Troy Culley: Valencia - Quick Hitters for a 3

As a Coach one of my main loves is actions out of a Horns or an A-Set. Attached is two quick hitters from a Horns set that looks to create space for perimeter catch and shoot.

One involves a slight flex action whilst the other uses double screens to free up the shooter.

Valencia - Quick Hitters for a 3

Troy Culley Torbay, Devon, United Kingdom Torbay Tigers Basketball Club

The Wolf Inside

An old Cherokee is telling his grandson about a fight that is going on inside himself. He said it is between two wolves.


One wolf is evil: anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego…

The other wolf is good: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith…

The grandson thought about it for a minute, and asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replies, “The one I feed.”

Better Basketball Read and React Quick Hitters

The Read and React offense is one of fastest growing offensive systems.  A lot of the concepts that are taught in the offensive system are things that a lot of coaches are already doing.  However, I think the layered progression approach to teaching is very important.  To often when teaching a new offense, coaches will introduce multiple reads and actions.  Thus, the foundational elements don't get mastered.  There has to be a base set of reaction skills before new reads and actions are included.

The resource I have included has some quick hitting options out of various set formations (3 out, 4 out and 5 out) as well as a BLOB and SLOB hitter.

Better Basketball Read and React Quick Hitter

Gene Keady: 4 Keys to Winning

I don’t care where you coach, there are four things you must do:

1. Control your players.
2. Schedule to meet the needs of your talent level.

3. Be able to adjust to the referees and the rules.

4. Have the administration behind you.   --- Gene Keady

Coaching Quote #59: Ideas

"Good ideas are common-what's uncommon are people who'll work hard enough to bring them about."

--- Ashleigh Brilliant

Billy Donovan: University of Florida Coaches Clinic

Anyone who has followed the University of Florida basketball program knows that Billy Donovan runs a great basketball program.  In these clinic notes, you will find tons of coaching nuggets that will help you develop your program.

University of Florida Coaches Clinic

Coaching Quote #58: 2 Ingredients

"The two ingredients in success in basketball are playing hard and playing intelligently"

--- Pete Carril

Ray Lewis Speech to Stanford Basketball Team

I came across a great motivational video delivered by Ray Lewis to the Stanford Men's Basketball Team right before a NIT game.  Whether you like or dislike Ray Lewis, he can sure motivate a team. 

Inside the Serbian Basketball Federation

Recently our Governing Body England Basketball ran an educational visits for Coaches to go to European Powerhouse Serbia to find out about their system and how it is different from various other countries.
England Basketball

One of the coaches and a friend of mine Alan Keane, England U16 Assistant Coach provided this notes:

Serbia Trip 2013

Meeting with Dejan Mijatovic of the Serbian Basketball Federation
Notes;

• Serbia has 700 players in National Teams (NT) system aged from 1993-1999 born

• Year Round Programme inclusive of regional development areas

• 8 regions underneath national development programme. National tournament in May between 8 regions (100 players are watched) per age group (under 12, under 13, under 14). The Serbian Federation and Dejan travel each month to work on fundamental skills for each age group in each region.

• These sessions are only 2 hours per day (compared to our RPC of 6 hours per day). This is because all of the Serbian Club Coaches watch these sessions and maintain the development work when they return to the clubs.

• Only individual focus throughout these sessions. They will progress to no more than 3 vs. 3

• All individual focus

• All buy in from clubs as each individual is 'systems priority' and not clubs priority

• Any coaches not buying in, simply federation work with that club directly to bypass the coach.

• 2007 Serbian junior teams won 5 gold medals, not happy as there were no players for senior national team. Therefore they developed system again and changed some processes

• Not selecting players for now to win, select for the future to develop and play on senior national team. This is how they judge success.

• 22 players (each age group) researched by government each year to see who has best developmental potential (bone density, speed ect) results compared for next year

• All players kept on file

• 6 ages per year

• 1st Assistant Coach works with Tactics when involved in NT system

• 2nd Assistant working with scouting and individual development

• Characteristic of NT coaches;

-First must be teacher

-Must control egos from all clubs

-They choose NT Coaches on how they develop players and specific positional coaches

-Club coaches who develop their players and a higher number of players will be included in national system

I feel that this could be useful for various American Coaches to see how a top level European Country operates and give you something to compare with your own National Programme.

Things I Wish I Knew

THINGS I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN EARLIER AS A PLAYER……

• WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE A SENIOR (THE SACRIFICE FOR THE TEAM
• HOW MUCH TIME THE COACHING STAFF PUTS IN TRYING TO PREPARE THE TEAM FOR LIFE, PRACTICES AND GAMES
• HOW MUCH TIME THE COACHING STAFF SPENDS THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS BEST FOR THE TEAM
• YOUR TEAM IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE LAST PLAYER TO BUY IN (WEAKEST LINK) – YOU HAVE A “TRUE” TEAM ONLY WHEN EVERY LAST PLAYER HAS BOUGHT IN
• WHEN YOU WIN WITH A “TEAM”, THE VICTORY TASTES MUCH SWEETER
• TEAM CHEMISTRY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE GAME OF BASKETBALL – WITHOUT IT CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE HARD TO COME BY
• THAT THE “TEAM” IS NOT THE COACHES’ TEAM, IT’S YOUR (PLAYERS) TEAM
• THAT IT CAN TAKE AN ENTIRE SEASON TO BUILD A “TEAM” AND ONE INCIDENT TO DESTROY THE CHEMISTRY THAT WAS BUILT
• HOW YOU PLAY IN PRACTICE ULTIMATELY AFFECTS YOUR PERFORMANCE IN THE GAME
• IF YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST PLAYER, YOU HAVE TO BE THE HARDEST WORKER
• IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE IF YOU ARE NOT MENTALLY TOUGH
• THAT YOU WIN GAMES BY PREPARING PROPERLY IN PRACTICE AND NOT JUST LACING UP THE SNEAKERS ON GAME NIGHT
• IT’S HARD AS A COACH TO SIT A PLAYER WHO MAKES HUSTLE PLAYS CONSISTENTLY AND WORKS HARD IN PRACTICE
• THE IMPORTANCE OF BALL PRESSURE AND JUMPING TO THE BALL AND HOW TO PLAY IT PROPERLY
• COMMUNICATION IS A MUST TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON AND OFF THE COURT
• I HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO PLAY IF I AM A GREAT DEFENDER VS. A GOOD SHOOTER
• THE SOONER I REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING STARTS WITH DEFENSE THE BETTER I WILL BE ABLE TO PREPARE MYSELF FOR THE PRACTICES AND GAMES
• THE KEY TO BECOMING A GREAT REBOUNDER IS PUTTING FORTH THE EFFORT TO GO TO THE GLASS AND ABILITY HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH IT (REBOUND SEQUENCE)
• A GOOD TEAM DEFENSE IS BUILT WITH THE FOUNDATION OF TRUST
• HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO PREPARE MENTALLY FOR THE SECOND NIGHT OF PLAY IN CONFERENCE FRIDAY / SATURDAY GAMES – AFTER LOSES, MORE SO WINS
• IT’S NOT WHO STARTS THE GAME, IT’S WHO FINISHES THE GAME – BE A FINISHER
• YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GREAT SECOND HALF WARM-UP PHYSICALLY TO GET YOURSELF READY MENTALLY (PERCEIVED ABILITY THAT WE ARE READY TO GO)
• THAT YOU CAN CONTROL TWO THINGS IN LIFE: 1. ATTITUDE 2. EFFORT – AND MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, POSITIVE WORDS AND ACTIONS CREATE POSITIVE REACTIONS

--- Sundance Wicks