Coaching Toolblog

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players. Hopefully, this year's NBA finals will serve as an example to basketball players at all levels as to the importance of mental toughness and putting the team first over individual statistics, flashiness, and publicity. I believe that the Celtics ultimately won the championship on grit and unselfishness. There is no denying that they do have offense talent, but in my mind, it is not as superior to the Lakers' talent as the scores would indicate. I don't know what the stats are for the hustle and toughness plays, but those scores would be even more lopsided than the actual scores of the games. To me, grit and unselfishness are two parts of the foundation of a great defense. The mental toughness to stay focused on the prize despite all obstacles was a joy to watch. Every time one of the players from the bench was called on, he contributed. It did not matter if he hadn't played or played very little the game before, I did not see pouting and moping. They stayed ready and it showed in their play. I thought it took a lot of mental toughness for Ray Allen to come out of his shooting slump from the earlier rounds of the playoffs and shoot as well as he did in the finals. Paul Pierce took the ball hard to the basket time after time knowing that he was going to get hit, but he continued to go to the basket, rather than settling for mid-range jump shots. Perkins coming back from his injury to play. We could go on and on, but one of the most impressive things to me was the way the Celtics bench was into every play of every game. Not many players can help a team from the bench, but the Celtics seem to have found a handful of them. Doc Rivers and his staff certainly deserve a lot of credit for keeping the team together and focused on what it took to win the championship. That was a great job of basketball coaching. I believe that as long as the basketball plays you run and the defensive rules you use are sound, there are many ways to approach those the Xs and Os of basketball that will work. But, there is no substitute for mental and physical toughness and putting the team first. The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players. It seems like sometimes when you are observing from afar and you say or write nice about someone, you end up being proven wrong shortly thereafter. I am going to take that chance today and write some kind words about some of the things that I have observed and that have been presented by the broadcasters of the finals. Certainly, there is no doubt that talent is the most significant factor in winning, but in my opinion, these two teams are examples that the intangibles make a differene too. Feel free to disagree and leave a post stating so, but this is the way it looks to me. I am sure that there are other people I am leaving out, but these are the ones that the media has mentioned this postseaso I am focusing this post on the unselfishness and team play of the Celtics, but that is not to say that the Lakers don't have that as well. I would like to mention one Laker in particular. I don't think that it is a coiincidence that Derek Fisher left in 03-04 and that the Lakers have struggled since. I realize that 03-04 was also Shaq's last year in LA and that with Bynum playing well early this season and then adding Gasol in Februrary have given them the best inside presence since then. But, it just looks like Fisher is a solid team first guy who also has skills. It is hard not to root for someone who came back to LA for his family, even though the team was in turmoil at the time. He doesn't seam to mind playing fifth fiddle. To me, every team needs a guy like him. I know that Sam Cassell has had some problems throughout his career, but it looks like he is fitting in very well with the Celtics. When called upon, he has scored as they have needed and when on the bench, it looks like he is providing leadership and support for those who are on the floor. I would guess that the Celtics knew what they were getting when they signed him late in the season. Along those same lines, Ray Allen's scoring average is down about 10 points per game from last year and it is the lowest PPG that he has had in almost a decade. It does not seem to be bothering him. It is nice to see that he is coming out of his slump from earlier in the playoffs. I think most of us like to root for guys that show unselfishness. I really know very little about Eddie House, but you have to hand it to him for not playing in several of the early round playoff games after playing more minutes during most of the regular season. I thought that his hustle in game 7 against Cleveland was key. That is not to downplay Paul Pierce's scoring, but I thought that House contributed all he could when it would have been very easy to mope and pout. When I saw the halftime piece on Leon Powe, it is hard to not look at him in the same way. I did not follow the regular season and did not even know who he was until the playoffs. Even during the first rounds, he didn't do much to distinguish himself. But after seeing him interviewed about growing up homeless and losing his mother four days prior to playing in the high school state championship, you just want to see him succeed. At least I do. Certainly there are more talented players than these guys, but I respect their toughness. I hope that I haven't jinxed them and they are all going to do something to show that my assessment is wrong. I just think that it is nice to look at some good things because there are times when players who feel entitled forget that this is a team game and cross that line of fierce vs. furious. The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players. Teleseminar interview #5 at the Coaching Toolbox is now live and you can access it here. Our guest is sports psychologist Dr. Brian Goonan and his topic is "Fierce vs. Furious." In the interview Dr. Goonan explains that a "fierce" mindset is an asset to an athlete involved in competition, but that the athlete needs to have mental breaks to maintain that mindset during the active segments of the competition. The extreme mindset he describes as "furious" is counterproductive in that it keeps the athlete at a peak of competitive mental arousal which is impossible to maintain throughout an entire competition. The interview is a 15 minute segment of Dr. Gs ideas on the subject. He will be back to discuss the subject further later in the summer. He has a lot of information that basketball coaches and basketball players will find useful. The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players. In my post earlier this week, I mentioned the article at the Coaching Toolbox dealing with Momentum Killers and Momentum Getters. Our feeling is that mental toughness plays a big part in dealing with the ebb and flow of the momentum of a basketball game. The work that Steve Siebold has assembled is one of the best resources for ideas on developing and coaching mental toughness. I believe that it is critical for any coach to study and work at improving mentally toughness in order to nurture it in his or her players. As one of my high school English teachers once stated; You be must be what you is Because if you be what you ain't You ain't what you is. We can only teach intangibles to the degree that we possess them. In a roundabout way, I am trying to say is that when you listen to the teleseminar interview with Steve Siebold, I hope that you get some good information that you feel will help you as a coach (and a person) to grow in your understanding and application of his mental toughness principles. I have learned a great deal from his books and blog and I am glad to be able to have the this blog and our website to share with all of you what I feel is a great resource for mental toughness. The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players.