Develop An Old Man's Game
After Villanova won their last National Championship, everyone wanted to be like Villanova!!!
What everyone needs to understand is that Villanova plays one aspect of the old mans game better than anyone. In the video below it shows some really good aged concepts that every coach needs to incorporate into their practice plans/game plans. Everybody has met a player or two that has an old mans game but not too many teams have developed that team philosophy on the big stage like Villanova has.
As I re-watch the video, it only reminds me of how I won 3 on 3’s back in the day with two guys named Lonnie Calhoun and Jason Howard “Duck”. (I’m not forgetting about you Brian Brush and Don Metz) Watching us play basketball was only a beautiful thing to very few people watching us. To the rest of the spectators, it was probably pretty painful. The kicker behind it was those guys were knock down shooters. We played the “old man’s game” to a tee.
Here is how we did it.
- We shared the basketball and knew when everyone was going to shoot it.
- We knew that we would never win an eye ball test and we knew that (I) Coach Warner couldn’t shoot.
- After sharing the ball, we put the ball on the deck with the understanding that we would get cut off sooner rather than later.
- Look for slow developing/slow moving back-cuts
- Pivot 3 times (maybe 4 times but you’re pushing a 5 second call! Note: most refs don’t call this because by human nature they only call 5 seconds when a player is forced to pick up their dribble or is in trouble)
- Give a final up and under. (This one is about 60% effective – that # was made up, sort of)
- Kick it out to one of your shooters to break your opponent’s heart.
The game plan was pretty simple in our 3 on 3’s. We relished the fact that our basketball IQ needed to be greater than their basketball IQ AND their athleticism. I remember one time when we won a Quad Cities Gus Macker and Lonnie and Duck warmed up shooting 3’s with their left hand just so the other team didn’t think we could shoot! Ha! I still warmed up with my strong hand however.
I think growing up needing to think the game like an old man became my advantage and why I enjoy watching Villanova basketball so much. While the season has concluded there is still Villanova basketball all around you, you just need to look for it. Next time you walk into your local YMCA at 5 am in the morning, do yourself a favor, pass the first court over where all the young kids are playing and take a second to watch Villanova play, they are dressed up as a bunch of 50 year old men, driving to the hoop, picking up their dribble and pivoting as the day is long until they find 60 year old teammate slashing to the rim for a 2 handed runner on the baseline.
Lastly, I could not be more excited, I bought the domain name. http://www.oldmansgame.com Ha!!!!! It’s ON!!!!
Coach Jason Warner
