Younger players need definitions. Twelve-year olds don't understand accountability. Get feedback and give feedback in a "performance-focused, feedback-rich" environment.
"The magic is in the work." We can give more. Excellent players understand that achievement has no shortcuts. Ben Franklin chose a nine-year apprenticeship (printing) to develop his craft (writing).
"Do more to become more; become more to do more." In Relentless, Tim S. Grover chronicles what it takes, and guys who paid the price (Kobe, D-Wade) to become champions.
"Win this possession." Live in the moment; play in the moment. Many players concern themselves with their vision of winning. Great players do whatever it takes to succeed this possession. Brad Stevens reminds, “I just wanted to play with a real purpose possession to possession..."
"Don't cheat the drill." Coaches see everything. Gregg Popovich says you must "pound the rock." You have to keep hitting it until it breaks.
"Be accountable to your teammates." Accountability means holding yourself and your team to high standards. Kobe Bryant became a great shooter with a thousand makes a day for a hundred days each summer...a hundred thousand makes, that nobody saw.
"Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson Share by communicating, by moving without the ball, by help and recovery, by moving without the ball, passing unselfishly, setting great screens.
"Be easy to play with and hard to play against." What makes a player difficult to play against? Physical and mental toughness, conditioning and grit, define you.
"The game honors toughness." Toughness means playing the right way. Toughness means not taking plays off. Urban Meyer says, "A to B, 4 to 6." You go from point A to point B, in 4 to 6 seconds.
"The most powerful voice is the one in our head." Work hard to earn your own positive messages. Your identity emerges from your work.
"How you play reflects how you live." Play with purpose, fully engaged, relentlessly. Let your play speak for you.
