Learning from Serbian basketball success

Reconciling skill development and competition

Many discussions about skill development in Europe center on coaching or drills or playing too many games in the United States. This video about Serbian basketball identified three main things: Genetics, a fanatical desire to win, and hard work.

Genetics obviously influence a sport prioritizing and rewarding height, but the video also identifies athleticism and early exposure to sports. Not only are Serbians tall, but they excel in many sports and demonstrate a range of athletic qualities.

The early exposure to basketball is not simply about an early start on the path to the mythical 10,000 hours (Fake Fundamentals, Volume 3), but developing a love for the sport. Basketball (sports) is a part of the culture. Children embrace the clubs supported by their families, often for generations.

Serbians have a fanatical desire to win. As Nikola Jokic said, “We don’t like sports and basketball, we like victories and medals.” Winning takes precedence over everything else. They are unconcerned with individual statistics, only winning, and they view the victories as a testament to their hard work and dedication.

This contrasts with the United States, where Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Doc Rivers said, “Young players have to be taught how to win. They know how to play. They haven't figured out how to do it and win at the same time.”

What does this mean? Coaches often criticize younger players for not caring enough about winning, or not hating to lose, but what does that look like? How do we know who has the proper obsession with winning? More importantly, how do we teach players how to win?

We send mixed messages about competitiveness and the importance of winning. We hear high-school or college coaches suggest wins do not matter for aspiring players — nobody cares about your 6th grade championship — but also hear these coaches criticize their players for not caring enough about winning. They criticize youth coaches for sacrificing development to play to win (pressing, playing zones, stalling), but also argue players do not know how to win or value winning because the games are meaningless.

Competitiveness, learning to win, learning to make the right play, and ignoring individual statistics to pursue team victories are important lessons and should be viewed as part of player development. How do we value these traits and qualities when we constantly de-value games? Nobody learns competitiveness, the right play, or how to win in individual workouts.

Threading the line between competitiveness and development is the most difficult part of sub-professional coaching, as many goals intersect. Children play for many reasons, and winning typically is not among the top three to four. Sports provide social environments, exercise, and fun. Should we sacrifice these to develop better competitiveness or stress the right way to play? At what age should we cross from recreational to developmental to competitive? Is learning to win part of the developmental stage or just the competitive stage? Is waiting until varsity high-school basketball to prioritize winning too late?

Most federations emphasize development at younger ages while maintaining competitiveness by modifying rules to develop individual players and restrict the coach’s strategic influence. Rule modifications such as no screening, no zones, no pressing, and more focus the game more on players’ skills. Coaches devote more practice time to skill development when they do not feel pressure to teach different zones, presses, set plays, and more. The modifications are less about good basketball or protecting underdeveloped players, and more about developing players in stages and creating a development-oriented environment for younger players.

These federations sponsor national championships down to U12 age groups, but rule modifications alter the practice design. Players and coaches compete to win, to advance, to reach the national final four, but practices focus less on advanced strategies and more on the basic fundamentals. Coaches do not attempt to outwit their peers with advanced strategies and game-planning, but develop better skills. In this way, federations maintain and encourage competition, while insuring skill development.

Players who learn and develop better individual and ball skills at younger ages are prepared to learn more skills at the next level, which was a main point in Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development. I coached U9 boys’ AAU, and we qualified for the AAU National Tournament. Our practices focused on four skills: Layups, on-ball defense, dribbling, and competitiveness. We figured we could be competitive if we excelled in these four skills, and we trusted their coaches in the following season to develop the next set of skills.

We did not spend time on multiple press breaks, set plays, out of bounds plays, zones, help defense, and more, although we played against zones and presses. We developed skills and trusted players to play. Qualifying for or attending the national tournament was never the goal; I had no idea they even had a national tournament for this age group when I started. Only after we showed improvement in each tournament and defeated the defending national champions did the organization and parents begin to discuss nationals. We focused on playing and developing a few key skills, and the wins followed.

These examples demonstrate ways to focus on development without forsaking competition, but they do not explain how to develop the fanatical desire to win. Often, the older generation alludes to pickup games as the source of their desire to win or hatred of losing, as winners stayed on the court. Of course, win or lose, there was always another game, similar to AAU, which these same people blame for today’s lack of competitiveness. Losing meant sitting for a game or two, depending on the numbers, but it was not the end; nobody was kicked off the court or sent home when they lost a game. They hung around the court until they had next.

I am competitive, but acknowledge there is a more healthy perspective. I am not upset when players talk about other things when they get on the team bus after a loss or they otherwise go about their lives. I think the more problematic behaviors are comments such as the one last week by UCLA Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mick Cronin: “Losing, for me, makes me want to go take the 405 to the 5 and get down to the Coronado Bridge and jump.”

There is a balance between a fanatical desire to win and understanding life is more than a single game. Jokic said, “We don’t like sports and basketball, we like victories and medals”, but also leaves to race horses as soon as the season ends. He has perspective. He fights to win during the game, but seemingly leaves the game behind once it ends. The game does not define his existence.

The lessons lost, it seems, are the subjugation of one’s personal glory for the team victory and the idea of playing the right way. Serbians have the group mentality; they are a part of something, and everyone wins together. Americans are individualistic and see others, even teammates, as competition. Developing a winning mentality is easier in a more collective environment than an individualistic one. These are lessons we need to teach, whether we view the result as important or meaningless. Social media and highlight culture make this more difficult. The elusive right way to play is what causes the weekly distress of the grumpy old men whining about their players in interviews. It is often what separates the best teams from the most talented.

I admittedly find this difficult, especially at developmental levels. Establishing the right way to play often means limiting players in order to limit mistakes. The limitation may be playing time or skill-related, such as discouraging some players from shooting or dribbling. How do players develop or expand their skills when limited by their coach? Is the potential to win one or two more games worth not playing some players or restricting others?

I prefer a positive approach. I encourage players to expand their skills. I encourage players to try things during games. However, we also spend more time focused on winning than most teams based on feedback from former players. We practice endgame situations and discuss situational approaches. We use a competitive cauldron to track wins and losses in practices. We discuss offensive efficiency and shot selection and appropriating more shots to the most efficient plays. We stress the right play without explicitly telling players no.

During a game at the AAU National Tournament, our “center” attempted a three-pointer. Our backup “center” immediately asked if he could shoot three-pointers too, as I did not rush a substitute to the scorer’s table or otherwise admonish the player. I replied with a question: Do you think that is a shot you will make consistently? He answered no. Do you think you should shoot a shot you don’t think you can make?

He did not shoot three-pointers, nor did he complain about me stifling his game. Ultimately, the choice was his. He saw there were no real repercussions in terms of playing time or being yelled at, but he also realized there were better shots for the team. He subjugated his desire to shoot three-pointers for the betterment of the team, despite the game being a meaningless (although expensive) game between eight and nine-year-olds.

Nobody remembers the game’s outcome, nor did the result affect anyone’s upward trajectory. Does that make the game meaningless? Should I have encouraged him to shoot because the result really did not matter? Should he have ignored me because nobody would remember the result by the end of the summer? Are games meaningless just because the result is not important in the future or nobody cares about a junior-high trophy?

Valuing winning and competition is not bad and should not be avoided. However, as adults, we should modify some behaviors to enhance the players’ experiences and be mindful of the children’s emotional and psychological development. We need a healthy perspective that no loss is the end of the world, nor should be compared to suicide. However, we should also value teaching players to make winning plays and decisions, and selflessness in ignoring personal statistics for the betterment of the team. It is the desire to make the right, winning plays we seek in players, not necessarily the deep hatred of losing.