The Turnover Trap

There is no great growth without enduring mistakes.

Nova Classical High School head coach John Carrier asked for new ideas to fix persistent turnover problems:

I need advice. We can’t shake the turnover issues that have plagued us for years. Done film, drills, SSG, charted and started, emphasized, etc. We’ve worked hard and they want to improve.

So - give me your best drills, games, resources, videos, teaching points, etc!!

I do not know how to solve his problems with his players in his system, as I have never watched his team play and do not know the players or the competitive level in Minnesota. There are hundreds of potential answers, many of which will be incorrect for any specific team. My response is based on my experiences, but really has nothing to do with him specifically.

Years ago, I was an assistant coach on a women’s junior college team. We played a slow one-four high offense, theoretically more of a ball control style, but we committed an ungodly number of turnovers in a few early season games. The head coach complained about the players’ lack of basketball intelligence, not understanding instructions or plays, and more. When a coach believes these things to be true, one of two things must happen to correct the problems: Coach better — as John Wooden said, “You haven’t taught until they have learned” — or change/simplify the system.

After a particularly ghastly offensive performance, the head coach relented and allowed me to implement a new, far simpler offensive system. We were a relatively short, quick team, but the one-four high negated our advantages. The point guard beat her defender, but had nowhere to go. She immediately ran into teammates and help defenders. We switched to a simple high on-ball screen as our base offense (basically the offense from Blitz Basketball) with our best shooter in the strong-side corner and added a simple isolation set for our undersized, but quick post player out of the same alignment. We cut down turnovers, and our scoring increased from under 60 points per game to over 70 points per game, and we scored 83 points in an upset of a top five team.

The players were not bad; we were not playing to their strengths. Creating more space for a quick, strong penetrating guard solved most of the immediate problems. We were concerned with winning more so than I am now. Simplifying and playing to the team’s strengths made us more competitive, but if the players lacked basketball intelligence or could not follow directions as the head coach insisted, our approach did not improve these limitations. We simply hid them, which is a good short-term, competitive solution, but does not help the players long term. Our starting power forward played NCAA D2 in softball, I believe, but I am unsure if anyone else played beyond junior college.

My teams tend to be high in turnovers because of my style of play. As with this team, I generally know how to alleviate the problem most of the time, but I view the problem differently. We are high in turnovers because everyone handles the ball. We play at a fast pace. We do not have a designated point guard or designated positions. Players fill each position in every set.

Consequently, we suffer from some confusion. We have multiple options off of our primary offense, but we try not to call the specific option and instead read our teammates and the defense. Of course, this leads to mistakes. We emphasize cutting with penetration rather than four players standing behind the three-point line, which leads to backdoor cuts for dunks, but also crowds the paint at times. The lack of automatics increases our turnovers, but also makes us difficult to defend and enhances our development through the season.

Accepting turnovers is part of the process. I cannot ask players to push past their comfort zones, play in different roles, try new skills, be creative, and more, and then punish players for turnovers when mistakes happen. A good play is a good play regardless of outcome, just as a bad play is a bad play even if it results in a basket. When coaches coach only on outcomes, they often ignore their instructions: Play free, play fast, try new things, but also if you make a mistake you are coming out.

I listen to people marvel at some offensive systems, but they are less a system than a player. Teams with a lot of size, a valuable commodity, base their entire offenses on their undersized point guards, seemingly as a means to reduce turnovers. The point guard inbounds the ball, then runs to receive a handoff, therefore preventing anyone else from having to make a decision or pass against pressure in the backcourt. They dribble into the front-court and enter with a pass, often to a high post. They cut and set a screen and return to receive the handoff from the post and then run a pick-and-roll, which leads to a shot or a pass to a teammate for a shot. One player dominates the entire possession and effectively makes every decision.

There is nothing wrong with this play or style; in fact, it may be smart coaching and an effective style to win games. This reduces mistakes and turnovers. Certainly the point guard receives plenty of repetitions to improve and develop, and other players fill a role theoretically designed to maximize their strengths and hide their weaknesses. To some, that is the purpose of a coach: Role definition, get the ball to the best player the most, maximize strengths, and hide weaknesses. This style of play reduces turnovers, especially with a smart, capable point guard.

This is not my style. I am far more egalitarian, probably to the detriment of our won-loss record. I embrace position-less basketball to its extensive conclusion. We do not speak about positions, and I do not match up defenders. We switch everything. We run sets with players in any position. Every player is a playmaker.

Of course, this is a process. I took over a team this year that had been based on set plays and rigid expectations and also lost their point guard who dominated the ball and the decision-making last season. We started as a team of dribble-happy combo guards, undersized posts who were good inside, and taller posts who lacked the strength to post up on the low block. Encouraging everyone to be a playmaker and playing with minimal structure caused mistakes; it was outside their comfort levels. It was a new way to play basketball.

Change is not instantaneous. Just because I tell a player I want him to think of himself as a guard, not just a center, he does not transform immediately. The evolution takes time, and mistakes happen during the process. However, encouraging the player through the mistakes has led a player who only went right in the post, typically wildly out of control, and who induced laughter from his friends when he initially attempted three-pointers, to develop into a player five months later who is finishing left-handed hook shots, dribbling through pressure, and confidently making three-pointers during games. Any turnovers during the process are worth the development, as he has gone from a player viewed as potentially being in his last competitive season, as next year is a move up in age groups, to a player with potential to persist into adult, possibly professional basketball.

Turnovers, in and of themselves, are not good, and certainly reduce a team’s chances to win a game. Often, limiting players, clarifying roles, adding structure, and focusing on strengths to reduce turnovers is a smart strategy when taking over a struggling team, as turnovers impact offense (fewer shot attempts) and defense (opponent’s transition).

However, turnovers also can be part of a player's growth and exploration. I certainly attempt to reduce some turnovers (travels, stepping on the sideline, lazy guard to guard passes, etc.), but I also embrace others (the alley-oop that was too high, the backdoor bounce pass that was too low, the player trying a new move).

Wooden said, “Mistakes come from doing, but so does success.” Wooden’s college coach Piggy Lambert said, “The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins”, as he emphasized that doers make mistakes. Look at the NBA career leaders in turnovers; currently, the top six are LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Karl Malone, John Stockton, James Harden, and Kobe Bryant. Certainly, some is longevity, but much is possessing the ball the most and making the most plays, as some plays will not work out. As Wooden added, “We must not be afraid to act. If we are afraid to do something for fear of making a mistake, we will not do anything at all. That is the worst mistake of all. You learn through adversity. We get stronger through adversity.” I want players who are trying to make plays, not ones who are avoiding mistakes.