I 2011 var basketballinstruktøren Rick Torbett på Den Store Trenerhelgen og viste frem mange gode konsepter for lagangrep. Rick og jeg har holdt jevnlig kontakt opp gjennom årene og nylig var han grei og stilte opp til et intervju for denne bloggen om blant annet posisjonsløs basketball, hva man kan gjøre for å gjøre basketball mest mulig gøy for de yngste og noen generelle regelendringer som kan gjøre sporten mer underholdende.
1. You were at the Norwegian coaches clinic in 2011. What was your
overall impression and memories from that weekend?
My overall impression of the Norwegian Coaches Clinic in 2011 was
(1) How well organized it was, (2) The quality of speakers and their topics
were excellent (I attended other speakers when I was not speaking), (3) and how
many coaches were present – it was very well attended!
2. In Norway basketball is a small sport and is overshadowed by
soccer, handball and winter sports. What do you think it would take for
basketball to grow in popularity?
It must start with the youth – the younger the better! Programs must
be set up in such a way that the youth can experience the fun of the game
without over-supervision by adults. This mean 5vs5 basketball might not be
introduced for a few years.
In the USA, (and I should add that the following happened more in
the past than it does in the present) kids would become “infected” with
basketball through the FUN that they experienced playing shooting games or
1on1, 2on2, or 3on3. Sometimes we would play a game called “21” for half a day.
This was a game where a group of mixed players could participate regardless of
gender, skill level, or age and everyone was playing for himself or herself.
Sometimes these group games were “knock-out” games: whoever rebounded a missed
shot could choose who they wanted to defend them 1on1. If you scored, the
defender lost a point. If you lose 2 or 3 points, you were “knocked out” of the
game. The game would start over when only one player was left.
These are just examples of unsupervised “play”. Many of us fell in
love with the game long before anyone organized us into a 5on5 league. Consider
how skateboarders acquire their skills. No one is making “moment-by-moment
practice decisions” for skateboarders.
3. Please explain the concept of positionless basketball and the
impact your Read & React offense has had on the basketball community since
it was released in 2008.
CONCEPT: There are multiple reasons behind the creation of the
Read & React Offense. One of them was to show that we don’t need many of
the traditional constructs that rule the game today, in particular, positions like
Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, Center and the depth
charts that accompany them. Instead of
pigeonholing players into numerical positions like 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 with all
of their prerequisites, why not concentrate on teaching basketball to all of
the players and allowing the best 5 players to be on the floor?
The answer to that question is because most coaches don’t know how
to play the game (and therefore coach the game) without using the current
traditional paradigm. Tradition teaches coaches to control each offensive
possession with SET PLAYS and the traditional roles that accompany them. Read
& React was created to give coaches an ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM. Read &
React is a system that will allow a coach to teach ALL of the game to ALL of
their players. The Read & React Offense will give a coach the tools to
manage players’ weaknesses and take advantage of their strengths, WHILE they
are learning the game. Read & React might mean that your formations and
spacing changes from 5 OUT, to 4 OUT 1 IN, and 3 OUT 2 IN in a single
possession!
IMPACT: It’s tempting to talk about National and State Championships
on all levels and in many countries. It’s tempting to spotlight “turnaround”
stories that have been shared with me. But I would rather point to a dynamic
that follows the Read & React wherever it goes, men or women, youth or the
highest levels. That dynamic is the ENERGY, EXCITEMENT, and ENTHUSIASM that the
Read & React recruits from the players! Coaches can do a lot more with
players that are excited about getting better, learning the game, and having
the freedom (and accountability) that comes with the Read & React!
Equally important is how much the Read & React has stimulated
the creativity and imagination of the coaches who adopt it! There are some
pretty smart coaches out there who simply needed a construct that would allow
them to teach and grow in the game. I’m
simply blown away by this new generation of coaches!
4. What's next for Better Basketball? Is there anything special we
should look forward to?
It seems like there is more to do now than there was when Better
Basketball began 15 years ago. My goal is to equip every coach and every player
with EVERYTHING that’s needed to play and coach this great game. That’s a
pretty tall order, which means that I have to be a student first and keep “LEARNING”
as my number one priority!
The ALL-ACCESS MEMBERSHIP to 15 years of streaming videos is my
first step in the direction that I want to go. With wi-fi connection, a member
can log in from anywhere in the world and watch everything in the library
(including the Read & React and everything Read & React related) plus anything
new that I add in the future!
I already have some pretty special topics lined up to release this
year, but I’m going keep them as a surprise right now! www.betterbasketball.com
5. What changes would you like to see in the game of basketball to
make it more enjoyable to watch as a spectator?
A more consistent explanation and enforcement of the rules would
allow officials and players to keep the game going. Right now, there’s too much
stoppage, too many whistles, too many breaks in the action! Very rarely do the
players make more than two trips down the floor without a break in the action.
This is boring to watch and boring to play. Let’s play instead of standing
around! Here are some changes that I would like to experiment with:
1.
Fouls = 1 Free Throw for 2
points; even a shooting foul = 1 FT for 2 pts. The threat of a 4 point play
would make players think twice about stopping the game with a foul. Plus, this
cuts FT time in half.
2.
Officials should call the foul
on the offense if the offense initiates the contact with the defense. Some will
say that this is too much of a judgment call, but anyone who has played the
game KNOWS when an offensive player leaves his/her vertical plane to draw
contact on the defense. Even though the rules currently state that every player
has the right to their own vertical plane, 99% of these calls go against the
defense. If #1 is made a rule, then #2 must be enforced.
3.
Violations like travel and 3
seconds in the lane can be inbounded from the baseline (like a made basket) as
quickly as the other team can execute it. The officials should not have to
touch the ball. In the case of a Time Out, the ball is inbounded by the
official near the point of the infraction. Similarly, Out of Bounds can be
inbounded by the opposing team at the point of the violation without the
officials touching the ball.
4.
Limit coaches to only 3 Time
Outs per game. (Go easy on me! These are things I’d like to TRY out first!)
5.
Like all other major sports
(maybe ALL sports) players should not be able to foul out of the game. Instead,
a fifth individual foul should add an extra FT attempt. A sixth individual foul
should add two extra FTs, etc. This rule would let the coach decide whether a
player stays in the game rather than putting that decision in the hands of the
officials. (At the very least, let any foul beyond the fifth be a 2-minute
bench violation – the way Ice Hockey does it!) Basketball is the only sport to
have a “fouling out of a game” rule! It’s nonsense and it’s time for an update!
6.
Here’s a radical idea: Turn
games into two halves of running clock that stop only in the last 2 minutes.
Whichever team wins the first half gets 1 “Match Point”. The score is reset to
0 to 0 for the second half or second Match. If a team wins both “Matches”, then
the game is over. But if one team wins one half and the other team wins the
other half, the game goes to a 5-minute tiebreaker with the score reset to 0-0,
running clock for 3 minutes and stops in the last 2. Teams would compete harder
and blow-outs would end sooner (no tie-breaker to play after the first two
halves or Matches).
6.
Any final advice to all the
coaches and players out there?
Fun,
competition, and seeing yourself improve are the reasons that players and
coaches bring PASSION and ENERGY to the game. These are the very things that
attracted us to basketball in the first place. If you see or experience a lack
of Passion/Energy, you can be assured that your workouts (if you’re a player)
or your practices (if you’re a coach) are empty of fun, competition,
and the belief that you’re getting better! Make sure those 3 ingredients
are present and you’ll always look forward to stepping on the floor!
