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Saturday, June 6, 2026

Basketball - Einstein and Not Einstein

Albert Einstein is often celebrated for his genius and creativity in an Age of Creativity. His knowledge can inform basketball. 

Learning the truth about Einstein ("Make friends with the dead") may help us to understand our thought process and limitations better...or not. It was said by an attendee in amphitheater, "I sat in the balcony but he was speaking way over my head." 

A study of Albert Einstein reveals contradictions. He was dismissed multiple times during his career in unimaginable ways.


Born in 1879, he entered an “Age of Enlightenment” in the early 20th century that spawned Picasso, Matisse, Stravinsky, James Joyce and other creatives. Basketball was invented by Dr. James Naismith in 1891.


He often thought in pictures, which helped him construct his Theory of Relativity through thought experiments. Thinking in pictures adds value for both players and coaches.


He finally received the Nobel Prize in 1922, actually receiving the 1921 Prize that had not been awarded. The prize was for Photoelectric discovery, not relativity. Consider Dean Smith who is sometimes remembered as "the only man who held Michael Jordan under 20 points a game (17.7 ppg for three years)."


Ironically, he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in 1922 and gave his acceptance speech half a year later in 1923. He literally used the funds from the Nobel, ten times that of his Professorial salary, to buy divorce from his first wife. 


Experiments in 1919, examining the position of stars during an eclipse, confirmed the Theory of Relativity, as images confirmed that gravity bent light, showing that a star’s position was ‘relative’. Great players have "gravity" as defenses 'account' for them, opening opportunities elsewhere. For all the controversy surrounding Caitlin Clark, few would dispute her gravitational impact.


Einstein sought a unified theory of relativity, electromagnetism, and gravity. Basketball can't even get a unified set of rules between American and FIBA.


He was said to be a brilliant lecturer, but often lectured in a way that few understood him. "What has not been learned has not been taught."


He had a conflict with Thomas Edison, who believed that teaching facts should take priority. Einstein argued that learning how to think was more important than facts, which could always be looked up. In basketball, "automating" actions can create separation and opportunity.


Thus, one quote attributed to him, “Imagination is more important than information” is contested. Here are legitimate ones and coaching applications:


1. "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."


Coaching application: Great learners often outperform "talented" learners because curiosity drives improvement.


"It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible..." (He championed simplicity.)


Coaching application: Simplify offense, simplify communication, simplify teaching - but not to the point that important details disappear.


"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."


Coaching application: If a team struggles with resilience, communication, or discipline, more of the same thinking may not solve the problem. (We can’t keep doing the same failing process.)


Three quotes that probably don’t originate with him:

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

Coaching quote? "It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer."


Persistence has power as long as we don’t persist at doing the wrong things. My version to athletes is “Hard work is a skill.”


Lagniappe. "We're going to push you."  
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Friday, June 5, 2026

Win with the "Invisible"

"Seeing is believing." What if unmeasurable gains, compounded growth, are the secret? Soft skills make tough people. 

Inspiration

  • Underdog stories
  • Success despite impairment
  • Great teaching 
  • The power of persistence
Thoroughness

Do the job well. In "Toughness" Jay Bilas shares a story about being asked to change out the contact paper in his sister's vanity. He did a poor job and his father had to redo it - after a long day at work. His father said nothing. Bilas felt shamed and learned attention to detail. 

Don't cut corners. Don't skip steps. "Pound the rock." Nothing will show up until the rock breaks. 

Sleep

Shakespeare described, "Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care." 

Sleep "cleans our brains," consolidates memory, and results in proven better athletic performance. Seek eight hours minimum. 

Habit Formation 

James Clear writes in Atomic Habits that our habits are "votes for the type of person we wish to become." This restates, "How you do anything is how you do everything." Winning habits could include reading (e.g. Kevin Eastman, NBA Champion assistant coach), mindfulness (Search Inside Yourself), gratitude (The Jar of Awesome), and many more. 

Positivity

Nobody ever crafted a positive life from a negative attitude. Be "The Positive Dog"
  • Enhanced Resilience and Better Pressure Management
  • Broadened Perspective for Problem-Solving
  • Elevated Performance and Productivity
  • A Contagious Culture that Elevates the Whole Team
  • Increased Longevity and Personal Well-Being

Patience

Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" has values of faith and patience flanking the top of the pyramid. Don't be seduced by the myth of overnight success. "Be fiercely patient with how long it takes for those compounding daily actions to turn into substantial returns."

Reading

Nobody sees the effort of study invested away from the arena. When my daughters were in a high school, a future D1 coach told me, "they really know how to play." Have the will to embrace Pete Newell's mandate for coaches, "Help players see the game." 

When someone asks, "What are you reading today?," have an answer.
  • "True Blue" by David Baldacci
  • "Albert Einstein" by Walter Isaacson
Work Ethic

Anson Dorrance saw Mia Hamm training alone in a park on his drive to work. He shared that in his book, "The Vision of a Champion." 


I used to hand out a "mini poster" of this to players. 

Service

Serve your family. Serve your teammates. Serve the community. In an era of the "Me Generation," make others better. Serve by sharing, by leading, by encouraging, by 'rethinking', and by giving credit. 

Craft your plan and succeed. 

Lagniappe. If a player has a poor defensive stance, they cannot be a solid defender. Richard Pryor had it right. "Are you going to believe your lying eyes or your beloved husband?" 

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Thursday, June 4, 2026

Finding Our WHY?



Graphic created with ChatGPT Plus

Why explore, study, and share basketball and leadership? It helps give back to the game and people who changed me. 

Simon Sinek informed this in his talks and book, "Start with WHY."

It's a multistep process involving: 

  • Discover the WHY
  • Communicate the WHY
  • Get the right people to execute the WHY

This intersects Dan Pink's concepts of "Drive." Pink believes that drive evolves from autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy gives us a measure of control, mastery a target, and purpose the motivation to go on. 

Everyone's WHY differs. That's not 'right' or 'wrong'. It just is. Mine?

  • Sharing. Blogging is a vehicle since on-court coaching is done.
  • Experience. Help expand the basketball experience. 
  • Competition. Publish the best insights of others and sometimes mine.
Shape the HOW. How extends philosophy.
  • Teamwork makes all of us better, literally the nature of our species.
  • Improvement allows us to become our better version.
  • Accountability helps us to inhabit the truth. 
Deliver the WHAT. 
  • Cultivate relationships. "No man is an island." 
  • Teach the game, which is unlimited and evolving. 
  • Access and present the many available tools for learning.
Readers vote with their eyeballs. When it works, readers become better players or coaches, better critics, better creatives. Disagreement and dissent are good, too. Finding the better way builds a better experience for you and your players. That's a win every day.

Lagniappe. Not another guy named "Smith." 



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Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Basketball - Thoughts on Spacing

Every good offense has effective spacing. How do you teach spacing? 

1. "Offense is spacing and spacing is offense." - Chuck Daly   Watch 'biddy basketball' and you see terrible spacing. The ball has gravity and it attracts both defense and teammates in "kiddie ball." 

2. Offensive sequencing: 

  • Spacing
  • Player and ball movement
  • The scoring moment
3. Terminology. We name the "three-point line" as "the spacing line." 

4. Why spacing? Spacing allows the ball handler more freedom of movement. It makes double-teaming harder for opponents. It opens passing and cutting lanes and forces longer closeouts. 

5. What "violates spacing?" 

  • Don't cut to an occupied post. 
  • Don't bring more defenders to the ball (unless you're setting a ball screen or faking/slipping a screen. 
6. Open more space (e.g. create gaps) by cutting. 

Duke "Elbow series" 

Another horns action with options for handoff or dribble drive for the big. Of course, you could also interchange the 4 and the 1 and get a mismatch if the defense elects to switch. 

 7. Open space by "draw two" and pass. Spacing can happen by staying outside the spacing line. 


8. Defense manages spacing by dropping to the level of the ball and loading to the ball. 

9. Keep the help side (weak side) occupied to prevent help defenders from tagging. 

10.Penetration also distracts help defenders who lose control of their primary assignment. 



When reviewing video of younger teams, screen captures often prove helpful by demonstrating bad spacing. 

Lagniappe. Everyone emphasizes "attention to detail" and "doing the little things." Tell them and tell them again. 
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Tuesday, June 2, 2026

What Basketball Can Learn from "Star Wars"

Star Wars partly reflects from the "Hero's Journey" of story and mythology over millennia.

It is not the sole domain of men, for example, inhabited by Ellen Ripley (Alien), Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games trilogy), and Diana Prince (Wonder Woman).

In the Star Wars series, the hero (Luke) and heroine (Leia) navigate the journey with companions and character. What values and responses translate to our athletic journey? 

Image from USC School of Engineering

Sport has its own "call to adventure" with "companions, mentors, obstacles and villains" although we assign different names to them. 

The Hero's Journey isn't really about basketball. It's about transformation. The athlete begins as an outsider, encounters adversity, gains mentors, endures trials, returns changed, and ultimately gives something back.

1. Bill Russell - The Revolutionary Champion

Ordinary World: Cut from his junior high basketball team. Awkward, raw, and overlooked. Saddled with limited offensive skills. 

Trials: Faced racism throughout his life, from Louisiana to college and suburban Boston. Even now, some demean his competition although he faced the greatest physical big man in history. 

Transformation: Revolutionized defense, rebounding, and winning. 14 championships (including 11 NBA) in 15 years (NCAA x 2, Olympics).

Return: Eleven championships and a redefinition of what greatness means. The greatest winner in team sports history. 

Lesson: The hero is often underestimated before he is celebrated.

2. Stephen Curry - The Rejected Prospect

Ordinary World: Son of an NBA player but overlooked by major programs.

Trials: Too small. Too weak. Too slow. He rejected being repeatedly told what he couldn't do.

Transformation: Develops unprecedented shooting skill.

Return: Changes how basketball is played worldwide. Sometimes that can seem like too much of a good thing. 

Lesson: Skill can rewrite the limits imposed by others.

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo - From Street Vendor to MVP

Ordinary World: Selling goods on the streets of Athens to help support his family.

Trials: Poverty, uncertainty, immigration issues, limited basketball exposure.

Transformation: Develops from a skinny prospect into one of the most dominant players in the world.

Return: NBA champion and MVP who continually speaks about gratitude and family.

Lesson: Humility often survives success as struggle shaped the journey.

4. Michael Jordan - The Famous Cut

Ordinary World: Talented but not yet special.

Call to Adventure: Being cut from varsity as a sophomore.

Trials: Constant pursuit of improvement. A product of hard work at Carolina under Dean Smith and assistant Roy Williams. 

Transformation: Becomes perhaps among the greatest competitors in sports history.

Return: Sets the standard for excellence.

Lesson: Failure often becomes fuel.

5. Dennis Rodman — The Invisible Man

Ordinary World: Perhaps the most dramatic basketball Hero's Journey. High school bench player, working as a janitor after graduation.

Trials: Poverty, loneliness, rudderless.

Transformation: Sudden growth spurt, junior college, NAIA basketball, then NBA. 

Return: Played on five NBA Champions, 7 times first team All-NBA defense and one second team. Hall of Famer and one of the greatest rebounders ever.

Lesson: Talent sometimes arrives late.

Becky Hammon — The Barrier Breaker

Ordinary World: Undersized player overlooked by major powers.

Trials: Undrafted, constant skepticism.

Transformation: WNBA star, NBA assistant coach, championship coach.

Return: Opens doors for future generations.

Lesson: Sometimes the hero's gift is creating a path for others.

Each Hero's Journey is unique although with common threads. Keep our eyes open and see them all around us - Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Curt Cignetti. Study them so that we can act as "anteambulos" - clearing paths for those around us and finding canvases for others to paint. 

Lagniappe. Former Belichick confidant Ernie Adams kept a sign on his desk, "Stamp out bad football." What sign belongs on ours? "Stamp out bad shots" is one idea. 






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Monday, June 1, 2026

Basketball - "Always Do Your Best" - Someone Is Watching

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz has a big following. The fourth, "Always do your best," resonates for many. Coaches help players and teams build character and competence. 

The second section of Colin Powell's book It Worked for Me, starts with a chapter, "Always Do Your Best, Someone Is Watching." 

One pundit said he noticed a kid shooting repeatedly half an hour before summer camp activities started. The kid turned out to be Steph Curry. As Bill Walsh wrote, "Champions behave like champions before they are."

The best take pride in their preparation, not just performance. When you give your best, it limits regret. Regret stays with us. 

How many times in our lives has opportunity arisen because someone saw us giving our best and intervened to help? It doesn't matter whether their motive was altruism or self-interest. It's satisfying to have the resourcefulness to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. It's another to be gifted boots. 

Reflect on the many tryouts you've attended or supervised. 

  • Finding the "It Girl," the player who has "It."
  • Seeing a spark that intrigues you.
  • Spotting untapped potential in a youngster with athleticism, size, and skill.
Remember the story of Naomi, the little sixth grader who came up to me two minutes before tryouts and said, "Coach, I am really excited to be here." Isn't that the point? 

Summary:

  • "Always do your best. Someone is watching."
  • "Every day is showtime."
  • "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."
Lagniappe. Some lists need periodic sharing. Kobe's inhabits that. 

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Sunday, May 31, 2026

The Companion of Leadership? Problems

Whether flourishing or failing, problems will follow.

Going great? Around the corner is Pat Riley's "Disease of Me."

Not going so well? Problems seem like wolves at every door.

Types of Problems 

Accept the reality of Chuck Daly's "48" - minutes, shots, million - and see that coaching and economics demand "allocation of scarce resources."

  • Minutes. Players decide the lineup via performance. It's human nature for players, family, and friends to place blame on coaches. 
  • Roles. Clarify roles. Encourage people to excel in theirs. "Problem personalities" create problems. Have hard conversations before a crisis.
  • Recognition. Everyone wants appreciation. That arrives in different forms - playing time, praise, publicity. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Spread recognition to "lesser luminaries" who contribute. Dean Smith leveraged that at Carolina. 
Identifying Problems

Problems fall into knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Communication via assistants and captains helps identify both smoldering fires and "black swans." 

Black swans are the "unknown unknowns," the 'out of the blue' potential catastrophes that can derail teams. They could be ethical, moral, health, or other. Nobody could predict the impossible coincidence Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Halliburton, and Damian Lillard (all wearing "0" tearing their Achilles. 

Known unknowns are many - variance of player and team performance, team chemistry, substance abuse and off-field issues, and so forth. 

Knowns are expected issues of competition. In military terms, "The enemy gets a vote" and "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." Or Mike Tyson's, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." 

Into the Abyss

Stay humble; stay hungry. I knew a doctor who boasted that he could keep anyone alive for twenty-four hours. Then he ran into acute trauma victims during the Gulf War. Hubris meet humility. 

1. "Dot b" is a mindfulness concept to stay under control. Stop and take a breath. Think about conventional and out of the box solutions.  
2. Get help. "No man is an island." Find the 'foxhole guys' who can help.
3. Dig deep. Train players to expect and to confront adversity. Make an "I" problem into a "We" issue. "We can do this."

Anticipate Problems - The Premortem Examination

Know that anything can block our journey. The Premortem Examination can improve projected outcomes about 30 percent, according to Gary Klein. 
  • Depth helps pre-empt fragility. Playing young players helps mitigate future crises of "lack of experience." 
  • Mindfulness increases resilience. 
  • Video study lifts sport-specific IQ. 
  • Reflection on a team's "condition," both physical and mental can help prevent fatigue-based degradation. 
  • Study failure. (see Lagniappe)
Problems are inevitable. Coping with them well is not. It's on us. 

Lagniappe. Study failure. I share an AI consult. I have read the first four books on the list and also recommend David Epstein's bestseller "Range."

Success is a poor teacher.

Failure is data.

The challenge is that failure is often wrapped in:

  • ego,
  • emotion,
  • blame,
  • and hindsight bias.

The goal is not merely to endure failure but to study it systematically.

The Four Levels of Failure

I would suggest coaches examine losses through four lenses:

1. Execution Failure

Did we fail to do what we intended?

Examples:

  • missed free throws,
  • poor blocking footwork,
  • turnovers,
  • missed assignments.

These are often the easiest failures to diagnose.

2. Decision Failure

Was the decision itself sound?

An athlete can:

  • make the right decision and fail,
    or
  • make the wrong decision and succeed.

This distinction is crucial.

This is one reason you appreciate Ed Smith's Making Decisions.

3. System Failure

Did our environment contribute?

Examples:

  • practice design,
  • communication systems,
  • scouting process,
  • leadership structure.

Many coaches stop at player mistakes and never examine the system.

4. Assumption Failure

What did we believe that wasn't true?

These are often the most valuable lessons.

Examples:

  • "Our ball pressure is good enough."
  • "This player learns best through instruction."
  • "Experience equals leadership."

Every season contains hidden assumptions waiting to be exposed.

Books Every Coach Should Read on Failure

1. Black Box Thinking — Matthew Syed

Probably my first recommendation.

Central thesis:

High performers learn faster because they study mistakes more effectively.

The comparison between aviation and medicine is unforgettable.

Sports application:

  • film review,
  • error analysis,
  • learning culture.

A basketball team can create its own "black box."

2. Think Again — Adam Grant

One of your favorites.

Key concept:

Develop a "rethinking scorecard."

The best coaches update beliefs.

Sports application:

  • lineup decisions,
  • offensive systems,
  • player evaluations.

3. Making Decisions — Ed Smith

A hidden gem.

Focus:

  • outcome versus process.

Sports application:
After every match ask:

Was our process good?

rather than:

Did we win?

4. The Success Equation — Michael Mauboussin

Essential reading on:

  • skill,
  • luck,
  • randomness.

Coaches often attribute too much to either.

Sports application:
Understanding variance.

Sometimes:

  • the ball rims out,
  • an official misses a call,
  • an opponent shoots 60%.

Not every loss is diagnostic.

5. Being Wrong — Kathryn Schulz

A fascinating exploration of:

  • why humans resist being wrong,
  • how certainty blinds us.

Sports application:
Humility.

6. The Logic of Failure — Dietrich Dörner

Perhaps the most underrated book on the list.

Dörner studied why intelligent people fail in complex systems.

Sports application:
Teams are complex systems.

Common coaching mistakes:

  • solving yesterday's problem,
  • overreacting,
  • ignoring unintended consequences.

Articles Worth Reading

"The Weakest Link" — Atul Gawande

Part of his broader work on systems thinking.

Failure often results from:

  • process breakdowns,
    not
  • individual incompetence.

NASA Challenger Disaster analyses

Sports lesson:

Normalization of deviance.

Small mistakes become accepted.

Then catastrophe occurs.

Basketball examples:

  • poor communication,
  • poor warmup habits,
  • sloppy transitions.

Practical Framework

After every match:

What happened?

Facts only.

Why did it happen?

Avoid blame.

What assumption failed?

Most important question.

What will we do differently?

Action step.

What should we continue doing?

Many postmortems ignore successes.

A Final Thought

One of the most profound ideas comes from Matthew Syed:

"The reason aviation became safer is not that pilots stopped making mistakes. It's that they became better at studying them."

The same is true in sports.

Championship cultures are not cultures that avoid failure.

They are cultures that:

  • detect failure quickly,
  • discuss it honestly,
  • learn from it systematically,
  • and move forward without ego.

That idea fits beautifully with your long-standing interest in journaling, rethinking scorecards, metacognition (thinking about thinking), and teaching athletes how to think rather than merely what to do (they're not cattle).




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Saturday, May 30, 2026

Developing "Black Box Thinking" in a Sports Program

Lessons from Matthew Syed's "Black Box Thinking" can help us discover, correct, and prevent errors. Errors lead to inefficiency in all aspects of preparation and playing games. 

Syed contrasts aviation which has rigorous error detection and global sharing with medicine where errors are less identified and corrected. 

His observations mesh well with Coach Knight's "The Power of Negative Thinking." Games are like tests in school, providing feedback on strengths and weakness. 

1. Failure Is Information 

  • Mistakes occur during both wins and losses.
  • Understanding failure (shot selection, turnovers, missed assignments allows targeting of problems)

2. The Goal Is Error Detection

  • Favor accountability not blame. 
  • Chase excellence not perfection.

3. Error Detection Is Integral to Better Process

  • Correcting mistakes applies solutions for everyone.
  • Quality control can only follow quality measurement.

4. Small Errors Multiply

  • Poor passing leads to poor quality shots.
  • Poor transition defense means more easy baskets for oppoents.
  • Inconsistency creates frustration leading to negative plays.

5. Detection Allows Adaptation

  • Adaptability is competitive advantage.
  • This isn't news; it's Darwinism. 

6. Ego Impairs Learning

  • Players saying, "I know, I know" is a barrier to learning.
  • Coachability means openness to correction. 

7. Players Need "Psychological Safety"

  • Trust must precede hard coaching. 
  • Tuning out criticism is a basic human defense mechanism. 

8. Outcome and Process Differ

  • Process control is possible; outcome control is less so.
  • Don't mistake success with efficiency.

9. Success Can Mask Problems

  • "Bad wins" with poor play vs bad teams can allow bad habits to fester (e.g. fouling, lowered intensity, complacency)
  • "Be demanding without demeaning" means attention to standards

10. Build Your Own Team "Black Box"
  • Black box thinking is a process
  • Get buy-in to improvement with self-assessment (e.g. discussion, game video). Assistant coach and team participation is vital. 
Championship teams do not start by making fewer mistakes than everyone else; they discover, discuss, and learn from mistakes better than everyone else.

Lagniappe. What do you bring to the impact teammates, impact the game, and impact winning? 


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Friday, May 29, 2026

Basketball - Building a Program on More Than Talent

What would we emphasize in an introductory 'presser'? 

We should remember that our tone, voice, and nonverbal communication count. Be able to ask for help. "I know that success only happens with support and confidence from all stakeholders." 

Philosophy

Coaches want teams to reflect our personality and approach to the game.

  • Bring the best version of ourselves every day with the Stoic approach of "control what we can control." 
  • "Every day is showtime." 
  • Priorities are teamwork, improvement, and accountability. We are responsible for our 'brother'/'sister'

Specificity

It's not enough to say we'll play hard, play smart, and play together. Explain what that means.

  • Focus and effort to limit easy baskets (e.g. transition, second chance points, missed assignments)
  • Communicate on the floor at all times. 
  • Play to succeed each possession as the game is the sum of individual possessions. 
  • Offensive possessions need spacing, player and ball movement, and finishing quality shots (tracked by shot charts)

Culture

Put value on a learning culture. "Everyone benefits from coaching" and coaching is correction. "Form begets function." Doing it the right way, at the right time, every time has to become 'automatic' as basketball IQ becomes "I do."

Standards

Track performance of what matters. "Winners are trackers." Successful teams commit to higher standards, recognizing that better process (preparation) leads to superior results. 

  • Analytics prove that we're doing the right things. Higher EFG% and fewer turnovers inform better outcomes. 
  • "Fouls negate hustle." We can't bail out teams in late shot clock situations, foul perimeter or bad shots. 
  • High performance applies at home, school, and sport. If players can inhabit basketball mastery, they can excel at English, history, and mathematics. 
Mindset

"Do more to become more and become more to do more." Competition is a habit. Toughness is a habit. Hard work is a habit. 
  • Put the team first. Seize learning and leadership opportunities.
  • Develop great habits of preparation and self-care. Just as you service your car at your convenience, you fix it at your inconvenience. There are no "little things." Sleep, recovery, hydration, and nutrition are force multipliers.
  • The "keystone habits" developed today carry over throughout your life. Everything builds upon today's gains. 
The only constant is change. Be curious, open, and alert to new and better ideas. 

Lagniappe. Study exceptional players. 
View on Threads

Lagniappe 2. The ability to see the action, anticipate, decide, and execute separation excellent from good. 

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Thursday, May 28, 2026

Nothing Cheaper than Free Basketball Advice

The offseason affords coaches and players opportunities for reflection and growth.

1. What won and lost games for us (including our coaching)?

  • I was committed to development over winning. Winning matters and the ability to close out games impacts that. Situational basketball was a strength. 
  • Mediocre defensive ball pressure was an issue. 

2. Look for "The Invisible."

  • What is our team basketball IQ? 
  • Hard-to-defend actions - are we winning in the halfcourt? If not, are we executing hard cutting, on-time-on-target passing, and hard to defend actions like PnR and complex screens such as Iverson action, Spain PnR, and screen-the-screener? 

3. What's our Resilience Number?

  • Mental toughness is a skill. Are we nails (10) or soft (1)?

4. Trend

  • Over the course of a season, were we getting better or worse? One year we had total collapse with a parental death. Basketball wasn't a matter of life or death...

5. Positivity is a "force multiplier"

  • Negativity and/or doubt never made anyone better. 
  • The "COTE of armor" is confidence, optimism, tenacity, enthusiasm

6. What's the "One More Thing" we can do?

  • I didn't teach on-ball defense well enough, based on results.
  • That led into too many help, rotation, and recover situations.

7. Who is our mentor, the trusted confidant whom we hear? 

  • "Everyone benefits from coaching." - Sean McVay

8. Assemble a portfolio of stories.

  • Don Meyer kept three journals - basketball, general knowledge, and appreciation for his wife. 
  • There are always stories worth remembering and sharing. 

9. Keep learning

  • Have a learning plan - reading, videos, film study.
  • Organize it somehow - drillbook, playbook, philosophy, whatever 

10. What's Our "Why?" 

  • MUDITA - "Your joy is my joy." In the past month, former students earned degrees - a doctorate in veterinary medicine, and masters in cybersecurity and in accounting. In late March, Saint Joseph's women's basketball player Cecilia Kay was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team.

Lagniappe. Grant Hill commencement thoughts. 

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