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These notes are from the Don Meyer Leadership seminar and were sent to me by Steve Smiley.  These are great concepts for both basketball coaches and basketball players.

-You can have anything you want, just not everything you want.

-Learn who you are and what your game is.  Biggest turnoff  is being fake.

-Effective better than Efficient.

 -Your example isn’t the main way in leading others, it is the only way.

-Your example screams so loudly that they can’t hear what I am saying.

-“Leadership starts at the top.” Morgan Wooten

-Leadership: Like pornography, can’t explain it or describe it, but I know what it is when I see it.

-Pat Summitt: “Got to have guts to make the big decisions.”

-We are all free agents.

-TEAMS: Tough, Effort, Attitude, Motives, Servant Leaders

-Karl Malone missed 10 games in 14 NBA seasons.

-Find the need, fill the need. (What is –  where you want to be = need assessment)

-Positive Leadership: Pessimist: “Things can’t get any worse.”   Optimist: “Oh, yes they can.”

-2 types of people, energy givers and energy takers

-10 yr. stretch at Lipscomb, averaged 33 wins per season, after a win, couldn’t sleep-“how are we going to have an edge in practice tomorrow”

-Be Sound: teach fundamentals

-Be Solid: integrity, authenticity

-Be Simple: the more you think, the slower your feet get

-Not everyone can work the cash register, somebody has to sweep out the backroom. Sam Walton Story

-Study your opposition, but don’t be obsessed about your opposition.

-Humility precedes Honor

-Bum Philips, “If we make the playoffs, they will let us know.”

-Make up your own mission statement.

-Get praised and criticized when I shouldn’t.

-Simple Truths, 212 extra degree–Here is a link to the video that Coach Meyer is referring to:

(when you click the link, make sure that your speakers are on)

212 Degrees The Extra Effort

-Got to win when the ball doesn’t bounce our way.

-Start to watch the way successful coaches deal with people.

-People not changing: If the vaccine doesn’t work, quit applying the ointment to the infected area.

-You can whip a horse to run, but sometimes they will run faster if you whisper in their ear.

-Get mad, cool down, then act mad.

-“I don’t make decisions because they are convenient, easy, or popular, I make them because they are right.”

President of Notre Dame

Cancer Player:       Malignant-cut it off

                                Benign-treat it and decide at end of season

                                Can’t decide-treat it as malignant (cut it off)

-Respond with wisdom, love, firmness and positive self-control when dissatisfied with the behavior, performance or response of others.

-Discipline and Demand without being Demeaning.

-“Huberis” to the extreme

-an arrogant leader who never thinks they are wrong / “and let me make this clear”  / very difficult to play for

-“Cows don’t take days off.” Pat Summitt

-Hurts me to leave a task undone.

-Selfishness will kill your team.

-Just because you are elected doesn’t mean you can lead.

-You can elect your team captions, but your players will pick your leaders.

-Internal Control: whoever controls the locker room, controls the team.

-Leadership: you have to let go of your ego, be a follower first, influence others

-You must meet someone in your life that expects greatness from you.

-Expect Greatness, Inspect for Greatness, Accept only Greatness.

-Your legacy: never have a legacy if you don’t give your power away

-Inspect Supervision: be there physically, be there mentally

-Internal Leadership (characteristics of Leaders)

1) Hardest Worker  2) Take of care of stuff off the floor  3) Let the coaches take care of everything else

-everyday need a soft rain (reign) of leadership, like an irrigation system, can’t be too hard, will break the corn stalks off, need a slow and steady drizzle everyday

-Great practice needed from 1) Head Coach  2) Point Guard  3) Best Player

-Al McGuirre came back to Marquette to talk to Kevin O’Neill who just took the job, told him that the Jesuits just took a vow of poverty, (not going to get paid much), all the friends you made shaking hands the first week will desert you after 3 years, (they are just hanger-ons), and that you better have great practices.

-A coach needs creditability to confront.

-Building a positive culture takes a long time, doesn’t take long to lose it.

-Handle wins/loses the same way.

-Cause / Self      (must have a cause bigger than yourself)

-Process / Results   (can’t be a scoreboard watcher)

-Nothing more harmful to a team than the lack of discipline.

-Dick Bennett Badger Basketball, 1)see the picture  2)sell the picture  3)everyone has to help paint the picture

-Don’t set long term goals, we have to be the very best we can be today.

-Word of mouth – best selling practice, but the hardest to accomplish

-Book “Art of War” Sun Tzu

Need proper disciple, Can’t fear losing, Must face it together, Prepare for the worst, expect the best.

-The teacher always learns more than the students.

Important Situations

Good Businesses (time spent on problems)          

Urgent Matters 20-25%
Non Urgent Matters 65-80%

Bad Businesses

Urgent Matters 25-30%
Non Urgent Matters 15%

Non-important Situations                                  

Good Businesses

Urgent Matters 15%
Non Urgent Matters 1%

Urgent Matters 50-60%
Non Urgent Matters 2-3%

*Be efficient by planning / prepare

McCormack’s Rules

1) get a system , any system

2) stick to it

3) write everything down

Meyer’s Rule’s

1) Plan the week on Sunday

2) plan the next day the night before

3) exercise

4) Say No

5) Take mini-vacations (long lunch, early leave)

6) keep a journal, not what you did, but what you learned

Click here to read Part 2

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for coaching basketball including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

I received these notes from Coach Steve Smiley from a presentation that Brad Stevens made at while he coached at Butler.

These are notes and the outline for his talk.  Here is a link to diagrams of his drills:  Basketball Drills

• Coach Stevens Big into the process, statistics, and numbers.
• This helps him to coach his team.
• Always trying to get guys to do the things that are important.
• Having a Defensive DNA is a big part of that.
• Gained an appreciation when he became a head coach for how hard it is to prepare the right practice.
• Your team has to be good at practicing the right things. This puts a huge premium on the head coach being right.
• Broke their Defensive DNA up into 6 categories
• Did this because he was coaching a team with 6 freshman who needed to learn how to play  their system
• What is the best way to teach something at the beginning of the year that instills your system, but is also able to be changed/adjusted later on in the season?

[thrive_leads id=’26056′]1. Commitment

• Your players must be completely committed to the system
• In 11 years, never had a player in the program that worked his tail off on the defensive end that wasn’t a great teammate/student
• People that do their job on every play make you feel proud to be a part of the program
• Starts with establishing the correct mindset
• Referenced Doc Rivers from last year’s clinic: Believe or Leave
• If your players believe, you can establish a Defensive DNA
• Felt that when he had young teams, having a great defensive team gave him the best chance to win
• Challenge your team statistically
  Example: Earlier this season, Butler was giving up 45% from the floor, but they found out that if they had gotten three more stops per game, they would be giving up 39%. Defensive FG% dropped 2 percentage points for every stop.
• Your team is never too far away from being great, and never too far away from being bad
• Uses the 10 day break during the season to be tremendously beneficial .
• Really admires how davidson plays-They are unpredictable, yet they have a system that they believe in.
• Your system must be built to defend everything, no matter what is being run against it. (i.e. something you didn’t cover in scouting)
• At the same time, have a degree of unpredictability.

2. Positioning

• First Step to proper positioning is your transition defense.
• Your transition drills have to simulate what happens in the game
• Goals for transition defense
  Stay in front of the basketball
  Protect the basket
  Pick up the basketball
  Find good shooters
• Defending the ball
  First important question where are you on the floor?
  If you have an athletic advantage, you can pressure more
  If you are at an athletic disadvantage, you can pressure more
  If you are at an athletic disadvantage, you have to trick the offensive player in different ways to keep him off balance
  Butler plays a lot of 1 on 1–both bigs and guards.  Everyone must be able to guard 2 dribbles on the perimeter (Bigs will often switch onto a guard late in the shot clock)
• Closeouts
• Three steps then break down (chop your feet) with your arms up; closeout to his dominant hand
• Closeouts are dependent upon personnel
• If you’re closing out to a great shooter, close out to his shooting hand and give him less room to get his shot off.
• If you’re closing out to a great driver, you don’t want to break down as much.  “A great drive beats a great closeout every time.”

3. Prioritizing

• Are you prioritizing what’s important?  The goal is to stop the other team from scoring
• Scouting is a large part of the equation
• Their system must be adjustable and flexible in terms of guarding different teams/players
• Coach Stevens gave an example of how he used their trip to Italy to work on some different things, and “it took (Butler) three months to get back to our identity.”
• Even though you (as a coach) are thinking about jumping to the ball/your identity all summer doesn’t mean your players are.
• Learned that you need to start back over every year
• Tony Dungy example from his new book: Concept of “regenerative leadership”  Older players spreading the culture to the younger players, and the younger players continue the cycle when they become older players

4. Awareness

• Awareness can allow a marginal athlete to become a very good defender—more so than a great athlete with marginal awareness
• The 4 levels of competency:
• Unconsciously incompetent-You don’t know what you don’t know
• Consciously incompetent-You know that you have no clue
• Consciously competent-You know what’s going on
• Unconsciously competent-You begin to see things before they happen.  You can rely on your habits because of how many times you’ve done it before
• Coach will allow players to have “mature freedom” to make reads when they are in this stage of competency.
• When you’re in the first two categories (unconsciously/consciously incompetent), you should be a great follower/listener.
• 60% of awareness comes from what you have built through practice/drills/habits
• 40% of awareness comes from who you are guarding or what the other team is running
• Uses lots of 4 on 4 work in practice

5. Execution/Technique

• Technique is easy to work on in indivìduals
• Coach Stevens spent some time at the Indianapolis Colts offseason
  Was struck by the consistency in their approach
  Quarterbacks spent 5 minutes per day watching their handoffs with no defense. (Attention to detail)
  Described Peyton Manning as “Elite in his preparation”
• Butler ¡s big on drilling and technique
• Be deliberate in your practice and approach
• The strength and conditioning coach will drill the players in the offseason around techniques that the players will be executing all season (i.e. hedging a ball screen) “Deliberate conditioning”

6. Completion

• The importance of “finishing plays”
• Guys that really care and understand the concept of blocking out
• Butler teaches blocking out based on the individual personnel of their players
• Less mobile player’s responsibility is to keep the offensive player from getting the ball
• A more mobile player (with a nose for the ball) may just hit his man then pursue the ball.I will be posting the drills from the notes later in the week.

Here is a link to diagrams of his drills:  Basketball Drills

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for coaching basketball including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

These are some notes taken from Jim Tressel’s book “The Winners Manual.”  I received them from Steve Smiley who credited Dan Witter, high school coach in Wisconsin, for taking the notes.

If the game of life ended tonight, would you be a winner?

Everyone in program receives a winner’s manual each year. Always changing and adding things.

Tressel has learned from many different people, always shares what he learns with his staff.

Stresses goal setting with his teams.  www.thewinnersmanual.com for information about goals and a copy of their sheet.

Two Major goal areas:   1) Purpose  2) Goals

Purposes include: personal/family, spiritual/moral, caring/giving

Goals include: strength/fitness, football family, academics/career

Too many people define themselves by what they do and not who they are.

The task for all coaches is to see the sport in the context of their entire lives. Develop purpose.

There is a huge difference between inspiration and motivation.

Inspiration gets you thinking, Motivation gets you moving.

It is hard to get motivated if you don’t have a purpose.

Before you can become champions, you must master the things champions embody.

Attitude – Paradise is where I am.

Attitude is a choice.

Constantly talk to players about having an “attitude of gratitude.”

It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time.

“If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies within yourself” – Tecumseh

Has the team write letters to people they are grateful for.

“Nothing is worth more, than this day.” – Goethe

Your life is either a celebration or a chore. The choice is yours.

Graveyards are full of irreplaceable men.

There are three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say: “what happened?” Which one are you?

Discipline – today’s society sees discipline as a negative. Punishment. See it as something that is done to us. The reality is that discipline is something this for us, and helps us.

“You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days that you feel good.” – Jerry West

Do it right – Do it hard – Or do it again.

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.

Be your best where you are – Focus on the moment.

His best teams = everyone was fully present and in the moment. (Coaches included)

Excellence – It isn’t tough to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being good everyday. 

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.  

The #1 expectation at Ohio St. is to seek excellence in all phases of their lives.  

Our intentions are just as important as our performance in determining how we reach our potential.

Consistency is the true test of greatness

“If you heed your fears, you’ll die never knowing what a great person you might have been.”

Faith and Belief – Champions believe in themselves even if no one else does.

Faith is who you are. Belief is what you do with your faith.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“There can be no progress if people have no faith in tomorrow.” JFK

Work – “Work is love made visible”

Work is a lifelong pursuit. Grandfather was huge influence on work ethic.

Whatever you do, do it passionately. Failure is an event, NOT a person…

Every obstacle presents an opportunity. IF you are looking for it.

Always told team to relax. You are only a failure when you quit.

Believes that persistence is the key to success.

Great quote on toughness: “Everyone has a plan until they are hit.” Evander Holyfield

Handling Adversity and Success – There is no strength where there is no struggle.

Believes that great character is the culmination of when great pain and disappointment intersect a man with a teachable spirit.

Stresses taking advantage of adversity, rather than “dealing” with adversity.

If our attitude embraces learning and growing, then adversity will provide the stepping stone to success we desire.

Bill Gates: “Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.”

It’s a rough road that leads to heights of greatness.

Love – “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” MLK

Huge quote for them: Einstein – concern for man and his fate must form the chief interest of all technical endeavors… never forget that in your midst of your diagrams and equations.

To win championships you need 2 things. Love and Discipline. If the team loves one another they will not want to let one another down.

You don’t win tough games with talent. You win tough games with toughness. And the way you get tough is through love.

When you help someone up a hill you get that much closer to the top yourself.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Responsibility – The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.

Associate yourself with good men. Entire program has the “do what’s right” mentality.

With tradition comes responsibility. Constant reminder of what a privilege it is to play at Ohio St.

There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. Always want players aware of what is right.

Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.

All players are encouraged and pushed to live right, and to live with class.

Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.

Team – Try to forget yourself in the service of others. Work for others.

Tressel believes unselfishness is the greatest single quality of great teams

Every endeavor is a group journey. Must always play for more than just the guys on the field.

True success is achieved when our main concern is the good of others and building up the team.

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.

If you are open to being influenced, then you will be able to influence others. You must be willing to listen.

Hope – There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.

Hope is the concept of putting our faith to work.

Works to instill realistic hope in his players. Not based upon fantasy or wishful thinking. (lottery ticket)

When people are without hope they are susceptible to the naysayers and critics.

The confident will always search for a rewarding life.

St. another yard, but can still help in some way.

Tressel sees himself as a “dealer of hope” – wants to give hope to those around him and see great things happen to the people in his life.

Values leading by example, working hard, accountability, and showing people in the program he cares

Was very influenced by his father growing up. Was a coach, modeled what he values today.

Tressel has a servant mentality and his focus on giving really comes through in each section.

Winner’s manual was first developed at Youngstown State and he adds to it every year. Right now it is over 400 pages long.

He shares a lot of Wooden philosophies with personal development and building people. Role Modeling.

Click the link below to read random parts of the book on Amazon:

Winners Manual Excerpts

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coaching including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

These are some of the ideas that were contained in a past version of the Iona newsletter.  I really like these thoughts.

Notes from a clinic given by Kevin Eastman, Boston Celtics

1. 1. No excuses (we worked with the players to come up with their standard 11 excuses that they would use. We don’t tolerate them.)

1. Success Checks (team or business)

• Your PT/paycheck is your responsibility.
• You want to play (business: earn) more, bring more value.
• Stop worrying about playing/making more and focus on becoming more because if you bring value, the PT/money will find you.
• If you can do 1 thing and I can do that too along with 1 more thing, I play or I get the job.
• Big eyes, big ears, small mouth.Doc Rivers wants to know what every coach in every sport does.
• KG hounds Bill Russell with questions when he comes to town.
• The best want to know what the best does. By talking to them, we get the benefit of their success.

2.   Invest vs. Entitlement

• Young players desperately need to hear this: “YOU’RE ENTITLED TO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THIS GAME.”
• Turn entitlement to the power of investment
• How does Ray Allen invest in his success? Come to the arena 3 hours before a game and see Ray Allen’s shooting workout.
• How do players invest in their success? Practicing, talking to good players, watching film (their own), watching film (the best).

3.  The Power of the dash

• “When my father died everyone kept on talking about the 86 years he lived until. I realized that when people looked at his tombstone that read 1921-2007, they just simply didn’t get it. His life wasn’t about the 1921 nor was it about the 2007. It was about the dash.”
• When your time is done at the spot you’re at: will you leave a job or a legacy? If you ask yourself what you can do to leave a legacy, you’ll automatically make yourself better.
• Are you in your players’ top 3?  If your players were to name their 3 most impactful people in their lives, how many lists would you be on?
• Doc Rivers is maniacal about this.

        Thoughts from other coaches from the Iona newsletter:

• Roy Williams: Have your players write down 3 goals for the summer before they leave for break.  Meet with them in the fall ask them, “Did you do them?”
• Chuck Daly: Defenses don’t get beat on help, they get beat on recovery.
• Larry Shyatt:  Whether you’re playing man or zone, if your team has a habit of “We hit 1st”, you will have success rebounding.
• Don Meyer: Guards must keep their rear end to the ball during help. Fake at the ball and retreat. If we come open like that, we better be getting the ball (charge or trap).
• Mike Dunlap:  Penetration is a virus to all defenses.
• Don Meyer:  Your players tend to become what they believe you think they are.
• Larry Brown:  In offensive or defensive transition, our big’s job is simple: get ahead of the ball.
• Pete Gillen:   How good is their backup point guard? Can we steal a couple of points by pressing when he enters?
• Bear Bryant:  “The first time you quit, it’s hard. The second time, it gets easier. The 3rd time, you don’t even have to think about it.”
• Spencer Wood:  “You will never outperform your self-belief system.”

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coachingincluding basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills,basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

These are the priorities I have for our elementary and middle school coaches.  I hope there is a thought or two in there that you like regardless of what level you coach.

Priorities for Coaches Grades 5-8—in order of importance

1)      Treat the players right—give them a positive taste of Winamac Basketball

How we react to every performance sends a message to players.  A coach can respond to an action by a player in 4 ways.  Consider your intentions when you respond.

• Praise—usually will illicit more of the same behavior.  We must be careful that we continue to increase the performance level that receives praise.  We want high standards of performance.
• Redirection—“Coaching” or correction.  Working to adjust the actions.
• Reprimand—used for lack of effort or a behavior problem.
• Silence—open to interpretation, but usually interpreted as an acceptable performance by a player.

We get what we expect (plan and communicate), inspect (with feedback), and accept (standards).  It’s not what you teach, it’s what you EMPHASIZE by continually re-teaching and reviewing

2)       Show the participants examples of how to be successful in life and basketball.

Stress the importance of honesty, trust, enthusiasm, discipline, sportsmanship, dedication, reliability, teamwork, sacrifice, dependability, integrity, loyalty, and hard work.

We will be successful at the varsity level with players who:

• Take coaching and understand the need for discipline
• Love Basketball and appreciate hard work
• Dribble, Pass, and Shoot the ball proficiently
• Play very hard

3)      Teach fundamental basketball skills

Individual skills for the first 30 minutes of practice

Offensive skills take years of practice and repetition to develop, whereas defensive skills can be taught in a much shorter time.  This is due in large part to the fact that the offense plays with a ball and the defense plays without it.  It is important that our coaches with our younger players spend time each day working on these individual offensive skills.

4)      Prepare them to play our system

Be loyal to Winamac Basketball and follow the prescribed basketball program

5)      Winning basketball games is not the main focus.  Teaching each participant to do his best in all activities is.

A few Thoughts on Coaching Young Players

1. All coaches must put his or her ego aside and concentrate on making the basketball experience fun for the players while teaching them life and basketball skills.
2. Every player can make a definite contribution to team success, but in different ways.
3. “Coaching is about helping young people succeed.  There is no more awesome responsibility than that.”  Lou Holtz
4. Coach every kid as if they are equally important to the outcome of the games.
5. The players are forming opinions about themselves based on your actions and how you treat them.
6. Make sure to acknowledge the presence of each player in a positive way each practice.

The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coachingincluding basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills,basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!

The following list is a page from my planner that I read a couple of times a month to try to keep myself focused and to stay true to what I believe.   I put them together from various sources and from trying to think about and express in writing what I believe about a basketball program.   I also used them for interviews for jobs and to share with assistant coaches or potential assistants that I was interviewing.  If nothing else, I hope it gives you an idea to start your own list.

Gandhi said

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,Your words
become your actions,Your actions become
your habits,Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

I believe it is worth your time over the holiday break to spend some time putting your basketball coaching beliefs in writing to help you “walk your talk.”

I know that you won’t agree with all of these and that you probably have more and better ideas to add to mine, but I hope this serves to stimulate your thoughts.

1.   The program must have an overriding purpose which is clearly visible and which teaches lessons beyond basketball.

2.   We are not only striving to develop fine basketball players but fine citizens as well.

3.   All participants are representatives and ambassadors of  our High School and must attempt to create and leave a good impression wherever they are and wherever they go.

4.   A good basketball program helps students to be less self centered and more aware of others.

5.   The head coach must run the show and accept the responsibility when things do not go right.

6.   The head coach is accountable for the program.  If the coach isn’t in charge, then you don’t need a coach.

7.   You do the best you can to reach every participant, and make good decisions knowing that you can’t reach every participant or please everyone.

8.   The team will take on the personality of the coach.  He must lead by example.

9.   An intense, poised, and confident coach will be reflected on the floor by his players.

10. A coach gets what he expects, inspects, and accepts.

11. A team will not execute in games what it has not been prepared to execute by rehearsals in practice.

12. Coaches and players must have mutual respect for one another.

13. It is our (coaches) job.  It is their game.  The program should be fun for the participants.

14. You have to play very, very, very hard.

15. All players and coaches must always put team success ahead of individual success.

16. No one is indispensable to our program.

17. Every player can make a definite contribution to team success, but in different ways.

18. Team success often follows individual sacrifice.

19. No one likes to be criticized, but players must learn to accept constructive criticism.

20. When a player ceases to learn he starts downhill.

21. The coach must be demanding without being demeaning.

22. Discipline precedes team morale.

23. The three factors that have the greatest influence on winning are not turning the ball over, shot selection, and defense.

24. Our team determines the outcome of the game. There are always reasons for losses and poor playing – never excuses.  Victory with honor should be the goal of our team.

25. Defense and offense must flow together and be complimentary.

26. Our system should be easily adaptable to different opponents, to different levels within our program, to our personnel changes from year to year, and during games.

27. The spirit and morale of the reserves will influence those who are playing.  If a player can’t sit on the bench and root for the team at all times, he should sit in the stands.

28. The way to improve the team is to improve the individual.  Players, not plays win games.  The only way for an individual to improve is to work at an uncomfortable pace.

29. Every player must realize his limitations and play accordingly. We can help each and every player to improve his basketball abilities and those limitations.

30. Basketball is a game played with the hands, feet, head and heart and is a contact sport.  Each player must be willing to give up his body at times for the good of the team.

31. Basketball is a game of pressures and the successful players learn to adjust to these pressures.

32. We must respect all opponents but fear none.

33. There is a difference between a physical error of commission and a mental lapse.

34. A player should never relax on the floor.  Hustle and desire will sometimes compensate for ability.

35. A team that will talk on the floor in practice and in games will learn to work together.  A team is more than the sum of its parts.

36. Determination and practice preparation – not luck wins the “close ones.”  You learn, think and repeat in practice, so you can react correctly in games.

37. A participant’s goal should be to become the best basketball player he is capable of being and our team goal should be to become the best team we are capable of being.  It takes months of intense practice in and out of season to become a skilled basketball player.  You improve by competing against yourself, not your opponent.

38. Learning how to prepare to win is one of the most important lessons we teach.

39. There is a fine line between winning and losing in High School Basketball.  Much of this line is composed of GUTS determined by ATTITUDE, CONDITIONING, and DISCIPLINE.

40. Skill in performing fundamentals is acquired by habit.

41. Attitude is extremely important because ones “habit of thought”: will prevail in the heat of competition.

42. Discipline, toughness, and executing fundamentals are extremely important factors in most games.

43. Both individual and team fundamentals are taught by repetition with variety until they become habit.

44. Players must learn to play hurt but not injured.  We define hurt as pain or discomfort, and injured as a condition that may lead to more damage.

45. Many games are lost by players and coaches attempting to make plays that they are not capable of and failing.  We play within ourselves during games and push our limits so we can improve in practice.

46. I want to delegate as much as I can and use technology to free up as much time as possible to spend thinking about how to make our team and program better.  There are team management apps that allow you to have immediate access to player and parent contact information on your desktop workstation, tablet, or phone. However, there are other ways to make the job of managing your entire program easier as well. Team management tools, like TeamSnap, can also automate a lot of these processes for you to help you streamline communication with your entire program or club. In addition to letting you create, update and store a team roster, tools like TeamSnap let you see players’ availability for games and practices, assign responsibilities such as post game food or snacks, and keep track of who has paid their equipment fees, and completed their paperwork.