Jeff Van Gundy: “Teams beat themselves usually by their transition defense, reckless fouling, leaving the wrong guys open behind the three, you know, coverage mistakes. …I would add, defensive rebounding too. The focus is always in those four areas.”
— Law Murray 🕯️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) February 28, 2026
“Stuff” goes wrong
Don’t beat yourself. Everyone knows that “it’s a make or miss game.” That’s partly how Villanova upset Georgetown in the 1985 NCAAs.
Villanova shot almost 79% from the field and made 16 more free throws than Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas.
Players think about how to win. Coaches try to immunize teams against the myriad paths of self-destruction.
Offensive “Controllable” Problems
- Poor shot selection
- Turnovers (decisions, execution, or both)
- Free throw differential
- Rebounding
- Miscellaneous (space, pace, situational play, fouls)
Defensive Mistakes and Errors
- On-ball issues (containment, challenging shots)
- Off-ball issues (denial, cuts, help – cover 1.5)
- Missed assignments including bad transition
- Communication
- Focus – “not playing harder for longer”
- Fouls
Three of each to target…
Offensive Corrections
1. Track turnovers – number and type. Find low hanging fruit (e.g. stop driving or passing into traffic). “Winners are trackers.”
2. Extra possessions – each quarter offers a possible “two for one” situation. In the NBA, at about 1:02 to 1:03 teams sets up a “three for two possession advantage”)
3. “Shot turnovers” – I watched a high school game recently where in the first quarter, the team shot 1 for 9 on threes with three airballs. “You get what you accept.”
Defensive Corrections
1. Defense starts on the ball. Don’t “open the gate.” Stop blow bys. Pressure the ball – “nose on the chest” or “crawl up into them.”
2. “Cover 1.5” – yours and half of another player. “See both” the ball and your assignment.
3. Communication. Excellent defenses talk. Bad defenses often don’t.
3b. Follow your rules. If the opponents are perimeter threats, then decide whether you’ll help off corner threes. If the opponent bigs are good
passers, do you want to risk doubling high and opening short roll passers?
Your attention to detail, across sports, determines your ability to compete.
Lagniappe. “Two words changed my life: Nobody cares. Nobody is looking at you. You are in control. So go do the thing.”
— Sahil BloomLagniappe 2. “Learn every day.” Keep a notebook (a blog, journal, commonplace book) where you record useful information.
“Nothing has served me better in my long life than continuous learning.”
— Charlie Munger pic.twitter.com/0PaPGS0OZO
— Reads with Ravi (@readswithravi) February 22, 2026