The season is over, except for the wrap-up gathering. What dimensions belong in self-evaluation? Realistically, there's a lot of bias in self-evaluation, attribution bias (poor performance relates to outside factors), endowment bias (what I have is worth more), recency bias (what's happened lately), and so on. It's too easy to look in the mirror and see Red Auerbach instead of Red Skelton.
Measuring one's commitment is tough. As I've written before, Larry Bird used to take 500 free throws before school. That's a high water mark. We can judge our time, focus, and financial commitment to a program, but I'm not sure any of that belongs in the public domain. I'll leave that to others.
Communication is relevant every day. It's never perfect. Did the players who worked hard get enough affirmation? Did the players who might have done a little more get enough encouragement? Did I always have the pulse of the team (energy, attitude, clique formation)? I'd never score perfect on any and I have concerns about the latter.
Preparation and attention to detail are easier to judge. The opportunity to watch the UCONN women practice (once) before the season was invaluable in resetting a 'tempo' baseline. I don't think we were able to translate certain drills into game play as well as I would have liked. I had a detailed practice schedule before every practice and lineup cards and play sets before every game.
Practice energy ownership begins with the coach. We're not allowed to have an 'off' day. I can honestly say that I was "into it" every practice, although I forgot a whistle a couple of times, straining my voice.
Value added to individual play varies. Everyone improved, although without an assistant, there was less time for specialty (post/perimeter) individual work. That was disappointing for me. We have very little height, so we must pass and shoot better to compete against bigger teams (which will be everyone).
Value added to team play derives from multiple sources - philosophy, culture, and identity. "We play fast." We had no choice without size or strength, we had to leverage athleticism. Our culture of teamwork, quality, and identity has structural soundness, but we have shooters who need to pass more and passers who need to shoot more.
Evaluating coaching record is probably the least reliable metric I know. Wins and losses can reflect strength of schedule, officiating, health, and some lucky bounces here and there. We finished winning our league and 21-4 overall. We won over half-a-dozen games because of grit and guile and that credit goes to the players.
What can I do better? I need to get a better handle on 'clique formation' and its impact on team play. What you don't know can hurt your team. I can use timeouts better (especially in the first half). I view them as valuable assets and don't want to waste them early. That will be tough. I have to teach better shooting or inspire players to practice more, because we're going to see ninety percent plus zone...that is how it is.
There's an old saying that "if you listen to the fans in the stands, that pretty soon you'll be sitting up there with them." I understand how parents feel about their children, especially when both parents and children are competitive and talented. My twin daughters played on five state sectional championship teams between basketball and volleyball, and in one state championship game along with five state semifinal games. I didn't always agree with coaching decisions but I always supported the team as a priority.
With thirteen players, I played a modified version of "The System." That meant everyone played similar (not equal) time, and I imagine that some parents believe their daughters played too little...maybe all the parents felt that way. But I'm reminded of Coach Wooden's mandate...the coach is responsible for the team first...and I always did what I believed was best for the team.
