OK, I’m going to be the bad guy for a second, but hear me
out.You may not like what is said or
agree with it, but at least you’ll understand where I am coming from.It is not out of malice, ill-will, or poor
sportsmanship but rather sincerity and respect.While the IHSA’s ATTITUDE mascot may shake his head in disapproval or cover
his eyes in fear, I think a majority of coaches and players would agree with
me.It’s time to put an end to a recent
trend in high school basketball.
I’m going to broach the subject as a question, but really it’s
a statement.Can we please do away with
the obligatory post-introduction-player-opposing coach- handshake (Now known as
the PIPOCH)?Let me clarify for those
who are from states that do not do this or who are simply unaware.The PIPOCH occurs after a player is
introduced by the PA announcer.The
player initially runs through the tunnel formed by his teammates who are
usually in the midst of a rhythmic group clap (Except the kid who feels like he
should be starting.He usually has his
hands to the side in silent protest).The player then usually meets the team clown at the end of the tunnel for
some sort of spin-move, double high-five, chest bump, point to the sky move
(this varies based on the team clown's versatility).After the hand-shake ritual, they make a v-cut
to the referees who are standing in front of the scorer’s table and give each
one a fist bump.Brown-nosing over, the
player then jogs over to the opposing coach and shake their hand and say
something along the lines of “good luck coach.”
My nephew's reaction while watching the PIPOCH. Side Note: This kid is going to be at least a 4 on the 5 QIP Scale
To the untrained eye, this just looks like good
old-fashioned sportsmanship.To me, it’s
simply PIPOCHracy.Sportsmanship is
helping a player up after a hard-foul in tightly contested game.It’s playing the game hard, but not
dirty.Sportsmanship is putting your subs in when the game is out of hand.It’s
not running up the score when the outcome has been decided.It’s genuinely shaking hands after the game,
offering encouragement and a handshake-hug or two.The PIPOCH was probably originally meant to
be a sincere sign of respect, but it has lost that meaning.It has become an obligation and a
distraction.
To clarify, I believe in sportsmanship.I love the tradition in hockey, where after a
hard fought
Real and Sincere Sportsmanship
series, both teams will line up and shake hands and express their mutual
admiration for each other.I’m a huge
fan of the soccer jersey exchange after international play.The PIPOCH can even be touching and appropriate if used
sparingly, such as after an opposing coach has lost a loved one in their family
or during an intense rivalry as a symbol of “letting cooler heads prevail.”Those type of traditions are unique and
genuine.When something is done over and
over again for no clear purpose, like the regular PIPOCH, it loses its
meaning.It devalues sincere acts of
sportsmanship.That’s a bad thing.
Let’s think about the PIPOCH in terms of real-life scenarios
and how absurd it would sound.Could you
picture OJ Simpson fist-bumping Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden before
their closing arguments and wishing them good luck?How about Robert Downey Jr. wishing Charlie
Sheen well before they both read for the lead in Iron Man?Better yet, would George Bush Sr. and Saddamm
Hussain have met for a beer and exchanged pleasantries before the start of the
Gulf War?No, absolutely not.That’s just not the nature of people or our
society.OJ would have been doing the
proverbial courtroom “Noonan” in his head throughout the entire closing
argument.Downey Jr. would have performed
some sort of Voodoo ritual on a Sheen action figure prior to the
audition.And if George Bush Sr. could
have, he would have kicked off the war with a Comedy Central Roast of Hussein
as a means of boosting public morale.
Your’re probably thinking: woah relax buddy, it’s not that big a deal.You are blowing this completely out of
proportion.I can’t argue with you
there.You’re probably right.However, think about it from a player and
coach’s perspective.The player wants to
be by his teammates so that they can join the team clown in giving the next
teammate that is introduced a high five, followed by a quick “Dougie” into a Bash
Brothers elbow tap.The opposing coach
wants nothing to do with it, because he is in the midst of giving his
last-minute scouting report reminders to his team.More often than not, he will designate an assistant
coach to be the official “hand-shaker”, who doubles as an offensive lineman to block
any player from trying to get near the head coach and distract the team.If that doesn’t tell you what coaches think
about the PIPOCH tradition, I don’t know what does!
The PIPOCH has become such a staple that coaches feel
obligated to instruct their player’s to do it. Even if they are not instructed to do it, the players do it on their
own out of habit.If they don’t, the coach or the
player looks like a bad sport or a jerk among those who don’t understand the
inner-workings of what is really happening.I’d equate this predicament to a kid who is forced to ask his girlfriend
to Prom by base-jumping off the third floor of the school during dismissal so
everyone can hear him scream “Kristin, will you go to Prom with me!!!!!”
instead of simply saying “Kristin, will you go to prom with me?” after watching
the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars.The over-the-top Prom ask (Or OTTPA) has become the norm.Just like the PIPOCH, it has lost all its
meaning.
In the end, it’s up to us coaches to put an end to
this.If you happen to be playing the
Kenwood Broncos this year, know that I will have absolutely zero problem with
you instructing your players not to shake my hand before the game.In fact, I will take that as a sincere sign
of respect.By allowing me and our
coaching staff to focus on the kids in our huddle, you are displaying the
ultimate form of sportsmanship.We can
shake each other’s players’ hands after the game.Anything else would be PIPOCHritical.Who’s with me?
The breakdown of the New 5 QIP theory will begin with the passing skill because it is the most under appreciated aspect of offensive basketball. Out of all skills that make up an impact player (Passing, Shooting, Defense, Rebounding, and Ball Handling), a player's passing ability is often the most misinterpreted by fans, players, high school coaches, and people who evaluate talent. A big reason for this is the assist statistic. Too often, people jump to the conclusion that "More Assists" implies "Better Passer". I'd argue that assists do indeed have merit in terms assessing a player's passing ability, but not nearly as much as people might think.
A comparison can be made between assists in basketball and the Win-Loss record for a pitcher. The Win-Loss record in baseball is an extremely misleading statistic because the talent level of the team as well as situations completely out the pitcher's control often dictate winning percentage. You could have a guy with a 2.65 ERA who hovers around .500 all season, while a pitcher on the mid to late nineties Indians could win close to 20 games while posting a 4.55 (That's Right, I'm looking at you Charles Nagy) due to an offensive line-up consisting of Alomar, Lofton, Belle, Thome, Ramirez, Murray, and Sorrento. Hell with that amount of fire-power and/or Performance-Enhancing Drugs in the line-up, even Coach Maley might have been able to get a couple of wins against a team like the '95 Cubs (Had to find a way to take a shot at them) throwing 75mph heaters complimented by a poor-man's Charlie Hough dancer.
The above analogy is a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea. Assists are a statistic that are correlated with both the skill level of your teammates and the type of offense that your team runs, both of which are out of the player's control. If Steve Nash had to run the pick and roll with four guys with absolutely zero ability or skills (Think Smalls from the Sandlot, pre-Benny's tutelage. Now think of the kid that Smalls use to pick on prior to moving near the Sandlot. THAT KID multiplied by four are Nash's teammates.), he probably wouldn't have an assist all game. Does that mean Nash is a bad passer? Of course not. Passing ability involves so much more. The new 5-QIP theory attempts to try to quantify the art of passing beyond the assist.
SKILL (Value of 1) Passing (Value of .2)
1. Velocity, Angles, and Accuracy (Value of .04)
One of my biggest pet peeves as a player, fan, and coach comes from the following situation:
Little Timmy beats his man and drives to the rim. Johnny's defender steps up to help in the middle of the lane. Timmy, realizing the presence of Johnny's defender fires a 55 mph shovel pass, from 8 feet away while looking in the opposite direction. The pass hits Johnny in the hands and goes out of bounds. Timmy throws up his hands in disgust and shakes his head because his highlight reel assist was ruined. Timmy's father gets on his feet and yells "Great Pass Timmy, C'mon Johnny you got to catch that," He then proceeds to roll his eyes in the direction of another one of his fellow parents who "Get's It."
This situation, which I've seen hundreds of times, absolutely drives me crazy. Little Timmy wasn't wronged by Johnny. He threw a terrible pass. It was thrown with way too much velocity leaving it nearly impossible to catch from that short a distance. The angle of the pass was horrendous because it should have been a bounce pass instead of a shovel pass. Doing so would have made it both easier to see and catch. Sure it may have been accurate because it hit Johnny in the hands, but that ends up being a moot point considering how hard it was thrown. The worst part about it was that Timmy thought it was a great pass which was then reaffirmed by his father and people in the crowd, all of whom, like Timmy, have no idea about the concept of velocity, angles, and accuracy.
I'm sure my thoughts on this subject are probably very similar to those that my wife has after she gives me certain chores to do. The problem is not that I don't complete those chores. I do. Every dish has made it's way to the dishwasher. The detergent was put in properly and the machine was set to the correct setting
"Spray Arm"? Who would have thought
of "Normal". The problem is that I either forgot to rinse the dishes before I loaded it or I tried to sneak that unusually large glass baking pan in, blocking the rotation of the spray arms (google search replaced my previous version of "thing that spins"). Ignorantly, just like little Timmy, I am blameless and think I did everything right. "Katie, I don't know what to tell you I think there is something wrong with the dishwasher" is my equivalent to Timmy throwing his hands up in the air and blaming Johnny. In reality, an expert would realize that both Timmy and I displayed terrible technique which was the true cause of the error. My bad Katie. Even if Timmy or his father don't get it, I do.
A great passer, unlike Timmy, knows the right pass to use at the right time. They create proper angles with the dribble and the use of ball fakes. They know when to pass the ball soft or when they need to put a little extra giddy up on it. When they drive into the lane and kick to a shooter, the ball is exactly where it needs to be giving their teammate the best opportunity to score. Great passers are able to change passing lanes by using their eyes as weapons of diversion as opposed to looking the other way AFTER the fact. Most importantly as my dad once told me, a great passer understand that if their teammate does not catch the ball, then it is the passer's fault, not the receiver.
2. Pass that Leads to the Assist (.04)
Sega's Tecmo Bowl Equivalent
Anyone who played NHL 94 on Sega Genesis as a kid understands the concept of the hockey assist. "Wait, you're telling me that after Larmer passes to Chelios who then feeds Roenick who then goes 5-hole on Patrick Roy, that both Larmer AND Chelios get credited with an assist?" When I was first made aware of this concept, I was ecstatic because I now had a much easier chance of having Roenick lead the league in assists when I played a video game season with the Blackhawks. Fast forward a couple of years when I became serious about basketball, and this concept had new meaning. The hockey assist was just as important to the game of basketball as it was to Roenick winning the digital-world Hart Trophy.
Great passers are brilliant at making the pass that leads to the assist. They never force a bad angle from the top of the key to a post player. Instead, they understand how to quickly swing the ball to a teammate on the wing. This simple action allows their teammate to make a great post entry from the proper angle, resulting in a an easy two. A great passer is able to make the outlet pass that leads to a fast break. They also can make the pass that dissects the middle of the zone that ends in a high-low score. A great passer might drive the gap on the top of a two-three zone and instead of forcing a pass to a Big ducking in, they kick to the other guard. This simple pass causes the low-guy closest to the sideline in the zone to step up, leaving an easy reversal to the corner for a wide open three. These situations are just a few of the many examples of the beauty of the pass that leads to the assist. It is a shame that players who excel at this rarely get recognized.
Value needs to be placed on the "Hockey Assist" to truly assess passing ability in basketball. Average passers seek out the traditional assist at all costs, regardless of how many scoring opportunities it causes their team to miss out on. As long as the average passer's state line improves, they're happy. Great passers on the other hand make the right decision regardless of who gets credit. They just want to win. In a way, a great passer is like the kid who finds the wallet laying in the middle of the street and returns it to the owner without expecting any reward in return. Average passers are like the kid who in the same situation, returns the wallet, but only after assessing the owners financial situation, credit history, and stock portfolio to determine whether they can afford to dole out handsome reward. Although great passers would never think to ask for it, it is time that the basketball world adopted the "Hockey Assist" to give credit where credit is due. The 5-QIP Theory has adjusted. So should basketball.
3. Passing with Language (.04)
"Passing with Language" is an advanced-level skill. This term describes a player who is able to throw passes that seem to speak to their teammates solely by the location in which they're thrown. "Passing with Language" provides directions that virtually eliminate a step in the decision making process for the receiver. Not only does a player need to be fundamentally-sound and accurate, but they also need to have a high basketball IQ to recognize situations when they can use this non-verbal measure to communicate with their teammates. The best way to understand a player that can pass with language is to take a look at the following examples:
a.) An offensive player is posted up above the block. The defensive player is playing behind the offensive player but shading heavily to the top-side. A bad passer would throw the ball right to middle of his teammates chest which would eliminate any positional advantage the post player obtained. An average passer would throw it directly to his teammates hand target closest to the baseline, leaving it up to the post player to be able to feel where his defender was at and make the appropriate scoring move. The player who "Passes with Language" would pass the ball a little bit past the post player's hand target on the baseline side which would speak to his teammate by saying "Dude, the guy behind you is favoring the middle. You have decent position. Go get this perfectly thrown ball, left front pivot, and score. You're Welcome." The post player in this situation doesn't have to think about the next step. The language of the pass has already done that for him.
b.) An offensive player is overplayed at the wing, free-throw line extended. He sets up his man beautifully and makes a great backdoor cut. A bad passer either doesn't pass the ball at all or they it to where the offensive player vacated, resulting in a turnover. An average passer sees the cut, throws the bounce pass with the right velocity, along the lane line allowing his teammate an opportunity to catch the ball a step before the help defender arrives. This pass relies heavily on his teammate being able to react appropriately to the help without traveling or getting called for a charge. A player who "Passes with Language" throws the bounce pass about a foot past the defenders back foot saying to his teammate "Dude, mad respect for the cut you just made. However, this team we are playing is no joke and actually understands how to play help defense. I know you are focused on catching this masterpiece of a ball and don't see what is in front of you. Be aware that someone is coming and be ready to make a move to the rim or pull up for the jumper. You're Welcome." The cutter in this situation loses vision on what's in front of him, but the language of the pass is all the eyes he needs.
c.) A defensive player comes up with a loose ball during the opposing's team half-court possession. One of the wings does a nice job sprinting the sideline, getting two steps ahead of the closest defender, and looks back for the ball just like his coach has instructed him to do. A bad passer either doesn't throw the ball or he passes it behind his teammate ultimately stopping the fast break. An average passer sees the opportunity and leads the player up the sideline which allows a smart defender who takes a good angle to get himself back in the play. Now, the offensive player is left with a one-on-one situation which hopefully he can convert. The player that "Passes with Language" sees that his teammate has a couple steps on his defender, but instead of leading the offensive player up the side-line, he throws a lead pass about 12-15 feet inside the sideline. In doing so, he is saying to his teammate "Dude, you are slow as hell and your one on one moves are suspect. In order to catch this pass, you are going to have to change the direction that you are sprinting and start angling towards the rim. As a result, the defender won't have an opportunity to track you down and all you'll have to do is lay the ball in. You're Very Welcome."
4. Passing Into and Out of the Post (.04)
As I mentioned before in "Where have all the Post Players Gone?", passing into the post has become a lost art. The argument was made that because guard play has become so anemic in terms of perimeter passing into the post, true post players have subsequently disappeared. There is little incentive to do the dirty work if they aren't going to get the ball on a regular basis By the transitive property, because very few guys can play with their backs to the basket, big men who pass well out of the post are few and far between.
In order to be deemed worthy of a .04 on the 5QIP scale for Post Passing a guard needs to be able to......
a. Fake passes before they make them to avoid deflections and create angles
b. Use footwork and pivots to create windows for the entry
c. Throw the hook pass, when the defense is 3/4 on the top side
d. Use a dribble to the baseline to create better angles
e. Put the ball accurately to a hand target
f. Pass with Language when necessary
g. Move after the pass by either laker cutting, screening away, or relocating
h. Throw the ball in quickly on a reversal and post seal
i. Do anything else that I forgot to mention
In order to be deemed worthy of a .04 on the 5QIP scale, a Big passing out of the post needs to be able to...
a. Immediately turn over their inside shoulder on the catch to see the floor
b. Stay calm in the face of double teams and crowding of the post
c. Throw a drop pass appropriately to laker cutters
d. Look opposite and pass accurately for a 3 vs. Double Teams
e. Either make a move or get rid of the ball quickly
f. Pass with either hand
g. Recognize where double teams are coming from quickly
h. Same attempt at a joke as i in previous example
5. Passing Patience
Often times, the difference between either throwing or completing a pass is patience. How often do players miss cutters because they either don't look or only give a brief look? How often is a cutter open late after a defender thinks their job is done? How often does a turnover result because a player on a fast break gives the ball up too early to a non-ball handler instead of waiting until they are closer to the basket? How often does a guard or post panic on either a double team or a blitzing of the ball screen? How often does a player pre-maturely throw a wild out of control pass for fear of getting called for a ten second violation? How often is Maley going to write often before he realizes that we get it? (The correct answer is 8)
If you were all oftened out by that last paragraph, I'd probably be correct in saying that you lost your patience. That's fine as a reader, but if you wish to be a good passer, you have to have the ultimate patience. Sometimes that one hundredth of a second is the difference between a scoring opportunity or simply running time off the clock. The number one example of Passsing Patience was mastered by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Rarely, do I ever see this nowadays as either a coach or a spectator.
Caption Not Necessary
Larry Bird has the ball on the perimeter after receiving a pass from Dennis Johnson. Robert Parish is posting on the ball-side block. Kevin McHale decides to dive to the weak-side block. Kurt Rambis, who is guarding McHale, is playing great off the ball defense, ready to help Kareem on Parish if need be. Bird, is staring down Parish acting like he is really trying enter it to the Chief. In reality, he is waiting to see something out of the corner of his eye. Not yet, Not yet, Not Yet. Rambis turns his head for a split second just to make sure that McChale is on the block and that his peripheral vision is not deceiving him. NOW!!!! Bird fires a line drive right past Rambis's head nearly knocking of his glasses. "Basket by McHale, from Birrrrrrrrrrrd!" Rambis doesn't even know what happened, but Bird does. Patience Kurt. Patience.
The art of passing is of the utmost importance to the game of basketball. It is truly refreshing to see someone who actually gets it because a great passer has the ability to completely alter the fortune of a team. On the flip-side, a player who can't pass, is capable of destroying it. For my money, you can have all your crossover dribbles, fade-aways, and 360 dunks. I'll take the guy that "Passes with Language." More often than not, the team with that guy will win.
An amazing thing occurred last week during my visit to the
Vatican while vacationing in Italy with my wife.During my climb to the top of Vatican City, I
bumped into the Pope himself who happened to be running stairs in order to
get in shape for his sixty and over Men’s League team (“The Point Gods”).Unbeknownst to me, The Pope is an avid
hooper and basketball fan extraordinaire.It came as a huge shock to find out that His Holiness had even read my
first couple blog posts and had some unique feedback on my 5 QIP Theory and how
it could be improved.The following is
the word for word dialogue of our conversation:
Moments Before Meeting With the Pope
Pope (While giving me a smooth handshake-hug):Coach Maley, what’s up man?Huge fan of the blog!
Me:Thanks your
Holiness, I’m a huge fan of your work as well.
Pope:Well that’s
good to know because it didn’t look like it when I watched your game on HighSchool Cube last winter.After a couple
bad calls, both the 3rd commandment and the “Golden Rule” seemed to have
fallen by the wayside (chuckling).
Me:I’m sorry Your Holiness.I lost control of my emotions.
Pope:Don’t worry
about it. I get frustrated too when the refs continually screw up the principle
of verticality.I mean, there are only
so many times a coach can turn the other cheek. Am I right?(chuckling and elbowing me in the ribs)
Me:Tell me about
it.Wow Father, I didn’t realize how
knowledgeable you were about the game.
Pope:Don’t let these
red shoes fool you; I used to be able to jump out of the gym and I was the
ultimate Junk-Yard Dog. None of the
College of Cardinals could stop me on the low block.
Me:Really?Where did you fall on the 5-QIP scale?
Pope:Well that is
what I wanted to talk to you about.I
have a couple of issues with your 5-QIP theory.Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved the analysis and certainly appreciated
the humor, but I feel like it needs to be broken down much further.Each of your five categories: Skill, Basketball IQ, Size, Athleticism, and
the Junk-Yard Dog should have subcategories to them. Simply using your rationale of a player “either
has the quality or they don’t”, doesn’t allow for an accurate comparison of
players who fall at the same level.
Me:I’m not sure if I
understand what you mean.
Pope:Let me
explain.Let’s say you and I are both 3s
on your 5-QIP scale.With the “you either
have the quality or you don’t” argument, there is no difference between you and
I.A four is a four, a three is a three,
and a five is a five.But, if you break
each category down even further and assign numerical values to those breakdowns,
you have a more accurate assessment.You may end up being a 3.1, but since I can shoot off the dribble and
have great lateral movement, I am now a 3.3 and thus a better player than you.
Me:Oh my God, I mean
gosh.That makes so much sense.How could I have not thought of that before?
Pope:Don’t be too
hard on yourself, only the big guy is infallible.Do you know how many
times I heard that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had to revise their gospels?(Chuckling again)
Me:Thanks
father.I know the direction that I will
take the blog post. You will be the first to read it.
Pope:No problem,
happy to help.Before you go, one quick
question.
Me:Anything your
Holiness.
Pope:Do you believe
in playing the pack-line or do you like to get out and deny on the wings?
End Scene
This completely true story illustrates the flaw in the 5 QIP theory that I wrote about a couple weeks ago.It simply isn’t specific enough and can certainly be improved upon.For instance, just because you have height,
does that mean you have the size quality?What if you have toddler-size hands, a Kevin Willis wingspan, and weigh
a buck-fifty soaking wet?We’d all agree
that player does not possess the size quality.At the same time, the lack of those other attributes of size should not
completely negate the player’s height either.In the new 5 QIP theory, there are five subcategories of each quality,
and if a player possesses only one of those five subcategories, they will get a
value of .2.If they possess all five of
the sub-categories, then and only then should they be given a 1 for that
quality.Therefore, in our size
example, the player will get a value of.2 for their height and not simply a
zero as dictated by the previous version of the 5-QIP.
The same holds true for athleticism, basketball IQ, and
skill.They have all been broken down
into five different subcategories and assigned .2 values for each sub-category.Since skill is probably the most important
and comprehensive quality of the 5 QIP, it is broken down even further into
mini-categories.For instance, the five
sub-categories of skill are shooting, passing, ball handling, rebounding, and
defense.If we take the shooting
sub-category of skill, it is broken down even further to finishing around the
rim, spot up shooting, off the dribble, on the move, and the closely guarded
shot.Each of which has a value of .04.A player may be lights out as a spot up
shooter, but average at the other four.By further breaking it down into these mini-categories, subtle differences
can be accounted for and factored into the overall equation that makes the player.
Maybe the shortest height to wing span ratio of all time
The Junk Yard Dog is the one quality that will not be broken
down further because it is a trait that I truly believe a person either has or
they don’t and there is usually no middle ground.As
was the case before with the Junk Yard Dog, a player can have either the
super-duper quality (Rodman) which acts as extra credit or the pooper-scooper
quality (Vince Carter) which is a minus.Similarly, those distinctions will apply to each sub and mini category as
well.
Below is a chart that I created which lays out the complete
new and improved 5-QIP theory.As a
coach, the whole-part-whole method has proven effective, so I will stick with
it as a blogger. In future posts, I will
breakdown and analyze each subcategory and explain its importance to the
complete player.At the conclusion of
all the breakdowns, we will then come back to the chart below and decide what
it all means and how it can be used to evaluate players.If you don’t like or agree with the new
format, take it up with the Vatican because once the 5 QIP becomes Papal Law,
there is no changing it.
