Some Offensive Thoughts From Kevin Eastman

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Some Offensive Thoughts From Kevin Eastman

I’m always looking for nuances that help explain things. I like finding patterns and see how to apply them for added advantage. From some notes that I received a little while ago, here are some interesting “truisms” courtesy of Kevin Eastman, the Assistant Coach for the Boston Celtics

TRUISM # 1: There is a direct correlation between the number of ball reversals and defensive breakdowns. 

Our players have to understand that the hardest thing to do defensively is to close out — to be running out at a player from the help position. Having said that, we need to understand that an advantage our offense must look to create is to get the defense to close out as often as possible; we want the ball to be reversed from side to side. With our team I can tell you that our scoring proficiency goes up as the number of passes and ball reversals goes up. Of course we have a shot clock that forces us to shoot the ball quicker, but we still would like a minimum of 3 passes as we then know the ball is getting reversed. When we only throw 1 or 2 passes we find that it is very easy for the defense to load up to the ball

TRUISM # 2: The closer you run your offense to the basket, the more physical your screens can be.

We have found that the officials are more apt to let contact go when it is closer to the basket as they are used to seeing more contact down there as opposed to out by the 3 point line. We feel that is why the flex action is allowed to get away with some physical baseline and pin down screens, and why we have to be careful when setting a back screen out by the 3 point line. So give some thought to having some part of your offensive system where you run your stuff closer to the rim.

TRUISM # 3: The faster the ball moves, the closer the defenders stay to their man.

We have found that when we move the ball a little faster, the defensive players are more concerned with staying up with their man and tend to not jump to the ball and get in help position. We also feel that that leaves us with more room to drive it as the defenders are out of position just enough to allow us to get a good driving angle on them. I would say if you do not have a good scoring post man, you should look to move the ball a little faster at times and create driving opportunities. If you do have a good post man you would want to slow it down and give the post man a good look.

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Trust: Communication Is Key

To see real change and gain significant benefits from their strategies, leaders (be it head coach or assistant) need to establish an environment of trust. Leaders who are trusted — even in times of great difficulty — are skilled communicators.

When leading in times of change and transition – new head coaches, assistants moving to a new school and staff – remember communications fundamentals including these:

• Communicate relentlessly. Communicate information, thoughts and ideas clearly — and frequently — in different media. Find many ways to share information; keep processes open and transparent.
• Listen. Good communicators are also good listeners. Allow people to air their gripes and complaints. Pay attention to what others are saying, thinking and feeling. What is said, and what is left unsaid.
• Explain. People are often skeptical of change. Share your thinking and the trade-offs you’ve weighed — not just the final decision or strategy.  Involve everyone in the process.
• Articulate expectations. Clearly explaining why, how and when things need to happen will set expectations and create a healthy level of stress and pressure. It also establishes a mechanism for monitoring and addressing performance.
• Be visible. If you communicate well, you won’t be out of sight. Find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups – staff, student-athletes, administrators and supporters.  Be willing to roll your sleeves up and get in there and work with them.
• Confront problems and conflict. Don’t postpone dealing with challenging issues or conflict. By avoiding the difficult people or difficult issues, you can do great harm to yourself, your team, your staff and your university.
• Be honest and sincere. Communicate truthfully and honestly, follow through with what you say and avoid deception.

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Learning How to Be More Aware

When you think of a “perfect leader,” what comes to mind?  Who comes to mind?

You might picture someone who never lets their temper get out of control, no matter what problems they’re facing. You might think of someone who has the complete trust of their staff, always speaks kindly, listens to their team, is easy to talk to and always makes careful, informed decisions.

These are qualities of someone with a high degree of emotional intelligence or EI.  Wikipedia gives us this for EI:

Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.^[1] Different models have been proposed for the definition of EI and disagreement exists as to how the term should be used.^[2] Despite these disagreements, which are often highly technical, the ability EI and trait EI models (but not the mixed models) enjoy support in the literature and have successful applications in different domains.

In this article, they look at why emotional intelligence is so important for leaders – and how you, as a leader, can improve yours.  In our highly charged and emotional professional setting – EI can be critical to success.

Follow the below link for the complete article.

From:  Mind Tools  

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The Art of Leadership

Leadership:

The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Richie Adubato was the master at this.  My time with him in New York and Washington taught me so much about dealing with people.  It is truly a gift.  He was able to adapt to any personality and use his sense of humor, his huge basketball acumen and his genuine niceness to empower even the toughest personalities to do what he needed them to do and think it was their idea.

I think the Leadership 501 site is a great resource for positive ideas on evaluating and building leadership.

Eisenhower quote from Leadership 501

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Self-Promoting: Right or Wrong?

One of the greatest dilemmas in the coaching profession, especially for a young assistant, is self-promoting and getting noticed.  Being able to make a name for your self and advancing in the profession is part of every coaches driving force.

If you are not in one of the coaching “Family Trees”… Calipari, Summitt, Pitino, Auriemma, Knight, VanDerveer, Krzyzewski, Stringer, Calhoun, etc… How do you get noticed to even get a call back, let alone an interview for the next opportunity?  The same can be said of the first time head coach once they get there, how do they get noticed at a non-BCS school?  it’s almost a never-ending cycle.  Unless you set your mind right and keep it right, even after you have some success, it can be a never-ending struggle.  Give your head coach complete trust and loyalty – unconditionally.  Trust your head coach’s loyalty back to you, their respect to your development and the continuation of our profession.

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