New Season

Hey all,

Just checking in to get this blog going again as we approach the 2008-2009 Season. For me the system is about to finally take hold at Henry Ford as I will carry 13 players into the first semester and we begin this journey Nov 5th.

I will add my best PG in the second semester and that should allow us to be better in the league than the non-league.

Looking forward to hearing from all and seeing how Grinnell does with his best 3 players now seniors.

Bob Belf
Henry Ford CC
Dearborn MI

Records

Congratulations to Grinnell for getting to a 7-1 first semester start. Along the way they have set some new records along the way, namely David Arseneault setting a record for number of assists in a game at 34. It seems that it has many fans and media in an uproar as it is "premeditated" or not "team oriented" or anything else that can be derogatory to this accomplishment.

Once again the System is creating waves as it challenges the ordinary established way to play. The pioneers always take the arrows.

Bob

October Clinic in Grinnell

Just a reminder and a little advice to all of you run and gunners...Go to the clinic at Grinnell this October!

The only real way to get a good understanding of the system is to be able to watch and talk to Coach Arsenault. He is very open and sharing and the clinic, with his players, will be great. The added bonus of also having Coach Smith on board makes this a can't miss. We, at Marina HS, feel so fortunate to have an open line of communication with these coaches and would not have been able to get the understanding and feel for the system to lead the country with a new National record for 3 pointers made this past season without their help and consultation.

It is not an easy trek to Grinnell, but an important one for all of us. Put it on the calendar and I hope to see you all there and put faces to names.

Roger Holmes
Head Basketball Coach
Marina High School
Huntington Beach, CA
www.marinabasketball.com
vikingbasketball@msn.com

Summer Observations...

It has been a busy summer thus far and we have participated in and watched a TON of basketball. Here are just some random things that i have noticed and thought could create some interesting discussion:

1. The modified time formats of summer games can be really, really maddening. Sometimes I wonder if these tournaments/leagues intent is to help teams prepare for the upcoming season or is it just a money making deal. Certainly, I understand the need to fundraise...but running clock 40 minute basketball games are not very useful, especially in our style of play. I mean, I know it is important to be on time, stay on schedule and/or fit in as many games into a day as you can, but are tournaments really making that much more money by going to this modified format...heck, last year we played in a tournament where the clock would run during time-outs...and no, I'm not joking.

I can see a tourney having 7 minute stop clock quarters or 14 minute stop clock halves, but these weird formats i.e. 2 quarters 8 minute stop clock, 2 quarters 9 minute running clock, is really silly. We hosted a summer tourney last year and played regulation games and found that games moved along much quicker than we thought they would. I can understand the modified format for lower levels, but to me, the modified summer formats for Varsity games make very little sense.

2. Since I'm whining, I might as well continue...hey summer league and summer tournament directors...try getting competent individuals to work the clock and score books. There is nothing worse than watching the clock continue to run during a time-out during a 40 minute running clock game...or having the scorekeepers at the table short you on time outs, POINTS, and/or give the wrong players/team fouls. I don't expect perfection, but I also believe it is an unwise practice to simply have lower level players(or other unqualified personnel) handle these duties, even if they save the tourney a few bucks.

Especially in a situation where a scorekeeper's error effects the game...it is tough sell to our players. We try to have them take these summer games seriously, but if the tournament personnel does a poor job of handling their responsibilities, it sends a mixed message.

3. One last vent...officials...not necessarily how they are calling games(although I think there is room for improvement there)...but I don't like their approach to summer games. I realize they are probably not getting paid all that much and they are doing a bunch of games in a short period of time...but c'mon, at least get up and down the floor and ACT like you are interested in doing your job. It really goes back to my 2nd observation...we as coaches are trying to maximize our players effort and intensity...but when officials aren't doing the same, it is really frustrating.

I understand that summer basketball is a bit more informal than the regular season...but still, especially for those who are doing "the system" or some other form of extreme fast break basketball, the typical format of summer leagues and tournaments are not the most ideal.

What is the solution? Simple...run our own tourney. Which is what we intend to do...unfortunately we could not make it work this year because of MASSIVE renovations to our gym. We did it last year and it was terrific...we made some $$$, the tourney was well organized and we played full regulation games...can't wait until next summer when we can do it again(maybe more than once).

System Beauty

Just an update on Marina's progress for Spring/Summer.

Venturing into our second year with the "system" we are very pleased with the progress that our guys have made so far. We do have 8 returners and that has certainly helped. There are several players switching positions, so we have had an adjustment period.

This past weekend, we played some good, well coached clubs that gave us concern going in. Our kids played better each game and grew quite a bit.

Our "new' kids have had to learn how to play at the pace needed to be successful in the system. They thought they knew what playing hard was, but really had no idea. Over the course of this tournament, I am hoping they got it. Guys were flying all over the court and we were creating havoc from tip to final buzzer. We finished the tourney 4-1 and are 11-2 for the summer season.

In coaching the system, for the first time especially, I truly believe things must be kept simple and you must, as a staff, quit trying to "coach" your team to victory. You must hammer home the numbers and get your players to buy into that. You must create turnovers and your kids must flood the offensive boards. This tournament, we hammered the offensive boards at an incredible 52.5% clip. Size? We have two inexperienced players that are 6'5 and that is it. We are almost all under 5'10 with a couple of 6'1, 6'2 guys.

Your players must go for it and drop just about all of the "traditional" ways of thinking and playing. If you, as coaches, don't change your approach...your players have no chance to do the "system" in a way for it to be successful. In fact, you can't do the "system" unless you let your kids play with the abandon that they need to for it to work. There are various approaches to fast break basketball and they are all interesting and have their merits. The "system", for me, is a dedication to the Grinnell style and approach. That dedication must include players and coaches that are going to do every thing that they can to do it the way Grinnell does it. If you say you are doing Grinnell on offense with the LMU press, you ARE NOT doing the "system" in my opinion. Certainly, you must do what fits your team best to get your numbers. Redlands did some things slightly different from Grinnell, but the over-all attitude and style of play was very similar. They were a system team through and through. We copied Grinnell in every way that we could. To me, it was the only way for us to go. If we were going to do it, we were going to do it!

If you truly go for it "system" style, your players will have so much fun and create some incredible moments. If you do a little here and a little there, your players will get stuck in the middle and be frustrated and confused. Like Mr. Miyagi says: "Walk down road...Walk left side, safe...walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later...squish like grape." Here, system, same thing. Either you system do "yes" or system do "no." You system do "guess so," squish like grape.

Roger Holmes
Marina Basketball
www.marinabasketball.com
vikingbasketball@msn.com

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #4

One of my biggest concerns in transitioning to THE SYSTEM has been the implementation of a full-court defense. Defense was not our strongest suit last year as we were largely passive, sticking mostly to a very, very conservative quarter-court 3-2 zone. We had few steals and created little opportunity with our defense.

I remember discussing THE SYSTEM with a coach from another school who shall remain nameless. He was very familiar with THE SYSTEM and criticized it because he believes too much in the importance of defense. I felt perplexed by this comment and still do. In my perspective, THE SYSTEM is driven by defense. The spastic, frenetic chaos of full-court defense is what creates the pace and opportunity that is necessary for SYSTEM success.

I’ve spent many hours researching various presses and half-court sets in preparation for this summer’s transition to THE SYSTEM. But, I believe it may be for little use at this point. I’ve come to quickly learn that less is more in THE SYSTEM at this stage in our progression. Teaching full-court defense has never been a strength of mine, but Coach Holmes and Coach McCanna swiftly and effectively alleviated my instructional fears in a mini-clinic at our school last month.

Coach Holmes was queried by one of our players as to the nature of THE SYSTEM defense as he was introducing the early concepts to our team.

“Is it zone or man-to-man?” she asked.

Coach Holmes cleverly replied, “Yes.”

That bit of humor taught me a lot. My hours of defensive research were erased with the introduction of one word. Chaos.

Coach Holmes went on to explain that chaos is the biggest defensive asset that can be had. Simply put, chaos is good for THE SYSTEM. And, I can teach chaos. Very well. We don’t implement a full court defense to slow the game down; we do it to speed the game up. In emphasizing high risk and high reward gambles with our defensive pressure, we don’t have to worry about getting beat on defense. Getting beat is strangely good for us. It keeps the opposition running up and down the court. And yes, it still feels funny saying that.

Not to say that we don’t work on various defensive concepts. We work quite a bit on defensive positioning, trapping and rotating. We work on chasing and back-taps. We want our girls to recognize opportunities that may lead to the opposition turning over the ball. We stress the importance of trapping “tall and wide” and want the girls to invite lob passes for the purpose of interception. Most important, however, is that we want the ball always moving to the basket to maintain pace.

We have a full and half-court defensive set, but they are mostly for positioning purposes. We want to always trap with the two closest people to the ball. I am also working on some minor modifications, but the simple, primary concepts remain fully intact.

None of these concepts are new. None of them are eye-popping revelations. A difficult part in all of it has been getting the girls to play hard all of the time and to maximize effort with each shift. Getting them to abandon conservatism on defense. To commit on traps without hesitation. To recognize and act on an opportunity to gamble. To anticipate the behavior and options of the opposition.

The sincerely hardest part of it is listening to some groans from the fans when we give up a few layups in the process. It has been tempting to abandon the press, more out of the uninformed perception it creates with the fans than anything else. However, I have to fight it…which has become easier and easier.

I know, however, that some ugly times will meet up with us in game situations when our shots are off and things just aren’t clicking. Then again, that would happen regardless of whether or not we use THE SYSTEM. It’s all a process. We still have a very long way to go, but the seeds are planted. I’m sure that I’m missing something, but it’ll come along the way.

The Lady Scots have a tournament this weekend in Palm Springs. We'll be short a couple of starters which will create an opportunity for some others to step in and step up. I can't wait. But more important, the girls can't wait.

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California

Confessions of a System Newbie, Entry #3

Excuse me while I kiss the sky! Because I am still in a purple haze after Rim of the World’s SYSTEM debut on Wednesday night. The Lady Scots played hard, aggressive basketball in a doubleheader against two teams that had winning records during the previous season. In fact, one of the teams was an amazing 30-3.

So, let's get to it...

To set the stage and provide a snapshot of my mental health at the time, our first game was bumped up upon our arrival. We walked thru the door and were asked to play…in more or less five minutes although we were still short a few key players. So rushed were we that we did not get a shoot-around. We didn’t even start the game with our second shift’s point guard! Rest assured that these issues were not very successful in alleviating my anxiety as we prepped for our first battle.

Of course, we were quickly down 12-0. The other team was much bigger than us with multiple girls around six feet tall. Our tallest isn’t tall at 5’9”. We are really a team of all guards. Our opponent didn’t have any trouble getting layups…but that soon changed. By the middle of the second half—there’s a running clock in summer—the other team was exhausted and couldn’t make shots under the basket consistently. Their passing became sloppy and our press became more effective. They were becoming frustrated with our frenetic full-court defense. One of their players even swung at one of our girls after a unintentional hard foul. Crazy. We closed the gap quickly and had a chance to win with less than ten seconds as one of our girls was fouled. She missed the front end of a one-on-one so we unfortunately lost by one. Only one! We didn’t meet any of our goals--it's tough with a running clock--although we were close on three-point attempts and turnovers forced. Nonetheless, I couldn't be more pleased with our first effort.

Our second game, which I thought would be more difficult as I thought our players would be exhausted, was played with the same intensity and a bit more comfort and confidence by the girls. Of note, the opponent had two starters at about 6’2” which didn’t excite me too much. Regardless, the girls never quit putting pressure on the ball and creating chaos. We trapped and did a lot of chasing. We achieved steals at a better pace than the first game. By the second half, our opponent's players were cramping up and leaving the game. They were beat. We traded baskets often—our threes, their twos. I can’t believe how often these teams missed shots under the basket due to fatigue. We ended up winning by one in overtime. We nearly met our goals for turnovers forced and 20 more shots than the opponent. We did meet our goal for threes attempted.

The night was incredibly exciting with our interceptor stealing the ball from the other team with two seconds to go as we were up by one. The girls huddled, screamed and cheered. Our fans were maniacal. It was mayhem. Everyone was sooooooo happy and energetic—that’s what it’s really all about. Those are, after all, the main things that I want the girls to experience.

Now, I don’t want to mislead you and have you believe that everything was rosy. Our implementation of THE SYSTEM is an evolving process. Our passing was not acceptable. We have to better hit our shooters on the chin with every pass. Our shooters’ timing was thrown off often with poor passes. We missed waaaaaaaaay too many free throws. I expect that we’ll miss many due to fatigue, but our percentage was still unacceptable. Also, we turned over the ball too much. I think this will improve as the girls become more comfortable with THE SYSTEM. Our offensive rebounding was poor, and we definitely need to find more two point field goal attempts, too. Our penetration into the paint was inconsistent. Too much hesitation when receiving the ball. We need to either shoot or get into the paint for a layup or a drive & kick when we get the ball.

That said, there were so many positive things to talk about that the girls are addicted to THE SYSTEM. Both games were played on OUR terms. The team is united and truly believes in what we’re doing. They are focused on our TEAM goals, not individual stats. They are confident and enthusiastic. The concepts of THE SYSTEM are so simple to latch on to. They’re so concrete. Easily comprehensible.

Yes, we still have a lot of work to do. However, there is much optimism in the program…and it’s only June. We have areas we’ll work to improve over the next few weeks. Besides the before-mentioned, our pace needs to be even quicker. We need to be more effective in forcing our opponent up the floor with every possession to maintain pace. Our offense needs to be getting the ball up the court faster to effectively take advantage of transition. So much to do.

I look forward to all of the hard work we'll put in. Every moment is a joy.

Despite all of my anxiety and stress leading up to this game, it’s still good to be the coach of the Lady Scots after our SYSTEM debut. In fact, it’s even better. Thank goodness my nerves didn’t get the best of me.

- Zack Delmont, Head Coach of the Rim of the World Fighting Lady Scots of Lake Arrowhead, California