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1.Philosophy - I could probably summarize this into two very concise statements. These would be: basketball is my life, and I teach our boys to win. To leave these statements as they are would probably arouse a lot of comment; I will elaborate a bit, and arouse more comment.

Success doesn't come easy, and never without hard work. A basketball coach, to be successful, must be entirely unselfish in his devotion of time and energy to his job.

2.Personnel - Most of us have to take what we get, but if you have a choice, and you have enough boys out so that you have to cut the squad, select your personnel as follows:

(1) Size (2) Speed (3) Shooting (4) Intelligence (5) Competitive spirit.

This is the era of the "big" man in basketball. Most of the successful teams in the country, both on a collegiate, as well as high school level, have had the tall boys helping them.

3.Offense - Keep your offense simple. I certainly believe that it is best to do a few things well, than a lot of things poorly. It is also my belief that basketball is a game where the individuals' skills and habits must be utilized to their fullest capacity. Therefore, I feel that you must not regiment the players too much, but should instill a type of play that will enable them to free lance a bit and not become mechanized slaves to pattern basketball.

4.Fast Break - The fast break is the most widely used system today in basketball. There are almost as many variations of the fast break as there are teams using it, but the objective is always the same. Advance the ball into offensive territory before the defense has a chance to get organized. It is also of prime importance to get the ball into the offensive area with the number of offensive players outnumbering the defensive players. This, of course, usually results in an unmolested basket.

5.Defense - A good defense will save you on the nights when your offense is sputtering. If your team has been well prepared to meet the offensive situations of your opponents, you can always go on the floor confident that you will give your opposition a good contest.

Many times in the past our good defense has kept us in a game the first half, when our shooters couldn't hit the end of the gym. Then in the second half, when our offense straightened out, we would win a game that, except for a good defense, we would have probably lost in the first half.

6.Pressing Defense - I feel the press is one of the most potent weapons that you can have. We have always been known as a pressing team, and we like the reputation. I feel that if your team is always a pressing threat, your opponent may have to spend valuable practice time working against the press that he could very well be using for some other aspect of the game.

7.Scouting - Scouting reports are the blue-print to success if they are used properly. To go into a ball game without having your opponent thoroughly scouted is inviting disaster.

The best information that can be gathered on an opponent can usually be obtained when the coach himself scouts. If this is not feasible, your scout must be someone who knows your system and knows exactly what you desire in the way of scouting information.

8.Conditioning - I feel it is not only important, but imperative, that some type of conditioning program be run as the first step in getting your basketball players ready to play basketball when they get into the gym. In basketball you are only as good as your legs and lungs.

I encourage our boys to go out for the cross-country team, but if they feel this might interfere too much with their studies, I have a conditioning program we begin three weeks before practice. In this program I emphasize the slow approach to the boy's physical condition.

9.Practice Schedule - I feel the best time to practice is right after school. I begin our practice at 3:20 and continue until 5:15 or 5:30, depending on the work planned for the day. I feel it is desirable to have several practice sessions at night before we begin the regular season's schedule so that we might accustom the players to game conditions. I conduct several game type scrimmages at night before the opening game.

10.Attack Situations - Out-of-bounds plays shouldn't call for a lot of discussion, but I feel they are needed in a well-organized attack.

Every out-of-bounds play should have several options and should all look and begin the same way. It is with this in mind that I present in the next few diagrams; the famous Caterpillar out-of-bounds plays that have worked so well for us over the years.

11.Drills - The following drills have been included because I have found them to be very beneficial in my coaching.

The drills are simple, yet they all contain important fundamental elements that are so necessary to properly master this great game.

FUN DRILL—This is a drill that the team will derive a lot of pleasure from, but it is also a very fine conditioner and teaches good ball handling.

Procedure: The team must stay on one half of court. One player is designated as "it." He must dribble continuously while attempting to tag one of the other players while they move around attempting to evade being tagged.

12.Feeder System - I feel that much of my success in the past can be directly attributed to the coaches in the grade and junior high schools who have assumed the tremendous task of teaching basketball fundamentals to youngsters from the seventh through the ninth grades.

I also feel that if you intend to be a successful coach, you must organize the program in your particular community to fit your specific needs.

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