Intervju med Rick Torbett

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!