Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian used to say that zone defense saved his guys energy for offense.
There're several reason why zone defense doesn’t work in NBA and it is why zones are used in the NBA only as a surprise or change of pace.
Legendary coach Red Holzman used to say: " Sooner or later somebody's got to guard somebody."

- The primary reason why zones have limited value in the NBA is that the ball can be passed much quicker than any defender can cover the same ground

- Fast break is effective against any kind of defense because to set up the zone, needs time for all the defenders to get back in their positions

- Early offense situations create confusion and mismatches because the defenders aren’t responsible for guarding specific opponents

- NBA players are better hot shoters and far superior against zone than their collegiate equivalents

- They're better passers and better prepared to meet any kind of defense, as well

- Zoning also allows the offensive team to settle into a highly productive rhythm

- Team what play zone is vulnerable to offensive rebounds, because the defenders are not responsible for boxing out any specific individual

- And overloading an area near the basket will create an extra offensive rebounder.

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Passed through interesting article how Jazz coach Jerry Sloan make a point about the game.

"Young guys have got to have a mid-range game," Sloan said. "Everybody wants a three-point shot or a dunk. That's the nature of coming out of college into this league. But give me a guy that can make a 15-foot jump shot. "That's when you become effective because there's a lot of times that shot is there and you need an opportunity to be able to make that shot.

So many guys think it's better to be able to hit a home run than it is to get a single."That's why a guy like Jeff Hornacek was always so effective with us. Sure he made three-point shots, but him and [John] Stockton could make 15-footers and that really increases your ability to play the game."

Then Sloan started talking about the entertainment value or lack thereof of the mid-range jumper. "There's not anything exciting about a 15-foot jump shot," he said. "People go home and say, God, I'm bored to death.' How many times you ever see them show on television, people write in the newspaper, anything about a guy making a 15-foot jump shot? It's always they made a three or they got a dunk."

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Some quick tips from Hooptactics' Basketball Tips & Strategies Newsletter – December 2008

Teaching & Learning
Be sure to teach players to listen. Demand and get eye contact of all players prior to speaking. It is imperative that any time a coach talks everyone listens (including assistant coaches). Also, make sure that the entire coaching staff is well coordinated and uses the same offensive and defensive terminology.

Developing a Defensive Stopper
A vital but often overlook position on a team is a defensive “Stopper.” Having an outstanding defensive player is essential to any championship hopes. Like shooters, stoppers aren’t born and just don’t happen. They must be development and nourished. Successful defensive Stoppers are a result of having solid on and off ball defensive fundamentals along with a strong attitude and relentless determination.

Successfully Attacking the Out Number Situations
Coaches, on all levels, should not make the mistake of assuming and taking for granted that players are skilled in attacking out numbered situations. In fact, there are very few coaches that actually take the time to teach or reinforce the fundamentals and principles required to successfully attack and score on out number situations. Failure to take advantage and capitalize on these situations will not only make the difference in winning or losing close games, it will also cancel any great defensive effort that created the out numbered situation in the first place.

Taking an Offensive Charge
Taking an offensive charge is a really big play (RBP) in basketball. It not only takes away a potential basket and creates an offensive turnover but it also assesses the offensive player with an additional penalty of a personal foul.

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Janssen Peak Performance Update hit my inbox today.

Leaders are usually given at least a dozen opportunities to demonstrate leadership every single day.
Go over the checklist with your leaders to show them just how simple leadership can be - yet how profoundly powerful the aggregate of these 12 daily leadership actions can be on your program.

1. Be the hardest worker at practice today.

2. Be a spark of energy and enthusiasm today

3. Model mental toughness today

4. Connect with a teammate today

5. Compliment a teammate today

6. Challenge a teammate today

7. Support a teammate today

8. Constructively confront negativity, pessimism, and laziness today

9. Build and bond your team today

10. Check in with your coach today

11. Remind your team how today's work leads to tomorrow's dreams

12. Represent yourself and team with class and pride today

Encourage your emerging leaders to take advantage of at least 7-9 of these actions on daily basis. Your veteran leaders should be looking to capitalize on 10 to all 12 of these opportunities.
And as a coach, go back and look at all 12 again as well. The 12 leadership behaviors are things that you could and should be doing on a daily basis too.

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No one saw Alabama's role as a lead in the national championship drama.
Nick Saban has made all the right moves with Bama this season.
This team has answered every question, scaled every peak and overcome every challenge Saban has put before it.
The qualities revealed by the Tide's rise to No. 1 are the building blocks of any successful football team. They are preached by Saban and his staff all the time. They are old-school verities about responsibility and discipline and doing what you should be doing when no one is looking.
Alabama plays efficient, physical football and doesn't beat itself.. In most games, the above qualities alone can make the difference between winning and losing.
In discussing the leadership provided by the Tide offensive line, Saban made a statement that applies to the performance provided by his entire team.

"Sometimes when you give somebody a responsibility, they will do a good job with it," Saban said. "If you never ask it, they don't ever do it. They don't see it as a part of their role."

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It's good to hear what former NBA player think about coaches.

The TNT analyst Reggie Miller, talked abourt how he played for some tough coaches, during his 18 years career. He said that many of them pushed him to do similar things, over the years.
Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsey and Larry Brown taught him how to sacrifice and win.
He selected five most demanding coaches, in NBA today.

Jerry Sloan
Having played against Sloans’ teams they was always well prepared for their.They have been well scouted and Sloans’ teams always played with a sense of urgency. Under Jerry Sloan Jazz made 17th play-off appearances.He always paid his due on the court as a player and on the bench as the coach.

Larry Brown
Where there moments when he had him confused and perplexed yelling his matra “Just move the ball” over and over again. Sometimes he can rub players the wrong way, but wherever he coached he’s won. He is perfect because he gets to teach players.

Greg Popovic
Every player with more than eight years in NBA would love to play for team that Pop coach. He pushed young players to maximize their potecial and the same time rides and motivates his veteran players with enough head games and makes them ready.
He won four NBA title.

Scott Skiles
Having played with him his two first season in the NBA, Miller knew what type of coach Skiles is going to be: annoying. He mean it in good way. As a player Skilles was in your face perfectionist, kind of guy.If you run the wrong play or missed assignment on defense he was call you out.He took Bulls to three consecutive appearances in play-off.

Michael Carry
He never been a head coach before and he has tough time to follow in Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Sanders.But what can get attention is he always mention word accountability.

Often you can hear from players coach is too demanding, he doesn’t understand me etc, but what is important hire is that your dream wan’t come true unless you rub that bottle.

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What Loyola Coach Jimmy Patsos did during the game against Davidson, was nothing more than how coach can be wrong sticking with a loosing strategy.
Trying the experiment with trapping Curry to see what effect it would have, was not so bad idea. But with a player such as Curry, it's certainly worth nothing.
Coach Mc Killop reacted to Loyola's double teams brilliantly. He sent and positioned Curry in the corner and created a "power play" for the other Wildcats helped them build a huge lead. At some point as that was happening, though Patsos should have searched for a strategy that worked for his team, not just to keep Curry out of the scorebook.
Curry selflessly stayed away in the corner removing his two guards from helping against other Wildcats, so Davidson blew away Loyola playing 4-3 game.

Bob Knight would say: “Everybody watch but not everybody is able to see.”
Holding Curry scoreless and losing by 30 proves what, no comment ….?

On pregame speach

"Our goal is to win," Patsos said. "We weren't going to win with Curry scoring 35 and making nine assists. Those nine assists are at least 18 more points - that's 53 points. That's a pretty big number."
"We had to play against an NBA player tonight," Patsos explained. "Anybody else ever hold him scoreless? I'm a history major. They're going to remember that we held him scoreless or we lost by 30?"

"It seemed to me they were willing to risk the game at the expense of locking Steph up," Davidson's Bob McKillop said. "When you put two people on somebody and you do it for 30 minutes and at the end of the game, you have to wonder what the reasons for that are."

"Every dead ball I asked them how long they were going to do this," Curry said he asked his shadowing defenders. "They really didn't say anything. They weren't very conversational about it."

Loyola players will certainly remember Stephen Curry and the time his coach Patsos sacrificed a win, in order to pursue his goal of a win.

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At Fremont High Scooll, to maintain the level of success, coaches use list of team selection criteria to evaluate players.
This process is probably one of, if not the toughest part of coaching. Too many other things have to be considered in order to maintain a successful program.

Coaches will make selections based on the following general guidelines:
1.Payers that will make our teams better.
2.Players we believe have a realistic chance to play varsity basketball at some point in their career.
3.Players that fit the available positions for the greatest benefit of the team.

More specifically, coaches will consider:
- Talent/ Phisical Abilities/ Mastery of fundamentals
- Effort / Wiligness to work
- Wiligness to listen, learn and the ability to applay what is

- Self discipline
- Coanduct
- Attitude

In addition the following things are also considered:
-How many returning starters do we have?
-Has the player played on the 10th grade or JV team?
-What kind of offense/ defense do we want to run this year?

Coaches have to use their best possible professional judgment, to avoid and errors, in order to do that, they'll keep more players on squads, rather than less. As we value each player, as an individual, but all decision will be based, on what is best for the team?

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The Cavs have an interesting leadership structure of the team's veterans and coach Mike Brown and they call them “Committee.”
They have semi-regular meetings with the head coach in his office and cover everything from disciplinary matters to travel plans to key strategy decisions.
It's not a democracy, but the group of leaders act as a buffer and a board for different issues.

-This season, for example, The Committee has met with Brown to discuss punishment for rookie J.J. Hickson when he missed a bus to a preseason shootaround.

-Also, The Committee came to Brown to discuss travel arrangements for last week's game in New Jersey.

-Brown announced a light practice for Sunday afternoon. But after being asked through the committee, he decided to call it off and have a bit longer session Monday, before the team flies to New York.

He did it because of the trust level with the players and because they have been working hard and focus in recent practices and shootarounds.

"That's a recipe for a good team," said Williams, who was invited into the circle despite being in his first year with the team. "Players are players and coaches are coaches. Over the course of the year, things are going to happen and you need the players to keep the team together."
"I think the group covers the whole team, from the young guys to the older guys, from the guards to the big men," Brown said. "If I hear there is a concern or I have a concern, I call a Committee meeting."

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Pistons' Coach Cury said that pregame routine isn't working. Curry has tried three different approaches in team pregame preparations. They had a shoot-around at 9 a.m. and at 3:30 p.m. on game day and lost to the Celtics and Suns. This time, They had shoot-around after Saturday practice and lost in Sunday. Still no good.

The Pistons shot 28 % in the 1st half and 37% for the game. Iverson 3 /11, Hamilton (2 / 11, Rodney Stuckey 0 / 5, Wallace 3 /10 and collective 8 /37.
The Pistons allowed the 22nd-ranked offense of the Timberwolves shoot 53% and do whatever they wanted. PG Randy Foye carved the Pistons, scoring 23 points with 14 assists.
This was far worst of the previos two they lost. Energy was low. Heads were hung.

"That tells me we're not ready to play and whatever we're doing prior to these games isn't right," coach Michael Curry said. "As professionals, we've got to get ourselves ready to play whether it's an early game or a normal game. We have to be ready to play, and as the head coach of this team, I take full responsibility for that."

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