I recently met with Swen Nater, who played at UCLA for legendary coach John Wooden, then went on to play a dozen or so years for the Lakers, where he became the first foreign-born player in the league to be a starter. Swen, who is the co-author of several books, including one specifically for post players, called "Playing Big" (available on Amazon.com) told me about one of the ways that then-Lakers coach Pat Riley held the post guys accountable.
He kept data on their game rebounding by charting three things for each rebound while the player was on the court.
(1) Was that rebound gettable? Was it one the player could or should have had?
(2) Did the player go after the rebound?
(3) Did the player actually get the rebound?
Swen explained to me that the ratio of (2) to (1) (how many of the gettable rebounds did the player go after) was a measure of EFFORT. The ratio of (3) to (2) was a measure of EFFECTIVENESS (how many of the balls that the player went after did he get)?
I recently saw a college game where the losing team's highest scoring player had one of the lowest shooting percentages. While he was listed at the top because of ONE stat (ppg) he was not necessarily the best performer in other respects and is some ways he may have cost his time some victories by looking to shoot first and pass second.
I like the idea of keeping other stats that don't necessarily make the box score but are a strong reflection of the QUALITY of a player's game and his contribution to both the team effort and to his own ongoing development.
I suggest that players reading this column look to use this or similar strategies to monitor what you are doing in games to measure your own EFFORT and EFFECTIVENESS.
*As always, comments and questions are welcome: BigMan.MentalCoaching@yahoo.com
He kept data on their game rebounding by charting three things for each rebound while the player was on the court.
(1) Was that rebound gettable? Was it one the player could or should have had?
(2) Did the player go after the rebound?
(3) Did the player actually get the rebound?
Swen explained to me that the ratio of (2) to (1) (how many of the gettable rebounds did the player go after) was a measure of EFFORT. The ratio of (3) to (2) was a measure of EFFECTIVENESS (how many of the balls that the player went after did he get)?
I recently saw a college game where the losing team's highest scoring player had one of the lowest shooting percentages. While he was listed at the top because of ONE stat (ppg) he was not necessarily the best performer in other respects and is some ways he may have cost his time some victories by looking to shoot first and pass second.
I like the idea of keeping other stats that don't necessarily make the box score but are a strong reflection of the QUALITY of a player's game and his contribution to both the team effort and to his own ongoing development.
I suggest that players reading this column look to use this or similar strategies to monitor what you are doing in games to measure your own EFFORT and EFFECTIVENESS.
*As always, comments and questions are welcome: BigMan.MentalCoaching@yahoo.com
