The Basketball Podcast: EP344 with Brooks Miller on Common Sense Defense and Trine’s Winning Formula

Brooks Miller Quotes:

“We moved all of our four on four shells to five on five shells and that was really productive for us on how to cover the weak side on skip passes and passes to the corner.”

“We’re just switching and then we’re really hunting that next open gap that we want to jump in front of and try to steal. Because we’re either trying to stop the ball or steal the ball. That’s our entire mentality in the half court.”

“We are designed to make mistakes on the ball. Everything we do is designed to make that initial mistake on the ball. Whether it’s a five man that may be a little slow-footed or whatever it may be, we’re trying to defend the ball one on one and take it to a spot . . But each individual needs to know who’s good at guarding the ball and who’s not. Do we need to maybe help a little bit earlier or attack it a little bit earlier as opposed to later?”

“Our players don’t have a whole lot of rules. It’s a lot of just make the ball stop and take away the next pass. Now the challenge to this is always the offensive rebounding because you’re flying around a little bit, you get stuck under the basket, but those are things we can move on later.”

“Offense is usually ahead of the defense and then the defense catches up. So, we’re trying to do the same thing. We’re studying a lot of different offenses and how do we win in our league, how do we beat the best teams in our conference, what do they do and what adjustments have they made to us that we can counter-adjust to?”

“We used to be a part of programs where you just walk through stuff and and all we’re doing is walking through. Well, we know the plays better than they do. Okay, that’s great, but what are we doing to do to disrupt it?”

“Everybody wants to be on the chest up video. Everybody wants to be a part of the chest ups. We’ll do everything in our power to reward guys that are going to chest up and have us come up with the ball and finish the possession. So, that’s extremely important to us because we know how much they’re sacrificing and what it takes to adjust your mind to do that.”

“When we switch, switch up and in the gap, not back. Because when you’re back, you’re encouraging a drive, people step in front of you. You can’t steal the ball or intercept the ball when you’re back and in the gap, you’ve got to be up. So, we try to keep those principles the same way off the ball, and they don’t have to switch off the ball, but we encourage it and we continue to work on those things all the time.”

“We’re going back to the scouting reports. We know what the individual tendency tendencies are. We know it but we are very careful with what we share with them [the players]. You can’t give them too much. You’ve got to decide how you think you want to win during a huddle or a timeout when things are tense and the crowd is screaming.”

“You’ve got to find a way to get these guys to respect each other and want to play together, want to share the basketball, want to communicate and fly around defensively. Spend the energy you do on the defensive end, knowing that you still get to go play offense.”

“So, everything we do, whether it’s our point of pickup that we’re talking about, we have a coach that is strictly designated. The only thing he focuses on either end of the floor is our point of pickup on defense and our hand placement. Our hand placement is so significant. On the ball, off the ball. When we rotate to a gap, our hands have got to be in the gap and be ready.”

“To me, when it comes to defensive field goal percentage, if we can keep the opponent under 41%, we have a chance to win a championship. Anything over that, you’re going to need some luck. But if you can keep your opponents under 41% from the field, that’s a big thing.”

Brooks Miller Breakdown:

01:43 Coaching Philosophy and Style
03:12 Defensive Strategies and Adjustments
03:58 Common Sense Defense Explained
06:58 Five-on-Five Shell Drills
15:50 Historical Influences and Adaptations
21:32 Offensive Adjustments and Player Development
27:45 Off-Ball Principles and Simplifying Terminology
28:55 Scouting Reports and Game Adjustments
31:12 Defensive Strategies and Field Goal Percentage
32:07 Rebounding and Turnover Battles
34:56 Eliminating Fluff in Practice
40:52 Teaching Through Film and Individual Workouts
45:41 Handling Fifth-Year Players
50:26 Defending the Championship

Brooks Miller Selected Links from the Podcast:

Brooks Miller
Fred Garland
Cortez Garland
Drew Moore
Doug Williams
Shaquille O’Neal
Larry Johnson
Alonzo Mourning
Bobby Knight
Ron Adams
Mark Adams
Chris Beard
Steve Green
Jae Crowder
Garret Duffin
Phil Jackson
Kobe Bryant
Robert Horry
Ed Douma
Brent Cox
Clif Carroll