Coaching Toolblog

It has been entirely too long since I have posted something on the blog.  I have just had so many other things going on with the Coaching Toolbox and HoopClinics that I have not been able to post as much as I would like.  I hope that today's entry will be a useful one. At this time of year, it is always stressful for both basketball coaches and for basketball players who played (or are still playing) a fall sport as to when they should start practice if the seasons overlap.  Even when the fall sport ends on a Friday or Saturday and then basketball practice starts on Monday, it is a tough call.  I would like to express my opinion and encourage high school and middle school coaches that have to deal with this issue to give it a lot of thought.  I do not believe my way is the only way or even the right way, it is just what has worked best when I have had to deal with it.  My belief is that each situation should be handled on an individual basis and that there is no way to have a blanket policy as to when a fall athlete should be required to start practice.   A reasonable agreement can be worked out between the coaches and the athletes who fall into this category with a little communication. There are several reasons that I feel that each case should be handled differently.  One is that each fall sport is different and affects different positions differently.  I ran cross country in high school, so this is not a slam on cross country runners, but it makes sense that they do not get as beat up as a running back in football who carries 20 times a game for nine or ten games. On the other hand, a cross country runner who competes in the state meet on say a Saturday,  might have a tough time being at a 6:00 am practice on that next Monday. Even within a particular sport, the physical toll is different.  A setter in volleyball does not have as many landings and as much strain on the legs as a hitter.  I have very little specific experience with specific wear and tear on all of the fall sports, so I am not going to go into more examples. I just believe that it is something that should be discussed with your assistant coaches in order to have a plan in place ahead of time that is the best you can do for each individual who is affected. One factor that complicates things is that I feel that it is not right to talk to the fall athletes about basketball as they are entering their playoffs and state tournament series.  I believe that there focus should be allowed to be on that sport, just like I hope that the spring coaches extend us the same courtesy in late February and March. I do believe that if a fall sport ended over a week before basketball starts that the player should be at the first practice unless there is an injury involved.  Then they should be at practice to watch unless they have doctor visits and or rehab. I always like to take the late practice time slot the first day of practice if that works for the other programs that we share the gym with.  That gives us a little more time to talk with the fall athletes whose seasons may have ended over the weekend.  I have never liked to run to them to start the school day to see what they want to do. I want to give them a little space after their previous season ends.  If you can't practice late, you might have the assistants start practice while the head coach talks with the fall athletes. It is difficult to get the season going as you are wondering when your players will be out for practice, in some cases needing to make cuts, stay withing state guidelines for the number of pre-season practices required, having a short time to prepare for the opening game, having to take care of the administrative items of passing out equipment, pictures, parent meetings, etc...  And, to top it all off, basketball is the only sport that has the added difficulty of sharing facilities and having to either change practice locations, practice times or both. I do not believe that it shows that a player is not eager for basketball who asks for a few days to recover from fall sports.  There will be some that want to start as soon as possible, and those are easy to deal with.  I believe that for the big picture of the well being of both the athletes and the program, if they ask for a couple of days off before starting practice, you will be better of in the long run for granting them.    Basketball is a long season and the coach is not giving up much by allowing a little rest and recovery.  I do think it is important that you communicate to the other players when that player will be joining the team and why they want or need the days off. I wish you the best as you try to sort through these types of situations.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players. I have been so busy working on Hoopclinics that I really didn't watch as much of the Men's Basketball (or any of the events for that matter) as I wanted to.  However, I did catch enough of the Men to see that they clearly were on a mission and put their own egos aside for the good of the team.  I am interested to see how much of that carries over to this coming NBA season, or if a team attitude was a one time thing for those players. To me, that is why Michael Jordan is the best player ever.  He was the defensive stopper every night, not just on special occasions.  He played with a team attitude every night, not just when there was an Olympic gold medal on the line.  That is probably why he was the leader of the team that won more regular season games than any other NBA team in history.  He delivered every night. I heard Rick Majerus talk at a clinic once about his showing the "Be Like Mike" tape to his teams at the beginning of every season.  Not the one from TV with the dunks and electrifying plays, but the one he constructed showing him diving on loose balls, taking charges, fiercely fighting for rebounds, and the multitude of other hustle plays that he made night in and night out. In my opinion, a truly great player can be even better when he or she puts the team first, regardless of how superior they are in talent to their teammates. I think Coach K proved once and for all that coaching does make a difference.  I once heard somebody state that if they had to win one game, they would take Coach K if the team had more talent than their opponent, and Dick Bennett if it had less.  I couldn't agree more.  He took a group of individuals who were not accustomed to playing as a team and constructed a team.  Their gestures with their medals shows how they felt about his leadership and them becoming a team.  I think his strong leadership was even more necessary on this team with no one with dynamic leadership ability.  I think LeBron will become a great leader in the course of time, but he still has a ways to go to be considered dynamic. It seems that Coach K has a way of getting along with most players and being able to get a lot out of them.  He is a strong personality, but there seem to have been few personality clashes on teams that he is associated with despite coaching many talented and strong willed players.  I think he personifies the coach as leader.  I know that there are times when you have to get on players, but some coaches do it so much that you wonder if they realize that they are on the same team as their players. I am interested to see how much of the team attitude carries over to this coming NBA season, or if a team attitude was a one time thing for those players.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 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. While we were waiting on the Finals to start a couple of weeks ago, ESPN showed Game 6 of the 1987 NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Lakers. One of the things that stuck me was the number of players from that game who were now in the NBA as head basketball coaches, assistant coaches, or NBA executives. I could be missing a couple, but here is the list to the best of my ability off the top of my head. Please let me know who I have missed. Boston had Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Rick Carlisle, Sam Vincent, and Dennis Johnson who all continued their careers in basketball as head coaches, assistant coaches, or front office personnel. Los Angeles had Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis, and Byron Scott. I guess you could also throw in Tom Tolbert (LA) and Bill Walton (Boston) to the mix as they have become television analysts. I guess that begs the question, Were those teams successful because they had players who thought the game and loved it, or did they become coaches and executives because they were a part of the success that both of those franchises enjoyed during their careers? It is with mixed emotions that I talk to players when they ask about or want to discuss getting in to teaching and coaching. It reminds me of the time in my life when I was so excited about getting started in the profession and it has certainly led to a lot of joy and positive relationships in my life. On the other hand, I know how consuming it can become and how much time it takes to do the job right, so I worry about that aspect of their desire to coach. However, I do know that all of the players who wanted to coach were easy to coach and did seem to think and understand the game at a higher level, even as high school players. One of the nicest things you can have in coaching is when a former player joins your staff. It makes you feel like you are doing something right. They also understand what you stand for, what your program is about, and they are as loyal as anyone could be. 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. The Coaching Toolbox is very fortunate that Ed Schilling, former head mens' basketball coach at Wright State University, and an assistant at UMass, Memphis, and with the New Jersey Nets of the NBA did a 14 minute interview with us for our teleseminar series. The interview is live and you can access it here. Coach Schilling currently is the Executive Director for Champions Academy, which is dedicated to improving the individual skills of basketball players through individual development workouts. He trained four 2007 NBA first round draft choices and is currently working with several players who project to be first rounders in 2008! Coach Schillings topic is individual development for point guards. As a player, Ed set single game, season, and career assist records at Miami of Ohio. As a coach, he developed many outstanding point guards. One of his recent grads of Champions Academy is lottery pick and point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley. Coach also worked with Greg Oden and Carl Landry, so his expertise is not limited to perimeter players. Our interview is 14 minutes long. (By the way, we have decided that is not long enough, so we are expanding their length to be able to provide our visitors with more of the great information that our guests are providing us with.) During the short time that he has, Coach Schilling covers the topics of developing confidence and skills, creating space with the basketball, and how to utilize the moves that the point guard develops to help him or her "run the show." We also have some links to Instructional tapes and DVDs that Coach has produced. Click here to listen to the interview. Our next interview is scheduled to launch on May 19 and is with Jay Wolf who designed the Star Shooter and is a nationally recognized expert on shooting instruction. The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of free resources for basketball coaching and for basketball players.

A coach should never criticize players publicly or in the media. Bear Bryant said: "If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you. " If you want to tell your AD behind closed doors that is one thing, but don't say anything negative about the players publicly. Don't tell everyone that the players did not do what you told them. Even if it is true that they did not do as they were taught, save that for the locker room and practice if it is not the last game of the season. As the coach give the players credit for the victories and accept the blame for the defeat as the head coach. To me, it is even more unforgivable in college to blame the athletes. D1 coaches make hundreds of thousands of dollars off of the efforts of the players and the players are getting nothing in return. I don't agree with the argument that they are getting a free education. Most of them could go to college for next to nothing just on aid and need alone, even if they didn't have a basketball scholarship. I believe that If a coach works on game ending situations over and over in practice, the players will at least look as if they have a plan of attack and are not totally disorganized at the end of a game, then the people who matter can judge for themselves that the coach did his or her job in preparing them. For a collection of hundreds of great tools for basketball coaches and players, visit www.coachingtoolbox.net