“Basketball is like religion. Many attend but few understand.” — Former NBA head coach Scott Skiles

I saw this quote recently and it really frustrated me.

Skiles is right. There is an enormous amount going on during any given possession, and it's all happening at a very fast pace. Unless you've learned what to look for, it's hard to truly diagnose what is going well and what is going poorly for each team. It might still be fun to watch, but, as Skiles said, it's hard to understand.

But here's the part that's truly frustrating: why aren't more people trying to change this? Why do so many treat basketball Xs and Os like it's some sort of mysticism that only the qualified can understand? You might think I'm joking, but that comparison isn't that much of a stretch: it even comes with its own language and symbols that nobody really explains.

Before I got a job in the NBA, this drove me crazy. I knew there was an entire part of the game that I didn’t fully understand, but I didn't know how to learn it. That was many years ago, and while blogs and social media have made it so that there are now a host of people talking about Xs and Os, there still aren't many people truly teaching them—at least not in a way that is accessible to those without a whole lot of technical basketball knowledge in the first place.

If you’re a media member, an aspiring analyst, a blogger, a podcaster, or just a fan who wants to see the game the way professional coaches do, how can you learn from scratch? Sure you could read articles that reference strategy and try to absorb it all that way, but that’s a lot of work and a lot of time. Shouldn’t there just be one place where you can go to learn the terminology alongside the strategy so that you can discuss it all fluently?

Eventually, I did learn Xs and Os. You know what it took? Working in professional basketball for almost a decade. I learned by breaking down thousands of hours of film, sitting in NBA coaches meetings, and participating in the film sessions given to players. I learned by asking tons of questions to the coaches and scouts and executives I had the good fortune to work with. And then going back and watching even more film, trying to see it through their eyes.

I've always believed there should be an easier way. Which is why I teamed up with Gibson to make this course.

Gibson makes a living cutting up film of NBA and college teams, creating video playbooks of their sets, and highlighting what they do that works so well. Coaches from every level of basketball subscribe to his site to get access to his advanced film work. He not only is helping me teach the Xs and Os, but he'll teach you how he breaks down film, including how he gets the video in the first place.

Gibson and I have spent a lot of time putting together this course. Here's what's included: