I have a note pad by my chair as I watch some basketball and listen to some podcasts. Here are some random thoughts from this past week of basketball.
Bettendorf Signing Assembly- I saw on social media pictures of Bettendorf (Ia) having a night where all the athletes who were signing letters of intent were honored and signed their letters. I know other schools do this, my question is why don’t all schools do this?!? Hats off to Bettendorf AD, Zach Shay on doing things right!!
WNBA CBA- The WNBA is moving along at a snail’s pace in their negotiations. Info indicates the ownership is willing to raise the salary schedule significantly with max as high as $1.1 million, average $500k, and minimum over $200k. While the money is improved, it doesn’t change the concept of the players getting a percent of income. Attaching salary figures and caps to a percent of income would allow the salaries to grow as the league grows.
The more established NBA players get approximately 50% of income. Under the last contract, the WNBA players were getting approximately 10% of income. The projections are that what the ownership is offering now would move the players up to about 15% of league income.
Denial Press- I watched college game where they played half-court mm defense with no full court press. But on made ft’s and selective deadballs, they went up and got into a denial press. The defenders off the ball either were in a hard denial or even face guarded. They started the press out with the on the ball defender about 6-8 feet off the ball, but as soon as the ball was handed to the inbounds passer, the defender turned and faced guard the point guard. So the point guard was sandwiched.
My estimate is that they ran this defense about 8 times during the game. The defense got one steal, forced a bad pass that went out of bounds, and the second guard handling the ball made a violation bringing it up. Not bad, 3 turnovers in 8 possessions.
Once the ball was inbounded, the defense just guarded mm and gave up nothing. It would seem to be a simple press to teach, one that would require little time, and one not giving up much.
Hard to Keep a Lead- One of the toughest things is to go into half-time with a big lead, sit for 10 minutes (college 15 minutes), come back out, and retain your aggressiveness and momentum.
Early in the year, teams are very inconsistent- the big lead is tough to maintain.
The game I saw on Saturday, one team was up 12 at half-time. They came out of half-time with the possession arrow. They had the first offensive possession. The team with the lead was running a lot of dribble hand off action. The first possession in the second half, they got the ball to a post on the perimeter. The post started dribbling toward the best shooter. The shooter took two steps toward the dribbler, planted, went back door, and dunked the ball.
I thought this was great basketball strategy for several reasons:
1- Coming out of half-time, running a set makes sense.
2- The defense has probably been chewed out at half-time and told they need to become more aggressive defensively. The back door takes advantage of a defense trying to become aggressive.
Offensive Rebounds- If a high school or college team has not emphasized offensive rebounding this year, they are one of the few teams not emphasizing it.
Finishing at the Basket- On all levels, more coaches need to be working on finishing at the basket. First, players need to be taught what is a bad shot at the basket. Too many high school players think that once they are within 6 feet of the basket, they can just throw the ball up. (Colleges too). Players need to daily be working on a variety of shots at the basket- wrong hand, off wrong leg, jump hook, etc.
Be Accountable- A team was taking the ball out under the basket late in a game (under 2 minutes with a 25 point lead). The player thru it toward a cutting player. The passer led them too far with the ball landing out of bounds by 5 feet. The passer looked at the cutter and motioned they should have gotten the ball. The passer was clearly in error- admit it and move on.
MaxPreps- The hot rumor is that the IHSA will move from having coaches seed games, instead use MaxPreps rankings. Not this year but in the close future. This may cause schools not to want to schedule weaker or smaller schools.
Illinois- Iowa Shootout- schedule has been released. Galesburg will play Bettendorf at Augie’s Carver Center.
Hype Videos- High school players love having a hype video played before games. A lesson should be followed from colleges. College conferences set limit on how long such videos can be. My vote is on HS level no more than 50-60 seconds.
Peoria Notre Dame- PND at Galesburg has been rescheduled for Monday, December 15. PND is presently 6-0, while Galesburg is 7-1. PND will be 3A this year.
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