7 Constraints to Build Offensive Decision-Making


Constraints are tools coaches can use to manipulate an environment to influence the skill development of their teams. When you add constraints, you are deliberately putting your players in situations that mimic game-like scenarios.

Here are 7 types of constraints you can use to influence your team’s skill development this postseason: 


1. TIME
A short shot clock, limited time on the catch, shooting drills with a time cap, or any countdown within a small-sided game will force decisions, action, and execution to happen more quickly.

2. SPACE
Using cones, lines on the court, or sides of the floor will force your players to operate in space that more closely resembles the skills necessary to score in the game. Playing in alleys on the floor is critical to the transfer of offensive skills in live play.

3. NUMBERS (advantage or disadvantage)
Giving offensive players a numbers advantage closely simulates the goal of all offenses that want to play against a disadvantaged defense. A numbers advantage replicates the situations that terminate a possession with a shot or pass. On the flip side, giving the offense a numbers disadvantage can teach toughness, ball-security, and passing in tight spaces.

4. MUSTS
You can require an offensive player or team to execute something on the floor before they score. For example, you must get a post touch, paint touch, or pick and roll before you shoot. Player XYZ must come off a wide-pin before you score.

5. ONLYs
You can put restraints on a team or individual that isolates a specific skill or aspect of the game. For example with individual players: “you can only shoot in the paint for this scrimmage”. For teams: “you can only shoot after 2 reversals.”

6. SCORING SYSTEM
You can manipulate scoring systems to reward the types of shots you want to encourage. Example: if you want to encourage layups you could make every layup worth 3pts while midrange jumpers are only worth 1pt. Example: shots in the paint are worth 3, everything else is 1.

7. TRIGGERS
These can fall in a lot of different categories. 
Ex: once the defender touches your hip, you’re live. 
Ex: once you run around the cones you’re live. 
Ex: once the offensive team crosses half-court the defender comes into play.


You can get comfortable using these constraints by adding them to any of your drills or practice planning. The great thing about being a coach is the creativity you have in using different ingredients to build your team.


Unleash Your Offense with Pace and Space

5 Reasons Why I LOVE the Princeton Offense

1. Positionless Offense 

Other than the 5 man, every single player in the Princeton Offense is interchangeable! This offense allows for great flexibility of interchangeable, skilled players. The Princeton style offense was originally designed to help skilled players use their skill to create scoring opportunities who were at a disadvantage athletically. You can easily take advantage of matchups while manipulating floor locations to get players into certain areas of the floor. This version of the Princeton offense emphasizes ball screens, spacing, and driving lanes to the rim.

2. Difficult to Guard and Scout

This offense is incredibly difficult to prepare for because of its unique patterns and screening actions. It is nearly impossible to simulate the speed of cutting and precise timing of movements. Most opposing scout teams have never run these actions before and the learning curve can be difficult in a few days time. Opposing teams will spend a lot of time in practice focusing on what you do instead of improving their team. It is a completely different type of preparation than most teams are used going through.

3. Great for Skilled Players

Players who can shoot, pass, and make skilled reads thrive in this offense. There are patterns of movement, screening, and cutting that make it easy to take advantage of a defender’s mistakes. If you have an entire team of skilled players this offense is nearly impossible to guard since you can attack from many spots on the floor with different players. Everyone is constantly a threat on the floor because its difficult to guard skilled players in space who know they they are going to do before you do.

4. Elite Floor Spacing

With the 5 man lifted out of the paint the floor is opened up. There are four other players spaced on the perimeter, with wide open driving lanes to the rim, back cuts, and slash + kicks to shooters for three. Helpside defenders are constantly under pressure from 5 men rolling to the rim, drives to the rim, and perimeter players who can make threes at a high clip.

5. The Ball Has Energy

This offense builds on itself. It puts skilled players in positions where they can pass up good shots to get great shots. Everyone gets a chance to touch the ball in this Princeton style offense. The idea that the ball has energy (made popular by the Golden State Warriors) simply means that players will play a little bit harder when they touch the ball. Everyone feels a part of the game plan and just touching the ball has a positive effect on the entire team. Whether it’s making a simple pass, setting a screen, attacking a closeout, or getting a catch and shoot three, everyone gets into a better rhythm. No one likes to just stand in the corner waiting for something to happen. What you get is a beautiful symphony of ball and player movement that puts the defense on their heels and makes you nearly impossible to guard.


More Princeton Offense Content

Master the Princeton Offense

Give your team the tools they need to be an offensive machine. There are 7 key actions in the Princeton that will build your team into an unstoppable force.

Here is a look at the table of contents from “Mastering the Princeton”

My experience playing in the Princeton style offense for 4 years at the Division 1 level (at the College of William and Mary) helped me score over 1600 points and shoot 40% from three while leading our team to one of the best season in school history.

I was an average athlete, but I was skilled.

This offense helped turn a less talented player into a all-conference selection.

Quinn McDowell scored a career-high 28 points in W&M’s win over Maryland.

Check it out. Invest in Your Team. Make Your Offense Unstoppable.


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Why Teams Should Act Like Family

Unity is critical to creating a winning culture, and winning cultures are built on trust. Family is a commonly used metaphor for teams that are trying to build the chemistry, cohesion, and character it takes to win and compete at a high level.

The idea of family evokes strong emotions because (for many of us) it represents a lifelong bond (for good or for bad) that is nearly impossible to replicate in any other area of life. Familial bonds create a unified culture because it takes a lifetime of relational deposits to achieve this deepest kind of trust.

Great teams learn to tap into this resource of trust by behaving like a well-functioning family. What results is a brotherhood or sisterhood that is not the result of chance, but rather the culmination of learning to act like a true family.

Families fight fair (and well!)

Unity is built on understanding, and understanding is born out of healthy conflict. Learning to fight fair is one of the critical skills a family can learn. Conflict (in the context of relationships) undresses our proclivity to hide the most vulnerable parts of who we are.

It reveals the insecurities, insincere niceties, and superficial masks that we use to maintain artificial harmony with those around us. Conflict brings the ugly realities (and trivialities) into the light and exposes them to the fresh air of truth and transparency. Fighting well allows us to air our grievances in a way that propels us towards a more stable equilibrium. Knowing that my brother or sister has the courage to confront me builds confidence.

In short, fighting well releases me from my insecurity of having to guess what someone thinks of me. Think about the relief you felt the last time you worked through difficult conflict with someone in your life (especially with a family member). Put simply, the pain of conflict produces understanding, and understanding builds a greater depth of unity and trust.

Families tell the truth

Families learn to tell the truth and live unoffended.

Truth telling is critical to creating a culture of unity with your team or organization. Families and teams who tell the truth understand the deadliness of deceit. Telling the truth (or at the very least not lying) has a supernatural quality all its own.

It frees us to be ourselves without having to hide behind the pretense of being something we are not. This authenticity comes from having the courage to tell the truth even when the truth is difficult to say out loud. The truth puts all our cards on the table and allows families (and teams) to get on the same page moving forward.

When your team gets comfortable hearing the truth (from both players and coaches), it has the power to spur growth and create camaraderie when done with the right spirit. Truth has an antiseptic quality all its own; it has the power to clean, enliven, and regenerate even the most dysfunctional teams.

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Families serve sacrificially

Families train themselves to sacrifice for one another, to commit to serving the group’s needs above the individual’s. Sacrificial service is best exemplified in doing the small things that bring teams and families together. Unity is cultivated in the small acts of selflessness, the little acts of service that speak louder than words.

From cleaning the locker room to making the extra pass on the court, an “others-centered” culture is found in the small acts of “dying to self” that make teams (and families) great. The teammates and families who are willing to give of their time, talents and treasure to build into something greater than themselves are the ones that experience the greatest unity.

Ultimately, sacrifice is a choice that must be made over and over again in order to build a bond of unbreakable trust

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What Ancient Spartan Warriors Can Teach Us About Leadership

Spartan military culture has recently been popularized through movies (i.e. Zach Snyder’s 300) and comics, giving us a glimpse into the unique culture of these ancient warriors. Aside from earning a reputation as ferocious fighters who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds, there are two valuable leadership principles embedded in Spartan military tactics that if embraced will drastically improve your team’s performance and culture.

Spartan Culture

Spartan fighting forces were notorious for developing some of the fiercest and most effective soldiers in the ancient world. The Spartan army routinely beat the odds by defeating opponents with much larger armies and much better military equipment. Their unique organizational tactics, uncompromising culture, and fearlessness allowed them achieve seemingly impossible feats in the face of overwhelming odds.

In particular, the Spartan military used two very distinct fighting tactics that gave them a decided advantage over their adversaries. Their use of circular shields (called an aspis) in conjunction with a military formation called the phalanx made it difficult for much larger armies to penetrate their ranks.

Let’s dive into what each element can teach us about the importance of leadership, strength, culture, and team-performance.

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The Spartan Shield (aspis)

The aspis was a circular shield with a slight curvature, a wooden or leather laminated support underneath, and a bronze covering on the exterior. Each warrior was expected to protect their shield with their life. The shield was more than just another piece of military equipment, it was a deeply symbolic part of a Spartan solider’s identity. Spartan women are said to have sent their sons off to war with a stern reminder:

“Return with your shield or on it.”

Spartan Battle Shield

The importance placed on the shield was not primarily connected to a soldier’s personal well-being, but to the greater good of the entire fighting force. The size and shape of the aspis allowed a soldier to protect the blind spots of his fellow companions in the heat of battle. Each soldier would cover for the man next to him which in turn would allow the man next to them the freedom and confidence to fight with bravery—because they were not worried about protecting their own blind-spot. 

As one Spartan King said regarding the importance of the shield,

“because the latter [other armors] they put on for their own protection, but the shield for the common good of the whole line.”

Spartan King

Every great team must have their own shield to protect themselves (and their team) against hostile influences that want to destroy them. Just as the Spartans used their shields to ward off approaching enemies, effective leaders equip their teams with the necessary tools to protect the interests of the group at all cost.

The Spartan Military Formation (phalanx)

When the Spartan’s were greatly outnumbered on the battlefield, they would engage their enemies in a formation called the phalanx. A phalanx was formed when Spartan warriors would form a rectangle-shaped mass of soldiers, tightly packed together, with the outermost warriors of the formation turning their shields outward to form a protective casing.

This densely packed group of warriors allowed them to thwart various external threats while allowing them to advance in unison to engage their opponents from a position of relative safety and strength. The phalanx served a defensive and offensive purpose. They would fend off attacks by linking their shields together to form a protective outer layer, then the Phalanx would move forward as one unit to execute their offensive strategy.

The particulars of how phalanx operated offer us a fascinating look into the essence of building a strong team of people. 

Spartan Phalanx Battle Formation

The spartans would carry their shields on the left side of their body which allowed them to cover the blind spot of the warrior fighting next to them. Commanders would arrange it so that family members and friends were placed next to each other within the formation. The belief was that warriors would be less likely to abandon their comrades if they were fighting next to someone they deeply cared about. 

The strength (and ultimately the effectiveness) of the phalanx was encapsulated in the “next man up” approach. If a warrior was injured or killed on the outer edge of the formation, the next man behind them would step up and take their place. The integrity of the group’s formation was protected at all costs, because without the strength of the phalanx to protect them, each man on had little chance of surviving the battle on his own.

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Building Your Team

Every team needs the right protection (shield) and the right formation (phalanx) to effectively engage the obstacles that stand in front of them. With the right protection and the right formation, each team-member will able to move forward with the confidence and fearlessness they need to attack the challenges ahead of them.

Thought exercise:

  • How can you apply the metaphors of the aspis and the phalanx to your team
  • What kind of protection and formation does your team need to gain the confidence and fearlessness it needs to be successful?

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Why Discipline Matters

This past Monday I wrote a piece on two landmark experiments that fundamentally shaped how we think about the concepts of willpower and self-discipline (check it out here). 

 

The infamous Marshmallow Experiment proved that our ability to delay immediate gratification in favor of a future good is a massive predictor of success. When we sacrifice present indulgence for future gains, we become happier, more productive people in the long-run.

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The second study was based on Roy Baumeister’s chocolate and radish experiment which permanently altered the idea of how we use willpower to make disciplined decisions. Before Roy’s 1996 experiment, willpower was thought of as a skill.  

 

Instead, Baumeister found that our willpower is more analogous to a muscle. When you lift weights your muscles become tired and fatigued; willpower works the same way. Our willpower can become fatigued when we have to make a series of difficult decisions. Willpower depletion makes it difficult to maintain a high level of discipline.

 

Armed with this new understanding of the inner workings of willpower and self-discipline, let’s turn to the difficult task of applying this understanding in the context of our teams. 

 

To get a better idea of exactly how leaders can use this information to transform their teams, I’ve outlined the basic challenge that nearly every leader faces.

 

Basic Leadership Challenge (as it relates to discipline)

  • Teams are groups of individuals

 

  • Individuals often struggle with self-discipline

 

  • A lack of self-discipline is the root of many team problems

 

  • The most effective teams are a cohesive group of disciplined individuals

 

  • A disciplined culture is essential for success

 

Solution: Improve personal self-discipline that spills over to the larger team and creates a culture of discipline within the team.

 

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The game of basketball is all about decision making. Every coach I’ve ever played has preached the virtue of discipline. The disciplined teams are able to remain steady through the choppy waters of competition.

 

We are going to explore the specific strategies that you can use to positively influence your team’s ability to make self-disciplined decisions in critical situations. 

 

Here’s exactly what we’ll explore today:

 

  • The Positive Effects of Discipline
  • Specific Strategies to Combat Willpower Depletion
  • Growth Exercise: Learning from Starbucks

 

The Powerful Effects of Discipline

Truth be told, the power of discipline simply can not be overstated. Discipline is the structural integrity of every great organization. The skyscrapers of success are always supported by the nuts and bolts of discipline and without discipline those building simply cannot stand.

 

Here’s what legendary leadership author Jim Collins had to say in a recent interview about the importance of discipline:

 

“A great company is marked by a culture of discipline. A self-disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and who take disciplined action. And when you begin to lose a culture of discipline, that is when you really start to fall.”

 

Discipline sustains, propels, and drives great teams to both take disciplined action and engage in disciplined thought. Creating a culture of discipline is more than a philosophical idea. Discipline has real, tangible, long-term benefits that are invaluable in creating a culture of sustained excellence.

 

Here are 5 specific ways that discipline can tangibly change your team:

1 – Productivity

  • A disciplined team is a highly productive team. Think about how discipline could affect each one of your basketball practices. The more your team stays disciplined in their execution, the less time the coach needs to stop practice to correct mistakes. The less time you have to stop practice, the more time you have to work on other parts of the game.

 

2 – Genuine Relationships

  • Teams build trust when they know their teammate is going to be disciplined in performing their role. Discipline breeds responsibility, responsibility builds trust, and trust is the foundation for great relationships.   

 

3 – Mission Focused

  • Disciplined people don’t sweat the small stuff so they can focus on the important issues. They keep first things first.

 

Here’s a golden nuggets of truth from one of my favorite authors C.S. Lewis:

“Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both first and second things.”

 

4 – Culture Creators 

  • Disciplined individuals create a culture of discipline because they become the example for others to follow. Discipline is like the common cold, it spreads quickly and is difficult to stop.

 

5 – Future Growth 

  • In the long run, disciplined people are infinitely more valuable because of who they are going to become in the future. Disciplined people stay committed to their personal growth, and increase their future contributions to the team because of who they are going to become in the future.

 

Discipline has the power to transform your team, but creating a culture of discipline is difficult. We are going to look at some specific strategies that every leader can use to preemptively combat a lack of discipline. 

 

Specific Strategies to Combat Willpower Depletion

Willpower is the gas tank that fuels our self discipline. But we learned from Monday’s piece that certain activities can quickly deplete our willpower.

 

Based on scientific research (much of which is present in Duhigg’s book the Power of Habit), here are 3 specific strategies to fight willpower depletion and maintain self-discipline.

 

1. Pre-commitment

As the field of research dealing with willpower and discipline has expanded, researchers have looked at people from all walks of life to give them clues about what factors could influence our willpower. 

 

In one experiment, scientists from Scotland took a group of elderly people who were recovering from recent hip or knee replacements. They wanted test the notion of “pre-commitment” as it relates to maintaining discipline in a given task.

 

Some of the participants in the study were given journals while others were left to approach their rehab in whatever way they felt was best. The participants with the journals, were told to write down specific strategies for how they would deal with the inevitable difficulties associated with their rehab.

 

One of the biggest problems that affects elderly people recovering from a major surgery, is their ability to overcome the pain and inconvenience that comes with having a knee or hip replacement at an old age. Staying consistent with rehabilitation is often a difficult and strenuous task. 

 

After the journals had been passed out, researchers found that the participants who wrote down specific strategies for dealing with difficult problems had a much higher rate of recovery. 

 

For example, one participant knew that every time he stood up from the sofa he would inevitably experience a shooting pain down the front of his knee. This pain would cause him to be tempted to sit back down immediately – it was important that he moved around the house during the day instead of sitting down, movement was key in his recovery process. His strategy for dealing with his “couch scenario” was to immediately take a step forward away from the couch. 

 

Researchers learned that the participants who simply committed beforehand to a specific series of actions were more likely to follow through. Rather than relying on your willpower to help you make decisions in the heat of the moment, making the decision ahead of time greatly increases your chance for success. A pre-commitment to stay disciplined during a specific circumstance gives you a greater chance of keeping your willpower muscle strong because you have already done the hard work of making the decision.

 

2. Eliminate the Decision

Making difficult mental decisions taxes your willpower muscles. But if you can eliminate the conscious act of making the decision yourself, you have a better chance of staying disciplined. Here are two effective ways to take the decision-making load off your shoulders.

 

Turn Your Decision into a Habit

Our brains naturally create habits in an attempt to maximize mental efficiency by turning off the conscious decision-making parts of our brain and putting our mind on autopilot. The less decisions you have to make, the stronger your willpower will be.

 

Turn whatever behavior you are trying to change into a habit by creating a cue, routine, reward loop for that action (more on that here).

 

Group it

Teams of people can help avoid “willpower depletion” by spreading the decision-making responsibilities across a number of people. When others share the burden of making tough choices, you will be better equipped to tackle the difficult challenges of life. 

 

3. Frame the Decision

Our natural learning process is rooted in our ability to relate something that is unfamiliar to something that we understand. Often this is best done using pictures or analogies.

 

In Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit he talks about how Starbucks framed their customer service protocol using the simple acrostic, LATTE (Listen, Acknowledge, Take-Action, Thank, Explain). 

 

This was brilliant for two reasons.

 

First, they used the concept of pre-commitment by identifying the exact inflection points that every Starbucks employee deals with when they encounter a difficult customer. They gave their employees a detailed roadmap with specific checkpoints that could be easily followed whenever they were dealing with a customer service issue.

 

Second, they framed the acronym into a concept everyone was familiar with: a coffee drink. The coffee drink acronym wrapped a boring customer service mandate into a easily digestible morsel of information. This simple, yet powerful tool helped reinforce a culture of customer service in a way that is easy to conceptualize and remember. 

 

Growth Exercise 

Learning from Starbucks

You can use the same process Starbucks created to implement its customer service policy within your basketball team. There are hundreds of different scenarios that you could address – these literally could be anything, whether in practice, games, individual workouts, weight room sessions – so feel free to explore the possibilities of giving your team an easy to follow roadmap through these inevitable points of resistance. 

 

Part 1 – Pick a Situation

Ex. The opposing team goes on a scoring run during the game.

 

Part 2 – Identify the Inflection Points

Think of this as identifying the checkpoints in the emotional journey going on inside your players heads – just as Starbucks could predict what types of problems their employees would face, you need to identify these same inflection points for your players.

  • They start scoring
  • The game feels like its getting away
  • You can feel frustration or disappointment
  • Panic can set in

 

Part 3 – Use a word picture as a Pre-Commitment

This can be an acrostic, an analogy, a metaphor, a word picture, really anything that is easy to remember and conveys your central message. 

Ex. Whenever the other team goes on a run, remember to simply BALL

 

B – back to basics (return to the fundamentals)

A – attack on D (raise the energy level on defense to shift the momentum of the game)

L – link together (don’t try to change the game by yourself, stay together)

L – light a fire (inspire your teammates through great energy and focus)

 

 

 

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