Hey Coach Matt!

In this week's coaches' corner, we're going to talk offensive decision making. Recently I've been watching a ton of NBA and college basketball (men & women), and over and over again it's been the team with the better decision makers that continues to win close games down the stretch. And with most of us now transitioning into the off-season, what a great time to evaluate our team's overall decision making from this past season and find ways to help them level up in their decision making for next season!

Once you have a chance to read today's email, I'd love to hear from you and what you thought about the content.

Enjoy!

Matt

One of the biggest separators between average players and great players? Their ability to make decisions quickly and efficiently against the best defenses your team will face.

For decades, we as coaches have taught complex offensive plays in order to create offense. While some may find this to be a successful strategy at times, think about the best defensive teams you'll face in a given season. They will be prepared to take away these things, leaving your team in a position to have to make great decisions when the offense "falls apart". Instead of having to adjust in those instances, what if you simply developed better decision makers in your offense all year long?

As Michael Jordan once smugly said, "the defense is always wrong." And I agree. This is a mindset that every player and team should have on offense. It's just a matter of teaching our players to understand why it's wrong and how to attack it.

If you're looking to improve your team's decision making this off-season, here are three great places to start:

1. Catch Decisions
2. Drive Decisions
3. Rim Decisions

While specific decision making will be tailored to your team's offense, let's look at each of these from a 35,000-foot level.

Catch Decisions

Every offensive player should have one main thought on their catch: "What's my biggest advantage RIGHT NOW?" Too often players either aren't ready to be dangerous immediately on their catch, or they overthink once the ball is in their hands. That not only slows down the offense, but it also gives the defense a chance to rotate/communicate and take away whatever advantage previously existed.

Great offensive teams help define the what and the when for their players' catch decision making. Back in the Spurs' heyday of of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, etc. They had this as their catch decision rule: beat one, with one, in one. Beat one defender with one thing (shot, pass, fake, etc.) in one second after you catch.

The Villanova men's basketball team has had a similar one over the years. They call it the two-second rule. Once you catch the ball on offense, you have two seconds to either shoot or gain an advantage with a combination of fakes/drives, or it's time to pass the ball immediately.

While there are layers upon layers of options with catch decisions (we'll discuss those more at length in later newsletters), if this is a new concept for your team, start simple. Help your players understand these three things:

1. ALWAYS be dangerous the moment you catch the ball.

2. Know when they should IMMEDIATELY shoot it vs. drive it vs. pass it.

3. How to CREATE an advantage if they don't immediately have one on the catch.

Drive Decisions

Once a player has put the ball on the ground and started their dribble, it becomes about making the best drive decision possible. There are a myriad of factors that must go into this decision making process, and most are attached to a player's skill level and role on your team. This is why drives should not be an equal opportunity proposition on your team.

A checklist of questions to prepare your team to make on drives include,

• What is my skill level?
• What is the on-ball ability of the defender guarding me?
• What do I see?
• Where on the floor am I? Can I get all the way to the paint/rim?
• Where are the help defenders/what are they doing?
• Who else is on the floor with me/what are their skills & abilities?
• Have I forced the defense to rotate? If not, can I?

The list goes on and on and on and on ...

If you're looking for a simple spot to start with your team, begin training chest, shoulder, and space reads this offseason. Every great offensive player knows to attack space with their dribble. On their attack, if they see space, they should continue to attack.

If the driver sees shoulder - whether it's their defender's should as they're getting by the defense or one from a a help-side defender on a rotation - their decision will come down to ability and your team's offensive strategy. The team's better players/decision makers should continue to attack in this situation, forcing the D to stop them before giving the ball up. If the driver is one who can only attack successfully against big advantages, it may be time for them to kick out to an open teammate and keep the ball moving in an advantage situation.

On a chest read, that means it's time for the ball handler to stop their drive and do something else with the basketball. Perhaps it's the use of fakes to create an open shot when the chest is from the on-ball defender; or if it's the chest of a rotating defender, it could be time to kick out for an open shot/re-attack.

Here are a couple examples of drive decisions. The first is by a playmaker who is able to create a big advantage when she reads shoulder from the on-ball defender.

In this next clip, Maya Moore reads chest from her on-ball defender and uses a fake to create space and an open-rim to attack with a shot.

In this final clip, Pascal Siakam beats one defender on a drive, forcing Jarrett Allen to rotate. Siakam's immediate drive decision is to kick to a teammate in the corner for a wide open 3.

Rim Decisions

In addition to the benefit of catch decisions, developing your players to make rim decisions can be one of the biggest wins for you this off-season. As valuable as layups are in the game of basketball, it's too easy for players (and coaches alike) to treat all rim finishes the same.

All the time I hear coaches say things like "Get to the rim!" or "We need more layups" or "We only want shots in the paint." While I agree with those thoughts in theory, I can quickly tell which coaches have truly prepared their players for those attacks by the decisions their teams begin to make when they get to the rim.

You see, not all rim finishes are created equal. And whenever we use coach speak to encourage more rim attacks from our team, what we're actually desiring is uncontested shots at the rim. Sure, we as coaches know that, but do our players? Or are they prepared to make great decisions when they get all the way to the rim against a good rim defender?

Too often, our rim decisions turn into something like this:

This offseason, it's vital help define rim decisions for your team and help them become competent in that decision making. i.e. When they should immediately attack when they get to the rim, vs when they should use a combination of fakes/pivots to create either an open rim opportunity for themself, or an advantage pass for a teammate.

Here are three great reminders I've always found helpful with my own players any time they have a decision to make at the rim.

1. Stay on balance.
2. Show extreme patience.
3. Expect to receive contact.

Simplifying and solidifying the decision making process for your team this off-season will go a long way to helping you achieve greater offensive efficiency next season. Skills alone will only take your players so far.

Want to talk more about decision making or off-season development? Here's a link to my calendar. I'd love for you to schedule a 20-minute call so we can talk about these things more in-depth together!