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Saturday, March 14, 2026

Pillars for Basketball Coaching Success

Players are fortunate to learn under great coaches, directly as a player or assistant, or indirectly from reading, clinics, video, and more. 

Relationships flow from communication, listening, respect, and trust

Basketball - It's an earned privilege to maintain lifelong relationships with former coaches, teammates, and players. "Be a mentor, not a tormentor." 

Lifelong learning offers a "Be a learn it all mindset." Then be an editor -  think about what you have learned and rewrite it in a journal or blog. Use AI in your journey. 

Basketball - Name, define, research, and refine the problem. That's the Feynman Technique. 

Humility allows us to learn from everyone and to learn from defeats. Share credit and be open to new information. 

Basketball - Be gracious in victory and humble in defeat. What goes around comes around. 

"Make friends with the dead" as only about seven percent of all humans born are living. 

Basketball - Study great coaches from the past - Wooden, Newell, Knight, McLendon, Wilkens, Carril, Summitt, and more. 

Get everyone on the same page as many of the most painful losses arise from mental mistakes that compromise execution. Attention to detail separates success from failure. 

Basketball - "Fall in love with easy." It's not enough to trust that players understand. "Trust but verify." 

Studying mental models and cognitive biases - embrace the Buffett-Munger approach - work to avoid mistakes.

Basketball - 1) Avoid judgment errors from small sample size. 2) Don't make 'attribution errors' of blaming officiating, bad luck, or conditions. 3) Stay within your "Circle of Competence." Teach what you know. 

Write it down. An ancient Chinese proverb says, "The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory."

Basketball - Practice schedules, drills, game plans, playbook, leadership opportunities all matter. When it's important, it's worth keeping a record. 

Diagnose and treat. You are a teacher and a problem solver. Distill problems objectively and explore a variety of solutions. 

Basketball - Remember Kevin Eastman's advice, "Do it harder, do it better, change personnel, and change when, "$#!& it's not working."

Lagniappe. When bad spacing clears a side... 


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Friday, March 13, 2026

Basketball - Performance Psychology


Review the "Achievement Equation," which applies 'across the board' at home, in school/work, and in your extracurricular activities (e.g. sport). 

ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE x TIME 

To maximize achievement, invest time and raise your standard of performance. Ask "what do I need to do to raise that standard?" 

1. Commitment
  • Skill development has no substitute.
  • Strategy is knowing what to do in any given situation. 
  • Physicality - sport rewards athleticism, strength, quickness, endurance
  • Psychology of high performance is resilience/mental toughness. 
When she was at American University, Cecilia Kay told me about a teammate who barely played. But the young woman attacked practice with the attitude of preparing as though she would be playing full time. She didn't allow her lack of minutes to compromise her effort. That is professionalism. You can be fifteen years old with a professional attitude. Is that your best effort on homework? 

2. Value #1

The best players make everyone around them better, whether they are the 'star' or the 'supporting cast'. "Don't cheat the drill." Being a competitor in practice translates to games. If you're not in the game, encourage your teammates. 

Geno Auriemma and other top coaches film the bench. If you're not in the game, not supporting the team, and show bad body language, you won't get in the games. 

3. Impact a winning program

Everyone has a chance to impact winning even when not playing. "Stay ready" (reserve) players prepare the starting group as competitors. 

When a former President visited NASA decades ago, he spoke with a custodian. The President asked about his job. The worker answered, "I helped put a man on the moon." 

Dean Smith made it a point to mention the contribution of reserve players who helped the team win. The stars don't need anyone to gas them up. 

4. Honor your work

Nobody can reward themselves 'external' recognition. But you can award yourself integrity, courage, and character. As Dr. Fergus Connolly shared recently, there's no medal awarded for doing your job. The "Fourth Agreement" is "Always do your best." Neither apologies nor regrets are needed when doing your best. 

George Roberts was a carpenter with workers working some of his jobs. He told them to figuratively "sign your work," meaning to ensure that the quality was so high that you could take ownership. 

5. "Look for the helpers." - Mister Rogers

"Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Get help from your family, coaches, and teammates. And give help to your teammates - whether instruction to younger ones or encouragement to all. 

Be coachable. Don't hesitate to ask for help. It's honorable to do so. If you need letters of recommendation, ask. 

Summary: 

The Achievement Equation: Performance × Time

Achievement is the product of how well you perform and how much time you invest. To grow, continuously raise your performance standard and ask what that requires of you - at home, in school, and in sport.

The Four Pillars of Commitment are skill development, strategy (knowing what to do in any situation), physicality, and mental toughness. There are no shortcuts.

Make others better. The best contributors - regardless of role - elevate the people around them. Don't coast through practice. Compete in drills, because how you practice is how you play. If you're on the bench, your body language and encouragement matter; coaches notice, and it affects your playing time.

Impact winning from any position. You don't have to be in the game to contribute to the outcome. Reserve players who stay sharp push starters to be better. The NASA custodian who said "I helped put men on the moon" understood this perfectly.

Honor your work. External recognition isn't yours to grant yourself — but integrity and character are. Do your best every time, and neither apologies nor regrets are necessary. "Sign your work," as carpenter George Roberts told his crew: make it good enough to be proud of.

Seek and give help. Mentoring is the only genuine shortcut to excellence. Be coachable, ask for help without hesitation, and pay it forward to teammates. That exchange — receiving guidance and offering encouragement — is how teams and individuals grow together.

Lagniappe. Champions are champions before they have won.  

Lagniappe 2. My coach's primary emphasis was "sacrifice." Winning takes sacrifice. You may win with talent, but you'll never become a champion without sacrifice.  

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Thursday, March 12, 2026

Celtics Basketball - Doing the Math

Keywords: Core basketball, analytics, possessions, possession enders 

"Get more and better possessions than your opponents." - Pete Newell 

The Celtics are in the fringes of the top four teams in the NBA, despite losing Holiday, Porzingis, Horford, and Kornet to free agency, and Jason Tatum injured for 62 games of the season. Boston went 41-21 in his absence. 

How? They master possessions. Figuratively "pound" these truths into the lexicon of our teams. Coach Joe Mazzulla emphasizes "winning the margins." 

As young players, we heard "win this quarter." Win the majority of quarters and you win a lot of games. "Win this possession" is even better. 

"Productive possessions" happen via "possession enders," players who get "scores and stops." "Turnovers kill dreams." Turnovers are "zero percent possessions" and the willingness to accept "airball threes" means accepting Doc Rivers' "shot turnovers." 

Math informs the "three and D" concept of scores and stops.

The Celtics are the "slowest" team in the NBA in pace. Yet, they are among the  league in:

Offensive rating: points per 100 possessions (second)

Turnover percentage: (second)

Net rating: point differential per game (second)

Defensive rating: (fifth)

Offensive rebounding: (fifth)

Under the radar players can add unexpected value (AI metrics)

Rookie-class hustle rankings

In the NBA’s rookie ladder tracking and hustle categories, Hugo González has ranked:

  • 2nd among rookies in loose balls recovered

  • 3rd among rookies in contested shots

  • 4th among rookies in deflections

These are exactly the types of plays the NBA tracks as “hustle stats,” such as deflections, charges drawn, screen assists, and loose-ball recoveries.

Defensive activity metrics

Advanced tracking also highlights how active he is defensively:

  • Deflections: roughly 80th percentile among players

  • Defensive versatility: 98th percentile in positional coverage

  • Defensive impact metrics: around the 88th percentile for defensive plus-minus measures

That aligns with scouting reports that emphasize his motor, second efforts, and ability to guard multiple positions.

How does it apply for our teams? 

Lessons for Our Teams

The implications for younger teams are clear.

1. Track what matters.
We found that shot charts, turnover rates, and rebound percentages shaped behavior.

2. Value the hidden plays.
Deflections, charges, and contested shots rarely appear in box scores but win games.

3. Celebrate possession savers.
Players who protect the ball and pressure opponents are force multipliers.

4. Teach possession discipline.
Turnovers kill dreams. Shot selection matters.

5. Look beyond the box score.
Winning players often reveal themselves in the margins. 

Look beyond the boxscore to find winning players.

Lagniappe. Slant board exercises have value for ankles and knees. 

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Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Basketball - Inductive Thinking

Inductive thinking is simple.

It says: “What has always been will always be.”

We see patterns. We extend them forward. We assume continuity.

If we’ve always won at home, we’ll win tonight.
If our star has always delivered, he’ll deliver again.
If nothing goes wrong, everything will be okay.

That last sentence is the trap.

It’s what some call the “nothing goes wrong” assumption. There's even a mathematical underpinning, 3/n. The larger your observations (n), the smaller your chances of error. 

But it’s fragile. We know it’s fragile because in every other domain of life, we insure against it.

We buy life insurance not because we expect tragedy - but because we understand possibility. We buy health insurance not because we plan to get sick - but because we accept uncertainty. We buy roadside assistance not because we realize that cars break down.

In sports, we often operate without insurance. We assume linearity.

The Jason Tatum Example

Take Jason Tatum. Elite scorer. Durable. Clutch performer. Year after year, he delivers at a high level.

Inductive thinking says: He has always been productive. Therefore, he will always be productive.

But playoff basketball is never guaranteed. A ruptured Achilles changed a franchise's fortunes.

Great organizations don’t reject inductive thinking. They hedge it.

They build depth, work the draft, free agency, and trades. They focus on player development with skill building, teaching, and video study. They don’t assume nothing will go wrong.

The Regular Season Illusion

Induction works beautifully in the regular season. You play the schedule, growing talent and togetherness. 

Depth matters. But the postseason changes the odds. Strong opponents, some on a roll, critical calls, and good or bad bounces. 

The margin for error shrinks. Randomness grows. Believing that “If nothing goes wrong, we’re better” often betrays us when something goes wrong.

Coaching and Induction

Coaches fall into this trap too. We deceive ourselves. 

“Our culture is strong. We’ll respond.”
“Our kids are experienced. They won’t panic.”
“We’ve beaten them before.”

Induction sets expectations. It doesn't mean we can reach them. The phrase “You are what your record says you are” captures a form of induction. Past performance matters...to a point.

Insurance in Basketball

Smart teams insure themselves.

They: 

  • Value defensive rebounding to end possessions
  • Emphasize free throws because you can't always rely on perimeter shots falling
  • Drill late-game scenarios to confront chaos. 
  • Build depth because injury and illness can impact anyone. 

They know that “nothing goes wrong” is not a strategy. It’s wishful thinking.

The Better Question

Instead of asking: “What do we expect?"

Ask: “What else can happen?"

What if our best player struggles?
What if foul trouble hits?
What if we shoot 4-for-20 from three?
What if the opponent speeds us up?

Inductive thinking assumes stability. Champions prepares for instability.

Final Thought

Induction is powerful. It allows us to learn from patterns. It builds confidence. It creates belief.

But belief without contingency is arrogance. In basketball as in life,  something always goes wrong.

The teams that survive prepare and insure against disruption.

Lagniappe. "Optionality." Two invaluable actions in the ball screen are 1) slipping the screen (screener early roll when defender overcommits) and 2) rejecting the ball screen. Arizona with successful rejects. 

Lagniappe 2. More optionality. Brown has a pair of 'off-ball options' with screens from White and Vucevic. He could basket cut or come off the Vuc screen for a three. Vuc gets the "screen assist." 

 

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Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Basketball - Hal Moore's Second Principle

Learn from exceptional leaders, like Lt General Hal Moore. 

Principle #2: 

There’s always one more thing you can do to influence any situation in your favor. And after that, there’s one more thing. And after that, there’s one more thing. And after that, one more thing. The more ‘One More Things’ you do, the better your chances are for achieving success in any situation. A leader must create time to detach himself mentally and ask:

 “What am I doing that I should not be doing? And what am I not doing that I should be doing to influence the situation in my favor?” 

A leader is paid to do three things: 

1. Get the job done and get it done well. 

2. Plan ahead - be proactive, not reactive. 

3. Exercise good, sound judgment in doing all of the above." 

- "Hal Moore on Leadership"

Basketball applications of Moore's second principle:

What am I doing that I should not?

  • Overcoaching and under teaching 
  • In developmental settings, overemphasis on winning
  • Micromanaging - As Coach Krzyzewski said, "Basketball is about making plays, not running plays." Helps having 4 and 5 star talent
What am I not doing that I should?
  • Maximizing player development 
  • Making practice as efficient as possible (Brad Stevens said that watching Belichick's practices helped) 
  • Assuring that everyone is on the same page (the most painful losses often come from mental mistakes)

    What can players not do too much? 

    • Contain the ball. 
    • Contest shots without fouling.
    • Rebound. "Rebound selfishly."
    • Take quality shots. 
    • Communicate. 
    • Pass unselfishly (rarely a team overpasses). 
    Advanced planning
    • Find a mentor/trusted advisor.
    • Have a "fallback plan."
    • Attend to details of player development, study, video review. 
    Good judgment
    • "Don't follow a lit fuse." - Get in front of toxicity when possible.
    • "Avoid giving away games with mental errors"
    • Shot selection and many turnovers relate to judgment
    Write it down

    “The faintest ink is better than the best memory.” - Chinese Proverb

    Have a clear philosophy that stands on its own. 
    Keep a record of decisions and their rationale. It doesn't have to be public.
    Track what worked and what didn't and why.

    Summary: 

    Hal Moore’s second leadership principle is simple but demanding: there is always one more thing you can do to influence the outcome. Effective leaders ask two hard questions: What am I doing that I shouldn’t be doing? and What am I failing to do that I should? Eliminate overcoaching and micromanagement. Prioritize what wins games - player development, efficient practices, shared understanding. Share fundamentals teams can never do too much: contain the ball, contest without fouling, rebound, communicate, pass unselfishly, and take quality shots. Plan ahead - seek mentors, prepare fallback plans, study film - and exercise judgment, avoiding toxic distractions and the mental mistakes that give games away. The final discipline is reflection: write decisions down, track what worked and why, and build a philosophy grounded in evidence—because the faintest ink is better than the best memory.
     
    Lagniappe. Study exceptional. 

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    Monday, March 9, 2026

    Basketball - Simple Is Better

    "Good artists borrow; great artists steal." - Picasso   

    Become a great artist and steal something to help your process. 

    Legendary Coach Don Meyer said that coaching evolves through three stages - blind enthusiasm, sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity.

    Where can coaches simplify and profit? 

    Player Development 

    Teach players their "four ways to score." At a minimum, that entails developing "separating footwork" from the wing, the post, or both, versatile finishing around the basket, free throws, and age-appropriate shooting range. More advanced players find ways to score off the pick-and-roll, in transition, playing off the dribble, and more.

    Box drills with defense


    Ball containment

    Effective defense starts with containing the ball. When teams can't contain the ball, it puts the defense into help, rotation, and scramble and allows offenses to penetrate and score or pass to open perimeter players. 
    Efficiency

    The "Achievement Equation"  ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE x TIME

    Better practice, better performance and better time use. Upping practice tempo and rapidly transitioning from activity to activity, raises achievement. 

    Condition with the ball. Use shooting and passing drills that incorporate conditioning. 

    3 x 3 x 3 shooting

    Tongues look like neckties if players 'go hard' in this drill. Encourage communication as passers must call out the shooter's name.

    "No laps, no lines, no lectures," originally by Dr. Ron Quinn and popularized by Brian McCormick. 

    Divide and conquer

    Use resources better with practice with multiple baskets and coaching for each group. 

    1) More touches, more shots

    2) Small-sided games simulates game play, adds defense, competition

    3) Applies formation, spacing, and core offensive strategiesLessens criticism of "My kid isn't getting coaching or touches." 

    4) Lessens criticism of "My kid isn't getting coaching or touches." 

    Priorities and emphasis

    "Do well what you do a lot" and become exceptional at your core elements.

    • Defeat pressure.
    • Win special situations.
    • Master delay - offensive and defensive delay games.
    Defeat pressure with "advantage-disadvantage" full court pressure 5 versus 7, initially with a constraint of no dribbling. This teaches cut and pass or failure ensues. 

    We excelled at special situations by finishing practice with 15 minutes of "three possession games" starting with either ATO, BOB, SLOB, or free throws. 

    Cross-Screen Slip (Lion with "cub" option) 

    This evolved from "Tiger" which was a back screen with players alined along free throw line...first saw in 1968 in middle school.

    Delay games help control/combat tempo. When leading, shorten the game into fewer possessions. When trailing, accelerate tempo to increase possessions. Here's a classic example: 

    Lagniappe. Assistants. 

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    Sunday, March 8, 2026

    Applying Basketball Quotes from the Greatest Detectives

    Simplify. Winning basketball follows winning principles. Less successful basketball reflects losing habits. Learn from some of history's great detectives. 

    "The likeliest explanation is always the simplest." - Sherlock Holmes

    Basketball:

    • Excellent teams win by executing fundamentals not trickery. 
    • Win the one-on-one battles - defending, separating, rebounding. 

    “It’s always the little details that give you away.” - Colombo

    Basketball: 

    • Get everyone on the same page. "Trust but verify." Knight would teach a play and then ask players to diagram it. 
    • Share Bilas's "Toughness" details with players. Quiz them. "Set up your cut." 

    "I couldn't help but notice." - Jessica Fletcher (Murder She Wrote)

    Basketball: The game reveals itself to those who study. Share these.

    • "Attacking the front foot/hand" creates advantage.
    • "A good shot fake is a shot not taken."
    • "Think shot first." - Don Kelbick


    One must seek the truth within–not without." - Hercule Poirot

    Basketball: The answer often emerges from brutal self-examination, honesty, and intellectual pursuit. 

    • "After Action Review" - what won or lost each game? 
    • Video is "The Truth Machine." It's not optional. 

    "It’s always the person you least expect." - C. Auguste Dupin

    Basketball: "Think again." 

    • Dean Smith always credited reserves who helped define victory. 
    • Remind players that the game is about more than scoring. Teammates impact winning in a variety of ways. 

    "This killer is smart." - Miss Marple

    Basketball: Don't insult or discount athletic intelligence.

    • "1:02 to 1:03" - Chris Paul informed players that getting a shot in this end-of-quarter timeframe often led to "3 for 2" possessions. 
    • Dean Oliver revealed that this season team performance in winning the "two-point" shot battle had edged ahead of the "three-point" margin. This will take longer to sort. 

    "Love triumphs over hate every single time. - Father Brown

    Basketball: Recognize the power of the human heart. 

    • Shaka Smart used to keep a sign on his desk, "Love." 
    • "Basketball is a game of relationships." 
    Summary

    Winning basketball follows simple, durable principles. Truths often hide in plain sight: execute fundamentals, win the one-on-one battles, and align along the details. The game reveals itself to those who study it - attack advantages, use the shot fake, think shot first, and learn relentlessly from film, the sport’s “truth machine.” Honest reflection after every game exposes what really wins or loses, while humility reminds us that victories often come from the least noticed contributors. Respect players’ intelligence, search constantly for small edges, and remember the real engine of success: relationships and the human heart.

    Lagniappe. Structure, concepts, tendency, anticipation. 

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    Saturday, March 7, 2026

    Basketball - Leadership Principles from Another Discipline

    Learn across domains. What is the definition of leadership? There is no universally accepted definition. Above all, leadership is influence - leading both ourselves and others. 

    In "Hal Moore on Leadership," Lieutenant General Hal Moore emphasizes competence, judgment, and character. He believed that most failures were not of competence but of character and judgment. "Toxic leadership is not acceptable." 

    Basic Principles

    1. Three Strikes and You're Not Out

    "Begin with the end in mind." Resilience has to begin at the beginning with determination and will to prevail. Demonstrate belief and positive attitude. Have unwavering commitment to excellence. 

    Basketball - Stay in the fight. In a 1973 postseason game against the sectional top seed (22-0), we trailed 26-12 in the second quarter. The coach took a time out and asked what we wanted to do. "83" - the UCLA three-quarter court press. We went on a 23-0 run over the next 8:35 and won. 

    2. There's Always One More Thing You Can Do

    • Get the job done. 
    • Plan ahead - essentials versus extras and "what if?"
    • There will always be constraints (especially time and money)
    • Control and protect your "Center of Gravity" (people or other)
    • Innovation
    Basketball - In highly contested (close and late) games, have functional offensive and defensive delay games, and situational "answers" - ATOs, BOBs, SLOBs, and "best action" versus man and zone. 

    3. Complacency Kills - When There's Nothing Wrong, There May Be Something Wrong
    • Many examples exist...Pearl Harbor could "not be attacked" but the Japanese figured a way. 
    • The New York Jets were a 21 point underdog in the Super Bowl III against the Colts. Joe Namath promised victory and won 16-7. 
    Basketball - Never underestimate an opponent. Gregg Popovich says that in every season, you'll have eight games where you can't do anything wrong and eight where you can't do anything right. How you do in the rest defines your season. Prepare for the worst. 

    4. Trust Your Instincts

    The leader must make it happen yet "face up to reality." "If there's doubt in your heart, don't do it." Exceptional leaders have risen because of their ability to lead themselves first - discipline. 

    Basketball - You're the head coach, the leader because someone thinks you'll present solutions. "Don't think, just do." 


    Simplify and restate these...our acronym is RICE. 

    R - Resilience. Never give up.
    I - Innovation. What else can we do?
    C - Complacency kills. Prepare for contingencies.
    E - Ego. Look inward for solutions while seeing reality. 

    SUMMARY:

    Leadership is influence - first over ourselves, then over others. Its foundation blends competence with character and judgment. As Lieutenant General Hal Moore warned, most failures stem from poor judgment or weak character. In basketball and in leadership, these principles demand perseverance, preparation, creativity, and self-mastery. Critical habits allow a leader to influence outcomes when pressure is highest.

    Lagniappe. AI (Claude.ai) suggests another Moore principle, echoing Pete Newell's. 

    Explain the "Why" — Never Just Give Orders

    Leaders must establish clear intent — the "why" — along with the end state, and articulate them clearly. Moore argues that if you can't justify the rationale of an order to yourself, you shouldn't make your subordinates carry it out.

    Lagniappe 2. Why am I making this choice? Keeping a journal or records about why we make decisions we make can help us improve our process and therefore our results. 

    Example: Many years ago in a big non-league game, leading by ten, the coach sent a star player to the scorer's table. The game proceeded without a play stoppage and the lead evaporated to zero. Taking a timeout or even a foul would have been strategic. The team lost by two. 


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    Friday, March 6, 2026

    Basketball: From Sherlock Holmes to Captain Kirk - What Fiction Teaches Us About Leadership

    Life imitates art.

    Which legendary fictional characters provide the scaffolding for a composite portrait of leadership and coaching?

    Fiction gives us a laboratory of human behavior. In novels and films we see character revealed under pressure, motives tested, and high stakes decisions. Those same forces shape coaches and leaders.

    Authenticity

    Fiction gives us memorable examples of authentic, demanding leadership.

    Gene Hackman’s Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers gets a second chance in small-town Indiana after a personal failure at Ithaca College. Dale is unapologetically “old school,” demanding that Hickory play the game his way. Discipline comes before popularity.

    Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own begins as a hard-drinking former star pressed reluctantly into service as a manager. Yet he becomes an uncompromising teacher of fundamentals, delivering one of the great coaching lines:

    “There’s no crying in baseball.”

    Authentic leaders do not always begin as polished mentors. Often they grow into the role.

    Morality and Ethics

    Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is hardly a model of personal balance. Brilliant, eccentric, occasionally reckless, Holmes pursues truth with relentless logic.

    But Holmes’ partner Dr. John Watson provides the essential counterweight.

    Watson asks the questions that must be asked. He represents loyalty, humanity, and moral grounding.

    Holmes demonstrates analytic brilliance. Watson reminds us that leadership requires empathy and perspective.

    Watson’s admiration for Holmes’ reasoning appears in a simple phrase:

    “It is simplicity itself.”

    Character - Reality, Not Reputation

    In The Jungle, Jurgis Rudkus begins life in America with physical strength, optimism, and relentless work ethic. The brutal conditions of industrial labor expose his vulnerability and lead him to despair, alcohol, and crime.

    Eventually, purpose restores him.

    Leadership demands the same truth: character is not reputation. It is revealed through struggle and recovery.

    Leaders must possess purpose - and the ability to nurture and share it.

    Passion - Purpose and More

    Great coaches possess and transmit extraordinary passion for their craft.

    Few fictional leaders embody this more boldly than James T. Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek. Kirk commands not just the mission but the entire welfare of the ship: operations, training, safety, and morale.

    There is no day off from leadership. Leaders accept constant responsibility and accountability.

    Vulnerability - Leaders Confront Challenges

    Few situations expose vulnerability more starkly than a struggle against nature.

    In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago battles the great marlin, the sea, and his own exhaustion.

    At one moment he reflects:

    “He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now.”

    Great leaders do not always win.

    But they demonstrate persistence, resilience, and relentless effort.

    Competence - Motivation and Effective Action

    Kirk inspires because he acts.

    He leads from the front and carries responsibility for outcomes. Whether confronting tribbles, the Gorn, or the mysterious V’Ger, he remains accountable for the fate of his crew.

    Leadership requires more than rhetoric. It requires competence and decisive action.

    Lessons from Fiction

    When we list real-life coaching models, we often overlook deserving women and men, minorities, youth, and experience. Fiction allows us to explore leadership without those constraints.

    Through stories we encounter loyalty, courage, resilience, and judgment in every form.

    Reading allows us to travel anywhere - past or future - and to borrow the best qualities of literary leaders as we shape our own.

    Lagniappe. Under construction. 

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    Thursday, March 5, 2026

    Basketball - Repeat and Repeat, "Don't Beat Yourselves"

    "Stuff" goes wrong 

    Don't beat yourself.  Everyone knows that "it's a make or miss game." That's partly how Villanova upset Georgetown in the 1985 NCAAs.


    Villanova shot almost 79% from the field and made 16 more free throws than Patrick Ewing's Hoyas. 

    Players think about how to win. Coaches try to immunize teams against the myriad paths of self-destruction.

    Offensive "Controllable" Problems

    • Poor shot selection
    • Turnovers (decisions, execution, or both)
    • Free throw differential
    • Rebounding 
    • Miscellaneous (space, pace, situational play, fouls)
    Defensive Mistakes and Errors
    • On-ball issues (containment, challenging shots)
    • Off-ball issues (denial, cuts, help - cover 1.5)
    • Missed assignments including bad transition
    • Communication 
    • Focus - "not playing harder for longer"
    • Fouls 
    Three of each to target...

    Offensive Corrections 

    1. Track turnovers - number and type. Find low hanging fruit (e.g. stop driving or passing into traffic). "Winners are trackers." 

    2. Extra possessions - each quarter offers a possible "two for one" situation. In the NBA, at about 1:02 to 1:03 teams sets up a "three for two possession advantage")

    3. "Shot turnovers" - I watched a high school game recently where in the first quarter, the team shot 1 for 9 on threes with three airballs. "You get what you accept."

    Defensive Corrections

    1. Defense starts on the ball. Don't "open the gate." Stop blow bys. Pressure the ball - "nose on the chest" or "crawl up into them."

    2. "Cover 1.5" - yours and half of another player. "See both" the ball and your assignment. 

    3. Communication. Excellent defenses talk. Bad defenses often don't. 

    3b. Follow your rules. If the opponents are perimeter threats, then decide whether you'll help off corner threes. If the opponent bigs are good
    passers, do you want to risk doubling high and opening short roll passers?  

    Your attention to detail, across sports, determines your ability to compete. 

    Lagniappe. “Two words changed my life: Nobody cares. Nobody is looking at you. You are in control. So go do the thing.”
    — Sahil BloomLagniappe 2. "Learn every day." Keep a notebook (a blog, journal, commonplace book) where you record useful information. 


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    Wednesday, March 4, 2026

    Basketball - Where Character, Culture, and Competence Intersect


    My opinion doesn't matter. Outsiders don't matter. Years ago, I had a chance to talk briefly with Coach Ed Beattie who led Winnacunnet to seven state basketball titles. Most impressive? He said, "The deal is between the players and me."

    He meant that what matters most is "in house." You play for each other - not for a community, a school, or your family. Beattie acknowledged that New Hampshire allowed for coaching outside the season, which creates a different dynamic. 

    In the video, Kerr emphasizes, "protect the team." What coaches and players do outside the practice facility and games matters. "Represent." 

    Sport and life distill to "character and competence." Because of the intensity of competition in both sport and life, it's hard to be "low character, high competence." 

    Here's Chat GPT Plus (AI) enhancement:

    Character vs Competence Matrix

    High CompetenceLow Competence
    High CharacterHigh Character / High Competence
    Reliable leaders who elevate teams.

    Examples often cited:
    • Tim Duncan
    • Drew Brees
    • Maya Moore    		High Character / Low Competence
    Excellent teammates who work hard but may lack elite ability.

    Examples might include:
    • End-of-bench players known for culture and leadership
    • Walk-ons who become team captains despite limited playing time
    Low CharacterLow Character / High Competence
    Talented players whose behavior damages teams.

    Examples often debated:
    • Antonio Brown
    • Kyrie Irving (sometimes cited due to team disruption debates)    		Low Character / Low Competence
    Players who neither help performance nor culture.

    Examples would include:
    • Fringe professional athletes later convicted of serious crimes
    • Players removed from teams for disciplinary issues

    Leadership Interpretation (How Coaches Think About It)

    Coaches generally handle each quadrant differently.

    High Character / High Competence

    Build the program around them.

    These athletes:

    • set standards

    • model behavior

    • influence teammates

    They become culture carriers.

    High Competence / Low Character

    Short-term temptation, long-term risk.

    Teams sometimes tolerate these players because of talent, but they can:

    • fracture locker rooms

    • undermine accountability

    • destabilize leadership hierarchy

    Many championship coaches eventually remove them.

    High Character / Low Competence

    Culture builders.

    These players often become:

    • captains

    • glue guys

    • future coaches

    They raise practice quality and team cohesion.

    Low Character / Low Competence

    Easy decision.

    These players rarely last long in strong programs.

    As the saying goes:

    “If someone hurts both the culture and the scoreboard, the decision makes itself.”

    A Simple Coaching Rule

    Many successful coaches quietly follow this principle:

    CategoryCoaching Action
    High Character + High CompetenceBuild around
    High Competence + Low CharacterManage carefully
    High Character + Low CompetenceDevelop and value
    Low Character + Low CompetenceRemove

    A Line That Fits Your Coaching Philosophy

    You could summarize the matrix for athletes this way:

    Talent may win games, but character determines how many you can win together.

    Talent wins games, but character determines how many you can win together.

    Lagniappe. Save for deep contemplation to help understand human nature...which is embedded deep within sports.  

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