Steal From The NBA Game

Armed with the greatest technology and vast resources, the NBA is the first place to turn when you are looking for new and improved sets for your playbook.

It’s not easy to come up with something completely new in our game. The court remains 94 feet long. You have the same five players on offense and defense. The rim still stands at 10 feet.

So, what you need to do is borrow from other coaches. The open-door policy has been a revelation the last couple decades in basketball and it seems as if everyone steals (borrows) from everyone else, especially when it comes to out-of-bounds plays. Even one of the most-respected Xs-and-Os coaches in the game — Brad Stevens (a set from him is on page 5) — openly admits to stealing then tweaking his sets.

“Honest to God, I’ve stolen everything we’ve ever done from somebody else,” Stevens told Chris Forsberg of ESPN a couple years ago. “Now, it may not be exactly what they do, but it may be, ‘Oh, I really like that action. This is how it fits with us.’ We may need to position one of other players somewhere else, but I think they are all — none of it is original. If anything, I watch film.”

Watching film is one great reason for you to steal from the NBA coaches. They have an almost unlimited budget at their fingertips, which allows them to quickly and easily dissect the game’s movements and actions. They know exactly what is going to work and not work based on the data provided. At the same time, they also have large coaching staffs and many of those people are looking for a tiny advantage in special situation as well. It simply means while any coach at any level definitely may have a unique inbound play, you’re more likely to find one that’s going to work time and time again at the NBA level.

Dwane Casey, the head coach of the Detroit pistons (sideline play from him on the next page), has decades of coaching experience to his credit. In a Lee Jenkins’ piece in Sports Illustrated, Casey’s wife Brenda calls him a “hoarder” because he has basketball notes scribbled on items such as magazines and kindergarten paintings. Again, it’s this level of knowledge and years of experience that make stealing from NBA coaches well worth your time. Plus, their games are easily accessible on television every night. Click on ESPN, TNT or NBATV and enjoy your own, personal coaching clinic, especially this offseason as you look to improve your playbook.