WInning Basketball as a Habit

Sean McVay said, “Winning is a habit; let’s make it ours.”

I love that.

Winning isn’t just game day. It’s how you prepare, respond, compete, and show up every day.

So what habits make winning possible?

Here are the 6 Habits of Winners.

1. Keep Stacking Days
Winners show up… pic.twitter.com/QcyRU3Uts6

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) October 2, 2026

Winning intoxicates us. Winning can become as addictive as any drug. 

Addiction

"Addiction is a chronic condition with compulsive substance use or behavior that persists,  driven by changes in the brain’s reward systems." The core characteristics include: 

• inability to stop
• loss of control
• intense disruptive cravings

Addiction in Basketball

Sport-related addiction inhabits the grey area. Olympic wrestling champion Dan Gable was known for his compulsive training routines. In "Relentless" author Tim S. Grover described Kobe Bryant's workouts. What 'habits' contribute as 'addictive' behavior. 

• Compulsive skill development
• Physical training that borders on unhealthy (overuse injuries)
• Film study
• Psychological development 
• Distraction from life balance - neglect of family, academics, social life

We celebrate athletes whose work ethic approaches obsession. Kobe Bryant's countless hours spent studying film, developing skills, and pursuing competitive advantages.

At what point does dedication become dependence?

The answer isn't necessarily found in the number of hours worked. It's found in the consequences.

Does training improve performance or produce injury? Does preparation build confidence or create anxiety? Does a pursuit of achievement enrich life or consume it?

What happens when we become addicted to the outcome instead of committed to the process?

Winning intoxicates. Losing distresses. The danger comes when our self-worth becomes dependent upon the scoreboard. We chase another win, another championship, another honor.

And sometimes the satisfaction doesn't last. Joe Mazzulla said that it's not as much fun as it looks. 

The trophy goes on a shelf. Tomorrow demands another victory. There's another way.

Winning Process

Become committed to the habits that make winning possible. Show up. Prepare. Practice deliberately. Compete intelligently with sportsmanship. Support teammates. Recover.

Do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

Make winning a possible consequence of our behavior, not the sole purpose. "The score takes care of itself." 

Develop habits worth keeping, whether we win or lose.

Lagniappe. Coach Nakase reminds us to listen to our players. 

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Listen to Coaches Postgame

Basketball informs the public domain. Secrets don't exist. NBA coaches have enormous experience and share what makes a difference. Joe Mazzulla is typical.

Some themes recur. Coaches emphasize what creates advantage and what mistakes need elimination. 

"Be physical at the point of attack." Disrupt the ballhandler-screener relationship...physicality in the league continues to grow." Finding balance will always plague rule-makers and enforcers.  

"...pace the entire game" (Chicago). "Defended transitions very well...most of our turnovers were dead ball." Surrender few high points per possession chances. Having a set defense matters at every level. 

"...bunch of possessions you need to get better at. Mazzulla emphasizes what you all know - "basketball is a game of mistakes." 

"...live ball turnovers, offensive rebounding, fouling" (allowed Celtics to pull away). Avoiding mistakes translates. "Stops make runs." Last night analyst Brian Scalabrine emphasized that even while playing fast, holding turnovers below 15 shoud be doable. 

"...identity at what we're trying to have" (bench strength) During the game in question, the front end of a back-to-back, reserves ate up a lot of minutes, scoring 75 points. The Celtics barely survived the back end, partially from poor decision-making regarding fouling. 

"I don't consider those 'heat checks' for him" (Pritchard) The superior offensive player makes more shots and gets more leeway regarding shot selection. 

"We have to flourish all 48 minutes." (non-Jayson Tatum minutes) During a long season, guys miss time with injuries, illness, and load management. Finding ways to impact the game without "set lineups" is part of the territory. 

"...having different identities and lineups that can impact the game." Last season the Celtics played at one of the slowest paces in the league. Having traded Jaylen Brown, the Celtics will need to find new and different ways to win. 

I need to make more consistent effort to listen to coaches around the NBA. 

Lagniappe. How do experienced coaches differ 'objectively' during research. They see more, see faster, make decisions more quickly and more accurately. Young coaches statistically don't do as well. 

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Basketball - "The Monday Bench"

Find good ideas. Good ideas simplify the world or change lives. Some past examples:

Basketball good ideas:

• If possible save three timeouts for the final four minutes (Dean Smith)
• "Never be a child's last coach." (How does it feel to be coached by me?)
• Line up players one through five on the bench during timeouts.

Personal/group good ideas:

• The Jar of Awesome
• The Empty Chair
• Commonplace Book

Reading widely exposes us to wisdom. 

Follow this thread. 

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Personal issues impact player performance - home, relationships, academics, money, mental health. The longer you coach, the bigger the problems you'll hear. 

Coaches won't have answers for every problem. We can direct players to other resources. "What if" or "have you thought about?" 

Become an empathetic listener for players. The Monday Bench formalizes the process. 

Lagniappe. Chris Fowler shares insights about coaching. 

This is one of the most powerful videos I’ve seen about coaching. Chris Fowler nails how hard this profession can be: “Coaching is a calling more than a profession. You have to have what it takes to pour yourself into others.” https://t.co/2jcxJCh6uK

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) August 23, 2026

Basketball - The White Belt

A fortunate life offers choices - approach each day with confidence or with curiosity. What can I learn today?

Clint Hurdle discusses the paradox of the white belt - humbly indicating "you know nothing" or embracing the challenge of learning.

This theme recurs in Asian culture:

"Chop wood, carry water."

Regardless of success or failure, do the work. Stick to the basics. Repeat the 'boring' fundamentals. The science tells us that repetition strengthens the speed and accuracy of neural pathways. It's not "muscle memory" but "myelin memory." 

"Empty your cup." 

Learning implies openness, a willingness to add to our metaphorical cup of knowledge. Watch video looking for evidence. Is a team doing more of what works and less of what doesn't? What hard-to-defend actions manifest or don't appear? 

A simple test examines whether and how a team runs and defends ball screens. If it's good enough for professional basketball, why does a high school team ignore it? 

"Beginner's mind."

Shunryu Suzuki, the author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, wrote, "In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few." He elaborates, "If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything." 

Celebrate childlike curiosity instead of worshipping the arrogance of authority. 

Decades ago a colleague told me, "When I was a trainee, you told me to learn five things every day." And soon, I began to accumulate knowledge. 

Don't be a know it all; become a learn it all.

Warren Buffett's partner, Charlie Munger said, “In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time—none, zero.” 

Socrates famously said, "I know that I know nothing." 

Winners are trackers. Don Meyer kept three notebooks each year - one for general knowledge, one for basketball, and a gratitude journal for his wife. 

"Be curious, not judgmental." 

Lagniappe. Summary slide

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basketball - Spotting Character

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Win with character and competence.

Nobody wins without coaching, player, and team competence. As Coach K would say, "Basketball is about making plays, not running plays."

Teams benefit from players who are "force multipliers." Those players don't have to be the "most talented," but they catalyze actions:

• Toughness
• Unselfishness
• Work ethic 
• Communication
• Competitive spirit

Teams need those "glue guys" or "captains" with presence. 

Toughness

The sine qua non 'toughness' reference is Jay Bilas's "Toughness" which followed his Sports Illustrated piece. Every player should get a copy. 

Unselfishness

Phil Jackson said, "Basketball is sharing," arguably the greatest hoop quote ever. Sometimes unselfishness appears in the Hoosiers style (Jimmy Chitwood playing Bobby Plump) action. More often it manifests as willing passing, shot selection, hitting the floor, playing both ends of the floor, sacrificing for the team. 

Work Ethic

 Do what you have to do when you don't want to, so you get to do what you want to do later. "Repetitions make reputations." Every successful player and coach is a worker. 

Communication

Organize our thoughts. Tell people what we're going to say, say it, then review what we said. Be specific. Get everyone on the same page, buying in, giving and getting feedback. The 'worst losses' come from failed communication. 

Competitive Spirit

When a team develops as many players committed to success as their coach, special can happen. Competitors connect with their teammates and the fans. They are ordinary people who help others make the extraordinary happen. The LeBron "chase down block" or the Bird-Jordan-Magic era exploits of winners. 

Wooden placed TEAM SPIRIT as one of his 'central row' elements.

Nobody says to fill the team with character alone, necessary but not sufficient. Neglect it at our peril. 

Lagniappe. When I coached 12-14s, I avoided drills that I thought had "higher probability" of causing injury. Everyone doesn't feel the same way or says, "Anything can cause injury." They're right. 

Many coaches on Twitter hate this drill, but we do it every single day. Here’s why: 1. It sets the culture immediately. We once had a recruit watch practice, and after seeing this at the end of warmups he said, “Wow, you guys love defense here.” Exactly. Within the first five minutes of practice, our players know what matters to us, and anyone watching knows too. 2. It creates a standard. A lot of players are more physically capable than they realize, but hesitation gets in the way. When diving on the floor is something you only ask for in a big moment, it feels like a big moment. When you do it every day, it becomes normal. Winning the floor stops feeling heroic and starts feeling expected. De-sensitization is a big part of hustle, 50/50 and toughness. 3. It creates energy. Everyone is moving, yelling, reacting and doing it together. The gym gets loud early, and I’ve always believed the energy you start practice with has a way of bleeding into everything that follows. For 30 seconds, that is a pretty good return. 4. It gives us a small daily dose of movement work. We mix in foot fire, lateral slides and different movement patterns. Is 30 seconds going to transform someone’s agility? No. But small doses repeated every day add up and there is a reaction element to the drill, one leads and all other react. 5. It develops leadership. A different player leads the drill every day, which gives everyone a chance to use their voice, set the standard and take some ownership over the defensive culture instead of everything always coming from the coaches. Is this drill going to magically create a great defensive team? Of course not. But if you can give me many better ways to spend 30 seconds while reinforcing culture, toughness, energy, movement and leadership, I’m listening. Until then, we’ll keep doing it.

— Mike Jagacki (@Mike_Jagacki) September 21, 2026

 

 

 

 

Coaching - A Relationships Business

A saying exists, "Network to get work." Effective coaching sets a higher standard.

Help others build character and competence.

"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Coaches matter because they model the behavior and actions needed for growth.

Put relationships first.

"How does it feel to be coached by me?" Do the work needed to help players "see the game" and excel in a team environment. Make gratitude to the players a priority. 

Put the person above the player. 

Add value to get buy-in.

Make the "player experience" meaningful. Provide an improvement structure:

• Skill building - "Every day is player development day." 
• Strategy - Sport-specific IQ means "eyes open to possibility"
• Physicality - "Sport rewards athletic explosiveness."
  
• Psychology - Raise resilience and 'the mental game'

Seek contribution not validation.

Developing our process defines us as transformational not transactional. Coaches become more than identity. "Leaders make leaders." The work must stand for more than wins and losses. 

Find balance.

Changing lives includes our own. Pursuing victory and excellence can extract personal costs among family, physical, and mental health. Taking care of others requires that coaches take care of themselves. 

Coaches change lives, both others' and their own. Craft a career to ensure that the change is for the better. 

Lagniappe. Take care of your shoulders. 

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Study the Game - WNBA Finals Teaching Clips

Postup position informs "homeless" (outside), "renter" (block), and homeowner (lane). Angel Reese is a homeowner. 

"Basketball is a game of separation." Then, "eyes make layups." 

Catch, face up and attack the "open gate." One dribble move by Reese.

 

"Gravity" creates opportunity. Reese ghost screen draws a tag, opening a pass for a three-pointer. Not a screen assist, but "silent" contribution from Reese. 

Trailer into three...Reese went 2-2 from beyond the arc. 

"Live-ball turnovers" convert into high "points per possession" offense. 

Watch how the shooter gets open...it's a Reese screen that pins the defender. Playing without the ball often doesn't get respect. 

"Draw 2" or "penetrate and pass" or "drive and dish." Do you allow help off the filled corner? 

"Fall in love with easy." Separate and finish. Williams goes Hesi 101 and finishes with an extended layup. 

Player development...teach players to finish with either hand off either foot from either side of the rim. 

Respect power, speed, strength, and skill in the DPoY... 

Saban - Part 2

"Evolution"

Most coaches commit to personal growth. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Mentoring comes in different forms. Make friends with the dead to learn methods from Wooden, Newell, Knight, McLendon and others. Study coaches in other sports - Jack Clark in rugby, Scotty Bowman in hockey, and Nick Saban in football. 

Exceptional coaches lead, teach, inspire. The ESPN series, "Saban," exposes Saban's approach as he crafted a journey not just about winning, but helping players to succeed in life

Be more transformational than transactional

"Tough love"...to help them be better

"Harder than I thought..."

"I was trying to build a program..." not thinking National Championship

The Evolution 

MSU reneged about a contract promise to him...so he left. He gave them a chance to fulfill the contract and they said, "Nobody cares..." They lost him over $100,000. 

Family Support 

He relied on his wife, Miss Terry. "She's always made me better." A confidant said, "She is warm, friendly, courteous...but I wouldn't mess with her." 

His wife was the advance to LSU. Nothing was great...except she told Nick, "They have some damn good looking players in the weight room."  

"Nick Saban wasn't Nick Saban then."

The less program infrastructure in place, "It only takes that much more to do it right."

After a loss, "FOR SALE" signs appeared in his yard. Saban understood adding value. No academic center meant a low graduation rate. "We should be creating value for people..." He delivered. 

Part of his recruiting pitch to instate recruits who were leaving, "Don't make a 4-year decision, make a 40-year decision."

Alabama 

"We're gonna put a fence around Alabama...reputation as a recruiter was supreme." The obvious analogy for other levels becomes, "keep your kids home." If you're not recruiting your own, you will fail. 

NCAA put in "Saban Rule" to limit recruiting (he was using a helicopter and making multiple contacts daily. 

Saban got the "we have to have him" guys, like Julio Jones. "We got 'em all." Saban's advice, "Are you going to focus on your vision or your circumstance?"

Alphas 

He got the difference makers, players who cared about greatness and winning. Rolando McClain, "Now I have the right to have a voice." Players got the message. "How do you want to be remembered?" - McClain

Your culture includes everything - your family, assistants, administration support, facilities, community, and more.

Nobody wins without talent. Nobody succeeds without surrounding themselves with great people. Saban lived "creature of habit" existence, leaving nothing to chance. 

From the Monte Burke unauthorized bio, Saban woke at six and was in the office by seven. He had a turkey sandwich at noon sharp. He was the same guy every day - focused, relentless, driven to win. 

Lagniappe. Cutting film. 

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Basketball - The Saban Standard

*Abstracted from ESPN's "Saban" Docuseries

Coaching is coaching. The sports, the players, the locations differ. The principles overlap. 

"Don't win a championship; be a champion."

"Driven to make ordinary people do extraordinary things." - Nick Saban

"It takes what it takes...and you make yourself do it."

The Process 

Polarizing - "I know you all think I'm crazy." 

• Commitment
• Effort 
• Discipline
• Motivation 
• Pride

"The shepherd has come to lead the flock..." 

Miss Terri (his wife) said, "You are better in college..."

Spring game 2007 attended by 95,000 people. 

It Is Never Easy

"What people didn't realize were the underlying issues..." - Saban (infrastructure rebuild)

"Are you always that intense?" Saban says, "I'm the same every day." 

Concern over "lack of character" and "lack of discipline;" It took 26 tries to run "10 perfect 10s" (ten yard sprints). 

"I don't think they knew what it needed to be good." 

"This is the standard; buy in or to opt out." What it takes, "What do you have to do to get where you want to go?" 

"It's about playing one play at a time...just play the next play."

"Difficult to get people to focus on the process..."

A Shift in Focus

"At Michigan State I was a transactional leader..." (outcome based)

"You want your team to play to its full potential...if...not...why is that?"

Don't make criticism personal...Saban fought to overcome his bias against sports psychology. "It's only gonna be terrible if you think about the score." He learned to embrace psychology. 

Each play lasts about six seconds. Dr. Rosen (Sports Psychology at Michigan State) said, "Give them six seconds of hell." 

Before the OSU game, he changed his attitude..."Don't be distracted by the scoreboard." MSU trailed Ohio State 24-3 and rallied to win 28-24...one play at a time. 

"You don't focus on what you want to accomplish...focus on what you have to do; the process is focusing on the task at hand..." 

Create Expectations

"Do you have the discipline to execute the right thing, the right time, the right way, all the time?"

"Being demanding is not necessarily being negative." 

"What's the standard you want to be...I'm holding you to it." 

"No blinking lights..." (No distractions)

Summary:

Do we know what it takes to be good?

Are we willing to meet that standard? 

Are we willing to do what it takes every day?   

Understanding the Game

"He-puts himself in the man's place-having first gauged his intelligence. And then-he tries to imagine, how himself would have proceeded in similar circumstances." - Dr. Watson in The Musgrave Ritual 

Improve by watching video and games, putting ourself in the position of the coach. Mental reps count for coaches, too. 

Brad Stevens reviewed over a thousand late game situations to develop his play calling. 

Understand the Situation

Know the time and score, the strengths and weaknesses of our team and opponents. Many coaches have a "play sheet" of situations which indicates preparation. For example, up three without the ball and inside ten sections, do you foul? 

Coach Mike Neighbors advised having "best" plays against man, against zone, in BOB, SLOB, and ATO situations.  

Weigh the Options 

Facing a strong coach with a good team, we had to defend an ATO. I thought they would run a high ball screen with a strong point guard. I told our team to anticipate the PnR and to trap the ball handler coming off the screen. The decision and execution prevented a shot. 

At higher levels, the skill and execution level of offenses allows for far more variability.  

Consider Pros and Cons

Analytics vary by level. Don't apply NBA stats to high school basketball. The individual matchups may mean far more than "predictive value for points per possession" for postups. 

A player commits multiple fouls early. Can she play with fouls or should she be subbed out? 

What is our team experience with ATOs or other special situations? Do we have sustainable competitive advantage via players and preparation?  

Make the Mental Decision

Real time, make our "mental rep," watch the coach's choice, and see the result. 

Closing the loop, track our decisions in a "journal" and examine them at our leisure. 

Nothing replaces experience and 'the practice of coaching'. Simulate "real coaching" with low stakes decision-making. 

Lagniappe. Build better habits. 

I’m in love with this sentence: “Your future is shaped by the habits you repeat, not the goals you set.”

— Reads with Ravi (@readswithravi) October 17, 2026

 

 

One Word Changed Everything for this NBA Coach

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Coaches lead, teach, and organize. Most of all they model excellence. 

Just as we want our teams to be worthy, set standards for ourselves. 

The Celtics' Joe Mazzulla said the word that got his attention was "Dad," as Deuce called for Jayson Tatum.

Positivity. No one shapes a positive life from a negative attitude.

Enthusiasm. Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm. 

Values. Teams' play should reflect shared values - competitiveness, preparation, unselfishness, unity, resilience, gratitude, sportsmanship, humility. 

Excellence. Bring the best version of ourselves at home, school, work, and play. 

Consistency. Bring the same attitude, quality decisions, and effort daily. Dad had a saying, "Street angels, house devils." Don't. 

What do these share? They mirror The Fourth Agreement, "Always do your best." Fans respect a team that reveals the character of their community.

Lagniappe. Watch "Saban."  

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