Dean Smith

Wasn't those days but it was some days when I saw the 76's championship team of Dr. J, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, and one of the best warmup dunkers of all-time Earl Cureton in Denver vs the Superman III team of Alex English, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Dan Issel. Followed up the next year I saw a Championship Laker team beat the Nuggets 133-132 . Down 2 Magic snapped a 22 ft no look pass to a cutting Smooth as Silk Jamaal Wilkes for layup and the and one to go up 1. It still took 3 block shots from Jabaar in the last 5 seconds right at the basket to finish off the victory. Unbelievable, fabulous finish, obviously still fresh in my mind today.

I never understood the excitement over that shot. He does pull it down and change hands but if you watch the play, there is never any reason to do that. He could have gotten the first shot off without the extra stuff.

Over Michael Cooper

Chick Herns - "Smooth as Silk - Jamaal Wilkes"

Many of those protecting the police, stopping people from entering/looting stores, stopping the burning of police cars are bloods and crips who have pledged to never commit violent acts against each other from here forward in the city of Baltimore.

It appears to me that he is the receiver and not the passer on that play.

Maybe sour grapes? T. Smith could play a bit. Every play-by-play guy raved about his potential as well. If he's not mature enough to except a role for his team then good bye, but he could play a bit.

I know everybody is joking but we would have been a much better team this year if Diaz was on it and had some eligibility left of course. We were drastically missing a post presence on the offensive end that he could have provided. I haven't looked at at stats but it's my gut feeling he gave more to nebraska over his shortened career in total than Pitchford did in his limited time. I know we went to the dance last year with Pitch and he was a big part but his giant negatives this year kind of cancel his plusses out big picture.

I would have to disagree. Where is he going to play in the NBA? He's a tweener that doesn't have that great of handles (all comparisons are to NBA players). He predictably drives right and his outside shot is not anywhere near NBA shooter caliber. He certainly would not be allowed to be a high volume shooter for any team. I wish him the best but I don't see where his skill set fits any definite role that an NBA team would be looking for him to fill.

Neither. You have a system that is consistent but can be tweaked based upon the players you have in the program at that time. Back when Bob Knight would play nothing but M4M he said, "Anyone can play man for man defense. If you have better athletes maybe you pick up your man at 92 feet and when you aren't as athletic your pick point becomes 15 feet." Or something to that effect. You should always do what you do, but how you go about doing it can change with the personnel.

Spacing, spacing, spacing. Just got done watching Michigan State and their spacing is tremendous and with a purpose. I remember at halftime of the Virginia game, Izzo said we need to slip more. That always bothered me about our season, that we used the slip screen so seldomly when teams are sending their posts flying out to hedge on Petteway. I know Pitch liked the pick and pop but he wasn't hitting and there needs to be a plan B. I think I can count the number of times they hit that post cutting to the basket the entire season on my fingers without getting to my toes. Some of it also had to do with the other players were stationary allowing their men to sag and take that cut away. They killed Virginia (a very successful packline defensive team) with the slip. Most teams help on the slip with the other post and Mich. St. usually had them busy some place else. The would run double pin downs so the defender would have step up to hedge the curl cuts and they would hit the curl and immediately drop to the pinner as they slipped to the basket. The other post was hedging on the other curl cut on the other side of the court. I remember out of a time out, Izzo had both post at the elbows. A perimeter ran through them as double flare screens or an Iverson cut if you use that term. Then the ballside post picked the opposite post. The picked post then went to screen the ball/wing on his baseline side. So the other defensive post is helping on the post to post screen and is up high so he can't help when the post (the one that just received the post to post screen) heads to the ball showing ball screen and then slips hard to the basket. No one in position to help and a dunk. Some of that was them just knowing how to play the game and I'm sure a lot of it was in the game plane and in sets Izzo ran knowing they would cause VA some problems. That's why he is in the Elite 8 again. The man can coach.

The key to the pick has a lot to do with the cutter. You want to set a fat screen meaning make the D get past you shoulder to shoulder where you are wide instead of front to back where you're skinny. That means the screener's butt needs to be pointed to where you want to receive the ball and that means one of the four corners of the 1/2 court. That allows the cutter to go the wrong way first and then bring the defender back into the fat screen. It is the cutters job to set up their man and use the pick. If you don't get tight to the pick then you might as well not have one. If the screen "headhunts" like my high school coach tried to teach me then you get so tight to the D and they can easily slip past you front to back (skinny pick). Cutter goes the wrong way first and then actually grab your teammate's jersey and pull yourself hip to hip to the pick. Then you have to read the D of course, but that's a different skill. As an accountability piece I had the team anonymously vote right before the first game for "4 guys I want on the floor with me," "hardest worker," "Laziest," "best attitude," "worst attitude," "best shooter," etc. Sometimes it surprised me what they thought and if nothing else I always had at least one negative vote on any player whose father wanted to talk to me about his son's playing time. It seems there was a correlation between bad attitude and obnoxious parent many times. Some seasons the whole team voted after every practice for the player that worked the hardest to make the team better that day and they would get to wear a special practice jersey the next day. End of the year the guy who wore it the most that season got to take one home. I had more than one player tell me earning that jersey was much more important than any all conference honors.

[quote name="Norm Peterson" post="111799" timestamp=" I think a lot of lack of quickness in a post player can be made up for on the offensive end just with decisiveness. There's a spot in the 2nd video where Hakeem alludes to this. He talks about how he lands from making the catch and he's immediately drop-stepping to the basket. Just, boom, he's already around the guy before he even has to think what he's going to do. Sorry up front but I can't stop myself from nitpicking. That's not a drop step, that's the Dream Shake and that's a forward pivot. There is no step to that move just a spin from the forward pivot. The one he shows is hit the ground from your jump stop & immediately spin. He would also catch & then lean back into the defender, draw some slight contact & then spin off with the Dream Shake. Offensively you want contact with the defender. If they lean in at all, the spin off will always be there.

I like the jump hook to the middle. I think players should be able to go both ways into the middle but lots of guys don't like the left-handed jump hook. I don't like the step through as the counter to the jump hook. If they step up hard to take that away, draw the contact and immediately spin away into a double drop - foot to the front of the rim - layup. That's not a spin move, its two steps - drop step middle, bump and then drop step back baseline. If they manage to drop and push you out on the double drop, now I up and under. The second move he showed the first time was a fade away but I think he did that once to them show the better move - his famous Dream shake. The rest was Sikma moves where he could face and rip and spin where his balance and quickness was so much better than most trying to guard him. I really like his talk of knowing what you are going to do and have a counter if they take you first choice away. That was Dean Smith/Roy Williams. And your favorite and counter don't have to be the same from both blocks. Now remember the first option is drop step either way, if that is taken away go to your favorite move, if that is not there then counter, not there either then kick it out and repost. One of my better posts from the left block did the right handed jump hook as his favorite and then countered with a double drop if they took that away. From the right block he didn't like his left handed jump hook. So he would immediately double drop middle to baseline and if that was taken away his counter was to shot fake, up and under ripping back to the front of the rim and flipping up the little left handed layup. Drill the drop step, get one move from each side and then its counter. No, post moves are not that hard and we (and most of the rest of the world) should be better at post moves. I don't remember that last high school post player I saw that actually went through a post progression and knew post moves.

First move is sort of a double drop but he is stepping flat to the baseline instead of bringing the foot all the way back to the front of the rim. I realize this makes me sound stupid talking about Hakeem but I would tell him you can get the jump hook anytime you want, swing that foot to the front and get the layup. The second move is what used to be called a Sikma move (when people knew who Jack Sikma was) followed by a standard rip move. I like my perimeter players to use the Sikma series because if the defense took away the drop step (everyone has to drop step both ways) the Sikma series put them facing the basket and they could use their familiar perimeter moves like the rip shown. The last move just has a spin move added to the end of the rip. Also a perimeter skill used around the basket. No one could seal you and spin you faster or smoother than the Dream.

It may be a matter of semantics but from every coach I've ever heard speak a drop step always ends up in a layup and all players need to be able to drop step both ways. Your "dropping" foot should have a target of the front of the rim so after you've dropped baseline your shoulders are parallel to the backboard (which would have the left shoulder protecting the ball in your explanation). When you drop middle you are placing the defender under the hoop and your shoulders will be perpendicular to the backboard again offering protection from the defender and you simply flip the ball over the rim and into the basket. So that is not the same thing as a left handed jump hook from the right side but a left handed layup. The counter to the drop step is the double drop or what some coaches refer to as the Charles Barkley (I guess that's older coaches now). If the defense steps hard and cuts off the step to the front of the rim, you draw contact on that first step and immediately drop step the opposite way. The double drop is also the counter for the jump hook from most coaches perspective. I right hander turning to the left shoulder to take the jump shot is not a post move but a lack there of.

I don't get the "no-win situation at NU" comment. I really like Petteway but I think he wanted the weight put on his shoulders. He didn't deliver. It certainly wasn't all his fault but if you want to be the man (I believe he did - could be wrong) you get much of the credit when you succeed and much of the responsibility will fall on you if you fail. As a team this year we failed to meet expectation by a long way so he is going to get a chunk of the blame on his shoulders. As well I think the "Your limitations are out of your hands" comments is confusing. None of his limitations were things that were out of his hands. He physically has the tools and he worked his butt off physically. Many of the shortcomings in his game were certainly things he could work on and develop. Moving off the ball and shot selection are things completely in his control. He can't control the dip in Walter's shooting form but there was much in his control. I appreciate the new perspective and hope that he brought to Nebraska Basketball and will respect any decision he makes. I wish him luck wherever he is playing next year, but especially if he is still playing at Nebraska.

At this level its almost always about recruiting since almost all the coaches can coach. No, its harder than that or anyone could win anywhere there was good facilities or good weather or whatever good to recruit to. There are a lot of duties on the job description and being mediocre at any of them can be a death blow. Recruiting - yes, Teaching the Fundamental skills, when to use the fundamental skills, how to incorporate those skills into the team concept, developing a team concept, having a team concept, game planning for teams, game planning for individuals, finding a game plan that fits your team concept and the talent on hand, in game adjustments, in season adjustments, player relations, players' families relations, administration relations, fan relations, donor relations, program oversight There are lots of OK coaches but the really good ones are few and far between. Miles had a great recruiting season this year. Next recruiting season will be difficult to duplicate based on the way we closed this season compared to last season, I feel. Along those lines he hasn't done the best job of developing players either. Contrary to what some may feel, Miles likeability, zingers, one-liners and atttention-drawing routines will wear thin if he doesn't put a worthwhile product on the floor. The consumer is sharper than to spend money unwisely unfulfilling season after unfulfilling season. Miles is on notice, listen to sports radio. Thats the consumer speaking. No one is ready to jump ship but they don't want to see a repeat of this next season. Personally I dont care if Petteway turns pro and Watson and Morrow redshirt next season and Nebraska has a losing season, I just want to see a coach who calls plays Have I mentioned that I would vastly prefer someone who would teach his players to play the game instead of just teaching plays, but yes you do need to have some sets that fit your personnel and what you are trying to achieve within your team concept. his players can execute and develop players (as well as recruit}. They all can't be that bad.

Racism: Some definitions of racism also include discriminatory behaviors and beliefs based on cultural, national, ethnic, caste, or religious stereotypes.[2][6] One view holds that racism is best understood as 'prejudice plus power' because without the support of political or economic power, prejudice would not be able to manifest as a pervasive cultural, institutional or social phenomenon.[7][8][9] It is very possible to be very prejudice and be a minority. But without economic and political power you can't actually be racist.

Excellent choice. If you are ever "dressing up" as a different race, you might be racist.

Will ask again, why is what he did incredible for Class A? Because generally there are better players in Class A so it is a bigger accomplishment. That's why we have different classes. I'm not sure we need to have 6 but there is a need for the class system. A 6'11 player who can walk and chew gum in Class C would have an easier time to pick up 20 rebounds than the regular 6'3 post players you might see in that class.

Well, here's the thing, as a coach you only run what you know and what you know you can comfortably teach and adjust. Obviously at the college level you've got to recruit the type of players that fit what you want to do. I think Pitino is one of the best at this. I also think Coach K is the best at adjusting what he does based off of what the culture of basketball is at the time.I think HS coaches are much more at the mercy of adjusting to what they have. That's one of the beauties of the motion is that it is so adaptable to the personnel you have at the time. Since you are teaching them how to play that allows them to do what they are best at and capable of being successful at.

He does look like he has good court vision and he is bigger/talller and probably (definitely?) doing things faster than the team I watched, but I saw a 4th grade team this weekend in Nebraska playing and winning against 6th grade teams. They had one player who appeared to have comparable court vision, two who appeared to have better left hands, three of them completed Eurosteps (one with an added pass fake that turned the defense literally in a circle on two occasions so that the defender had their back to the hoop as he laid it in), one who consistently hit runners/floaters in the lane agains 6th graders up to a foot plus taller, two who penetrated into the lane and on the jump stop would hit jump hooks over bigger players, and one who had a lunge cross over move that sent the defense falling in the wrong direction more than once. Now I am describing different combinations of the same four kids but they had a couple more that together scored repeatedly on things like shot fakes & pull ups and hitting the back door cut (which I think is a completely underused option in every offense). The point is Bron Jr. right now is now is skilled but not greatly more skilled than a lot of fourth graders. The difference is who he was genetically created by. The 4th graders I saw will probably be descent high school players, but what makes LJ jr. so much more attractive then those kids to recruiters is that he is going to continue to grow to 6'8ish and will in all likelihood be drastically quicker, faster, and stronger when puberty kicks in.

It has to become part of the regular teaching. Big fan of the whole-part-whole method. Explain the "why's" in the introductory whole and then keep reinforcing the ideas. Don't tell them what they did right or wrong, ask them what they did right or wrong. Tell first and then constantly question. "Joe what could you have done to make that work?" Reinforce when needed but question always. "Great cut, why didn't you get the ball?" "Hey, Jimmy is on fire. What are different ways we can get him the ball where he can use it?" That's another great question to ask Player A - "Where does player B want the ball and how does he want to receive it?" They need to understand defenses to be able to beat them. Is the other team more than man or zone. Is it a disruptive man, full denial, deny reversal, pack-line, etc. They need to realize that if player B's man is the one who helped off and took your cut away then you can make him pay for that by clearing the lane and immediately reversing and sealing him down. Now hopefully player B is good enough to hit that wide open jump shot you just created for him. They should understand zone rotations to beat a zone. vs. a 2-3 when you're on the wing and hit the corner or short corner the man guarding you is most likely going to drop in to protect the high post. If you follow him in and then seal him on a post up at the high post, you have just become a legal moving screen for your best shooter dropping in and replacing you on the wing for the kick back from the corner. Not just movement, but it becomes movement with a meaning. If I'm the best shooter on that same pass I expect a flash to the high post to keep the defender occupied so they can kick it back to me for my shot. Know the defense, know your teammates, and know yourself.

Two responses: 1) "Read and React is just a way of teaching kids how to space the floor and react to action. Lots of the same principles of Dribble Drive Motion." I think you can get whatever you want out of read and react. Meaning you can emphasis the dribble drive but you can run it almost exclusively as a picking offense if you want. The big difference is it limits the amount of reads. Instead of reading all your teammates, you are almost exclusively reading the ball, which makes it easier to teach and implement. Your basic read on picks becomes the old Bobby Knight standard of do you end up "sternum to sternum" with your defender. If so, you have to go set or receive a pick. I think the problem is like the post move, the skill of receiving and using a screen has almost disappeared from the game. The screener needs to make sure his butt is pointed to one of the four corners of the half court. And it is the receivers job to set up the screen by "going the wrong way first." If the defender doesn't respect this movement, it becomes the right way. If they do, grab your screeners jersey with your bottom hand and pull yourself hip to hip with a swim action. The screen reads the defender and rolls whichever way the defender goes, setting a "double" screen. Hubbie Brown refers to using a "posting up" action as legal moving screen. 2) "What do you do if they just switch the screen? Well, as a cutter, you've only got a couple options: 1. You just pop to the ball (straight cut), but this isn't going to allow you catch for a shot or drive very often, just be able to continue swinging the ball, 2. You really force curl/tight cuts (which is the best option in my opinion), but again, you're not going to catch this is position to score very often, but what it will do is force a defender to jump you and deny the cut - which creates for others. But the point is, you're not going to get much direct shooting or drive angles off of your off-ball screens." The slip screen is a good option but you can get direct shooting or drive angles if you switch roles. Knight's phrasing was, "the picker becomes the cutter and the cutter becomes the picker." If I read switch, I yell switch and cut hard out of the way. The screener rolls putting the switching man on his butt and can basket cut if the lane is open or return to the ball. Either way his defender will be completely behind him on a good seal. This actions especially causes problems when they are switching screens in the post. I read switch, yell "switch," and flash to the high post. The screen rolls and seals his "new" defender and goes right to the basket. This allows the use of the best post move in the books - the layup. On the Mover-Blocker - I did run some of that but went to a hybrid version later in my career. Some years I just told the players to line up on the baseline with the best shooter on the right and the worst on the left. They know and will make sure everyone gets into the right place. Then its simply a soft rule of when looking to your left will be people you will be screening for and looking to your right will be players screening for you and never screen farther out on the floor than you can hit a shot from. With this formula I had teams naturally set staggered screens, staggered flare screens or really hard to guard screen away and then receive a flare screen. Smart teams know when to adjust things if one player gets a hot hand or to take advantage of a cheating defender. Oh, and one comment on your original motion post. You talked about spacing your guys into the corners. I think that is great if they can hit those shots but if not then get four players above the free throw line to open cutting, driving and back cutting lanes. You are always breaking the line with every cut, but they should all start outside the three point line, go to the basket and then end outside the three point line. Also with no real back to the basket post player I move the one player below the FT line to the weak side. If his man steps to help on the cut or drive, they I cut to the front of the rim for the drop off. You can also get good little on big picks or rub screens for the post player as the cutters go through the lane. I think the bottom line is kids need to spend more time learning how to play instead of learning plays. They need to know more than the "what". Good players know the "why's" and at this point there are too few players that even know the "how's." They are told to go screen but nobody spends any time teaching them how to screen. Hubie Brown was the best I ever heard discuss the minute details of the right way to get certain fundamentals accomplished. He could explain why it was so important to have that foot turned two inches to right for whatever move he was teaching.