WINNING WITH AN UNDERSIZED TEAM BY BRAD STEVENS

A few years ago before Brad Stevens was "Brad Stevens," he spoke on a video about winning with an undersized team. I was coaching high school girls at the time and we were definitely undersized so I bought the video and here I will share my notes from that video.

Common Characteristics of Good Teams

1) Best players are totally committed
2) Tough minded guys in key spots
3) Make plays in a lot of spots (4 can put it on the floor)
4) Defensive versatility
5) Turnover margin

Misconceptions

1) We don’t recruit size
2) We don’t utilize the post (a lot of ball screens) (1 person always posting at the rim 1 or 3)
3) Size dominates our league
4) Undersized=Undermanned

Findings

1) Play the best players-regardless of size
2) Players with great size struggle to guard on the floor
3) There aren’t many great back to basket players that stay long in college
4) Certain team will decrease your margin for error

Areas to Address

1) Defensive Rebounding
2) Ability to contest shots—figuring out who you can help off of
3) Foul trouble
4) Ability to finish plays-Guards need to get good at alternative finishes (floater, finish high)

Things in your favor

1) Bring forwards out to guard
2) Increased number of ball handlers
3) Defensive versatility
4) Being disruptive defensively
5) Spreading the floor