This season has challenged us. We advanced to the top division, lost our foundational player to injury, and haven't grown as much as I would like in either game understanding or execution. I have players missing to play on other teams or tryout for other sports. We're last in the league in scoring, although we've raised our output by fifty percent over the second half.
Life requires risk management and resource management. We teach our players values about life balance, adaptation, emotional control, raising expectations, and responding to adversity. How do we manage our resources?
Time. "You either invest your time or you spend it." We're all guilty of spending it...that includes social media and watching television. But we can improve our discipline and efficiency. Steve Forbes reads at least fifty pages a day. Former Clippers VP of Basketball Operations Kevin Eastman reads for two hours daily. Tim Ferriss has a requirement that he spends five minutes a day delineating what he must accomplish. That's a good habit.
The voice. The voice we hear most lives inside our head. The most important six inches in basketball resides between our ears. My last two words departing each morning are "positive dog". The kaizen philosophy demands better questions, thoughts, and actions. The greatness of Kevin Durant begins with self-talk, "how do I get better today?"
Timeouts. I've seen incredible misuse of timeouts this year. One coach spent all five in the first half to avoid held balls. I saw another take one (leading twenty-five) to run a play with thirty seconds left. We need to leave simple and clear messages during timeouts. Players aren't on the same page. I've had girls ask so much whether I'm talking about defense or offense.
Yesterday, we were tied late in the first half and I burned a timeout to run this SLOB. We got a wide open eight-footer and missed.
Playing time. I asked players this week, "why are we here?" One whom I least expected to 'get it' immediately answered, "improvement." I try to divide the minutes somewhat evenly. That surely doesn't make us more competitive or reward players who are both more skilled and working hard. Whatever our philosophy, it demands direct and clear explanation.
Discipline. What is discipline? Discipline means sticking to your beliefs, values, and process. That doesn't mean carrying an umbrella on a sunny day, but it means checking the weather. It means "knowing your field", committing to a culture of learning and growth, and understanding cognitive bias. For this season, that means committing to teach players to 'see the game' and emphasizing 'making plays', not running plays. If I don't stay disciplined, I can't expect that from the team.