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How to break down basketball game film
Better Basketball | Film Breakdown Part 1: Post-Game Analysis
Upon several requests, I have put together a three-part series of posts discussing how to watch film as after the game, with your team, and with individual players. Today I am going to discuss the process of watching and breaking down the game film individually as a coach to provide feedback for yourself and your coaching staff.
This post is going to about the process of how I break down film after a game every each night. The analysis below takes place after every game we play and it takes approximately 2 hours once I get home.
Post-Game Meeting
After each game our coaching staff meets in the head coach’s office and we discuss the game for 15-20 minutes; What went well, what didn’t go well, and other thoughts about the game. As a staff, we try to reserve judgment with performance until watching the game film. During this time, I will reference some notes that I wrote down during the game about some aspects that I think would be good to look for when breaking down the film (i. e.- Transition defense, defensive rebounding, rotational breakdowns, etc.) and also gather thoughts from my head coach on things he would like for me to focus on while watching the film.
Post-Game Report
After gathering our post-game perspective, I head home and start uploading the film for breakdown onto Krossover. During the upload time, I analyze and input the data I have on my Offensive and Defensive Efficiency Chart and look for any positive and negative trends from the game. This chart will also factor into indicators while watching film. Once all the numbers totaled, I will start typing up my Post[Game Report for my head coach. I got this tremendous idea from the LA Clippers’ Kevin Eastman. Eastman took it upon himself each night after their games to write-up a post-game report and slide it under head coach Doc Rivers’ door for reading the next morning. I am not sure what Kevin’s looked like, but in my report I include the following:
Quarter by Quarter Scoring with +/-
Rebound Comparisons each half and game total (Out rebounding the opponent is a huge component of our program)
Offensive and Defensive notes referencing the Efficiency Chart I mentioned above
As well as any notes I gather from the film in regards to our performance (Good and Bad)
Any ideas or recommendations for upcoming practices that I think will help our team
If you are interested in a sample of what mine looks like just drop me a note and I would be glad to email you.
I believe the most important aspect of doing the Post-Game Report is working for a head coach that does not have an ego and is always open to suggestions or your thoughts. I am very fortunate that the coach I currently work for at Fort Myers is always open to new ideas and suggestions; as long as there is not a personal agenda behind it and it fits in our system. The second most important aspect of doing the Report is not having a personal ego. The Report is for your head coach and the coaching staff to view your feedback and perspective on the team’s performance and gather as much information as they can. As the Assistant Coach, it is not my role to ask him every day, “Hey, did you read my report? What’d you think?”. Typically you will know if the coach read it because they will discuss it with you or derive some aspect from it to use with the team in the following practice(s).
Once the film is uploaded, one of my main goals is to clip up the film into offensive and defensive possessions so if my head coach wants to just watch our defense, he can do so in half the time. While doing so, I will also focus on the components we discussed as a staff in the post-game meeting and look for good and bad examples on the film. It is extremely important to not just flag all the negatives of the game, but also the positives (I will reference this in one of the next posts). Either mark each of these clips to reference later or include them as examples in the Post-Game Report so your coaches can relate to them immediately when reading the Report. If you do the latter, make sure you not only include the clip number, but also the reason you included it.
Breaking Down the Film
In terms of what to look for when watching film for the first time, I believe it will vary for every staff depending on what you focus on and your style of play. The main thing is to not get caught up in the game and allow the result (win or lose) to hinder your ability to analyze the video with an unbiased opinion. If you watch the film in a bad mood or are still angry with your players, this will affect your ability to offer constructive criticism. In The Trained Eyes of a Head Coach, I also discussed the ability to not follow the ball and to focus more on the action happening off the ball.
Below are the components that I try to focus on when reviewing our game film:
Defensively
Transition Defense: Are all 5 guys sprinting to the paint before matching up?
Our angles with on the ball defense; we do not allow middle so focus is on the angle of feet and hips towards the baseline.
Is our help side defense in the correct gaps and line(s) of the ball. On the White Line.
Hands up on the ball and not allowing uncontested shots.
When shot is in the air, are all 5 guys “hitting and getting”? (Our term for making hard contact on the offense and tracking the ball)
Offensively
Is our 5 sprinting the rim? Are 2 and 3 wide sprinting lanes? Is 1 looking up the floor to advance the ball?
If an Early Offense action is run, how is the execution?
Are all 5 guys reading and reacting correctly? How is our patience and timing?
Are we making the extra pass and taking open shots?
On the shot do we have 4 guys crashing the glass and 1 back consistently?
The last component I look for on a consistent basis is the players’ body language on the court and on the bench. Are they encouraging teammates or are they throwing their arms in the air after every mistake? Are players on the bench pouting because they’re not player or celebrating the on-court successes and talking to their teammates?
Once I have gone through the entire game and finalized my Post-Game Report, I will send the Report and the Efficiency information to our coaching staff for them to read first thing the next morning. The next morning the head coach will usually watch the film (depending on teaching schedule) and provide additional feedback to my Report and the film itself. At that time, he occasionally requests for specific play edits to be complied to show our team later that day before or after practice. This will be covered in my next article…stay tuned!
Basketball Game Film Breakdown - Basketball Immersion
One of our Basketball Immersion members asked how do you break down basketball game film in the off-season?
I initially started to type a response about what I do to watch video in the off-season (my thoughts with examples of how to break down basketball game film with be in Part 2 of this blog). Instead I thought it would be best to get a cross-section of coaches to provide their thoughts on the question. I contacted men’s and women’s coaches from the high school, college and pro game to get more insight on what coaches do to watch video in the off-season.
How do you approach watching tape in the offseason?
Bill Pangos @BillPangos Just Hoops Basketball Academy Head Coach (Retired from York Lions)
My video breakdowns don’t always have a basketball analytics take to them, but more in terms of the breakdown of actions we run and how well we execute them.
For example, I would edit clips of ball screen action from both wings, and the high rub at the top, and then review whether we are reading the defensive players (on the ball and off the ball) properly or are we predetermining our decisions. Reading early is something we emphasize with players. My players didn’t have vast amounts of experience. Also, I analyzed our draw and kick actions. Especially off ball spacing which is crucial and whether we applied the 3 P’s (Penetrate, Pass, Pass).
Key Takeaway: Evaluate your team’s reads within your offense use video.
Mike MacKay @MackaymjMichael Performance Manager, Women’s High Performance for Basketball Canada
I usually have some topic of interest that I am looking at. For example, let us say it is rebounding and safeties when a shot is taken. I would then clip the video to give me the instances I am looking for. I would then take a pen and paper and make a chart of each possession. In the columns I would start to put the variables I would be considering. Position, location of shot, location of rebound, rebound gained, run out by the offense. Usually as I watch the clips I add columns as something comes up I never thought of before. As you start to make the ticks in the boxes patterns start to emerge. This usually forms a hypothesis. I would then go and test this in other videos.
Here is a blank version of a chart Coach MacKay created:
Key Takeaway: Chart your video breakdown to investigate potential patterns.
Matt Driscoll @UNFBBALL Head Coach, University of North Florida
I’ll do several things in the off season with video starting with picking a team to watch that I feel has the same style of players and philosophy. For example I watched Davidson last summer because of how they push and play. I learned 2-3 things that we actually incorporated in our stuff and we showed those clips to the guys. We come up with maybe 5-7 final clips (clean and accurate) and show exactly what we are trying to do. In the case of showing ball movement or player movement then we will clip 2-3 minutes of play so that players can get a feel for the different advantages that are gained from playing that way.
I know many coaches pick a particular trend (i.e. TOs in the half-court) or watch a team that they believe does a good job at one aspect (i.e. offensive rebounding). Even more critical is that you are watching a similar type of athleticism because you can watch Baylor and say let’s play a 2-3 zone, but the biggest key is their long players across the back line. If you don’t have those players you won’t be as effective.
I’ll clip the action or concept from game to game usually 5-6 games of league opponents or non-conference teams I have a feel for. Then I’ll re-watch the clips together from all games gaining a better understanding of the why a team does something. I will also scout league opponents for advanced scouting purposes to evaluate what we have done against them, and what we can do in the future.
Key Takeaway: Watch teams and players that provide realistic ideas that you can use and apply.
Guy Molloy – New Zealand National Women’s Team Head Coach
I dig deeply into 1-2 programs/coaches/philosophies. I am more interested in programs that have greater obstacles to overcome (small, fewer resources, have to teach, have to execute etc.) because that emulates my club’s situation. Last year I spent our entire winter watching Davidson and Bob McKillop tapes.
I am not looking for a complete overhaul but perhaps 3-6 transferable truths.
I took about 12-15 Davidson games and edited these like a scout opponent. From these I created a few movies on separate parts of their offence – Transition Offense (+Counters & Specials), Half-court Offence (+counters & specials), Out of Bounds, Press Attack etc. My offensive priorities are based around shooting, skill development, & continuity for all players.
Given that Davidson had amazing shooting and efficiency I took their 2014-15 stats and did my own basic analytics to see what my team would have to accomplish to meet their standards e.g. How many free throws as a % of total shots, how many 3’s as a % of total shots, balance of scoring, turnover % etc. This was an excellent comparative guide.
Here is an example of one of Coach Molloy’s Davidson Breakdowns:
Davidson Basketball Footwork, Ripping and Passing Edit
Key Takeaway: Edit games like you are preparing for an opponent and remember you cannot use all that you learn.
Allison McNeill @AllisonMcNeill Former Canadian National Team Coach and University Coach for 20 years (SFU & Oregon)
We looked at things to be better as a team… reduce TO’s, decrease score backs, execute better at the end of the shot clock. I watched video in the off-season and specifically looked at our systems… sometimes charting scores off specific sets or actions in our motion.
I also liked to watch with players in the off-season so that they could see things they needed to work on. I tried to put clips together for each player in the off-season.
With the National Team we looked at our stops-score backs (we scored and they scored on the next play) and our possessions late in the shot clock.
Here are a few slides from a presentation to the Canadian Women’s National Team prior to the Olympic Qualifier in 2012 and after the World Championships in 2011 to explain the Score Backs Concept:
Key Takeaway: Use detailed film and data to make points to your team about what drives success.
I was heavily encouraged by Tom Crean to spend time as a young coach watching film. Many young coaches were intimidated by film and I agree with that sentiment as I was very intimidated at first. I didn’t know what to watch, what to look for, etc. . I made a decision when I was in college to watch one hour of film every day. It’s now as much a part of my daily routine as exercise and sleep. Dick Whitmore encouraged me to start a writing notebook. I use one of those old marble “science lab notebooks” and the 16 I’ve gone through are some of my most cherished possessions.
Crean’s encouragement to watch film was simply to find film of good coaches and write down what you see. It might not make a ton of sense, but just stick with it. It’s hilarious the growth you make. Two months ago I was looking at my notes and diagrams from when I first started watching film and laughing about it. I look back at my notebooks from three years ago almost sheepishly. Just stick with it, keep watching.
I’ll pay attention to statistics and note if a team is performing very well. I’ll lean on Ken Pomeroy’s statistics for these metrics. I’m not watching every team, but if there’s a high-performing team in one of the categories, it might pique my interest and I’ll pull up their offensive clips (or defensive clips). During the season, I’m always noting a set play that I catch and will save it in my notepad on my phone. Same thing goes for if a buddy says something like “Watch Iowa’s ball screen defense.” I’ll make a note and during the off-season I’ll go through that document and start sorting it all out.
The key is chunking information. The key to knowledge that is quickly-fetched at a moment’s notice is being able to “chunk” information into simpler terms. Expert chess players don’t just memorize the pieces, they recognize common patterns within the game of chess and “chunk” that information. It’s the same thing that allows you to visualize the action when I see the “Carolina break.” I don’t need to describe how the ball is reversed or the positioning of the 1, the 2, etc, as I have chunked all the information that the label “Carolina Break” encapsulates. (Read more on Chunking – Expert Memory: What Can Memory Experts Teach Us?)
The key is turning this into terminology. The most frequent questions I get are questions regarding my terminology (Why is it called that? Is that what everyone calls it? Where do you get the play names?). I took that thinking about chunking and decided terminology would make it a lot easier. If I saw something enough that I felt it was a trend or something I would be seeing I would try to figure out if it had a name. If I couldn’t find a name, I made one up. Everyone is kind of mystified by this, but to be honest, I think this is the key to my ability to understand a multitude of actions (this combined with the chunking). Frankly I do not care if my term isn’t the industry term. As long as I know it, it’s all that matters (the thing will be transferring this to my program as a head coach. How intricate would I want to get with this?”) I kept on seeing the Bulls set a down screen for Derrick Rose into a handoff so I called it the “Chicago Action.”
Note: We do this with scouting as well as we don’t care what our opponent calls a play, we call it and call out what we call it when we recognize it.
Categories: I have 2 thousand plus edits. Many are dedicated to my job (scouting reports of specific teams over the years), but many are my personal. Among my categories: Gonzaga ball screens, CP3 hook passes, dribbling to elbow to post feed when sagging off, versus switching, zone sets, lob plays versus man, sideline to get in, Joe Johnson iso moves. I’m constantly breaking my stuff down into these categories.
Say I’m looking at a team’s defense. I’ll want to watch a game where they charted very well PPP, a game where they didn’t, a game against an offensive coach I really respect, etc.
I like to watch all of a given team’s offensive possessions to understand/grasp what they’re doing. I don’t like just watching “off screens” or “after timeouts” or “scores.” Although, loading the previous night’s ATO sets in the NBA onto your iPad is a great thing to do before getting on the bus.
I’m always asking people “what have you seen that’s good?” or “Who runs good BLOB in your league?” or “Who’s hardest to scout in your league?” and will take that info for my film study in the offseason.
Key Takeaway: Becoming effective at breaking down video is mainly a function of effort and practice. Create your own terminology that helps you “chunk” play actions.
Bobbie Kelsey @BobbieKelsey Former Head Coach University of Wisconsin Women’s Basketball
Watching video is always something I have personally enjoyed. I tend to watch not only my team but teams of coaches I admire and have a shared philosophy in offensive and defensive strategies. Last season I watched every game of the Davidson men’s team. I thought their offense would be something my kids would enjoy running and that fit our personnel. We had good success with it.
I do not clip specific trends as I prefer to look at the whole game to see trends and nuances of the game but some coaches do track specific trends. For the team I do clip specific video to hammer a point home and will usually show the players other teams or players successfully doing what we would like them to do. I think it is really helpful for everyone to see what they are doing well and areas of improvement. Hope this helps and again sorry for the delay.
I was interested in particular fundamental teachings that transferred well to Davidson’s play. The things I really noticed were their guards’ use of a skate/slide dribble in transition, hip-to-hip rips when attacking on the first step, and their push or shoulder passing combined with pivoting. These are all subtle skills, but in my mind the product of strong teaching.
Key Takeaway: Looking for the fundamentals that create a successful system are as important as the system itself.
My view on watching film in the off-season is based on two variables: improving your team for the next season and improving yourself as a coach. When you work on film for your team I would suggest that you know the personnel you have coming back but maintain flexibility. So if you have a very good post player, you want to seek out teams that do a good job creating and finding ways to get the ball in the post easier. At the same time you want to be able to score in multiple ways, so learning sets with a post entry or playing out of the post can be important as well. Think of the Golden State Warriors, who often enter the ball in the post and play off it with Split Cuts. This can be used as a set, or as a great way to free up the player in the post to be able to attack without any help. I typically write down everything, no matter how insignificant it might seem. The more data I can have at my disposal the better the coach I think I can be and that involves film. Watching film allows the game to slow down for you as a coach and especially if you can find tendencies that help your team get better. I have a list of coaches, both NCAA and NBA, that I take pieces from to build my coaching philosophy. Even though I have my own philosophy, I need to be flexible enough to mold and bend what I want to do for the team I have, and that is where delving into film can help.
When you are watching film for the next season for your team here are a couple of things I look for:
1) What did you do well?
When you ran your motion did the team look to play together, did it stop and if so, where did it stop? When you ran your sets did they work? Why or Why Not? How can you ensure they work in the future, was it the set that didn’t work or was the execution of the set that caused it to fail? As a team did you execute late? Did you have to call timeouts at the end of games or did you let the team play – were you prepared either way?
2) What did you do poorly?
What did you struggle with, find tendencies and scout yourself. The best way to get better is to find out what you would do against yourself and fix it. If you know how you can be beat, then you can make the adjustments and correct some of the negatives.
3) When everything was going against you, what were the top sets/actions you ran to get momentum back?
Did you have a go to set/action you ran when you needed a basket? What did your team do when you needed a basket or to stop the run?
When you are watching film for the next season for yourself a couple of thinks I look for:
1) What are my weaknesses as a coach?
Do you struggle against a zone, trapping, or particular type of defense. Do types of sets or actions cause you to give up easy layups? Find coaches or teams who have done well, like teams attacking Syracuse’s 2-3 zone if you struggle against zone defenses. Chart what they did to score – did the ball touch the high post/short corner/# of passes to find out how teams score against zone defenses and add that to your zone motion.
2) What do I do well as a coach?
What do you do well, if you know you do great against zone, but struggle against man find out why. Why did you struggle, not enough passes? Wrong motion, not effective sets? Why did you succeed? Did you score every time you set a flare screen? Did you score more if you got the ball in the post, or did you score alot off dribble penetration. Knowing those tendencies are just as important as knowing what you did not do well.
3) How can I find 3-5 sets that will work for next season?
Finding sets that worked with multiple options are key. If you know you score off a flare screen effectively, try to find sets with flare screens in them. Knowing what you do and don’t do well is important for this, as you can avoid the actions you struggle with and build sets to your strengths.
4) How can I advance my coaching philosophy?
This is what you want to get better at. Watch things you want to look for and build into what you can add to your philosophy. If you like to press, find teams that broke the press well so you can build your defense to combat them, since other coaches will be looking to get better too. If you can see trends and ways to improve before other coaches can, you will be ahead of the game. This is really where you study what you want to know more about, deciding how to add to your coaching philosophy is key, as getting both you and your team better is vital every season.
After knowing all of this information, you can then build what you want to watch. Knowing what you can and cannot do, builds into how you approach film. In the off-season I choose 2 things to work on, one on offense and one on defense. If you can be an expert in those two areas and build them into your philosophy for next season, your team will improve. After the two major things to work on for your team, add film work to how you see fit. Improving on zone, press defense, or backdoor sets or what you choose to try and add to your coaching playbook can give you a full arsenal to attack opposing teams.
Key Takeaway: Write down everything, ask yourself honest questions about what you do and remember you can use specific actions from a play instead of adopting a play as a whole.
Check out Part 2 of this series on Basketball Game Film Breakdown discussing How to Download and Edit Basketball Games here: Part 2 Download and Edit Basketball Games
Thanks to to the generosity of all the coaches who #sharedthegame with us. Please tweet them your appreciation.
14 basketball movies that will captivate not only sports fans
May 31, 2020 Likbez Movie
These incredible stories inspire and raise important themes.
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1. Teen Wolf
Teen Wolf
USA, 1985
Comedy, fantasy.
Duration: 91 minutes.
IMDb: 6.1.
Teenager Scott Howard has a lot of trouble in his life, but when the guy suddenly turns into a werewolf, the problems become even more. However, the hero quickly understands how to turn his unusual properties to his advantage.
Of course, this film, released on the back of the success of Robert Zemeckis' cult trilogy Back to the Future, is a little outdated these days. But still, he may well please and entertain those who lack kindness and unpretentiousness in the spirit of the 80s. It's worth watching the movie for the beautifully filmed basketball games and the charming Michael J. Fox.
Subsequently, "Teen Wolf" grew into a series of the same name, and the latter became even more famous than the original.
Watch on iTunes →
2. Indiana team
Hoosiers
UK, USA, 1986.
Sports drama.
Duration: 114 minutes.
IMDb: 7.5.
Ex-serviceman Norman Dale comes to a small provincial town to coach his school's basketball team at the invitation of an old friend. At first, his methods seem strange and ineffective to everyone, but suddenly the guys begin to win victory after victory.
One of the best sports films of the 80s is based on real facts and infects with passion, and actors Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper are extremely accurate and convincing in their roles. 15 years after the release, the picture was even included in the US National Film Registry.
3. White Men Can't Jump
White Men Can't Jump
USA, 1992.
Sports drama, comedy.
Duration: 115 minutes.
IMDb: 6.8.
Basketball sharpie Billy Hoyle successfully takes advantage of the fact that because of the color of his skin they do not see a worthy player in him and put money on his loss, but meanwhile he always wins. This continues until the hero meets a worthy rival Sidney Dean, with whom they start earning money together by making sports bets.
The cult film "White People Can't Jump" will appeal to both sports fans and those who don't understand anything about basketball. Not only did director Ron Shelton manage to harmoniously combine comedy and sports drama, but the performance of Wesley Snipes and a very young Woody Harrelson is simply magnificent. The physical form and sportsmanship of the actors can only be envied.
Watch Google Play →
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25 The best English series of all times
4. Above the ring
ABOVE The RIM
, 1994.
Sports drama.
Duration: 96 minutes.
IMDb: 6.6.
Shot from the film "Above the Ring"
Ambitious young basketball player Kyle Lee Watson faces a difficult choice: wait for a sports scholarship or buy into the easy money of drug dealer Birdie, but in this way connect himself with the underworld.
Iconic for the hip-hop movement, any basketball fan will love the picture, as professional athlete Duane Martin shows miracles of skill here. And fans of Tupac Shakur will be happy to see the musician in the role of a crime boss that is very suitable for him.
5. Gambling
Blue Chips
USA, 1994.
Sports drama.
Duration: 108 minutes.
IMDb: 6.2.
College basketball has ceased to be an amateur sport, as universities lure promising graduates to themselves, promising them all sorts of material benefits. Because of this, the Los Angeles team "Dolphins" constantly loses, because their well-deserved coach Pete Bell flatly refuses to "buy" players. Only finally desperate, Pete decides to step over his principles in order to interest talented guys. As a result, a perfectly completed team faces even more serious problems than before.
The athletes in the movie are played by real NBA players, making the movie look incredibly realistic. It is so dynamic, spectacular, well-staged and perfectly balanced that it can turn even sports haters into avid fans for a while.
6. The Basketball Diaries
The Basketball Diaries
USA, 1995.
Sports drama, crime, biographical.
Duration: 102 minutes.
IMDb: 7.3.
A promising and purposeful young man from a Catholic college plays basketball, composes poetry and keeps a candid diary. But circumstances develop in such a way that the hero imperceptibly turns into a drug addict.
The film, based on the book of memoirs by the writer Jim Carroll, can frighten and repel many people. After all, the movie raises a difficult topic. Nevertheless, the acting work of the young Leonardo DiCaprio, who coped with the difficult role perfectly, is admirable.
7. Space Jam
Space Jam
USA, 1996.
Comedy, family, animation.
Duration: 87 minutes.
IMDb: 6.4.
Aliens are invading Earth to kidnap Looney Tunes characters. But Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky the pig and others do not give up and challenge the usurpers to a basketball match. With little chance of winning, the Toons invite superstar Michael Jordan to help.
The idea for the film was born from an advertisement for sneakers, which turned out to be so successful that they decided to make a feature film. Animation and special effects were invited to do the same people who worked on Roger Rabbit. Even Bill Murray briefly appears in the film in the scene of the last throw. So it is not surprising that the movie has earned crazy money at the box office around the world.
Watch on iTunes →
8. Sunset Park
Sunset Park
USA, 1996.
Sports drama.
Duration: 99 minutes.
IMDb: 6.0.
A still from the movie "Sunset Park"
In order to earn some money, an elderly PE teacher becomes the coach of the school's basketball team. At first, she lets everything take its course, but gradually she gets so carried away that she is imbued with sincere love for the players.
The main role was played by the most colorful actress Rhea Perlman, wife of Danny DeVito (he acted as the producer of the film). Her charisma slightly pushes basketball into the background, but still the picture manages to perfectly combine the drama from the life of poor areas and spectacular sports action.
9. He Got Game
He Got Game
USA, 1998.
Sports drama.
Duration: 136 minutes.
IMDb: 6.9.
Jake is serving time for killing his wife, but one day he is offered a parole deal. The fact is that during this time his son Jesus became a rising basketball star. Now the hero must persuade the young man to play for the desired university after school. The problem is that the son does not want to see his father.
A film by the most talented director and screenwriter Spike Lee, starring NBA star Ray Allen, is a must-see. At least because of the outstanding acting performance of Denzel Washington. In addition, the movie is not only about basketball. It also raises such painful and difficult topics as the relationship of fathers and children, repentance and forgiveness. And all this is crowned with a magnificent soundtrack of the hip-hop group Public Enemy.
Watch on iTunes → Watch on Google Play →
10. Find Forrester
Finding Forrester
USA 2000
Independent drama.
Duration: 131 minutes.
IMDb: 7.3.
Talented teenager Jamal Wallace is not only a good basketball player, he also writes brilliant stories. By chance, they fall into the hands of Pulitzer Prize winner William Forrester.
The story of the friendship between a reclusive writer and a gifted schoolboy is a bit like another Gus Van Sant film, Good Will Hunting. There, the director has already expressed the idea that the guys from the street are capable of more than it seems at first glance. Sean Connery plays a rather unusual role here, and debutant Rob Brown later appeared in another famous basketball movie, Coach Carter.
View on iTunes → View on Google Play →
11. Love & Basketball
Sports melodrama.
Duration: 124 minutes.
IMDb: 7.2.
Quincy and Monica have been dreaming of becoming NBA players since childhood. Over time, their friendship develops into something more than just a passion for sports. And now these relationships have to go through fire and water.
Cloak and Dagger director Gina Prince-Bythewood has managed to create a rather unusual film that combines sensual melodrama and exciting sports action. This is a story about love for each other and for the game, life without which the characters cannot imagine.
12. Coach Carter
Coach Carter
USA, Germany, 2005.
Sports drama.
Duration: 136 minutes.
IMDb: 7.3.
Still from the movie "Coach Carter"
Richmond high school players don't think about the future until former basketball player Ken Carter takes over as coach. He does not give the guys a descent, but the team wins one match after another. Unexpectedly for everyone, Carter cancels training and sends his players to pull up the rest of the items, despite the protests and discontent of the guys themselves and the school administration.
The film is based on a true story that took place in 1999 in California. This case brought attention to a serious public problem: if a high school player does not make the team of the college or the NBA, then he remains with nothing. American schools rarely care about the prospects of their students and almost never motivate them to do better so that they can get a decent education in the future.
Watch on Google Play →
Sports drama.
Duration: 118 minutes.
IMDb: 7.2.
It's hard to believe now, but only half a century ago it was believed that black people were not talented enough for basketball, because this game was created by whites for whites. At the same time, the picture itself is staged superbly and, thanks to the outstanding camera work, will appeal not only to sports fans, but also to other viewers.
Watch on iTunes → Watch on Google Play →
14. Moving up
Russia, 2017.
Sports drama.
Duration: 133 minutes.
IMDb: 6.6.
Basketball teams of the USSR and the USA are preparing to face each other at the Munich Olympics. The American team is considered invincible, but the coach of the Soviet team sincerely believes in his players.
Because of Evgeny Bazhenov's review, "Movement Up" was remembered by the audience as a film in which one spoonful of truth accounts for a barrel of historical blunders and inaccuracies. The suspicious similarity of the script with the American film "Miracle" did not play into the hands of the creators of the picture. Nevertheless, the output turned out to be quite a good sports drama, in which historical inconsistencies are compensated by an interesting plot and strong camera work.
Watch on iTunes → Watch on Google Play →
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Movies about basketball.
Permian actor told how they filmed "Movement Up" | DETAILS | SOCIETY
The release of the Russian film "Movement Up" was, as expected, a bright event. In the early days of 2018, many Permians, wanting to get to the cinema for the next screening, heard the forgotten words “no tickets” from the cashier.
It is already obvious that the film about the victory of Soviet basketball players at the Olympics in Munich in 1972 has become another domestic blockbuster. The film intertwines storylines relating to both foreign and domestic policy, there is a love story of one of the team's players and a family drama of the head coach of the national team. The history of Perm basketball is closely connected with one of the main characters of the film, Sergey Belov: since 1999, he was the head coach of the Ural Great club. Under his leadership, the Permians twice became the champions of Russia (in 2001 and 2002).
Eminent Russian actors played the leading roles in the film "Upward Movement". But it turned out that together with Vladimir Mashkov, Andrey Smolyakov, Alexander Garmash, an actor from Krasnokamsk Vasily Shchipitsyn also starred in the film. He played the role of Seva, a doctor of the USSR national basketball team and a KGB officer. About how the shooting of the film about big sport took place, in the material "AiF-Prikamye".
In conditions of heightened secrecy
Larisa Sadykova, AiF-Prikamye: It is a great success to act in a film of this magnitude. How did you get the role?
Vasily Shchipitsyn : The launch of this project has been preparing for two years, and during this time the assistants of the main director for the selection of actors called me several times and wrote, invited me to screen tests, but due to work in the theater and employment in other projects, I can’t come worked out. All this time, I did not know what kind of film I was invited to shoot, who would make this movie, and they refused to send the script. Then, in the summer of 2016, just before the start of filming, the assistant director called again. This time I was able to come, and I was very surprised when they told me at the auditions that they were offering to star in a film about basketball. Only then did I find out that it would be a film about the famous match against the United States in the final of the Olympic Games in Munich, but the plot of the film was still not known.
- Why didn't they let you read the script beforehand?
- As I understand it, this was a copyright precaution and the script was simply not sent to project members via email or media. And I, and many other actors received the script in printed form only on the set. The exception was the actors who played basketball players. They began to prepare for filming a year before it began, they trained, and they had to understand what was ahead of them, although they also did not know the storylines.
- That is, you agreed to the role without understanding what exactly your character would do?
- Moreover, before the start of filming, I did not even know that Vladimir Mashkov and Andrey Smolyakov would play the main roles, and that the film was being made by Nikita Mikhalkov's production center. Such secrecy is very rare in Russian cinematography, I am faced with this, in my opinion, for the second time in my life.
- As a result, who did you have to play?
- My character is a doctor of the USSR national basketball team. Unlike most of the other characters in the film, he is fictional. The real doctor, who in real life worked in a team, did not serve in the KGB, and this part of the image was invented to twist the storyline. Throughout the film, my character followed the basketball player, who, according to the script, planned not to return to the USSR after the Olympics in Munich, but to stay in Europe.
An actor on the set of the film "Move Up" with Vladimir Mashkov and Andrey Smolyakov. Photo: From the personal archive / Vasily Shchipitsyn
Facts and fiction
- In one of the moments of the film, I remember your character's joke when helping an injured athlete. Seeing a morally obsolete medical preparation in service with the USSR team, the doctor of the opposing team suggested using modern painkillers from his first aid kit. And then Seva says: “No, thanks, we have analgin” ...
- About analgin - this is a joke that I came up with on the set, and which was included in the film during editing. In fact, at that time we were anesthetized with something like lidocaine. It was stored in a glass flask (ampoule), which the doctor broke, and within a few seconds the drug came out of it, with the help of which the injured joint was frozen. They brought us a real, but already used flask. And in order to reliably show the process of freezing in the film, they came up with a whole system of tubes connected to the flask, which was hidden in the sleeve of my suit. At the moment when I was “opening” the ampoule, another actor, who hid under the bench, pressed on the can, from which the complex system of tubes received the same effect, but a modern medical preparation. The film shows that this is definitely not an aerosol, steam or smoke: fragments of freezing not only look believable, but the drug itself really blocked the "pain" during the shooting.
- Judging by the scandals that erupted even before the release of the film, there are many factual discrepancies in the script with the real circumstances of the events. And, they say, under pressure from the relatives of the basketball players, a lot had to be changed in the film. Is the end result very different from the scenario version?
- The filming consultant was Ivan Edeshko, the one who made the famous throw of the ball across the entire area in the final of the Olympics. He closely followed everything that happened on the site, in some episodes he reacted very critically to the fiction of the scriptwriters.
But there was still a place for fiction in the film, despite the fact that some comments were corrected at the stage of filming. And after installation, they also made changes. For example, a month and a half before the premiere, they called me to re-voice the fragments where I give the name of the head coach of the team. After all, the film was shot about Vladimir Kondrashin (played by Vladimir Mashkov), but before the release, the authors decided that in the film the character would have the surname Garanzhin. There were other changes, but they did not affect the concept of the film.
To the envy of women
- Did you fall in love with basketball during the filming?
- Almost the entire film was shot at one of the Moscow stadiums, and in three months of filming, basketball became closer to me, a person far from sports. On the set, the schedule of the shooting day was as close as possible to the real one, and, as it should be for the team doctor, I used the same locker room with the “basketball players”. So, probably, many young ladies would envy me: I spent almost three months among tall, handsome, athletic men. But in this neighborhood there were also funny things: every day after filming in the shower room, I had to literally jump up to reach the shampoo (after all, everything was equipped taking into account the growth of basketball players).
While doing so, I will also focus on the components we discussed as a staff in the post-game meeting and look for good and bad examples on the film. It is extremely important to not just flag all the negatives of the game, but also the positives (I will reference this in one of the next posts). Either mark each of these clips to reference later or include them as examples in the Post-Game Report so your coaches can relate to them immediately when reading the Report. If you do the latter, make sure you not only include the clip number, but also the reason you included it.
In The Trained Eyes of a Head Coach, I also discussed the ability to not follow the ball and to focus more on the action happening off the ball.
Are they encouraging teammates or are they throwing their arms in the air after every mistake? Are players on the bench pouting because they’re not player or celebrating the on-court successes and talking to their teammates?
Instead I thought it would be best to get a cross-section of coaches to provide their thoughts on the question. I contacted men’s and women’s coaches from the high school, college and pro game to get more insight on what coaches do to watch video in the off-season.
Especially off ball spacing which is crucial and whether we applied the 3 P’s (Penetrate, Pass, Pass).
If you don’t have those players you won’t be as effective.
I watched video in the off-season and specifically looked at our systems… sometimes charting scores off specific sets or actions in our motion.
. I made a decision when I was in college to watch one hour of film every day. It’s now as much a part of my daily routine as exercise and sleep. Dick Whitmore encouraged me to start a writing notebook. I use one of those old marble “science lab notebooks” and the 16 I’ve gone through are some of my most cherished possessions.
During the season, I’m always noting a set play that I catch and will save it in my notepad on my phone. Same thing goes for if a buddy says something like “Watch Iowa’s ball screen defense.” I’ll make a note and during the off-season I’ll go through that document and start sorting it all out.
I took that thinking about chunking and decided terminology would make it a lot easier. If I saw something enough that I felt it was a trend or something I would be seeing I would try to figure out if it had a name. If I couldn’t find a name, I made one up. Everyone is kind of mystified by this, but to be honest, I think this is the key to my ability to understand a multitude of actions (this combined with the chunking). Frankly I do not care if my term isn’t the industry term. As long as I know it, it’s all that matters (the thing will be transferring this to my program as a head coach. How intricate would I want to get with this?”) I kept on seeing the Bulls set a down screen for Derrick Rose into a handoff so I called it the “Chicago Action.”
Among my categories: Gonzaga ball screens, CP3 hook passes, dribbling to elbow to post feed when sagging off, versus switching, zone sets, lob plays versus man, sideline to get in, Joe Johnson iso moves. I’m constantly breaking my stuff down into these categories.
Create your own terminology that helps you “chunk” play actions.
Think of the Golden State Warriors, who often enter the ball in the post and play off it with Split Cuts. This can be used as a set, or as a great way to free up the player in the post to be able to attack without any help. I typically write down everything, no matter how insignificant it might seem. The more data I can have at my disposal the better the coach I think I can be and that involves film. Watching film allows the game to slow down for you as a coach and especially if you can find tendencies that help your team get better. I have a list of coaches, both NCAA and NBA, that I take pieces from to build my coaching philosophy. Even though I have my own philosophy, I need to be flexible enough to mold and bend what I want to do for the team I have, and that is where delving into film can help.
The best way to get better is to find out what you would do against yourself and fix it. If you know how you can be beat, then you can make the adjustments and correct some of the negatives.
If you like to press, find teams that broke the press well so you can build your defense to combat them, since other coaches will be looking to get better too. If you can see trends and ways to improve before other coaches can, you will be ahead of the game. This is really where you study what you want to know more about, deciding how to add to your coaching philosophy is key, as getting both you and your team better is vital every season.
However, the hero quickly understands how to turn his unusual properties to his advantage. 
At first, his methods seem strange and ineffective to everyone, but suddenly the guys begin to win victory after victory. 
And fans of Tupac Shakur will be happy to see the musician in the role of a crime boss that is very suitable for him. 
It is so dynamic, spectacular, well-staged and perfectly balanced that it can turn even sports haters into avid fans for a while. 
The fact is that during this time his son Jesus became a rising basketball star. Now the hero must persuade the young man to play for the desired university after school. The problem is that the son does not want to see his father. 
By chance, they fall into the hands of Pulitzer Prize winner William Forrester. 
American schools rarely care about the prospects of their students and almost never motivate them to do better so that they can get a decent education in the future. 
Permian actor told how they filmed "Movement Up" | DETAILS | SOCIETY 
But it turned out that together with Vladimir Mashkov, Andrey Smolyakov, Alexander Garmash, an actor from Krasnokamsk Vasily Shchipitsyn also starred in the film. He played the role of Seva, a doctor of the USSR national basketball team and a KGB officer. About how the shooting of the film about big sport took place, in the material "AiF-Prikamye". 
Then, in the summer of 2016, just before the start of filming, the assistant director called again. This time I was able to come, and I was very surprised when they told me at the auditions that they were offering to star in a film about basketball. Only then did I find out that it would be a film about the famous match against the United States in the final of the Olympic Games in Munich, but the plot of the film was still not known. 
Such secrecy is very rare in Russian cinematography, I am faced with this, in my opinion, for the second time in my life. 
And then Seva says: “No, thanks, we have analgin” ... 
After all, the film was shot about Vladimir Kondrashin (played by Vladimir Mashkov), but before the release, the authors decided that in the film the character would have the surname Garanzhin. There were other changes, but they did not affect the concept of the film. 
