User talk:Coach Carvalho

== Flow-Ball - Basketball Philosophy ==

I would like to share a basic philosophy of basketball with my fellow coaches and colleagues that I call “Flow-Ball." This philosophy is based on continuous player movement, proper utilization of space in an offense scheme attempting to isolate players to maximize the impact of their individual abilities and creativity over the defense and aggressive defense (pressure on the ball).

This game concept developed over 17 years of coaching and analyzing teams and films in Brazil and overseas. The utilization of this system has maximized my team’s shooting percentage per ball possession, while the aggressive defense has minimized our opponent’s shooting percentage per possession.

During my coaching career, I had the opportunity to coach against teams that used outstanding full and half-court defensive systems, systems that were very difficult to be broken and played against because I initially used a strategy that emphasized a five man half-court game. This half-court game helped the opposing defense and was easier to be defended because my players’ movements became predictable and expected when opposing coaches made effective use of scouting videos of our previous games.

This predicament first led me continuously to create and introduce new plays to my teams in an attempt to be less predictable and diminish the effectiveness of the opposing defenses. On the other hand, my players did not perform these plays efficiently because of insufficient time for practice, thus increasing the number of team turnovers, minimizing possession time, and scoring efficiency per possession. As a result, the introduction of new plays became a priority over the continuous skill’s development of my players. I slowly began to realize that practice sessions were out of balance, sacrificing continuous skills’ development and creativity, factors that are essential to this game philosophy.

Our practice sessions now prioritize skills' development of all team members without regard to position. While players are still trained to take full advantage of their individual skills, they are also expected to contribute to the flow of a rapid pace game. That sometimes requires utilization of skills not traditionally associated with their physical characteristics.

I have found that “Flow-Ball” not only develops better players but also improves team morale. Players are constantly challenged to become more creative, versatile and less predictable. All become more focused on the tasks at hand because they will be challenged to contribute to the success of the team.

With more creative players, I am able to implement a continuous full-court game that is appealing to the players and exciting to the public. This full-court game also helps in the improvement of stamina and the movement reaction time of the players. The rapid pace game forces other teams to play outside their normal rhythm resulting in increased turnovers, decreasing their shooting percentage per possession. This accelerated offense style complements the full-court zone pressure defensive system I advocate.

The utilization of all team members in the full-court offensive and defensive style of “Flow-Ball," coupled with the players’ better physical condition and skills, will ultimately prevail at the end of the competition.

I appreciate the effective use of ability and finesse. I believe that teams with better talent and skill should succeed and prevail in competition. Fans attend games to see baskets being scored, and to applaud the individual athletic ability of the players. The shooting clock was implemented in college basketball in recognition of this fact, increasing attendance and investment in the game, for example, Michael Jordan’s return and Larry Bird’s departure from the National Basketball Association relate to the impact they brought on attendance, on television ratings, and marketing.

It is important to reiterate that our practice sessions and conditioning drills are congruent with the fast pace philosophy game of “Flow-Ball."