doggydaddy
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So, what is UConn doing to prevent turnovers which we aren't?
- Thread starter Voluble2
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DarthVol and Boxerpups - thanks for speaking up for visitors of whom I am one. And everyone else - this board is very interesting with good discussion of basketball, which is why most of us visit sports forums. Hope no one minds me reviving this thread, but I had a few thoughts.
1. I have never watched a whole Uconn practice but people that have are surprised by a few things:
a. it is really intense and there are no breaks - one drill ends and the next one starts immediately. This does two things - makes player push through tired legs and bodies to still perform at a high level. Players get tired in games and they better be able to perform or they will lose - easier to do that if you have been practicing it ever day. And tired bodies can lead to mental break downs - if you practice being mental sharp when you body is screaming for a break you likely will perform better at the end of games when you body is tired.
b. A drill is not finished until it is finished correctly - even if that means something that should take 10 minutes to work on ends up consuming the whole practice. Do it right or do it again. There was a little video last year that was painful to watch - Stewart (a NPOY) was made to repeat and repeat and repeat the same defensive drill until she finally got it right - it took something around 10 repetitions and it was brutal to watch but Stewart finally learned to do something that Geno thought she should know. The attention to minutia and the refusal to accept 'good enough' is something that Geno has and in practice he teaches it to his players.
c. He puts players in impossible situations in practice and makes them figure it out, and when they do he ups the ante. Score 10 points in 1 minutes on offense - ok now do it in 45 seconds, now 30 seconds. He often runs scrimmages with the team playing against 5 against 6 at each end of the floor - if they figure that out he adds another player so it is 5 against 7. He joked once that they got up to 5 against 8 and the next practice he went back to 5 on 5 and the players were looking at him like 'what, you don't think we're good enough to play against 6 or 7?!'
All of the above lead to fewer turnovers in games - if you are used to making good passes when you are tired in practice, then when you have played 30 minutes in a tight game your mind will still be sharp and your passes will still be accurate. If you are not allowed to make sloppy picks or cuts or passes in practice then you will not make them in games. If you are used to running offense against 6 or 7 defenders and not having passes stolen, then you probably will not get them stolen against 5 defenders.
2. The Uconn half court offense when it is running smoothly usually involves more passes than dribbles - the ball is moving quickly side to side, in and out, and the players are in constant motion, setting picks, cutting, change sides. passes move the ball quicker than dribbling and put more stresses on defenses because they have to keep adjusting as the ball moves - the more stress you put on a defense the more likely they will lose a player or get out of position and the easier the resultant shot will be and the pass for the assist. (It can also lead to better offensive rebounding because defenders are out of position or have lost their players.)
3. Geno is very open to having coaches watch his practices - few college coaches get to do so because they are coaching their teams at the same times, but HS and some pro coaches do watch each year. The first year Jeff was coaching at Louisville Uconn had a game in Louisville followed by one at DePaul and arranged to get practice time the day after the Louisville game at the Lv facility. Jeff asked if he could not only watch the practice himself but if he could bring his whole team and Geno said yes. Jeff wanted his players to see what effort/commitment was involved in building a championship caliber team, and what he was trying to do at Louisville.
4. Geno doesn't recruit players that do not know how to pass or how to play team ball no matter how much talent they have. He wants unselfish players that care more about winning than personal stats. Not all coaches pay as much attention to 'team skills' over personal skills.
I don't think there is any 'secret formula' or 'magic drill' Geno uses to achieve success. He teaches basketball concepts more than specific plays and the offense he uses relies on players recognizing how the defense is reacting as the play develops and counter-reacting to that. It is a good offense that requires players to think, but it isn't unique to him. What is unique is the demands he places on his players and his expectation that good enough is never good enough individually or as a team. Doesn't matter if it is in practice or in a blow out game - a bad play is still a bad play and a bad pass is still a bad pass and will earn a player a seat.
1. I have never watched a whole Uconn practice but people that have are surprised by a few things:
a. it is really intense and there are no breaks - one drill ends and the next one starts immediately. This does two things - makes player push through tired legs and bodies to still perform at a high level. Players get tired in games and they better be able to perform or they will lose - easier to do that if you have been practicing it ever day. And tired bodies can lead to mental break downs - if you practice being mental sharp when you body is screaming for a break you likely will perform better at the end of games when you body is tired.
b. A drill is not finished until it is finished correctly - even if that means something that should take 10 minutes to work on ends up consuming the whole practice. Do it right or do it again. There was a little video last year that was painful to watch - Stewart (a NPOY) was made to repeat and repeat and repeat the same defensive drill until she finally got it right - it took something around 10 repetitions and it was brutal to watch but Stewart finally learned to do something that Geno thought she should know. The attention to minutia and the refusal to accept 'good enough' is something that Geno has and in practice he teaches it to his players.
c. He puts players in impossible situations in practice and makes them figure it out, and when they do he ups the ante. Score 10 points in 1 minutes on offense - ok now do it in 45 seconds, now 30 seconds. He often runs scrimmages with the team playing against 5 against 6 at each end of the floor - if they figure that out he adds another player so it is 5 against 7. He joked once that they got up to 5 against 8 and the next practice he went back to 5 on 5 and the players were looking at him like 'what, you don't think we're good enough to play against 6 or 7?!'
All of the above lead to fewer turnovers in games - if you are used to making good passes when you are tired in practice, then when you have played 30 minutes in a tight game your mind will still be sharp and your passes will still be accurate. If you are not allowed to make sloppy picks or cuts or passes in practice then you will not make them in games. If you are used to running offense against 6 or 7 defenders and not having passes stolen, then you probably will not get them stolen against 5 defenders.
2. The Uconn half court offense when it is running smoothly usually involves more passes than dribbles - the ball is moving quickly side to side, in and out, and the players are in constant motion, setting picks, cutting, change sides. passes move the ball quicker than dribbling and put more stresses on defenses because they have to keep adjusting as the ball moves - the more stress you put on a defense the more likely they will lose a player or get out of position and the easier the resultant shot will be and the pass for the assist. (It can also lead to better offensive rebounding because defenders are out of position or have lost their players.)
3. Geno is very open to having coaches watch his practices - few college coaches get to do so because they are coaching their teams at the same times, but HS and some pro coaches do watch each year. The first year Jeff was coaching at Louisville Uconn had a game in Louisville followed by one at DePaul and arranged to get practice time the day after the Louisville game at the Lv facility. Jeff asked if he could not only watch the practice himself but if he could bring his whole team and Geno said yes. Jeff wanted his players to see what effort/commitment was involved in building a championship caliber team, and what he was trying to do at Louisville.
4. Geno doesn't recruit players that do not know how to pass or how to play team ball no matter how much talent they have. He wants unselfish players that care more about winning than personal stats. Not all coaches pay as much attention to 'team skills' over personal skills.
I don't think there is any 'secret formula' or 'magic drill' Geno uses to achieve success. He teaches basketball concepts more than specific plays and the offense he uses relies on players recognizing how the defense is reacting as the play develops and counter-reacting to that. It is a good offense that requires players to think, but it isn't unique to him. What is unique is the demands he places on his players and his expectation that good enough is never good enough individually or as a team. Doesn't matter if it is in practice or in a blow out game - a bad play is still a bad play and a bad pass is still a bad pass and will earn a player a seat.
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