What Is "Player Development"?

[dobrojim]

zonk,

I'm not sure what can be said to your son but it really does work,
practicing no faster than you can perform something well (or perfectly) that is.

Put another way, why would you practice mistakes? Do you want to
get better at MAKING mistakes? I didn't think so.

[Zonkerbl]

Well, maybe I can emphasize it more if I know it really helps as much as you say.

[dobrojim]

I honestly believe it does (not worth much, my saying so that is).

Mike Audridge believes it does. (google him, he is a world class musician)

Many other music professionals believe it as well.

[Nivek]

According to "The Talent Code," experience is key. What Wall is doing -- making mistakes, and then HOPEFULLY correcting them -- is the best way to develop skill and get better.

[Nivek]

Read more of "The Talent Code" last night and came across this tidbit.

In 2005 psychologists Martin Seligman and Angela Duckworth studied several parameters of 164 eighth graders, including IQ, along with five tests that measured self-discipline. It turned out that self-discipline was twice as accurate as IQ in predicting the students' grade-point average.

[dobrojim]

Started reading the book over the weekend. Not as blown
away by it as I might have hoped. I do plan to go and visit
the guy mentioned early in the book, Doug Fields. He works
right across the street from me right on the floor I used
to work on until a couple years ago.

[Severn Hoos]

I decided to pick this thread to post this in, not wanting to start a whole new one, and it kinda sorta has to do with player development....

I have posted several times before my belief that good defense is about basic skills, a good scheme, a lot of desire, and a willingness to stick to the system rather than freelancing. Unfortunately, it appears most NBA teams and players focus first on the skills, think you have to have a team full of Artests and Mutombos to have a good defense, rather than using a solid method and sticking to it. (And yes, I realize it's not as simple as going down to the "NBA defensive scheme store" and picking out the best model, but it's also not an entire mystery, given that guys like Thibodeau, Van Gundy (Jeff), and Skiles have gone to teams and almost immediately had a positive effect on their defenses.)

So herewith I present an article on the Bennett defensive system, developed by Dick Bennett and currently employed by his son Tony at Virginia. (Hey, not saying I'm unbiased here...)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

The thing that strikes me is that Virginia has a lot of guys who wouldn't seem to be picked out of a lineup as great individual defenders. Sammy Z is barely 6', yet plays SG defending the best shooters in the ACC every night. Joe Harris is about 6'5, and should probably be the SG, yet spends more than his share of time as the de facto PF in a 4-guard lineup. Mike Scott is a beast on the boards, but he's not huge, and has to carry so much of the load offensively that you would think he'd coast on Defense.

And yet, they are first in the nation in fewest points allowed per possession (0.87). Their rotation guys are all top 20 in Defensive Win Shares. There is no question that they play as a team, and everyone knows his role and sticks to it. No one gets lost on a rotation or is left watching as his man waltzes down the lane unhindered. (And on a personal point of pride, I have NEVER seen anyone on the team flopping, and they rarely try to draw charges - just good, solid, man-up defense, the way it's supposed to be played.)

So the implications for the Wiz:

Could this type of scheme (not necessarily Pack-line, but something that will work) be effective in the NBA? Who would be a good coach to implement it? (My vote is on Joerger, based on his D-league work.)

Players need to be students of the game, and willing to follow the plan no matter what. Bye Nick, see ya Dray, happy trails JaVale...

The key to a good defense appears to be solid pressure at the point, and a defensive anchor on the back line to funnel drivers to. We had that at one point in Hughes and Haywood, but never took full advantage. UVA has a great on-ball defender at the point in Jontel Evans, and had a solid 7-footer at C in Assane Sene, before he went down with an injury. Since then, they've still been very good on D, but when they had everyone playing and healthy, they were outstanding.

My opinion is that McGee is not able to fill that role in the middle, which means that the Wiz will never be even a good defensive team with him as the primary C. Obviously, if they win the Lotto and get Davis, they'd be set. If not, umm....

To bolster the idea that scheme is most important - look at Ohio State. They are top 20 in scoring defense, top 40 in FG% allowed, and as far as I can tell, KenPom has them as the #1 defense in efficiency (AdjD). And just who is manning the middle for this defensive juggernaut? The undersized, out-of-shape, oft-injured, low-motor Jared Sullinger. One-on-one, he should be getting killed by real Cs every night, but it's not happening. Now, I love Sully (though I do worry about the injuries...), but I don't begin to claim that he's a great - or even particularly good - individual defender. But he is central to a great TEAM defense. And I see no reason why the same can't be true in the NBA.

And that's why I am so glad to have guys like Booker on the team. He will do whatever the coach asks him to do, and will commit to the scheme - you just have to give him a good scheme to follow! I am confident in Singleton as well. Same with Mack, and Seraphin (I think). Wall wants to get better, so I think if he is in a situation where he believes in the coach and the system, he will follow it. Add in a high draft pick (which also means, hopefully, some offensive prowess as well!), plus a smart, high-impact FA signing, and the team could look very different in just one year's time.

Well, we can all dream, can't we?

[Nivek]

The "pack line" D sounds like what good NBA defenses have been doing for years. Larry Brown wrote about this kind of stuff 30+ years ago in a coaching publication. The idea behind forcing the ball to the sideline and to the baseline is essentially the same goal as the pack line -- to keep the ball on the perimeter and out of the middle.

[dobrojim]

The Talent Code is growing on me a lot more once I
got past the 'G-whiz this myelin stuff is cool' that
dominated the beginning of the book.

I hope I can get my daughter to read it.

Very useful for both sports and music training.

[dobrojim]

went ever so slightly out of my way this morning and
met Doug Fields. Nice guy. He modestly
suggested I also read his book, The Other Brain which
I think I will probably do.

[Nivek]

Cool that you had a chance to meet Fields. I'll check that book out.

[dobrojim]

I learned something interesting and potentially useful from
The Talent Code last night. The book discussed some research
which produced a startling result based on the difference
between praising (someone) based on their effort as opposed
to based on their 'natural' or genetic ability. The result was
so startling to the researcher that s/he repeated it several
times and the results held up consistently. Praising for effort
is dramatically more conducive to further improvement.
As a parent of TWO kids, I need to consider this in my approach
to both kids. I think I have been mistaken in my approach to
one of my 2 kids, the 'more gifted' one.

edit to add - I'm thinking of Blatche here for a moment.
He has reportedly been continually praised for having
great talent. This research would suggest that that praise
would tend to depress future improvement. Not trying to
cast AB as a victim here. He is responsible for himself.
I am suggesting as a a coach, I would ignore his potential
and focus solely on his effort to improve.

[Severn Hoos]

jim - that's a good reminder, certainly for parents, and I'm guilty of the same thing as well.

OTOH, it really shouldn't surprise us. It is a fairly absolute law that we get more of what we reward (or subsidize) and less of what we punish (or penalize, tax, criticize, etc.). So if you reward effort via praise, you are likely (almost certain, really) to get more effort. If you reward results - especially when those results are the result of natural talent with little effort, you will continue to get little effort - and when the results stop coming, and the rewards stop coming (or punishment starts) you get a confused child. Or LeBron. But I repeat myself...

Point is, focus on effort and process, and let the results take care of themselves. Hard to do, because it's easier to judge outcomes, but far better in the long run.

[dobrojim]

I found it somewhat surprising in that in both cases, praise
was given, but praise for 'mere' innate ability tended to
/depress/ future development. I'm not surprised that
praise for hard work results in more of the same.

The take home message gets back to the idea that
talent is sooooo much more about working and practicing
(assuming effective practice methods, ay, there's the rub).

[Nivek]

I'm glad you brought that nugget out. I actually learned of those "praise the effort" studies several years ago, and I started using that with my kids. I can't say for sure that this has been a key factor, but my sons especially have crazy work ethic. My 9th grade boy thinks nothing of practicing his instrument for hours at a time. During the summer, he was practicing 4-5 hours a day. And he's gooooooooood.

My youngest son got praise for being independent with his homework -- being responsible for getting it done every night, being responsible for acting for help -- and now in 7th grade, we NEVER have to worry about homework. I still have to remind him to practice his instrument, but when I do, he just nods and goes off to practice. (Usually he says, "But only for half an hour." To which I nod and say "fine." And then he practices 60-90 minutes.) And now he's pretty good too.

With my daughter, it's been a longer process. She's a junior in high school and got tons of praise early for being smart and talented. She's always viewed homework as optional, and practice as something other people do. Until the past couple years when maybe praising her for effort has started to pay off.