Never stop talking!

$64.2 MILLION DOLLARS.

That is how much P.J. Tucker has earned over the course of his career (so far!). P.J. is a great player, but does not stand out in many aspects of the game. You will not find P.J.’s name in the record books for points scored, made threes or any other statistical categories. P.J. has never been an all-star, has never won any individual accolades, but is still on every organization’s wish list every off-season when Free Agency comes around, for 2 reasons:

Playing his heart out every possession, and because he is one of the best COMMUNICATORS IN THE LEAGUE.

Don’t believe me? Watch P.J. communicate yourself in this snippet of USA Team Basketball Practice while preparing for the Olympics of 2020:

There are a few things we can learn from this - of course, P.J. is still a well above average player in many skill-facets of the game of basketball - many of which require perhaps some feel for the game or some talent. The two things he does exemplary and is simply elite at though, require very little talent - it is simply a matter of awareness and EFFORT. P.J.'s willingness and attitude towards communication and effort is contagious towards his teammates, and is a huge reason why the teams he has been on have always made deep runs into the playoffs, capped off by a NBA Championship this past season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

So let’s talk communication at Split Second Basketball - what is our philosophy, and how do we teach it? 

At the start of the season, all of our players received a handout with something that we call our “Core Values and Standards of Performance”. On top of the list on the Standards of Performance side? You guessed it, communication.

“Communication: We must talk stance (ball, deny, help) and screens (left, right, coverage) early, loud and continuously.”

Let’s zero in on those last 3 keywords - Early, Loud and Continuously.

Talking Early

There are many “X-amount of P’s Concepts” out there, but have you ever heard of one on preparation? It goes as follows: “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance” - at Split Second, we try to apply this same rule to our communication.

Communication gets us and our teammates on the same page - and the earlier this happens, the easier it is to navigate as a team on both sides of the floor. Playing defense and recognizing a set the offense is running? Call it out! Seeing a screen being set on one of your teammates? Call it out! We can not always prevent every play action before it happens, but the moment we recognize something it is imperative we share it with our teammates to give them a moment to react to the communications, to give ourselves an advantage any way we can. (And yes, this includes keeping ourselves healthy - a blindsided screen can hurt!)

Talking Loud

At Split Second we encourage our players to communicate loud. One of our favourite sayings as coaches is “fill the gym with our voices”. 

We try to create a habit within our players to communicate loudly, because we believe it instills confidence and provides clarity. The concept of “Trust” and trusting your teammates is a huge focus point at our club, it is simply non-negotiable. Basketball is a team sport - and without being able to trust one another, we can’t win many games. Gyms can get noisy, crowds can go wild, arenas can play music while the game is on-going, and without us being able to communicate loudly, we can’t perform at our best as a team - especially in the crucial moments when games are getting tight!

Talking Continuous

Basketball is a game full of fast paced action. With 10 players on the floor, there is always something going on - thus always something to be communicated to our teammates. In both practices and games, we teach our players to communicate every single thing that is happening. A play is being called on offense by our point guard, or our coach? We ‘echo’ the call. Screens on defense. Directing our teammates to the right spots. Thanking our teammates for good passes. Encouraging our teammates, both verbally and with our body language.  If something is positive and communicable, you betcha we want it to be shared and heard by everyone! We try to teach our players that it is always okay to over-communicate - but NEVER okay to under-communicate. 

Talking continuously is hard, and requires great conditioning and great physical shape. It is no coincidence that some of the best conditioned athletes are also some of the best communicators. 

Putting it all together

Why do we talk?

• To make sure we are all on the same page.

• "I look at the members of our team like the five fingers of a hand. Individually, the fingers aren't as powerful as all of them coming together into a fist." Duke University Head Coach, Mike Krzyzewski

• Being on the same page early and continuously is a habit of winning teams and individuals, which we all aspire to be at Split Second.

How do we talk?

• Early, Loud, Continuously and Positive - and as specific as we can be! 

• Both verbally and with our body language.

When do we talk?

• ALL THE TIME!

• On Offense, on Defense, and when we are on the bench - each one teach one, everyone contributes throughout the entire game, at any moment. 

• Examples on Offense - echo’ing the play, directing our teammates, and encouraging our teammates;

• Examples on Defense - calling out play actions before they happen, calling out screens, letting each other know where we are (help defense, one pass away, “I got ball”!)

To be a good communicator, I need to be:

• Present in the moment, and committed to my team;

• Well-conditioned! 

BONUS: And just in case you needed more proof on the importance of communication from one of the best basketball players to ever live… Watch Kobe Bryant Mic’d up an entire game playing against the San Antonio Spurs in their hey-day. An hour and a half of unique perspectives and awesome insights.

Did this post on communication resonate with you? Anything you felt that was missed? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments, or shoot us a message - we love hearing your feedback and engaging in hoops-dialogue!

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