• Special Situations: How many games were won and lost because of poor playing decisions?! Obviously the Butler/Pitt game stands out, but so many games were decided because of poor decision-making or literally stupid play. I know these are young college kids and they will make mistakes but are we teaching kids game situations? Are the college coaches taking the time in practice to work on situational play? Are high school and youth coaches teaching players what to do? Are we really teaching our kids to have a basketball IQ? Not sure I have the answer...just wondering!
  
• Free Throw Shooting: This is nothing new and it seems to get worse each year. I should find some stats to see whether it's true or not. Regardless, several games were won and lost at the free throw line. It's a free throw. It's FREE. No defense. Let's make sure we work on free throws in practice...and not just unfocused shooting, but pressure shots in practice. And to the players; PRACTICE free throws. You might find it boring. You will find it worth it when you need to shoot important free throws in a game.
  
• The Pick-and-Roll: Yes, the pick-and-roll is a great play. It's as old as the game of basketball itself. It's been a staple in the NBA and colleges have really started using it over the past couple of years. I like the pick-and-roll and think it should be incorporated into our offensive systems. With that said, however, it seems to be greatly overused. In so many of the games, the pick-and-roll was the only thing the offense did. And then out of the pick-and-roll, the guard often takes a bad, off-balance shot. And it is rare that the player with the ball ever looked for his picker rolling to the basket. Let's use the pick-and-roll, but let's learn how to use it. And let's teach it the right way. And let's not overuse it.
  
• The 3-point shot: I like the 3. When I played, I liked to shoot the 3. It's a necessary weapon. It is, however, not always necessary in the waning minutes of games. If you are attempting a comeback in the final minutes or seconds, sometimes the 2-pointer is a better option. Most teams will defend the 3-point line but give up layups because they don't want to foul. Again, this comes back to game situation. If you're down 4 with :45 left, get a quick 2. Play defense or foul and give yourself a chance. Too many teams started jacking up 3's too early. And so many of these 3's were deep and contested. That's a tough shot to make. By shooting them too early and missing the tough ones, you aren't giving your team the best chance to come back and win.

Those are just a few thoughts I had during the games. What it mainly comes down is teaching the game. Teach basketball IQ and common sense. Work on situations in practice. As coaches, are we doing all we can to not only make our players better, but to make them smarter?