Coach's Note Issue #4 January 10, 2017

Coach’s Note – At the end of the last newsletter I mentioned that we are developing and improving with a “growth mindset.”  I am happy to focus your attention on the team’s continued improvement.  Sometimes we are outscored by an opponent but still are successful. On the other hand, sometimes we will outscore an opponent and fail miserably because we really did not improve or play as a group.  Our game against Portland was a success on many levels.  The players were challenged at half time to play with intensity and enthusiasm and not let the opponent come back.  We have a group of very nice boys that sometimes lay back a little if we are beating someone.  We want to be classy but also make sure we are getting better at different aspects of the game.  So, beating someone by 13 at half like we were at Portland is not good enough if our desire is to continue to develop into a team that can compete with better teams.  To their credit, your sons responded really well and ended up winning by 37 points by playing aggressive, selfless basketball.

What your son and our team have been working on:  We have been working on adding a zone press to our toolbox.  Our zone press is a 2-2-1 and is called “22.”  We will be utilizing this press in the next few games.  We want to be able to pressure our opponents into uncomfortable spots and force them to play at a pace at which they make mistakes. It may give them some easy baskets at the beginning of games (we will try to stop this) but if deployed properly, it will force our opponent to wear out by the end of the game.

Some of the concepts to look for when we are pressing in 22:

• ·         Keep the ball out of the middle: We will work to deny the inbound and then force the ball up the sideline.  If the ball gets thrown forward, into the middle, someone made a mistake.  We will also try to keep them from dribbling into the middle.
• ·         Transition to man-to-man (M2M) : Once the opponent has gotten the ball over half court into the scoring area and the ball is moved to the middle of the court you should hear our kids yell “Man, ” which triggers our transition from a zone press to half court M2M.
• ·         Trapping: You will also witness our use of our “bigs” at the front of the press.  This is to cause trouble for opponents.  Our up front traps are designed to force a bad pass or dribble that can be picked off.  The “bigs” can force these terrible passes that we may intercept.
• ·         Pace:  Mostly the purpose of the press is not to force turnovers but to force the other team to play at a pace at which they are not comfortable. You will notice that they will take quick early shots and miss them because they were going too fast.
• ·         Getting into and out of the press:  In our upcoming games against Ionia and Fowlerville we will be pressing with 22 on made baskets and dead ball situations and with M2M when we miss or turn the ball over.

Upcoming:  We play at Ionia this Friday at 6pm.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the season and watching your son improve. If you ever have questions or comments I would love to hear from you.

Thanks

Coach Dartt

@coach_dartt