Tracking a team's effort

Last night, the Big Ten Network had a story on the University of Minnesota's "Hustle Chart."

I emailed Ryan Saunders, a graduate manager on Tubby Smith's staff at UM, asking about the chart. He was nice enough to email me back with some details.

During every game, the UM staff charts steals, blocks, charges, deflections, and hustle plays.

According to Coach Saunders, it's "not uncommon for Coach Smith (pictured above) to ask during timeouts how many deflections we have" as it serves as a tool for gauging the team's overall effort. Not surprisingly, "much of the time, [deflections] coincide with the score."

To hold players accountable, the team posts the "Hustle Chart" in its film room that lists the best offensive rebounder, screener, player who took a charge, hustle player of the game, defensive player of the game, deflections, assist/TO ratio, and blocks leader. [They also maintain an updated cumulative deflection chart in the locker room that highlights numbers from the last game and season totals.]

"Players always are aware when they do not make the board, and we are sure to point it out when somebody is dominating the hustle chart or if their name is missing."

There's still something in life for the people who persevere

Great quote from Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan when asked about the 9-point, 8-rebound, 6-steal game senior Joe Krabbenhoft had in the Badgers' win over Ohio State last weekend (UW's fourth straight win after losing six consecutive games last month).

According to this article, "what this line doesn’t show is the work he puts in behind the scenes. Ryan points to the effort Krabbenhoft puts in during practice and how that attitude translates to the game. Ryan believes that it is Krabbenhoft’s desire that allows him to excel game in and game out."

“There’s still something in life for the people who want things, and will persevere, and aren’t easily deterred. There is that element of perseverance that separates a lot of people.”

How to grade hustle on defense

From Coach Duane Silver's email comes a good note about how coaches Bruce Weber and Matt Painter "grade hustle on defense."

According to Coach Silver, this system comes from Coach [Gene] Keady (pictured here).

To quantify hustle, players receive one point for passes deflected, blocked shots, steals, dives (must be logical), and loose balls, and two points for charges, and 5-second violations (this is for the man guarding the ball only).

They track each player's points and the player with the most points at the end of the season wins the team's most important award.

A player's desire to get the ball

When asked recently about similarities between his Lakers team this season and the Bulls teams he coached in the 1990s, Phil Jackson had this to say:

"I don't know if we have the same ruggedness that we had, that was brought to the team by Dennis Rodman. He had that character where he was going to lay his body on the line, dying to get the ball back, dying to defend. It just wasn't in their makeup to lighten up. They wanted to work. They liked to work. This team is learning how to do that every-night action it takes in the NBA to win."

I won't tolerate people who don't work and hustle

A lot of eyes will be on former Marquette coach Tom Crean, who took over at Indiana back in April.

Though he coaches at the college level, Coach Crean actively seeks out and studies ideas from the professional level.

While many are picking the Hoosiers to finish near the bottom of the Big 10 standings this season, one thing is certain: Coach Crean's club will play with energy.

Said Coach Crean:

"I'm not going to tolerate people who don't work and hustle and have energy and toughness are diving on the floor for loose balls. I won't put those people on the floor for consistent measures of time. I just won't."

Every minute on the court was declaration of war on somebody

The Milwaukee paper recently profiled Scott Skiles, recounting how, during his playing days, he was so well prepared for the opposition, that he not only knew the plays as well as his coaches, but, in some cases, better than the guys on the opposing team:

"Since Skiles knew the opposing team's plays himself, he would merely shout out to his teammates what was coming. And then, just for good measure, maybe chide an opposing player if he was in the wrong place on the court."

As Magic SVP Pat Williams recalls:

"He was coaching both teams. Sometimes telling the opposition, 'You're supposed to be over here. Get over here. He wants you over here.' He was coaching both teams while he was playing."

A couple of highlights quotes from the story about Coach Skiles:

Pat Williams: "I remember his intensity and the fervor with which he played . . . every minute of every practice and every game. Gave no quarter, asked no quarter, never backed down. Fearless and pugnacious. Every minute on the court was a declaration of war on somebody.

I've been around two super-intense athletes in my 40 years in the NBA: Jerry Sloan and Scott Skiles. That's just how they went about their business. On the same guard line, those two guys would have been a pair for the ages. Not the most talented but just played with a ferocity and demanded it from their teammates. And would not accept anything - anything - less than maximum effort."

Jim Boylan, one of Coach Skiles' assistants: "Scott's always been very confident, and as a coach I think that's one of the attributes that you really need to have because the team can feel it. He's always had that. And he's always had a great command of his team. They respect him.

"One of his main strengths is during the game he's able to analyze and slow things down and execute his game plan. So, the one area over the years that he's continued to get better at is actual game execution. Reading situations in the game, the flow, timeouts, working the huddle, trying to motivate the guys and seeing what needs to be done. I think over the last couple seasons in Chicago, he really had a firm grasp on the pace of the game and what's going on and what needs to be done to try to get the maximum out of his team.

It's the competitive side of the game that really gets his juices flowing and I think he really likes to take a situation and put his stamp on it. We need somebody to come in here and really get us organized, give us some direction, and give us some leadership'. That's what he does best."

MIL forward Malik Allen: "He's a no-nonsense guy. Very detailed, but he's fair all the way across the board. Everybody is going to have an opportunity at some point. He has a good system. The system is hard. You have to play hard for it to work but it's proven that it does work."