Basketball is one of the most popular team sports, but our culture today makes people forget the team part of it. Through marketing and social media, we’ve been led to glorify individual players more than teams. We’re drawn to individuals more because of the individualistic nature of our western society that is more focused on individuality versus collectivity. Make no mistake about it though, it takes a whole team to have success including management, coaches, role players, star players (etc). Knowing that it takes a team to win, it begs the question, what makes a great basketball team?
Cohesion
One of the greatest tell-tale signs of a great basketball team is how cohesive they are. A great basketball team will always be on the same page when it comes to making reads and plays. It also means knowing each other’s strengths, weaknesses. hot spots and tendencies. If for example one player on your team is great at hitting corner threes, cohesive teams will always make sure to find him when he is open in the corner.
A cohesive team is also one that shares the same goal, and the main goal should always be to win and have fun. When it comes to specific, measurable and realistic goals however, everyone on a team needs to be on the same page about this. Maybe as a team, you want to improve your free throw shooting by 10%, or you want everybody to communicate more on defence during games. Whatever your goals are, it’s important to set them to build cohesion.
Communication
In basketball, it’s very important for every member on the team to communicate as much as possible.This is important both on and off the court. Communicating and calling out screens and switches for instance is important to alert your teammate. It’s also key to praise or give constructive criticism to your teammate both on and off the court. On the court it can be as simple as saying “good shot” or “good pass”. Off the floor, it can mean speaking in depth about things your teammate is doing well or can improve on. Praise can give teammates confidence while constructive criticism can help them improve. Ultimately, communication is important to make sure that players aren’t stuck in their head or focused too much on themselves individually. Having to communicate and being communicated to allows players to stay in the present and give their all when they play.
Knowing Their Roles
Players knowing their roles and starring in it is what makes a great basketball team. Draymond Green is the perfect example of an NBA player that knows his role. He knows it’s not his job to score and instead looks to lead, facilitate, play defence and do the little things. He’s made 4 all-star teams despite averaging only 8.7PPG for his career.
It might not be everybody’s job to shoot as much as possible and score points. Someone’s role might be to knock down open shots and play stellar defence. Another player’s role might be to get as many rebounds as possible. Great teams don’t have players competing with each other on the floor, but instead taking pride and responsibility for their individual roles. When it comes to the offensive and defensive playbook of a team, one player might have different actions than others. Players on a great team understand that it’s their job to execute their role on the team and their part in the playbook the best way they can.
Register For TAC Force Academy
If you want to be a part of a great basketball team that follows all of these principles, TAC Force Academy is that team. We have genuine coaches that want to see their players grow, and players that want to see the best for their teammates. Aside from our competitive team, we offer basketball camps, developmental lessons, house leagues and other programming to help develop your basketball game. Our programs will help you to grow your skills, confidence, and understanding of team basketball. To learn more about our basketball programs, click on the button below.
Basketball Programs
