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As long as we are attributing blame, I want to throw in the NBA (I won't bother with And-One because that's like pro wrestling). IMO the NBA has set a horrible precedent in regard to calls on illegal dribble, travel and, shall we say, differential fouls based on reputation and popularity. It seems that recently offensive fouls have been all-the-rage (is this because there is too much to look at/think about with the circle rule?).
I took an 8-year break from coaching high school and came back with the idea that I would go back to teaching fundamentals with a heavy emphasis on the science of man-to-man defense as it was taught to me by my mentor who played for Bud Pressley. But teaching and coaching are, at best, 1/2 science and the rest art and I got a rude awakening year one.
When you start with bad fundamentals and try to teach basic skills you tend to get your butt kicked early and often. My kids didn't trust me, were losing games and my prospects for building a program were lousy. That's when I decided to start serving dessert first and vegetables later.
We do press and run but that doesn't give me any fewer fundamentals of the game to teach than pre-shot-clock when we ran minutes off the clock, set teeth-rattling screens, and shot only lay-ups and wide open jumpers - just a different emphasis on fundamentals. Pressing does, in some cases, give me a buffer to allow me to gain the kids respect and interest before I start cranking up the intensity and demanding more careful learning and playing but it is not a replacement for fundamental basketball (to my mind) just a different way to play it.
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Fri Feb 17, 2006, 05:49pm
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