[UCCBball] Ladder situation/training

[tommo at ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au]

Quoting Alwyn Lloyd <zarquin at ucc.asn.au>:

>> I could bring our little whiteboard. ;)
>
> I hope you have an appropriate style matching tracksuite to go with it....

Do you really have a little whiteboard Alwyn? All kidding around  
aside, that'd actually be really handy.

Here's what I'd identify as the key areas:

-offensive structure/strategy (initial placement, standard cuts to  
make, hi/low postups, ball movement, etc) We covered this quite a bit  
when we had our last "strategy talk", and it ended up working really  
well in the game. Especially nice would be more cutting diagonally  
through the key, more cutting off other people's post-ups/drives,  
quicker ball movement with less hesitation and people calling for the  
ball LOUDLY. (This is the main point we'll want to cover when we meet  
before the game, with diagrams and whatnot)

-boxing out. I don't really know what else we can do about this. It's  
something people need to learn via repetition/training, so that it  
becomes an automatic, habitual thing. It's all good and well knowing  
in theory what you're meant to do, but if you get out on the court and  
then don't remember to do it, then it's all pointless. And we still  
don't do it at least 90% of the time.

-passing quality. This is pretty straightforward. Keep the passes  
smart and straight, and don't panic if you get into trouble (better to  
get a 5-sec violation than an intercepted pass). We tend to do this  
pretty well these days, especially when we do the first point  
(offensive structure/strategy) well, but it's still worth keeping in  
mind.

-offensive boards. We never, ever have them, except when someone  
rebounds off their own drive/cut. I get the impression that the main  
issue here is people not thinking of the keyway as "somewhere I go" in  
offense. If you're anywhere within the 3-point line, you should be  
getting into the key and crashing offensive boards. If you're outside  
the 3-point line, you should be covering the "mid range" rebounding  
area or drifting back to cover the fast break. And under no  
circumstances should we ever have 4-5 players outside the 3-point line  
when a shot goes up.

-2nd half lag. We get tired. That's going to happen regardless,  
because with a couple of exceptions, none of us are especially fit.  
The important thing here is to use our timeouts and subs effectively.  
Getting psysically tired is actually only half the problem - it's the  
lack of focus that kills us.

Anyone want to respond to any of this, or mention any areas I haven't covered?

Tom.