10 Things Players Can Do When Not Playing Well

On Tuesday, I was reading an article by Seth Davis. In it he says, "A player should be able to play well when he's not playing well." So I asked my players what it means to them to "not play well." An overwhelming majority of answers had to do with not being able to score and/or poor shooting. In that regard, remember Coach Eastman teaching similar to the Davis' quote at Washington State and suggesting that a player go 3-4 possessions on offense without a shot to get his mind off of the mini slump.

Here are 10 things players can do when they aren't "playing well":
1. Become the best passer - Distribute the ball to teammates. It gets the entire team in a flow and can allow you to feed off that flow.
2. Become the best screener - Get others open with solid screens. You will find that you will be open for easier looks as a result.
3. Be the hardest cutter - Cut hard and draw the defense with you. This will contribute to the team flow but may also allow for an easy basket.
4. Go after every offensive rebound - Gain another possession for the team. You may even find yourself scoring chippies.
5. Be the first down the floor in transition - Both on offense and defense. Offensively you can get a lay-up to break the slump. Defensively you can thwart easy baskets by opponents.
6. Become the best box out player - Concentrate on not letting your man get rebounds.
7. Be the best helpside defender - Turn your attention to getting stops as a team.
8. Get deflections - Work to hit the pass when on the defensive end.
9. Become the best communicator - Talk loud, talk early, and talk often. Put everyone on the same page.
10. Become the most positive highest energy player - Bring the juice! Bring some enthusiasm to the entire team. It is contagious and the rest of the team will feed off it.