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Tuesday, September 1, 2026

What Coaches All Want - Establishing "Sustainable Competitive Advantage"

"The wind blows hardest at the top of the mountain." 

Winning is hard. That's why it's valued. 

NBA regular season win leaders for the past ten seasons:

RankTeamWinsGamesWin %
1Boston Celtics530800.663
2Denver Nuggets495801.618
3Milwaukee Bucks486801.607
4LA Clippers466800.583
5Golden State Warriors464793.585

Of course, NBA regular season wins don't necessarily translate to NBA titles, profits, or fan satisfaction. 

An owner's North Star could be profits, publicity, winning or some combination. 

Other levels lack the resources of professional sport. At these levels, coaches apply their own meaning. Winning matters in varsity sports and beyond. Nobody will convince me that winning is the Holy Grail if you coach U14s or U12s. That's the stuff of Springsteen's "Glory Days." 

What is sustainable competitive advantage?

It's consistent winning, not necessarily championships. Wooden didn't win a National Title at UCLA until his 16th season. Dean Smith won a championship in his 21st season at UNC. He said that even without having won a national title that he never felt like a loser. 

How do you get it?

There's an evolution underway. Our local girls' program won ten consecutive league titles including five undefeated regular seasons. That benefited from a coaching stability, a solid youth program, two players from the METCO program, health, and luck. 

Top players left the system for the Prep or Private school world. Wins have become much harder to come by. The strength of the volleyball program attracting elite athletes also mattered.  

Friction

Friction shows up amidst 'the discipline of execution' - the triad of people (coaches and players), strategy, and operations. 

Replacing coaches, changes in the youth program, and improvements in other programs also create friction.  

For years, Coach Ralph Labella and I offered off-season (May to September) twice weekly development sessions. That's history.  

Overcoming Friction

What are some ideas for returning a program to prominence? This is 'spitballing' not proven success.

  • A local coaching summit getting the best ideas from stakeholders, especially coaches in the system.
  • That could only take place in a "safe space" with no blame game attached, just curiosity and openness. 
  • A "campaign" to attract and retain players starting at a young age. 
  • Return to offseason development (who's invested?)
  • A couple of free coaching clinics with paid coaches brought in with booster club funds. 

The Pushback 

Ego is the enemy. Solving a problem requires diagnosis and treatment with "a starting over" approach without a postmortem examination on the past. Almost invariably, bruised feelings emerge, regardless of the intent. 

Without repeating the "talking dog" story, I don't see any of this happening. Happiness is being wrong. 

Lagniappe. Everyone loves a great back door cut. 

Lagniappe 2. What's on your checklist?  

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Monday, August 31, 2026

Basketball - "Learn Every Day"

Coach Nick Saban asked, "Are you spending your time or are you investing it?" 

Ordinary actions (reading, exercise, nutrition, thinking) create extraordinary growth. 

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Our attitude, choices, and effort define our progress. 

James Clear described a friend who writes three pages a day - resulting in publishing three books annually. 

Kobe Bryant took a thousand shots a day during his offseason, fashioning a top ten career. 

Larry Bird shot five hundred free throws daily before school and became one of three members in the 50/40/90 club along with Steve Nash and Kevin Durant...not too shabby for an OG. 

What's our learning framework for basketball or another sport?

Dr. Fergus Connolly favors:

  • Skill
  • Strategy
  • Physicality
  • Psychology
Boost skill with deliberate practice, ideally against competition. "Repetition makes reputations."

Enhance basketball IQ with reading, clinics, and video study. "Video is the truth machine." 

Become more physical with regular strength, conditioning, and recovery. "Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care." Remember that sport rewards athleticism. 

Raise your resilience with mental reps and a mindfulness practice. "Have you taken even one mindful breath today?" 

Commit to daily improvement...like Kevin Durant, who wakes and asks, "How do I get better today?"

Lagniappe. How do you warmup? 

 






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Sunday, August 30, 2026

Basketball - Mentoring

"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence."

Most of the time, mentoring gets "short shrift" in the big picture. Consider mentoring through history.

Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great. One of history's great thinkers influenced one of history's great doers.

Benjamin Franklin chose the arduous nine-year printing apprenticeship for exposure to voluminous writing on his journey to become a great communicator.

The entertainer Usher discussed mentoring in his MasterClass. He recommended studying your "mentor's mentors." He considered Michael Jackson a mentor, therefore recommending study of James Brown and Gene Kelly. 

Many here know that Phog Allen coached and mentored Dean Smith from 1949 to 1953. Fewer know that James Naismith mentored Phog Allen.

So it goes James Naismith -> Phog Allen -> Dean Smith

Develop a perspective on mentoring:

Many of us consider our high school coaches our first mentors. Pete Newell noted that copying your coach's system often results in "a poor reproduction of the original." 

Mentoring has complexity. John Wooden's father Joshua most shaped his development as a man, while Piggy Lambert, his Purdue coach, influenced his basketball thinking. Lambert emphasized speed, conditioning, passing and aggressive team basketball.

Steve Kerr includes mentoring in his big three influences of mentoring, mindset, and culture. Kerr is part of the Gregg Popovich coaching tree as a player, not as an assistant. 

Joe Mazzulla considers Brad Stevens a mentor. Mazzulla later described being allowed to interview for the Celtics head-coaching position in 2021,  although he wasn't ready -  as “a gift that [Stevens] gave me” because of what he learned from the process.

Mentors are transformational not transactional. The successful mentee eventually becomes unmistakably himself or herself.

Beyond "share something great," one of my core mentoring beliefs is, "make friends with the dead." Only about seven percent of people ever born are alive. That leaves a vast repository of "the departed" available to share, teach, and 'correct' our thinking. Using Artificial Intelligence allows us to have 'representative' conversations with them. 

Knowing the past helps us to understand the present. 

Even if we don't align with a coach or leader, that shouldn't prevent us from learning from them. 

Lagniappe. Every coach can benefit from understanding core concepts from Sun Tzu and his classic, "The Art of War." Most coaches develop familiarity with game concepts and strategies. Elite coaches understand not only technique and tactics but the psychology of leadership and coaching people. 


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Saturday, August 29, 2026

Basketball - Setting Standards

Everyone sets standards in our lives. For example, coaches have non-negotiable standards:

  • Punctuality - be on time for practice, the bus
  • Preparedness - know the playbook 
  • Conditioning - meet conditioning standards (set by coaches)
  • Academics - set individual and team goals - I was proud that our daughters' high school team had all six seniors earn Honor Roll selection
  • Behavior - teamwork, encouragement, social media, substances
Other intangible standards exist too:
  • Sleep (get eight hours minimum)
  • Hydration (athletes need more) - the first sign of dehydration is fatigue not thirst
  • Nutrition (e.g. protein) - 1.0 g/kg/day is a reasonable simple minimum target for an average high-school athlete, but I would teach 1.2–1.5 g/kg/day as a practical target for an athlete training regularly.
Coaches might set analytic targets for their teams as well:
  • No more than three transition hoops 
  • At least 75 percent defensive rebounding percentage
  • Kills (three consecutive stops) seven per half
  • Turnovers (depends on level)... reinforce that they are "zero percent possessions" and live-ball turnovers become high points/possession for opponents
  • Winning quarters. My coach, Ellis Lane, believed that winning quarters led to winning games. That helped him into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. 
Lagniappe. Coach DeMarco shares what he calls "Green Light, Red Light shooting." It's a high volume, timed shooting drill. 

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Friday, August 28, 2026

Basketball - Guiding Principles

"More like a guideline than a rule…" - Pirates of the Caribbean 

Hubris, thy name is coaching. It takes remarkable hubris to believe that my way is the best way. Coaching is adjustment…or at times, no adjustment.

Everyone finds principles that work for them. 

1. “Do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.” 

2. “Fall in love with easy…especially finding ‘easy’ shots.” The more we ask players to remember, the less likely they'll remember everything. 

3. With superior talent, “the game is meant to be played fast.” Wooden's quote worked for him because he had great talent. 

4. “Win this possession…over and over.” If you could play a game of chance and win $1.50 for heads and lose $1.00 for tails. You should play this game as hard as you can because of favorable expectancy. 

5. Find or develop possession enders, the players who get “scores and stops.” If you’re not an offensive player, you better be a rebounder or a stopper. As Geno Auriemma says, "You have to contribute something." 

6. Getting your defense set shifts advantage towards you. Another great reason to stop transition.

7. Have a reliable inbounder. Failure to do so will bite you in a key moment. 

8. Train ball security. Turnovers are zero percent possessions.

9. The quickest path to improvement runs through shot selection.

10.Team reading - Jay Bilas’s Toughness - make it mandatory. "It's not your shot, it's our shot."

11.”Stamp out bad basketball” including selfishness, softness, and sloth.

12.Get everyone on the same page. Failure to do so will cost us at the biggest moment.

13.Sacrifice - shared vision, shared mission, shared work.

14.Everyone has value. Disallow “kiss up” and “kick down.”

15.Learn to play at different tempos because you can’t always control tempo...plus adjust tempo (play slower to shorten the game and faster to lengthen it.

Lagniappe. All closeouts are not equal. 
Lagniappe 2. "Purpose gets bigger than ego." 





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Thursday, August 27, 2026

Basketball - How Objective Are Our Evaluations?

Most people 'think' they evaluate players objectively. When we hear "performance improvement plan," most people think 'sub-par performance'.

Consultant Dave Kline looks at this differently. "17 leaders scored the same employee. 7 said below expectations. 6 said at. 4 said above. Here's what their disagreement actually revealed."

Immediately, you might think, "what does this have to do with basketball?"

In Kline's analysis, evaluators assessed employees on three dimensions:

  • Volume
  • Quality
  • Cost
If you're selling T-shirts, a quality reduction with enhanced volume and stable cost might win. In healthcare, quality reductions might mean lives lost. A low-quality surgeon or nurse gets cut.

In basketball, we seen lists of "Top Players" or "MVP candidates" all the time. Based on what or based on "the eyeball test?"
  • Wins above replacement
  • Individual offensive metrics
  • Individual defensive metrics
  • Team offense
  • Team defense
I remember reading a local paper about a high school game. "So-and-so" led her team with ten points. It didn't say that she had seven turnovers or played abysmal defense or that it took her 15 shots to get ten points. One might infer that "So-and-so" was star of the game. That wasn't reality.

As an evaluator, want to evaluate a player on her ability to improve the team, to improve players around you, and to impact winning. Those three parameters, per se, are not specific.

Back in the day, I modified Lee Rose's system and used it to track performance...calling it the RPS (Ratings Performance System). It rewarded possessions and efficiency. By no means does it capture everything that happens, especially defensively.

Kline adds context:

Written expectations. Specific measures. A defined bar for success. A scheduled review cadence. A record of what changed and when.

You just put every person on that team on a performance improvement plan. In January. Before anyone was failing. And no one even realized it.

We don't hold sportswriters, columnists, and broadcasters to those standards. And bloggers? It's the Wild West.

Tracking team turnovers and team shooting percentage for middle schoolers reduced turnovers and bad shots. We never reported individual stats, but players knew they were accountable.

Former Bill Belichick assistant Ernie Adams kept a sign on his desk, "STAMP OUT BAD FOOTBALL." The point was clear - bad football loses games and the NFL is a "bottom line" business.

The next time we read "MVP candidates," at the very least we might ask, "says who" and "by what criteria?"

Lagniappe. Matching players to our needs.




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Wednesday, August 26, 2026

More Basketball and Chess

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 What everyday lessons does the game teach us? 

1. Don't be in a hurry to win.

An ill-conceived strategy (e.g. coming out pressing with inferior talent) can expose our limitations before impacting our opponent. Coaches have to read the game, too. 

2. Protect your king. 

Many games are lost not won because of ill-constructed defenses. Exceptional teams invariably balance excellent defenses to complement strong attack. 

3. A pawn can become a queen.

Each player has strategic value and deserves special consideration. That could be on a "press team" or creating a matchup on defense. 

4. The pieces work together.

You cannot win with just a "strong bishop" or a "powerful knight." As in Misaeng, a piece that "has not come into play" can change the game. Work to become that piece.

5. Learn from and love our losses. 

Every loss teaches us lessons if we are curious, open, and thoughtful. 

6. Don't believe you're "the smartest guy in the room." 

Chess taught us that machines (e.g. Deep Blue) could defeat the strongest play. It also taught us that the combination of "man and machine" in Centaur Chess could produce even greater strength. Don't ignore or belittle technology. It is here to help us. 

7. Be on the lookout. 

Watch how our thoughts become words, words become actions, and actions become habits. "Begin with the end in mind" - creating better habits results in better versions of ourselves. 

Lagniappe. Every program benefits from developing its language. 

Lagniappe 2. Develop your 'special situations' practice list. 

 

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Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Basketball - Lessons I'd Share with Parents

Being a sports parent isn't easy and there's no "secret sauce" to it. Here are ten lessons that might reduce "hate and discontent."

1. "I get it." In Star Trek, the Prime Directive was non-interference with developing civilizations. Parents' Prime Directive is "the well-being of my child comes first." That includes the "Holy Triad" of minutes, role, and recognition. 

Years ago, the Boston Herald Coach of the Decade got lambasted by parents because some felt that she didn't do enough to promote their child. Four state championships and regular articles about their program weren't enough. No coach is immune. 

2. "The players make out the lineup." In 2004, we (parents) attended the AAU Nationals at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. Our twin daughters were in the bottom 25 percent of players. There's no shame in the truth, they were solid players playing amidst many excellent and some exceptional players. The best players played more. That's generally how it works. 

3. Hard conversations always involve at least two adults. That doesn't eliminate the chance of "misinterpretation" of the conversation. For example, if a coach says "you need to increase your defensive effort" that doesn't mean, "Coach says 'I stink'." 

4. An abundance of politics inhabits coaching. Strongly advise all coaches and sports parents to read Carl Pierson's "The Politics of Coaching." 

5. Let parents and players know that you are a networking resource although that to maintain credibility, you will tell the truth about players. Nothing I ever told a coach ever earned them a scholarship. However, a letter I wrote to a Congresswoman helped a player get a nomination to a service academy. 

6. I will never discuss a player on the team with the parent who wants to say, "Well, my daughter should be playing ahead of so-and-so." One of the reasons I had a total transparency policy was that if parents came to practice, they'd see who could play best and where their child fit in. As Erik Spoelstra said, "There is always a pecking order." 

7. "I'm here to help." I held twice weekly offseason (late May through September) skill development sessions. Not many players attended, which is fine. The one who came the most benefited the most and she's still playing in the Atlantic-10 on scholarship. 

8. It's about the experience. "Never be a child's last coach." I encouraged players to approach the transition to high school as an opportunity to compete for a chance to contribute. I didn't tell players who were less skilled that they had a chance to be an immediate contributor, just to keep working. 

If you're unhappy with the experience, then diplomatically let the coach know the often legitimate reasons. Most coaches won't discuss strategy or the game results until there's a cooling off period. "Sleep on it." 

9. Coaches have favorites. We like players who work hard, compete, follow directions (coachability), absorb the information, and function as good teammates. I've had excellent players who also excelled academically and academically exceptional students who struggled on the court. But they struggled because they put in the effort and didn't always get the results they wanted. I respect those kids a lot. 

10.It's a calling. I was a volunteer who invested time, resources (entered teams into preseason tournaments, catered breakup dinners), and some networking (e.g. with area media) to serve the players. Coaches aren't seeking fame or fortune. Most want to help your children succeed and see them become more. 

Lagniappe. Excellence. 


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Monday, August 24, 2026

Basketball - Take Advantage of Constraints

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The court is our laboratory, our world where we define the rules. Constraints are invaluable. 

Constraints are not new. In 1973 after a devastating loss, we practiced five versus seven, full court press break, no dribble, until we couldn't be pressed. 

It was one form of "advantage-disadvantage" practice. Constraints can include many alternatives:

  • Must score in the paint
  • Must score outside the paint
  • Practice with shot selection scoring (Dean Smith)
  • Advantage-disadvantage (classical Bob Knight)
  • Offense must have paint touch and ball reversal before shots (Kirby Scheff)

Other 'conventional' approaches:

  • Scrimmage winner must "confirm victory" with a made free throw
  • Defense must get a stop to get off the floor
  • Shooting practice with time constraints (for target number of makes)
  • Shooting must make consecutive shots to advance to next spot
  • Dribble tag within the arc (can add constraints like non-dominant hand dribbling)

Potentially useful constraints:

  • Reduced spacing (e.g. 3-on-3 inside the split)
  • Adding defenders in the half court 
  • Time and score practice with variable time on clock, with or without timeouts
  • Time and score practice, e.g. trail by six, 90 seconds remaining, etc.
Constraints amplify the theme of making practice hard so that games are easier. 

Lagniappe. Coach Lync suggests "toughness practices" 

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Sunday, August 23, 2026

Basketball - Coaching, Coffee Makers, and Chess

Coaches are coffee makers. 

Coaches don't grow the beans. We find and refine them - grinding and filtering. Some excel at grinding and others at filtering. 

What beans can you harvest?

How do you roast and grind them? 

How does the refined, filtered, and presented product taste?


Some coaches have special expertise at finding the beans (Jerry Tarkanian).

Others excel at the roasting and grinding (e.g. Drew Hanlen, Chris Brickley, Don Kelbick).

Filters foster a different skill - ones often celebrated - Bee, McLendon, Wooden, Newell, Auerbach, Smith, Knight, Auriemma, Summitt, Krzyzewski, Jackson, and more.

Authors can describe the entirety of the process yet cannot do so without attribution to the history of the game. 

  • Sometimes we focus on the beans
  • Sometimes we focus on the grind
  • Sometimes we focus on the filtration 
If you want a great cup of coffee, you need to understand and standardize the process. 

Everyone won't agree on the quality of the beans, the grind, or the refinement. But most relish a great cup of coffee. 

Imagining that "any idiot" can find a bean, roast and grind it, and prepare it to perfection makes as much sense as "any idiot with a whistle can coach." 

Lagniappe. Protect your kings. Understand and promote pieces working together. Know that a pawn can become a queen. Love and learn from our losses. 

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Saturday, August 22, 2026

Basketball - "I Love Practice"

Summary: "Be your best, daily, at practice with maximum focus and attention to detail." 

Be prepared and conditioned. In December 1972, we had practice at six P.M. Normally my father gave me a ride at 5:30. No Dad. No cellphone comms. 5:40 and two miles to the gym. I grabbed my gym bag and ran to practice and arrived a few minutes early. And then practiced... 

That's the kind of conditioning we had. Nothing heroic. Show up on time. 

There's a saying that contemporary kids are "car athletes," kids arrive by car. If that's true, it's because we made it so. 

Create your practice truths:

1. Show up on time, ready to go. 

2. Make everything impact winning. 

3. EVERY SECOND COUNTS. 


4. Condition with a ball. We 'warmed up' to start practice with five minutes of jumping rope. I've never been in better shape. 

5. "Every day is player improvement day." 

6. Compete for your teammates not against your teammates. 

Every practice we had four rounds of ten free throws (tracked). At the end of the day, the winner had a shootoff with the coach to limit sprints. It usually took 38 or more to win. 

In the 1973 Sectional Finals in Boston Garden against the defending State Champion, we went 10/10 in the fourth quarter to force overtime. At least as I remember it. It's been awhile. 

7. Be a great teammate. 

8. Find opportunities to lead. Lead the drill, communicate, model excellence. 

9. The court is your laboratory - an extension of home and the classroom. Never miss an opportunity for teachable moments. 

10.Love practice and share that love with your team. 

Enjoy the ride. 

Lagniappe. BOBs worthy of study. 

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