Estimated read time: 3 minutes
Hey Coach,
Every preseason, coaches make a list.
Everything they want installed before the first game — offense, defense, culture, shooting, press, press break, BLOBs, SLOBs, special situations, all of it.
The logic feels responsible. Get everything in early. Be prepared.
Here's what I've learned: the list is the problem.
This week in the members-only segment of The Hours, Mark, Mike, and I worked through something I've been thinking about more and more as preseason approaches. We called it "Less and Later."
3 things on install lists that don't belong there:
Your out-of-bounds package. Your players haven't mastered the principles that make those sets work — installing them early means drilling execution your team can't support yet.
Your quick hitter sets — the ATOs, the end-of-game plays. If you get the principles right, you'll be in fewer of those tight situations. And when you are, your players will execute better because they understand why it works, not just where to stand.
Your press break - I said "Less and later"...hoping for some pushback. Mark disagreed immediately, "More and earlier!"
After two minutes of back-and-forth, we realized we were talking about two different things.
What I meant: Rigid, diagrammed, "stand here, pass there" press break. In my experience, that approach actually teaches players to slow down under pressure. While they're finding their spots, the opponent is setting up their press.
What Mark meant: Habits. Principles. Teaching your players to attack pressure rather than memorize a structure.
We weren't disagreeing. We were saying the same thing from different angles:
Get the ball out of the net before it hits the ground - that is the first response to getting scored on. Not a play. Not a formation. A habit.
*Mark shared a game to train this instinct. Not a press break drill - a habit of urgency being installed at game speed, through competition, in four seconds. I’m doing it in practice tonight.
Check out Mark’s game HERE.👈
If you like that game, you’ll love our membership. See what Coach Thompson had to say about it. 👇
Here’s a real simple actionable summary…
Less BLOB’s. Later sets.
More principles. Earlier habits.
What will you take out of your install list?
Stay SAVI,
Tyler
P.S. This kind of conversation is what SAVI Basketball is built around - start your free trial to see the next behind the scenes discussion.
