The Basketball Podcast: EP449 with Mia Smith on Hugs, Run and Jumps, and Wins

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Mia Smith Quotes:

“It’s a pretty simple method for me. It’s get off the bus with the best players. It does take some really conscious recruiting effort on that part. But my job has always been to try to find the best players, try to mold them into a team, and then stay out of their way.”

“I used to be by the book. It was my way or the highway. And over the course of the years, that that has changed. I’ve become more player-focused, what the players need, how I think they perform at optimal levels. The thing that we use absolutely the most is just a caring attitude that we’re here for them no matter what the situation is.”

“We want the player who’s family-based, whose culture is already good, and then just making sure they have a strong work ethic.”

“One of the philosophies we’ve developed over the course of maybe just the last 2 years is we do not like having to correct repeated mistakes. We would much rather see a player make a new mistake and get beyond the current ones that they’re making.”

“We want the correct actions, so whatever it takes to get to that is what is important. We start practices with a focus drill every single day. It’s either timed, goal-set, or numbers-oriented. And if we’re successful on the first try, we move right on to the rest of the practice. If we don’t, the girls know it’s a repeat.”

“We sprint from drill to drill. If it’s a change where we need more balls, less balls,  or are changing pennies, we try to do all of that as quickly as we can. The way we play, we don’t feel like we need to condition at the end. I think having fresh legs and fresh minds are really important, but I believe our team is always in prime condition.”

“One of the things I’ve learned is that players will play more effectively if they are allowed to play free. I think in basketball, you can work on certain aspects, skills, situations, strategies, but letting them play free helps their confidence. A confident player is the most effective player, in my opinion. So again, give them a start and then let them feel their way through it. Make a few corrections where you need to, but for the most part, let it be all about them.”

“We are a full-court pressure defense-oriented team. We utilize a run-and-jump press that is a part of our practice for 15 minutes every single day. We change the dynamics . . We know teams have to spend extra time preparing for our press. That’s typically not something most teams have to prepare for.”

“The first action, we want to get a trap to the ball and we want to start some rotations . .  You have to trust that you’re going to be able to trap your opponent, and then you’ve got to be able to trust that the rest of you are all going to be rotating in the back and coming off traps. At no time can any one player be still. All 5 players have to be in motion.”

“We’ll see teams are going to clear out, teams are going to bring somebody up from the back to try to receive the inbound, or teams are going to send a cutter through once the ball is inbounded. We go through just about every scenario. We only do one scenario a day. And then when we’re in live scrimmages, we’ll see some of those take place and the girls are typically prepared.”

“When teams counter clog the lane, sag back a little bit on the dribble-drive, then you’ve got to be able to find a perimeter shooter to get them to extend again. So, we talk about all those things with our players. This is what we would like to do, but if this happens, you’ve got to have a counter. We set up those counters in practice and what we’re doing in the drill work. We probably spend at least 60 to 65% of our practice time in drill work, but we want it to be game-like drill work.”

“You’re disappointing a player who’s coming in and talking about playing time. They’re already disappointed that they’re not getting as much playing time. And what we try to do is say, ‘How can you establish your role? How can you enhance that role? What else can you do to be a successful part of what we’re doing?’”

“I always want to be that coach that’s learning, that’s staying evolved. The older I get, the harder that gets at times. because you’ve just seen so much change. I think just listening to players and what I could have done better to help them. Was there something I could have done better for the team? You know, we have end-of-the-year conversations, and those conversations are very detailed.”

“My dad always told me this, ‘Do not be afraid to surround yourself with people who might know more than you.’ . . I’ve had players, especially captains or seniors, who will come into my office and say, ‘Coach, I watched so-and-so last night versus such-and-such. I really think this is what we can do to be successful.”