Coaches’ Corner- Need Two Pros

As coaches put together their playing rotation and their offensive system, each coach is trying to calculate the best formula to produce a championship team. 

Multiple Scoring Options- Their are lots of roles that need to be fulfilled on a championship team- physical rebounders, good ball handlers and passers, strong defenders, and more things. 

One of the most important questions a coach needs to ask- how many non-shooters can be on the floor if a team can be a championship team. 

So yes, having multiple players who can score seems to be an important ingredient of championship teams. 

“Two Pros”- While every team would like to have “balance” in their scoring, on the collegiate level teams who compete for a National Championship tend to have “two pros” on their roster. That means that there are two players on the roster who have NBA talent. 

In the NBA, experts say to win an NBA Title, you need two stars who can score in the big games. For the Bulls it was Jordan and Pippen, for the Thunder it is SGA and Williams, for the Fever it is Clark and Boston. 

My point is that while you cannot afford to have players who cannot score/shoot and you may want balanced scoring- championship teams usually have two players who can take over a championship game. You need “go to players” during those crunch times vs great teams. 

Championship Teams- Most championship teams offensively have these ingredients…

1- Members of the team know who their “two pros” are.

2- The team’s “two pros” know they are the “two pros.” 

3- The coach has designed an offensive system that allows the “two pros” to get the ball in spots and in actions that allow them to use their talents to score. 

4- The coach has designed ATO’s and Late Game Plays to set up the “two pros.” 

5- In tough games and tough situations, the team gets the ball to their “two pros.”