The Basketball Podcast: EP217 with Francesco Nanni on 1-on-1 and European Coaching

Francesco Nanni Coach Quotes:

“Especially at a younger level . . we need to develop players who are able to problem solve on the fly . . to be able to create an advantage for yourself or to maintain an adventure that somebody has built.”

“To be able to pass on the move is one of the crucial skills that you need to have.”

“We always talk about creating an advantage, maintaining it, and finalizing it – score a basket . . What we see a lot of times, at any level, players will get the ball, there is a closeout happening, and they stop the ball . . you need to do something with that space that got created . . because if you simply stop and wait . . you create a harder situation for yourself.”

“We want to have as many dynamic starts as possible in the game. We want to catch the ball on the move, it’s easier to score.”

“I was using guided defense with under eight [years old] players, simply doing a layup with somebody on your side with somebody touching your shoulder. You can raise the level of the test really, really slowly.”

“We also play a lot of situational one-on-one . . you have to create separation and try to get to the ball screen . . and the constraint that we add . . is that if you reject you are free to go to the rim, we want to emphasize the reject.”

“If the one-on-one decision on the catch and on the counter move are great, I don’t want to have them focusing on something else . . we need to put our egos aside [as coaches] and do the best thing for our players. Again, I’m not saying play randomly . . we need to be intentional in what we do.”

“For me, it’s crucial that the first read the player should have is that on the catch, they are neutral or they have an advantage. If they have an advantage, they should try to maintain it by attacking or by making an extra pass. If they are neutral . .this is where you, as a coach, can think about what you want.”

“If you’re neutral, you play get action with the closest teammate to you or you are going to try to pass and screen away for somebody else.’ Once that distinction is clear, you can build it on it.”

“I think the way we deal with mistakes is crucial for coaches. But it’s also crucial for coaches to create a safe culture of error with your own team and that is never easy.”

“If you’re playing a pick-and-roll role toward the 2-side . . when should that player cut? . . It depends what your goal is. If you want to prevent the help, you should start earlier, you should start before the ball is starting, you want to take away the help . .While if you want to punish the help you have completely different timing and you have to start when your defender is already helping.”

“’[When scouting] what I do, as an assistant coach is . . I watch the last three games. But also I go and watch the games with opponents that are similar to ours.”

“We’ve been lucky enough to have many blowout wins . . and we use those games sometimes to experiment with new stuff, offensively and defensively . . because at the end [of the season] how much you are adaptable is going to matter, how much you’re able to shift quickly.”

Francesco Nanni Breakdown:

1:00 – Why One-on-One is Important
4:00 – Passing
6:30 – Dynamic Start
11:00 – Perception Process
17:00 – Giving Feedback
17:22 -18:00 – JUST PLAY AD
22:00 – Small Sided game
24:00 – Conceptual Offense
29:00 – Being Creative in Europe
35:00 – Ball Screen Concept
39:00 – Conceptual Basketball
39:14 – 39:56 – DR. DISH AD
42:00 – Game Preparation
50:00 – Post Game Evaluation
52:00 – Pair of Eyes
54:00 – Conclusion

Francesco Nanni Links from the Podcast:

Francesco Nanni

Lenovo Tenerife

Basquet Manresa

Virtus Bologna

Nikola Mirotic

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Daniel Coyle