The Basketball Podcast: EP50 Dave Smart Matchup Based Offense and Defense 

These two podcasts are great! It has always amazed me that coaches do not communicate freely about what they do. I've always thought we as coaches would be so much better if we shared our knowledge more among ourselves. Dave's philosophy's are so misunderstood in the world today. He is proof that competition is a strong foundation to life. What really amazes me is that only 539 people have watched this podcast. I don't even coach bball anymore after 25 years of doing so and I was totally enthralled in listening to Dave's thoughts. I coached against Dave's nephew Aaron years ago when he was in high school. It was one of my most memorable years as a coach, simply because the lads practiced so hard. Everything was a competition. Many practices I was more like the referee of a "boxing match" then a coach of basketball as everyone was fighting for that starting spot. I for one am going to really miss watching Mr. Smart on the sidelines!! Thanks for this Chris!

Three takeaways: 1. His philosophy reminds me of Sun Tzu's rule of warfare: "Know yourself, know your enemy." His opponent's strengths and weaknesses dictate how his team plays, not the other way around. 2. He said in scouting he would go 80%-20% talking about individual players rather than what a team runs. That's incredible. He's right that every player thinks they need to know what the other team is doing a little bit. I was very surprised when he said this. All he really cares about is guarding personnel, not scheme. 3. Players struggle against them because they have strengths and weaknesses. European guys who can go both ways equally well like Ginobli and Tony Parker would do extremely well against them I'm guessing.

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