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Foreword

sacred cow [sey-krid kou] 

An idea or belief, considered to be so self-evidently true and therefore exempt from criticism or questioning.

Already in existence is an abundance of coaching manuals which teach basketball’s fundamentals. There is also a plethora of coaching biographies retelling the storied successes of college and professional coaches. Killing Basketball’s Sacred Cows (KBSC) is neither. This is written for the everyday player, captain and coach competing in local competitions everywhere. You have the hardest job in basketball! You are not paid (or compensated very little), have limited (if any) training time, and have inherited a vast variety of skill levels. In yet, you are expected to blend all of this into a winning formula.  

Accordingly, this 2nd edition of KBSC has been written in order that you can make one improvement at a time. You do not necessarily need to employ the whole KBSC system, you may have some successful approaches of your own already. However, rather than be prescriptive, KBSC will challenge your ideas on the game, to help develop your own philosophy. KBSC illuminates some assumed truths in our game, which might be undermining your team’s potential. These are not your fault, as they are so strongly entrenched in our game, that the highly experienced and even professionals can have the most difficulty. The professional also has the added difficulty of pleasing the owner’s preferences, and to depart from tradition can be even more restrictive. 

The Professional Coach is not necessarily better than their Amateur counterparts, the Professional is defined merely by salary. 

I believe that the best coaches are Amateurs, you and I, who lead community based teams of various skill and motivational levels. I trust that KBSC system will assist you on your journey in growing high functioning teams. 

For
John Spooner

 
In recognition of Spoons’ contribution developing kids, mentoring administrators, coaching teams, growing associations and broadcasting the early Australian National Basketball League.
 

A Pioneer, a Coach, a Friend and a Brother 

Thank you to the following libraries which directly assisted in this research. 

National Library of Australia (NLA)

University of Canberra (UC) Library

State Library of South Australia (SLSA)

National Sport Information Centre (ASC)

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Library

State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW)

Australian National University (ANU) Library

University of South Australia (UniSA) Library