"Share something great." Well, share something different. Not everyone will agree on the most important word for basketball A to Z. So be it.
A = accountability. Accountability means holding yourself to a standard. For Bill Walsh in The Score Takes Care of Itself, it was the 49er Standard of Performance.
B = buy-in. Chuck Daly opined, "I'm a salesman." We have to convince players that we have something worthwhile for them to believe in.
C = communication. Basketball is about relationships. Del Harris had different levels of communication - conversation, teaching, correction, discipline, and 'go nuts'.
D = discipline. Discipline is doing what must be done, doing it right, and doing it now. Don Meyer said, "do the next right thing right."
E = engagement. Engagement means being "all in", fired up and ready to go. The biblical adage concerning engagement, "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
F = footwork. Legendary coach Pete Newell reminded players that they play 100 percent of the game on their feet. When I think footwork, I first think, Hakeem Olajuwon.
G = goals. Focus on "process" goals to achieve the results you want.
H = honesty. Kevin Eastman says you have to be able to "tell the truth, hear the truth, and take the truth." Some players and coaches don't want to hear the truth.
I = intelligence. Because the game is eighty-percent mental, the unfocused or less knowledgeable player won't achieve their best results.
J = journey. Cervantes wrote, "the journey is better than the inn." Excellence is a process not a destination.
K = knowledge. Curiosity and a willingness to study and learn is essential.
L = limits. To grow, you must leave your comfort zone. A young girl told an excellent mogul skier, "I love to watch you ski. You never fall." The skier realized that she wasn't extending herself beyond her limits and became a champion. An Olympic gold medal skater is "someone who is willing to fall down 20,000 times and get back up."
M = mistakes. "Basketball is a game of mistakes." The top two teams in the NBA (Golden State and San Antonio) have the highest assist to turnover ratios. Better passing, better shots. Fewer turnovers, more shots.
N = NOs. Another Kevin Eastman pearl is to "know your NOs." For example, we all preach NO easy baskets, NO paint, NO uncontested shots, NO stupid fouls. If it were so easy...
O = optimism. My last two words going out the door are always, "positive dog."
P = passion. "Nothing great is ever achieved without enthusiasm." Passion means not just enthusiasm but doing the hard work to achieve.
Q = quality. Our philosophy and performance statement this season is "we play fast." Our culture is "teamwork, quality, and accountability."
R = respect. Respect the game, respect your teammates, respect your opponents, respect the officials. The best way to get respect is to give respect.
S = sacrifice. The best players understand sacrifice to make the players around them better.
T = toughness. Jay Bilas' book, Toughness, is a must-read for every coach and ideally every player. I distribute a laminated sheet with the Toughness qualities on it. My favorite is, "it's not your shot, it's our shot."
U = unity. Don Meyer's big five values are PUSH-T(hrough), including passion, unity, servant leadership, humility, and thankfulness. The African proverb says, "we can go faster alone, but we can go farther together."
V = value. Our job is to add value to our players every day. At the end of the season, I want every parent to see a better child, a better student, and a better player.
X - xample. Okay, I cheated. We have to 'model excellence' every day. We can't expect commitment, discipline, sacrifice, and toughness without demonstrating it.
Y = "better you." Focus on becoming a little better every day. If we could grow ourselves one-percent a day, imagine what we could become. Self-awareness molds habits that effect change. We can impact our subconscious routines (Daniel Kahneman's x-system, reflexive) to alter our conscious actions (c-system, reflective).
Z = zebras. Don't put the officials in the position where they decide the game. When we lose discipline and commit selfish fouls or thoughtless violations (three-seconds, catching the ball out of bounds), we surrender control of what we can control. That's "inside our boat."