One Man Wizadry

Is it just coincidence the Clippers haven't lost a game with Chauncey Billups back on the bench? Had he traveled with the team during the disheartening triple game road trip would there have been all the talk about L.A. threatening to denounce Vinny Del Negro as coach? Painting a picture of frenzy in the Clips locker room? Most likely. It's not as if the Clippers are blowing teams out of the water in these recent home wins, helping them to their first four game win streak since February.

But one thing's for sure. Billups makes them better. On the court. On the bench. Standing on the sideline. Just being there.

Chris Paul says it's no secret that Billups gives them an advantage. A sounding board. A winning presence. He needs to travel with the team.

Last night, towards the end of the tight battle between Portland and L.A., the ESPN camera caught a great angle of the Clippers huddle: Del Negro squatted in a typical coaching position, five players sitting in front of him.

But the one guy who was talking? Billups. And all eyes were pegged on him. The team was looking to him for advice -- and it's not the first time. At least once during each of the last several home games, it's apparent that he is a key cog in what L.A. is doing. (Hence a suggestion from Bill Simmons that Billups just take over as coach.) Billups is the Wizard of Lob City, only not hidden behind a giant curtain.

Kevin Arnovitz explains the scene on TrueHoop:

"In the preceding huddle (Clips down one with 13.9 seconds to play), Chauncey Billups, in street clothes and saddled with a boot, implored the team to forget about the preceding possession. With Randy Foye up in his face, Crawford launched a ... well ... Crawfordian, high-arcing contested jumper that gave Portland a one-point lead. With the Clippers' starting five and coach Vinny Del Negro listening intently, Billups also offered tips about how to free up Paul in the event the Clippers' point guard would be blanketed by the rangy Nicolas Batum."

Dynamics matter. One guy can very well make a difference between a win and a loss, whether playing or not. Much of it comes down to trust. Mutual respect for one another. A belief system within a team. It's great to see the Clippers execute strategy, but even greater to see them working together, particularly after a tough couple weeks of banter and cheap shots.

Oh -- It's nice to have Chris Paul, too.

Battle L.A.: Winning, Losing, and the Complexities of Teams

Attention Los Angeles: There is an intense psychological study happening right now. And its power is becoming more potent daily. We have the undeniable fortune of witnessing it first hand; not with one team but two.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of forming a cohesive unit under the guidance of a new coach in Mike Brown. Gradually, and with the help of one of the best home records in basketball (19-3 as of Friday afternoon), the Lakers have earned the second best record in the western conference and currently have a hold on the No. 3 playoff spot.

Meanwhile, the Lakers’ housemates, the Los Angeles Clippers, are unraveling as I write. After a legitimately strong start to the season -- which led to conceivably unfair expectations -- they have lost three in row and are on the verge of slipping even lower in the standings (currently No. 6 in west) after hovering at the top. There is banter of a lost team. The ribbing reeks of things like: Vinny Del Negro has lost the locker room. Chris Paul doesn’t trust his teammates. Why doesn’t Blake Griffin get in the post? Why isn’t DeAndre Jordan playing? None of these statements are surprising. It’s sports. And its professional sports. Players and coaches who make millions of dollars are supposed to win, and when they’re not, they’re supposed to find ways to win. And when they don’t? Fans and media, not to mention players, begin blaming everyone else.

The problem is finger pointing helps nobody. It makes teams turns into a hodgepodge of mixed emotions, hope and happiness gone awry. The Clippers are in a deep, dark hole now. Clipper Nation feels it and, as such, the easy answer, and something perceived to work based on the recent re-resurrection of the New York Knicks, is to say, “Off with the head.” Sure, getting rid of the head coach is simple. After all, with all of the perceived talent on the Clippers -- and the best point guard in the NBA -- there is no way they should be falling to the bottom of the playoff race. But when the pieces are analyzed and the situation spotted with some clarity, perceptions may change.

Down the hallway at Staples, the Lakers’ gold is shining brighter. Maybe Metta World Peace realizes Mike Brown is more than a “stat guy”, as he referred to him several weeks ago. Certainly, there is less weight on Pau Gasol’s frame as he made it past the trade deadline to remain a Laker. Despite the awkward farewell to Derek Fisher, there is a spritely young point guard in Ramon Sessions who has a higher PER (23.8) in his four games than any of his teammates. And let’s face it, Kobe Bryant runs the team. He acknowledges that he is going to keep taking his shots, and he’ll be the go-to guy in the clutch. That’s what he has always worked hard to do and that’s what he, admittedly, is paid to do. But more than the shooting talk, he is the leader. The culture of winning and him being the guy is in place. And this scenario shows itself even more in the extenuating circumstances of there being almost no practice time to formulate a solid system under a new coach.

The Clippers are like any other team in that they, too, had limited training camp time and now have no practice opportunities. But, who is the vocal leader of the locker room? Chris Paul is wonderful on the court: He directs traffic. He reads opponents’ sets and calls out to his teammates what they’re running. He makes it a point to get others involved and find his shot when necessary, frequently in the closing minutes. Blake is a beast, physically, and actions on the court are eye-popping, especially when he is hustling, getting deflections, and diving for loose balls (as he did much more earlier in the season). But the culture of winning doesn’t yet exist for the Clippers. Del Negro was given Paul and, for obvious reasons, has given him the ball. With Billups gone, the Clippers not only lost a gamer, a Finals MVP, and charismatic competitor, they lost belief and cooperation. When they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in late January, they had major moxy, and not just because of Griffin’s inconceivable slam on Perkins. Billups was on the floor. A pressure relief and pure baller. Lob City was in full effect, 3-pointers were soaking wet, and the folks on the bench were up and dancing. It was a true team, magnified by a 56.2 percent field goal percentage display aided by 28 assists. Fans were literally jumping out of their seats. Heck, I couldn’t help but be one of them.

At the same time, people questioned the Lakers’ system. What are they running? What is the rotation? Can Brown really coach offense? Is Kobe unhappy again?

Linsanity soon introduced itself and all attention turned to the east, particularly when Kobe half joked about who Jeremy Lin even is -- and then lost to the new Knicks as they put together an exciting stretch of team basketball. Soon after, however, New York’s unity altered. Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire were reintroduced, and unfortunately for Mike D’Antoni, chimed in as figures who confused the team’s newfound equation with Lin as the floor leader. What seemed like an easy route to take (saying goodbye to D’Antoni) has only appeared like the perfect answer as the Knicks have fired off five straight wins, fairly convincingly, under new coach Mike Woodson. The question we all have is: Will it continue?

The honeymoon stage doesn’t last forever. If it did, all coaches who have turned teams into contenders midway through grueling seasons would still have their jobs. Jeff Van Gundy said it best today on 710 ESPN. When he took over the Knicks, they beat the best Bulls’ team ever -- the one that went 72-10 -- handedly. For some reason, a new takeover relaxes players, gives them new hope. It’s the storming phase of psychology, when everything is fresh and exciting and hope has a way of injecting hustle and high-fives into players who once seemed apathetic and aged. But as Van Gundy discovered, it didn’t last for all of eternity, partly because adversity strikes, good opponents adjust and get better as the season goes on, and teams get comfortable.

Think of the psychological formations and transformations of teams like a weightlifting regimen. Starting out, one gets stronger and immediately sees results. Effects can be extreme. Intrinsic motivation is felt in one’s mind and body. Extrinsically, friends and colleagues comment on how good one looks all of a sudden. A new exercise is one’s best friend and makes one feel even better.

And then there is a plateau. After several weeks of hype, it’s not as easy any longer. Building muscle and increasing strength is more difficult. In fact, improvement becomes a struggle. The person has to change something within the routine; otherwise he or she quits. But here is the key point: He doesn’t go out and buy a new flat bench with new weights. That’s like assigning blame to a basketball because it isn’t going through the hoop. He figures out other ways to train, alters routines, talks to himself in a different way, communicates with others about new exercises, and attacks the training from a different angle.

Simply stated, he works through it with what he has available, and if possible, adds another exercise. The Lakers worked through early issues and then added Sessions to make them more powerful. The Clippers started strong, heightened expectations in the beginning, and now have to deal with what they have: A frustrated superstar, a really young but powerful forward, and other players who haven’t been around too much winning and consistency.

Don’t underestimate the significance of winners simply being around a team. Is it a coincidence that when Billups returned from his hiatus of surgery and recuperation this past weekend to sit on the Clippers’ bench at Staples that they won two games? It’s unfortunate he didn’t travel with the team this week on its devastating road trip. Perhaps results would have been different just by his mere presence, one that promotes winning by focusing on the process and attempting to communicate effectively. Del Negro and Paul both turned to Billups for advice on Saturday and Sunday.

Ploughing through mounds of muck can be done, but people have to want to make it happen. Words turn into strong statements. People remember those, whether they are encouraging or dismantling. When teams lose, players don’t want to talk to one another; on the other side, positive team culture permeates and energizes. At the very least, it makes people play hard and provides ambition and engagement.

The study continues this weekend...

Be Mindful of Coaching Speed and Structure

This article was originally posted on the HoopSpeak Coaches Forum on November 21.

As coaches constantly cultivating our craft, we start out the season with myriad ideas concocted from a long off-season of watching, debating and theorizing. Then we attempt to integrate possible new schemes and skills into our philosophy and overall vision.

Many coaches tend to move fast, not necessarily in their physical movements, but in their teachings. The John Wooden maxim, “Be quick, but don’t hurry” that was intended for player pace has applicability to coaches as well. Coaches who move too quickly – especially when it comes to the implementation of new plays and skills – may end up behind.

According to Dr. Justin Anderson, a sport psychologist for Premier Sport Psychology in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., groups often move too fast without understanding how to connect the dots, specifically between an individuals’ intrinsic motivation, team goals, and players’ roles and responsibilities. “If a team hasn’t thought of or discussed goals, and the coaches haven’t talked about what the overall process is, they are operating without purpose,” says Anderson, “and the team is being served an injustice.”

How well we teach, how organized we are, and how long it takes our players to “get it” varies year to year. No matter what, though, Anderson emphasizes that trust and understanding of purpose exist. Don’t run drills because they look cool or because you think you need a bunch of new ones each day. Those drills might not apply to your philosophy, program, or personnel. Don’t run an offense simply on the basis that it works great for another team. Think about values your players will grasp and how to instill camaraderie. “The team has to understand the ‘why’,” insists Anderson.

We spend hours brainstorming and creating practice plans – and we attempt to stick to the schedule. For many coaches, the plan is printed down to the minute, and their goal is to stay on task. Know that it’s okay to fill up the schedule with everything you hope to get to that day, but understand that drills may be trumped – and those should be noted – to stay on a particular skill set or play until the team is ready to move on. It’s most important, especially in the first month of the season, to make sure everyone gets “it”.

The “it” doesn’t solely refer to plays, moves, and drills, but also goals and roles. Anderson says teams need to have structure in place first, a key to building any organization. From a solid foundation, process goals (i.e., action items) are created which can influence outcomes. For example, rotating and recovering on defense effectively (process) will improve field goal percentage defense (outcome). “It’s all related to the old psychological theory of forming, storming, norming, and performing,” says Anderson. [Briefly, the season begins and a team is created; players jockey for position; a hierarchy related to roles and responsibilities is established; and, theoretically, a team gels and performs at a high level.] “By working with structure, processes, and people, trust is formed and teams operate more efficiently.” And depending on the make-up and experience of the team, these -ing phases are accomplished at varying rates. Teams with seasoned veterans may make it to the norming and performing stages more rapidly than less experienced teams.

Our current Caltech team is light years ahead of where the squad was a couple years ago. It’s early, so players are competing within our system – they’re storming – and some are using skills needed to perform at a high level while understanding their particular roles (norming). We’ve been quick to get to offensive and defensive team play rather than being forced to use practice time for individual development. We hope all of this translates to “performing” quicker than ever once games commence. This season’s roster includes nine juniors – all who were recruited by the current staff – and who the coaches know very well. Prior teams didn’t have that type of experience; therefore, we focused on fundamentals that would eventually become part of our system. One could say we were still storming at the end of the season.

In any case, we thought long and hard as a coaching staff with regards to where we wanted to be a month into the season and highlighted the “why” and “how” of teaching. With varying levels of experience, getting caught up in the execution of three different defenses and a dozen half court sets ignores the people involved and the team as a whole. If we haven’t grasped a concept in practice (e.g. how to screen and seal appropriately or where to go in transition), then we stay with it and save the next drill for the next day.

“Don’t undervalue the concept of team,” suggests Anderson. “A true team is one where all individuals, including coaches, sacrifice and know what works best for the group. It takes a great deal of humility.”

Mental Toughness Equals Championship

Dirk Nowitzki sums up his motivation for development best:

"If I would have won one early in my career, maybe I would have never put all the work and the time in that I have over the last 13 years," said Nowitzki as he celebrated the championship that came with his Mavericks' 105-95 win in Game 6 of the Finals. "So this feels amazing."

Coach Rick Carlisle talks about the Mavericks' team psyche:

"It's a team that when you view it from afar, it doesn't look like a physically bruising type team," said coach Rick Carlisle of his Mavericks. "So a lot of people don't think we have the grit and the guts and the mental toughness. This is as mentally tough team I've been around."

Carlisle on Jason Kidd:

"His view of the game is so different, and he's savant-like," Carlisle said. "He's just been a thrill and a privilege to spend time with."

Kidd on character and chemistry:

"We just kept playing," Kidd said. "That just shows the character of this team. No matter how old you are, we understood how to play the game, by passing the ball and making sure that we didn't take shots where three or four guys are on you. We just made the extra pass. We didn't care who put the ball in the basket."

Dirk on the team:

“I just think we’re a resilient bunch. This whole series we were down some. This is a win for playing as a team on both ends of the floor,” Nowitzki said. “We never looked as ourselves as soft. We just kept fighting."

Winning with Age

In game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Chicago Bulls led the Miami Heat by 12 with about 3 minutes left in the game.

The Bulls lost. Their average age is about 27 years old.

The Heat, on the other hand, is the oldest team in the NBA with an average age of 30 and some change. Miami is the only team in the league above the 30 year old mean.

In game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder led the Dallas Mavericks by 15 with 5 minutes remaining.

The Thunder lost. Its average is just under 25 years old.

The winning Mavs’ have an average age of about 29 years old. They're the third oldest in the league. (The Lakers are second). When adjusted for playing time, the Mavs become the oldest team, the Heat fourth.

Looking at average NBA experience in years for these teams, the Heat top the group with 8.1 years followed by the Mavericks at 7.3 years. The Bulls are at 5.1 while the fledgling Thunder are at 3.3.

Both conference champions won their series 4-1, and not necessarily by wide margins. The games were super close for most of the quarters. But the Heat and the Mavs closed the games -- and their respective series -- with phenomenal plays, decisions, defense, and overall execution.

The games that ended up being series closing contests -- in disbelief to many -- were prime examples of what age and experience means in the NBA. Historically, teams that win an NBA championship have an average age of at least 28 with just a couple exceptions the last 20 years (the Bulls of 1991 and the Lakers of 2009).

The Heat and the Mavericks are built to win championships. They have firepower. They have superstars. They have experienced players who have been to many a playoff game. They have role players who get excited for their teammates on the court. They’re better on paper when looking at overall weapons. They have sustainability and maturity in them -- and around them -- as a collective unit.

There is no argument that Miami has the personnel -- three all-stars and Olympians synthesized to succeed -- and Chicago has one person in the form of a young superstar still learning how to make himself and everyone around him better (and probably hoping he gets some more teammates who he’ll have an easier time making better).

However, to become a team with a high average age and years of experience, players have to be good enough to stay in the league. And even the players who don’t get into the games (the Heat’s Juwan Howard has hardly seen the floor), are there as true teammates, supporting from the bench, and more importantly, working and teaching and mentoring in practice. What the average fan doesn’t witness is how important those teachings are beyond the 48 minutes of game action.

So, as one may argue face value of average age and compare it with average age adjusted for playing time, it’s very hard to substitute experienced teammates that can pass on vital lessons learned and instruct, player to player, teammate to teammate. Veteran ballers like Miami’s Howard and teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskus. Dallas’ Jason Terry and Shawn Marion. Even Chicago’s Kurt Thomas (who for a couple brief minutes on Thursday looked like Chicago’s savior and series extender with a couple key jump shots). Combine those types of players with the greats of their teams who also have the age-plus-experience-equals-win equation and there exists a solid foundation for success and a mutual understanding of “how to get it done”. To close quarters. To close games. To believe in one another. To push each other in practice.

There is talk of how Miami did not work on offense all that much in the fall. The newest installment of a Big Three, along with its experienced peers, knew the team built to win a championship would have to defend. And defend it has. With quickness and length and buy-in and years of basketball IQ.

Miami has NBA champion and MVP Dwyane Wade as well as another ring bearer in Udonis Haslem.

Dallas has Dirk Nowitzki, an uncanny and prominent closer in his own right who has been through battles (ironically enough, with the Heat in the 2006 Finals), plus so much more in next level leadership.

To have a floor general of Jason Kidd’s stature -- at 38 years old -- who has been to the NBA Finals and enjoyed a stellar -- and what one could call an improving career -- is even more special. Or a 32-year-old Mike Bibby. Even Eddie House, who at 32 has been around winning during his days with the Boston Celtics. It’s noticeable -- he is the first one to cheer on his Heat teammates from the sidelines.

Individual plays are fun. Results from team experience can be even more exciting to watch. Plays are made, especially down the stretch, that take more than just physical ability or athleticism. They are mentally rehearsed, imagined, discussed, analyzed, actively practiced, and integrated. In the best teams, we see a convergence of commitment, trust, communication. and execution. The feel for the game, one’s own and his teammates, keeps the athletically aged spry and, in the case of Dallas and Miami, just damn good.

A tremendous contest awaits. May the best -- or the oldest -- team win.