"In my opinion, you're a good coach if you can improve your players. To improve a player you both need to understand and acknowledge his weaknesses and decide how to overcome them. This is a great motivation for me as a coach. Especially with young players, but also with experienced ones. Developing strengths and eliminating weaknesses are two sides of the medal. If you fix the weakness, you add up to your strengths. Suppose, I cannot shoot well. I keep on working on my shooting fundamentals. My shooting percentage goes up. Immediately, I get more versatility and technical strengths with the other elements in my arsenal as well.
"Many times I heard an opinion that if you're good with, let's say, your right hand, you should focus on developing it even more. It's a wrong concept. Let me explain why. If you develop your left hand a little bit, it gives you more versatility. In basketball, versatility is the first thing to surprise the opponent with. If you're limited to only a few things you can do well, you're in big trouble.Getting versatile has its chain effect. I still can use my right hand, but I can also use my left hand now. If I face an opponent, I can go right as well as left. I can surprise him. I have more freedom in choosing my next action.If all you can do is go right, you'll depend on your opponent. Once he blocks your movement to the right, you have to pass. This limits your freedom, your value for the team.
"The more fundamentals you have, the more confident and unpredictable you are on the court. You can do everything — go right, left, stop, shoot or pass. The eventual goal is to become a complete player.
"Many years ago, in 80s and early 90s, the NBA cultivated the idea of specialization. There was a theory that all players (except superstars) should become specialists in one field — either shooting, rebounding, defending or passing. That theory represented a big problem. If you have too many specialists, you become predictable. The higher number of complete players you have, the better the game is. That's why I have always liked to have three guards on the court. In Virtus and CSKA we usually played with 3 guards. With 3 guards you always have at least 3 players who can shoot, dribble, pass and play defense.
"One more thing is worth pointing out. I think the more talented the player is, the more he should work on his fundamentals to become a complete player."
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