On March 23rd, Michigan hired Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May and kicked off a new era of the basketball program. May has rebuilt the roster and re-tooled the program with an impressive coaching staff, but his first game on November 4th is still weeks away. We know the basics about May’s resume, the highlights of his FAU team’s success, and what he’s said in press conferences, but there’s still much more to uncover.
We’ve spent the summer digging into May’s game film, press conferences, interviews, clinic videos and more to understand his basketball vision and how that applies in Ann Arbor. Over the next two months, we’ll look closer at May, his philosophy, and his track record in a series of bite-sized breakdowns that feature everything from on-court tendencies to sideline demeanor to analytics, schematics, and culture building.
Welcome back to Dusty 101. Today we break down May’s philosophy on in-game coaching, process and “giving up complete control.” (Previously: Offensive philosophy, Shot Selection, Defense never gets set)
Dusty May’s philosophy on in-game coaching illustrates his view of the head coach’s role. He comes off as someone who views himself as a teacher more than an in-game micromanager.
“I love to give the freedom to our players,” he said in a clinic this summer. “I think we teach all season, and then when it comes time to play, they’re performing, and I’m doing everything I can to not distract them from performing.”
May stresses that he wants his players to know how to read and react to the game — where to look — and that he’s not worried about whether a set is executed to perfection or anything like that. He wants to create randomness on the floor, and he wants players who can respond to the randomness in the game.
“I don’t think a lot of us are okay giving up complete control,” he said. “And I love giving up complete control. I love to sit back and watch our guys and say, ‘Man, these guys know how to hoop.'”
That willingness to give up complete control speaks to the offensive philosophy that May’s teams play with, but it also has an effect on almost everything else that happens on the floor or in his program.
May outlines a viewpoint that reminds me of a rocket launch. You spend hours, days, weeks, and months configuring things, tweaking settings, and adjusting plans, but once the rocket takes off, it has to run its course. He puts it simply: decide how you will respond to what happens before it happens.
“So we decide in advance, every issue that we’re going to have and how we’re going to respond to that. ”