POST SEASON PREPARATION

Some folks call it "the real season." Others refer to it as "the moment of truth." Magic Johnson termed it "winning time." No matter what you call it, the NCAA Tournament is the time of year when true greatness on the basketball court is realized.

For coaches, post-season play is crucial. Basketball seasons are routinely deemed successful or unsuccessful based on how a team performs in the NCAA Tournament. Therefore, once the regular season ends, the 64 college coaches fortunate enough to be invited to the tourney kick things into high gear. Generally speaking, these coaches focus on three areas: game strategy, opponent scouting, and their own team mentality.

Game Strategy

During the NCAA Tournament, good game strategy is at a premium. During the two weeks between the end of the regular season and the start of the Tournament, coaches will lose themselves in developing their post-season game plans. Meetings run longer as coaches discuss in detail what strategies will give them the best chance of winning the next game, because that's the only game that matters. When tournament play begins, that day-by-day mentality holds. Consequently, coaches often shorten their rotation in games, going with the more experienced members of the team to ensure the necessary win.

Many coaches will take the time following their conference tournaments to put in a couple of new plays or to add a small but potent wrinkle to an existing play. A coach may also opt to add a new defensive scheme, or dust off one that he or she hasn't used since early in the season. The key here is to be ready to try something different that the opponent has not seen, but that won't throw the team out of its comfort zone.

In addition, coaches will often teach their team a new out-of-bounds play. In a game of relative equals, one or two key plays can be the difference between advancing and going home. Stealing an easy basket on an inbounds play might make a huge difference in the outcome of the game.

Opponent Scouting

During the NCAA Tournament, scouting becomes much more intense. Assistant coaches all over America suffer from bloodshot eyes and bags the size of Louis Vuitton luggage after being parked in front of television screens for hours on end, pouring over videotape of their opponents.

More than simply discovering what plays a team will run and which defenses they will employ, post-season scouting additionally involves trying to get a feel for the overall flow of how a team plays. What things are they inclined to do in the dosing minutes of a close game? Are they in the habit of changing defenses after time-outs? What play are they likely to run when they really need a score? It's important to have a thorough understanding of the opponent's tendencies - they're much harder to pick up on the fly during a NCAA Tournament game, when the atmosphere is so intense.

If you aren't prepared for how your opponent will play, your stay in the tournament will be short-lived.

Team Mentality

To do well in the NCAA Tournament, teams must develop a tournament mentality. It is crucial that teams go into the tournament feeling confident and positive about themselves. That's easy for teams that win their conference tournaments (or simply perform well in them) - they'll naturally go into the tournament on a high. For the teams that don't win, or perform poorly, creating high-light tapes that showcase great moments from the regular season can work wonders for morale and stimulate a positive attitude.

Coaches must also find a way to make sure the team is focused on the task at hand: the players have to understand that, in the NCAA Tournament, the stakes for every game are raised. That's why coaches will implore their teams to adopt an "us against the world" mentality. If a team is an underdog, the coach will repeatedly talk to his or her players about being overlooked and disrespected, and about how no one expects them to win; the goal will be to go out and shock the world. If a team is the favorite, the coach will declare that the whole world is out to get them, and they must band together to get through it and prove victorious.

The better a coach manages these three areas of post-season play, the greater the chance of success he or she can expect to enjoy. Unless, of course, you have Diana Taurasi suiting up for you. In that case, you simply practice the routine for cutting down the nets!

Coquese Washington is an assistant coach with Notre Dame University. She played six seasons in the WNBA. Send your questions for her to [email protected].

Copyright Ashton International Media, Inc. Jun 2004
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