Basketball 101- "My Shot Is Broken"

I have had a player shoot 50% from the field for five straight games, then have one game where they go 1 for 8 from the field. The next day in practice the player comes up to me and says, "Coach, what's wrong with my shot?"

I have had a player miss their first two shots of game. During the first time out the player will say to an assistant coach, "I can't make anything tonight, my shot is broken."

I have even had a player miss some shots during pre-game warmup, and have their dad come down to the sideline to "fix their shot."

I once had a father tell me that they had worked so long with their daughter's shot that the parent claimed,”I know exactly what was wrong anytime my daughter misses her shot. It is so frustrating not to be able to talk to her after each shot.”

Considering all of this, how should one respond to a player who says,"My shot is broken."

Coaching 101- My Start, Scouting & Learning From Legends

 

Mike Owens- Galesburg

My first coaching experience was long before Hudl or Synergy came into play. My early coaching experience was before teams even filmed all of their games. So to scout your opponents, you had to actually go to their games and watch. It was an art- you had to get starting lineups, all the subs, get matchups, make notes on the team’s defense, and get any of their set plays. There was no video replay boards so you had to catch the plays or actions live, and go from there. 

Fresh out of college as a 22 year old, I was far from being a skilled scout. The expectation was that you came back with who started, who subbed, where did the make shots, basic defense, and any set plays. 

Don Morris- Alleman

Coach Owens always gave you 2-3 “details” to look for- did a certain player ever go left, defensively did a post player ever go away from the basket, did pressure effect a certain guard, etc. You knew Owens had seen the team and he was wanting you to confirm details. When we played Richwoods in the Regional in 1976, anytime you went to watch Richwoods, you had to keep track of what Mark Smith did everytme he touched the ball- where he caught, how tightly her was guarded, did he dribble right or left, did he leave his feet to pass. Owens was planning to put a shooter, quicker defender on him and wanted to verify that his plan would work.

Toby Vallas- Total Athlete Test

I am fascinated with the program that Toby Vallas has going at Farmington. Obviously he has developed a strong football program, but together with the other coaches, they have built a model athletic program centered around their strength and speed programs. I saw on Twitter that they had just completed their "Total Athlete Tests." I could not help myself, I reached out to Coach Vallas to find out what this was. The following is what Coach sent to me:

A former assistant of mine ( the late Steve Disler) got this from another program at a clinic but I do not remember who had shared this test.  The coach who shared this deserves the credit for it, maybe they will read this and let us know.  

Why 24 Second Shot Clock?

The NBA in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s struggled to make it financially. They had many teams fold. 

The powerhouse of the NBA was the Minneapolis Lakers (later to be LA Lakers). The Lakers had the top player in the NBA- George Mikan. (Every young player has at some point learned to do “Mikan Layups.”) George was 6’10” slow but dominant. The Lakers walked the ball up the court to allow Mikan to get up the floor.

The Fort Wayne Pistons (later Detroit Pistons) were scheduled to play the Lakers in Minneapolis in 1950. The Pistons were big underdogs. The Lakers had a special father-son night and a huge crowd. To try to pull the upset, the Pistons settled on a strategy of slowing the game down even more than the Lakers normally slowed it down. The story is that the Pistons got the tip and held it for over 4 minutes before shooting.

What Is Next? Help Me Out!

I would like your feedback on past blogs and suggestions for future blogs. If you would, please put your thoughts and suggestions in the comments at the end of this blog. Thanks for reading!!

What have been some of your favorite blogs?

Which of the following things would you like to read more about?

Caitlin Clark & WNBA

Q/A’s with Past Streaks Players (suggestions)

Look at Great Streaks Games or Teams in the Past (suggestions)

Look at specific topics (Females Coaching)- suggestions

Interviews with coaches (suggestions)

Coaching 101- Thoughts on Coaching

Basketball 101- Thoughts  on Basketball

Looking at Fast Break and System Basketball

Looking at Skill Development

Anything on your mind

OBVIOUSLY I AM WRTING ABOUT THINGS I ENJOY THINKING ABOUT AND WRITING ABOUT- AND I HAVE A LIST OF TOPICS THAT I FOR FUTURE BLOGS- 

BUT I REALLY WOULD ENJOY GETTING SOME DIRECTION FROM YOU. 

PLEASE SHARE YOUR SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. THANKS FOR BEING A READER!!!

Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- I Finally Watched It

Yesterday I had a journey through basketball history. In the morning, I had a chance to watch the video of the Galesburg vs Richwoods game for the first time. Then in the afternoon I went and watched Tulsa University men’s basketball practice. After watching both, I was totally struck about the changes that have taken place in the game of basketball in the last fifty years. Some changes are the result of rules changes, skill developments, and community interests.

Obviously in the Galesburg vs Richwoods game, there was a fantastic basketball atmosphere. Today, even for a “big HS game” like this one, the two teams would come out and they would both warmup to “bad teen music” with lyrics you couldn’t understand and wouldn’t want to understand. The cheerleaders stand in a corner talking to each other. The serious fans chat about how they think their coach will screw things up. And unfortunately, even for a “big game” only about 100 students will show up. 

Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Actual Game Tape

This is the game tape from Galesburg’s Channel 7 with Mike White doing the play by play, and Tom Wilson doing the color announcing. 

Click Here- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976 Regional- Channel 7

Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976

 

This series is a look back at the famous Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976 Regional Championship game as Mike Campbell, Scott Kelley, and Eric Doss share their memories. It will be broken up into five parts. 

PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE- Share any of your memories and your name in the comments at the end of the blog pages. 

CLICK HERE FOR PART I-  Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Part I The History

CLICK HERE FOR PART II-  Galesburg v Richwoods 1976- Part 2 1973-6

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Part 3 Regular Season

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Part 4 THE Game

CLICK HERE FOR PART 5- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- Reflections

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- The Actual Game

CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY ANALYSIS OF ACTUAL GAME- Galesburg vs Richwoods 1976- I Finally Watched the Game

PLEASE- PLEASE- PLEASE- SHARE YOUR MEMORIES AND NAME IN THE COMMENTS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG- THANKS!!

Caitlin Clark- What Do We Take From the All-Star Game?

In 1962, my dad took our family to the MLB All-Star game at Wrigley Field with a NL outfield of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente, while the AL lined up Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Rocky Colavito. That may be the last All-Star game in any sport that I watched from beginning to end, until tonight’s WNBA game.

The only negative to the whole game was the half-time show where they had a male be the star and have females dance around him. Leave it to the WNBA to be tone deaf about celebrating women on the All-Star game. 

I am reminded of a quote from one of my top Galesburg Summer League refs, Ted Trueblood. Ted had been a great high school player and then had a great career at Knox College. While in college, he paired with Reed Allison to be my “all-star” refs. So Ted while in college, came over to me at half-time to our concession stand. His comment,”Coach, it is interesting watching HS girls playing, some of them can’t decide if they want to be cool or want to be good.” 

Caitlin Clark- Unrivaled League- Jan. 2025

If you haven’t figured out yet, anything I write connected with women’s pro basketball starts with “Caitlin Clark” in the headline. 

Breanna Stewart (NY LIberty) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx) are the brains behind forming a new women’s pro league. They want to strike while the iron is hot. It will be a unique league. It is a 3 on 3 league with 6 teams. Each team will have 5 players on its rosters (so 3 playing and 2 subs). For now, their plan is for all games to be played in Miami. (I am guessing part of the interest in locating to Miami is that Miami is where many NBA and WNBA players train in the off-season.)

Caitlin Clark- It Takes More Than A Great Point Guard to Fastbreak

95% of players who I coached all SAY they want to play fastbreak basketball. When a players says they want to be on a fastbreak team, they visualize catching the ball ahead of everyone and either scoring at the basket or stopping for a wide open three. 

When players SAY they want to run, they think about the last 15 feet of the fastbreak. They don’t realize the fastbreak is made in the first 20 feet of transition. The last 15 feet is the easy part- getting to the last 15 feet is HARD work. I guess the message is that many players like the idea of running a fastbreak but are not crazy about the idea of running each possession, and hate the idea of sprinting over and over. 95% of the players who I coached were not excited about doing the running in practice needed to become a fastbreak team. 

I once heard Paul Westhead say something to the effect that-

1- Players love the idea of being a running team.

2- Players hate the running involved in practice as a running team.

3- Players love the result of running in games. 

Coaching 101- Players' Talk About Having Their Parent As Coach

Sean & Mike Reynolds

Today, I get a chance to “talk” with five players who had their dads as their high school coaches. 

Colton and Trey Sigel played for their father, Thom at Rock Island. Trey went onto play at Wisconsin-Platteville and now is in the business world. Colton will be a senior at Carthage College and has played basketball. 

Emma Scheffler just graduated after playing for her dad, Brad at Springfield. She will be attending Iowa State next year. 

Lauren Hall played for her dad, Henry at Rock Island. She then went onto play at Augustana College, and will now be on her dad’s coaching staff at Rocky. 

Sean Reynolds plays for his father, Mike Reynolds at DeKalb. He will be entering his senior year and is in the middle of the recruiting process with college coached. 

Coaching 101- Coaches' Talk About Coaching Their Own Kid

Henry & Lauren. Hall

As a high school teacher, I had the opportunity to have my son in several classes. Having Allen in class was definitely the highlight of my teaching career. It was like everyday was one of those “take your son to work” days! 

When Allen was 8 or 9, we went to the University of Wisconsin Father-Son Caomp. They had a camp free throw championship. Allen and I advanced and actually won the camp championship. I share this story not to let you know that Allen and were (and are) great FT shooters. I share that trivia because it was really, really special to compete with and share a victory with my son. 

I never had the opportunity as a high school coach to coach my son, but I can imagine it is a very special experience to share being part of the same team, competing together, and then experiencing both losses and wins together.  

I have had the opportunity to “talk” with four coaches, who I respect tremendously. Three are Hall of Fame coaches, and the fourth is just getting started as a head coach and will eventually be a Hall of Fame coach. All four of them have coached their sons or daughters. Today the four coaches share their experiences in this blog, and then tomorrow their “kids” share their experience playing for their dads.

Thom Sigel

The four coaches are:

Thom Sigel- Thom has been retired for a couple years. Thom coached at Rock Falls and then at Rock Island. (I always thought he would eventually coach at all the “rocks” and end up at Rockford.) Thom’s teams won State titles at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Both Trey and Colton played for their dad.

Brad Scheffler- Brad has been the coach at Springfield High for over two decades. His teams have won 9 Regionals, 4 Sectionals, and made 4 State tourney appearances. His daughter, Emma just graduated from Springfield after playing for her father. 

Henry Hall- Henry was a longtime assistant coach at Alleman and at Rock Island. HE became the head coach at Rock Island in 2019, and will be starting his 7th season in 2024-5. In his first season, the Rocks won the Sectional title. His daughter, Lauren played for Rock Island, and now will be a coach on Henry’s staff. 

Mike Reynolds- Mike has coached at Bismarck-Henning, Galesburg, and DeKalb in his 21 year career. His career record is 493-208. His son, Sean will be a senior this coming year at DeKalb. 

Caitlin Clark- 20 Questions- WNBA, Fever, Clark

As the WNBA has passed their halfway mark and approaches the Olympic break, I have some questions about the WNBA, the Fever, and Caitlin Clark. 

1- Why the big difference in minutes played in the WNBA vs. NBA? 

The top 8 players in terms of minutes per game in the WNBA are playing over 34 minutes per game (with 40 minute game). In the NBA only 7 players played over 34 minutes per game (despite games being 48 minutes). So in NBA the top 7 players played 72% of the game, whereas in WNBA 31 players are playing 72% of games. 

I don't have the answer- lack of depth forces them to play more minutes? Games being only 40 minutes allows players to play more minutes? Only 40 games, allows them to play more? 

2- With some of the young Fever players, is there a plan to develop them or has a decision been made that they don't have a future with the Fever?  

Two of their young players, Lexie Hull (6 games DNP, 12 min./game) and Grace Berger 16 games DNP, 10 min/game). Hull has played more minutes lately, but neither has been getting enough time during games to develop. If they are not giving players game minutes, I would hope the Fever and all of the WNBA teams have skill development people on staff who are helping them elevate their skills. Hull seems to be athletic and have good size- someone needs to be working on her shot. I would advocate getting Hull 15-20 minutes per game, and get her on your shooting machine- make 300 threes on non-game days, and make 150 on game days. You are not going to win the WNBA title this year- make one of your successes that you turned Hull into a rotation player. 

Learning from Legends- Coaches I Scouted in the 1970’s

Mike Owens- Galesburg

My first coaching experience was long before Hudl or Synergy came into play. My early coaching experience was before teams even filmed all of their games. So to scout your opponents, you had to actually go to their games and watch. It was an art- you had to get starting lineups, all the subs, get matchups, make notes on the team’s defense, and get any of their set plays. There was no video replay boards so you had to catch the plays or actions live, and go from there. 

Fresh out of college as a 22 year old, I was far from being a skilled scout. The expectation was that you came back with who started, who subbed, where did the make shots, basic defense, and any set plays. 

Don Morris- Alleman

Coach Owens always gave you 2-3 “details” to look for- did a certain player ever go left, defensively did a post player ever go away from the basket, did pressure effect a certain guard, etc. You knew Owens had seen the team and he was wanting you to confirm details. When we played Richwoods in the Regional in 1976, anytime you went to watch Richwoods, you had to keep track of what Mark Smith did everytme he touched the ball- where he caught, how tightly her was guarded, did he dribble right or left, did he leave his feet to pass. Owens was planning to put a shooter, quicker defender on him and wanted to verify that his plan would work.