This weeks Tribe Spotlight features Craig Lundberg. Craig is the varsity boy’s basketball coach at Lovell High School.
This was my first year of implementing the Read & React system at the varsity level. I first heard about the offense while doing research on the game quite a few years ago. At that I was not the head basketball coach and I was busy implementing what the coach at that time believed in. When I was offered the head coaching job at Lovell High School, we were a team in transition. The previous year we had a record of 25-1 and had captured our states’ 2A state championship. We graduated all five of our varsity starters.
My first year I stuck to what the previous coach had introduced and our team struggled. At the beginning of this season, I decided that we would fully implement the Read & React offense. One aspect that I love about the Read & React is the fact that it is so easy to teach and implement. I had one open gym in the summer and introduced the first layer of the offense. Our guys caught on and looked exponentially better than the previous season. When the season started it was easy to get the team to buy in because of their experience during the summer.
One aspect that I love about the Read & React is the fact that it is so easy to teach and implement.
To compare our statistics from my first year without the system to now is night and day.
- Our scoring improved by over 16 points per game
- Our 2-point field goal percentage increased from 38% all the way to 47%
Not only were we getting great looks at the basket but this offense also opened up our three point shooters on the perimeter as we mastered moving with the North/South dribble. I have not implemented but a handful of the layers to this system and our team is reaping the benefits. I was very impressed with our statistical improvements not only because of how much they increased, but also because our school moved to a larger classification. We were the smallest school in our class and we were improving greatly simply because the Read & React teaches players how to play basketball.
We went from a team that everybody wanted to play at the beginning of the season, to a team that nobody wanted to play by the end of the season. The Read & React teaches players to react to the ball and does not run sets every time down the floor. The players on our team have the freedom to go out and play the game, knowing how their teammates will move and where they will be. It is a very fun and exciting time for me as a coach. I already can’t wait to get to work in the off season and get our team working again.
