CORVETTE HOBBY 

                                                 COACHING CLINIC

   Part 1:  MY COACHING PHILOSOPHY                       

     The articles  Coaching Clinic 1-5 have been taken from the commentary that I have written called:

           Coaching High School Basketball is more than X's and O's

         PLAY EACH GAME AS IF IT IS THE LAST GAME YOU WILL EVER PLAY

            
                  "Run your opponent off the court"

                       BASKETBALL AT 100 MPH

                                           ROY McNEILL'S 

                      TIPS TO HELP YOU BECOME A BETTER  COACH 
       
     I have a tested philosophy that I have used successfully for over twenty years. If you implement my coaching style and techniques into your offensive and defensive schemes , I guarantee you will win over 70% of your games year after year. Your opponent will Know exactly what you are doing , but will not be able to stop you. Try it , you  just might  like it... I know your players will. 

                                                                                   Discipline and Protocol

The first thing a coach must do is establish a clear vision of discipline and protocol. A coach must enact team rules and a clear expectation of behavior inorder to develop a first class program.

As a coach , you must be fully in charge and you must believe in your coaching technques and philosophy. You must believe in the pathway you have chosen for success. Yes, your philosophy must be constantly evolving , but the basic grassroots of your philosophy must stay consistant.  Your players must understand that you are the boss ( not a bully or a tyrant) and what you say is the law, unequivocally the law without question. As a coach , you must love the game of basketball ( The Greatest Game of Them All ) too much , to let  the attitude or lack of discpline of a  few players destroy the hope and  dreams of the many. From my experience, I have found that a discipline , committed and even less talented player will out perform two to one , a superstar that is not committed to the decorum of your program. Just think of it like this " Desire and Passion will kick undiscilpine talent in the butt seven days a week."

The coach must emphasis the correct and desirable behaviors. The coach must stress good morals and values and instill those attributes in their players.  My belief is that if your players are discipline , then they also become coachable. As a coach ,you must understand that the will to win , the will to prepare ,  the will to condition ,the will to be a team player , the will to develop  fundamentally sound both offensively and defensively can only be accomplish If the players are willing to discipline themselves to the expectation of the coach and the values of the program . I always say, before a player can believe in the system , they must believe in the coach and the decorum of his program.

With these things in place, only then will your team be able to perform consistantly on a winning level. Success comes from the right attitude , a determined focus , a belief in the coach and a belief in fellow teammates. When all of these aspects are in place, players become   winners, regardless of the score or game outcome. They become a winner in life .

                                          The development of my defensve coaching philosophy?

       My junior year in college, our basketball team played Shaw University out of Raleigh , NC. That year Shaw did not have a very good team and we felt really good about getting a WIN that night. We got A big surprise. As we got off the bus after arriving on Shaw's Campus. A young man approached the bus and asked "who is McNeill? "When I spoke up ", the young man said I have never started a basketball game in High school  or College , but I am starting tonight and my only job is to HOLD you starting right now. I will hand you a napkin in the dinning hall to wipe your mouth and a tissue in the Restroom to wipe your ......... , that's how close we will be together.  HOLD me turned out to be an understatement . That was a rough night and my worse game of the season. I ran off  picks , screens ,took the ball out, brought the ball up and worked my butt off trying to get my hands on the basketball.

He kept me from getting the ball all night long . I was frustrate, my coach was angry , and  I was taken completely out of my game. Being the point guard  , I struggle to get us in our offensive  and When I did take a shot or try to get my teammate involved , I was tired from all the running and cutting that  I had to do inorder to get the ball . That night  I was not  very effective at all.

That experience stayed with me over the years. From that single experience I realize then that denial pressure on a  scorer or a point guard is the is the most effective element in any defensive scheme. I had to consider that If this technique affected me being a college point guard and after being a starter in over 50 games , it should have the same or a similar affect on a high school player . Yes, teams have been running Box and One or Triangle and Two Zone Defenses for over fifty years , that is nothing new. But when you take the strongest elements of those two zone defenses which is the DENIAL ELEMENT  and integrate it with a powerful and aggressive Man to man defense , you have created a monster. Everything I do defensively in based on denial pressure on the scorer or on the point guard or on both.

                                                                         My Offensive Philosophy 

  My offensive Plilosophy was developed during my senior year. Ironically,  it  also occurred while playing against Shaw University out of Raleigh NC . Shaw had a freshman guard name Kelly Utley ( All CIAA Guard and Shaw University Hall Of Famer). He was an amazingly good athlete.  I was assigned to guard him and he would release down court every time we shot the ball. This is very effective against teams that have point guards that tends to shoot the basketball or looks to penetrate and drive to the basket. Utley extended our defense making us play the entire court.   My coach was ripping me apart because I wasn't getting back quick enough to cover Utley, I told the coach that he was hanging court  , but he was only releasing on the shoot.

Teams that releases a player on the shot adds an addition pressure to their opponent , especially if the release player is effective at scoring in an one on one situation. Coaches if you integrate that single element into your transition and offensive game plan you will increase your scoring opportunities by 25%.