my left???? Oh no, I'm doomed!
So, yes, just like my paranoid Football Coaching friends, I too have a mental problems, and I too have a Super-Secret Game Plan of Universal Enlightenment... but I still don't use it to hide my mouth from the lip readers.
I always get a kick out of watching the head coach or his offensive coordinator hold up a 4-color, laminated game plan by which to cover their mouths as they radio in the next play to their quarterbacks. No doubt in the devious world of pro and college football, they must go to extraordinary lengths to protect themselves from the opposing team's Coach-in-charge-of-Lipreading.
Admittedly, I did very much enjoy working as team manager for my college's head football coach, Dewey King. Dewey was a wonderful, gruff man... and as paranoid as the rest of them when it came to varsity contests on Saturday afternoon. But he also called plays for the JV games on Monday evening, where he had a decidedly less suspicious nature (Nobody gets fired for losing JV games).
Dewey would send in the play via messenger guard: "Split Right Pro Slot Near, Tricky Red X Flash Z Whirligig 436 Whammo" (You know how FB coaches just love their play-calling terminology!) If the play made 10 yards, Dewey forgot all about his Football Coaches Creedo to be sneaky, and just yelled out, for all the world to hear, "RUN IT AGAIN!" And he would keep doing that until the opponent figured out how to stop the play. But normally, those sacred game plans and play calls are double-top secret to Football Coaches.
I, too, like creating a game plan, having made this a habit over the past 15 years. Here's my process:
First, I tear out a sheet of paper from a yellow legal pad, fold it in half, then again into thirds to make a trifold that will fit in my shirt or jacket pocket (no laminating required). Next, I take out my pencil (one color only), and divide the front cover of the tri-fold into 4 quadrants. In the upper left quadrant goes a list of our offensive attacks: Zone offense, Man offense, Dead Ball plays, and our Delay Game. In the top right quadrant I list the defenses: On and Off presses (plus any press variations we are using for this game), and our blowout or lead-protect defense (usually a 2-3 zone).
In the lower left quadrant go our Sideline and Underneath Out of Bounds plays, and any last shot special plays we might (or might not) have ready for that game. For easy reference, I circle any of the OB plays that can be used versus a zone. Finally, in the lower right quadrant I write the opposing team, their coach, the date, and the names of the three officials so I know who I'm yelling at during the game.
On the back of this tri-fold I draw a half-court diagram and place on it the number's of our opponent's starting five. Next to their numbers, I write the names of the five players in our "Finishing Group."
I then open up one of the flaps and write on the inside of the plan any key things I want the team to focus on for this game. Usually, like every game, I write
"REBOUND!!!" along with a brief list of what we expect the opponent to do (1-3-1 Zone, 3-up Press Break).
During the game, while I'm sitting there on the end of the bench watching the world go by, I'll occasionally pull out the plan, and jot down (again, on the inside flap) any ideas or problems I see with our play, things to be corrected at the next practice. Usually, I list things like "REBOUND!!!" or "PGs get to the rim!" or "We have no IDEA how to run OB 4!!!" etc, etc.
The odd thing is that I almost never refer to my plan during the game. But if I didn't have it in my pocket, I'd feel unprepared to make those few decisions necessary during a typical System game. I must confess that it has become something of a superstition with me to go through this planning process, like tying my right shoe first before every game... or was it my left???? Oh no, I'm doomed!
So, yes, just like my paranoid Football Coaching friends, I too have a mental problems, and I too have a Super-Secret Game Plan of Universal Enlightenment... but I still don't use it to hide my mouth from the lip readers.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
My Favorite Goal
NCC 110- Dominican 68
102 FGAs
45 Threes
46% ORBs
43 TOs
+40 Shots
Versus a struggling Dominican team, we nevertheless had a quality outing. Earlier in the week when we defeated a weak MSOE squad, we didn't feel as good about the win, but at least we are scoring some points now, and the reason is...
Rebounding and turnovers. Of course. As I've mentioned many times, there's no more important stat in System basketball than offensive rebounding, and you know a good performance when you see it unfolding, even before looking at the stat sheet. Players are flying to the boards on every shot, tenacious in their efforts to outhustle opponents to every loose ball.
The 110 points--pulling the press with 10 minutes to go--and our 102 FGAs (both new team records) were the most significant indications of how much better we rebounded and played defense this game, as each ORB and forced TO results in one more shot for our side. We also reduced our fouling, with DU shooting only 18 three throws, and that kept the game moving, which led to meltdown, which led to extra shots, etc.
It felt really good to get a quality win under our belts, and as I glanced back over the stat sheet just now, I can see why it felt so satisfying. We met my very favorite non-Formula goal...
All seventeen players scored.
102 FGAs
45 Threes
46% ORBs
43 TOs
+40 Shots
Versus a struggling Dominican team, we nevertheless had a quality outing. Earlier in the week when we defeated a weak MSOE squad, we didn't feel as good about the win, but at least we are scoring some points now, and the reason is...
Rebounding and turnovers. Of course. As I've mentioned many times, there's no more important stat in System basketball than offensive rebounding, and you know a good performance when you see it unfolding, even before looking at the stat sheet. Players are flying to the boards on every shot, tenacious in their efforts to outhustle opponents to every loose ball.
The 110 points--pulling the press with 10 minutes to go--and our 102 FGAs (both new team records) were the most significant indications of how much better we rebounded and played defense this game, as each ORB and forced TO results in one more shot for our side. We also reduced our fouling, with DU shooting only 18 three throws, and that kept the game moving, which led to meltdown, which led to extra shots, etc.
It felt really good to get a quality win under our belts, and as I glanced back over the stat sheet just now, I can see why it felt so satisfying. We met my very favorite non-Formula goal...
All seventeen players scored.
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