The NBA has been a great learning experience for me, and continues to be each new day of the season. That’s the fun part of this level — you are in a continuous “learn and improve mode.” Much of the learning comes from the combination of the film breakdown we do and what we can pick up from the players. Learning from the players is a daily process for me, through observation, listening, or in discussion with them.

Lets talk about the point guard position. I often hear coaches complain that their point guards “don’t understand the game.” I would say if that is the case, then two things exist:

• he probably doesn’t even know what “understanding the game” means and
• as coaches we have not done our jobs teaching them this aspect of the game

I challenge you to challenge your point guards to “log the action.” I believe the point guard should be the one guy on the floor (and hopefully it will be true of all players) that should constantly know what is working, who is hot, and what play/action he should look for next trip down. This is a difficult process to turn into a habit, but once you get it to that level you will truly have a coach in the floor.

Try this with your point guards during your practices: stop the practice during your scrimmages and ask your point guard what happened on the last two possessions. If he cannot tell you what play was called, what action just happened, what player took the shot, whether it was a good shot for that player at that time and from that distance, then he is not keeping track of the game. H is he is not understanding the game. He is not (as Kobe Bryant says) “logging the game.”

This simple exercise will get your point guard not only focusing on the game but also seeing the game better and understanding it more. I have found that the best point guards in the NBA always know what is working and who is hot and from where on the floor he is hot. He will know when to run the same play or keep going back to the mismatch. He is seeing and understanding the game that night.

Once you have that in your point guard, you have a true point guard who will help you win games. You will have a coach on the floor!