I recently had the opportunity to watch three Arizona State Sun Devils Men’s basketball practices and one game.  The Head Coach of Arizona State is Herb Sendek, the former North Carolina State coach.  Sendek, who led ASU to an 8-22 record last year, is in his second year of rebuilding the Sun Devil program. He has propelled ASU to a 13-2 start this season and three victories over Top 25 teams Xavier, Oregon and Arizona.  The Sun Devils have opened the Pac-10 season 3-0 after winning only two games in conference play last season.  After watching the practices it is not hard to see why he has been successful; Sendek is very enthusiastic and extremely demanding.  The following are some random thoughts from the three practices observed.

General Observations:

• All coaches were very enthusiastic and involved in all aspects of the practices.
• The practices were very organized with a heavy focus on fundamentals, conditioning and playing together.
• Practices were about 2½ hours long
• The Head Coach demanded a high level of concentration and effort.
• All players did the ball-handling drills – it was not just the perimeter players.
• The Assistant Coaches were very physical during the drills.   They used blocking pads as well as pushing and holding players during drills; all in an attempt to create a tougher situation than the players would face in a game.
• Running sprints was used as a punishment when the effort was not satisfactory to the Head Coach.   Sprints had to be completed in a specified time or they ran again.
• All competitive drills ended with a winner and loser – the loser ran sprints.
• All practices began with a team huddle and then broke into a dynamic warm-up.

Focus on Fundamentals:

• Fundamental drills were done every day for at least 1/3 of practice.  Even leading into a game against a nationally ranked opponent – they beat Xavier.
• Each practice - full-court ball-handling drills 1 on 0 were done.
• Full speed lay-ups were done every day.
• Half-court passing drills were done every day – post players passing out of the post and perimeter players passing into the post.
• Half-court lay-ups were done every day.
• Shooting every day – mostly off screening action.
• “You can’t beat the best teams turning it over.”

Sendek’s comments on having players give maximum effort and concentration:

• “That is not the body language of a tough competitor.  You have to be better than that.”
• “You are in survival mode right now – you are only looking out for yourself.”
• “Why am I competing for your attention?  When I am talking I want all eyes on me.”
• “Fouling negates hustle.”
• “You can’t default to what is easiest!”
• “Don’t give in to what you perceive as fatigue.”
• “We need mental and physical toughness.  You have to be able to play every possession for 40 minutes.”
• “Do you know hard you have to play to win at this level?”

Strategies to Improve Concentration:

When they practiced 5 on 0 players subbed into the drill on the fly.  As the set is being run they quickly take the place of a player and must seamlessly move into the set without any mistakes.  The players were not told to sub in; they did this on their own.  This obviously forces the players that are out to concentrate.

They ran several times when their effort or concentration were not meeting Sendek’s expectations – they ran two “11’s”.  An “11” is a full-court sprint down and back under 11 seconds.

Sendek worked to develop leadership:

• “How are you going to respond?  Who is the leader?”
• They huddle frequently with the coaches, though briefly, to get instructions for the next drill – at the end of the instructions all the hands come to the middle and they say “together!”
• “Take ownership.”

During Dynamic Warm-up:

• Players had to be in PERFECT sequence during the dynamic warm-up.
• They had to stay even with each other as they moved down the floor – if they were not they started again.
• They held their stretches for 5 seconds and then took 3 steps in between each stretch.
• They all had to count in unison the 5 seconds of each stretch and the 3 steps in between each stretch; if they didn’t they started again.
• Sendek wants the players to be aware and connected – his comment “If we can’t stay together doing this, how can we stay together during a game?” exemplified this.
• Sendek put pressure on the leaders to have the players together.
• It appeared to be a very good team building exercise because they struggled to be together and had to start again several times – i.e. they faced adversity but then they succeeded.
• It forced players to concentrate and get outside of themselves.

 Defensively:

• “Improve your pressure – the man on the ball has to help us!”
• Most defensive teams can recover and help on the first penetration but the sign of a great defensive team is the one that can help on the first and second pass after penetration.
• In their post defence, when an offensive player gets the ball inside, they get right into him with their chest and do not allow him to pivot.
• On ball defence – “keep a hand 6 inches from the basketball.”
• Defending jabs – they take a hop back and “split the jab foot.”

Offensively:

• They run the Princeton offence
• Lots of 5 on 0 work – at least 20 minutes a day; this was done to improve their timing and understanding of the reads (coaches were guided defenders to give reads).
• Comments on their screening:
• “Wait on the screen.”
• “Better to be late than early.”
• “Sprint to screen.”
• From an offensive standpoint ASU calls “extra!” in any situation where there is an open teammate or if another pass should be made
• “Pass to the inside shoulder of the shooter.”
• “Create action – don’t just stand there.”
• Post Play:
• “Take it to the mid-line until someone stops you.”  The post players worked on back-down moves into the middle of the lane and then spinning back to the baseline.
• They wanted their posts to throw their shoulders back when posting and create a “goal post.”
• Sendek wants his post players to go to the defender to get position – he calls this “seek and seal.”

Thanks to Herb Sendek, Head Coach at Arizona State University for allowing us to attend the ASU practices and Mike Gipson, the Director of Basketball Operations for making the arrangements.