For me, this is the time of the year that I perform a task that really impacts my upcoming season. I like to review film and look for things that I seem to miss during the regular season.
When you are in the middle of the season, you are looking for those things that either reflect the things you have done in practice or those things you want to practice going forward. In the “downtime” of the summer, I like to watch everyone EXCEPT for the person with the ball, or on the ball.
For the sake of this example, let’s make several assumptions:
• You play 20 games consisting of 8-minute quarters.
• All 20 games are played against equal opponents.
• Our offensive scheme allows for each player to handle the ball during most possessions.
Using a little math may help you realize why focusing on the players without the ball in their hands is important. If there are four, 8-minute quarters multiplied by 20 games, then that equals 640 minutes of possible game time during the season. Since we are playing basically equal opponents, we will be on defense for 320 minutes and on offense for 320 minutes. In our offense, we have five position players who touch the ball each possession. That means that each position player could handle the ball 64 minutes during the season or approximately 3 minutes per game.
What is the point? Players focus on skills that help them during the three minutes per game that they are handling, dribbling, passing or shooting, which are important, but the other time is not always addressed, especially in light of the amount of time they are working without the ball.
With this in mind, there are some things that I really like to focus on when reviewing films in the “off season.”
- The first is weak-side rebounding. Even if a player doesn’t get the rebound, focus on the technique and positioning. Did they anticipate the shot and work to get into position?
- The second thing to watch for is the weak-side defense. Who plays off the ball well and who doesn’t?
- Which player performs the “extra” play that makes a difference? I like to stress tipping the ball from behind as it is advanced up the floor. I have seen players so focused on harassing the guard that they will chase them down from behind as close to the basket as in the lane.
- Who communicates well? How smoothly do you handle screens? (hedging, switching etc.)
On the offensive end, there are a couple of things to focus on. First is player movement. Who is using crisp cuts and who makes lazy cuts? Which player uses ball fakes and shot fakes? I like to watch for what coach Pete Strickland (N.C. State) calls a “Gretzky.” This is the assist that leads to an assist.
Review game film from a team basis as well. If you called your specials and they were well executed, document who was on the floor at that time. You may find that it is the same players over and over and not necessarily the starters! I like to identify those defenders who can deliver a five-second call. That is truly a team effort.
Look at your inbounds plays. How many do you actually run in a game? I know coaches who will take valuable practice time and teach dozens of inbounds plays and variations. Last season, we averaged six under-the-basket inbound opportunities and three front-court-sideline opportunities per game. Knowing this will help you keep things simple.
Watch yourself during the game. How do you conduct yourself? Do you help your team or adversely affect the outcome? Are you a whiner? Review the team coming out of time-outs. Are they confused? If you called a time-out to change the game, did it work? Did you draw up a special that worked?
Take a few minutes to review your game films with a different focus and see if you get different results.
