Basketball: Agents for Change, Doing the Right Things (Plus Lagniappe, FLEX)

Coaches are educators. Be agents for change. What can we change? 

Attitude. Choose positivity. Choose our words wisely. 

Children will remember our words and our demeanor forever. Has a coach changed your life with words or actions? I had a great conversation with my high school coach last night.

 

Maximally offensive language, from Spike Lee's classic, "Do the Right Thing." Art imitates life. "This extended ending is no simple denouement. Its content and rejection of traditional closure argue that there are no simple answers for improving the conditions under which too many African Americans live, and neither turning the other cheek nor striking back has solved the continuing crime and tragedy of American racism."

Effort. "Always do your best." Our best demands neither apologies nor regrets. Our best might simply require silence instead of criticism, calm instead of emotion. 

Empowerment. Coaching young players, we have information asymmetry. They can't "Google" the answer on the court (yet). Help them see through coaches' eyes. Learn to chunk information in basketball (below) like a chess grandmaster. Dawn Staley shared how she improved her college experience, "I started competing in the classroom." 

Everyone needs heroes. Society tends to dismiss and devalue women. Only 49 percent of Americans acknowledged being "comfortable" with the possibility of having a woman President. At least they were honest. I've seen a myriad of women disrespected in medicine, administrators, physicians, nurses, and others. Our girls need heroes to become actualized. Find heroes for them or at least share ideas on where to look...like Sara Blakely, CEO of Spanx. 

Sacrifice. Children have egocentric morality. They view the world through a prism of how it impacts them. As a young boy, my son would see the last cookie and say, "don't waste it." Be the adult. Corinthians reminds us, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." 

Teaching. Translate know that into know how. That usually involves pain. "Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment." My favorite teaching book is Made to Stick. Click and absorb the summary. 

Repetition is a concrete idea. Mr. Benoit, our French teacher said again and again, "Ecoutez et repetez (listen and repeat)." Shooting is repetition. Learning anatomy is repetition. Cooking is repetition. You don't tire of eating your favorite recipe, perfectly cooked. 

Virtue. Ben Franklin aspired to thirteen virtues, a tall order. Seek excellence without other agendas. Peer pressure encourages teen drug and alcohol use. Educate players about temperance, the damage from vaping, drugs, and alcohol. 

He recognized that humility would be difficult. "Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” 

David Brooks distinguishes resume virtues and eulogy virtues. Do we care more about what our won-loss record says about us or what the people who know us say? 

Truth. Kevin Eastman explains, "The truth needs three things: number one, you got to live it. Number two, you got to be able to tell it. And number three, you got to be able to take it." Excellent players want coaching not coddling. They want to know what they need to know. 

Lagniappe: Flex has been around since 1967. 

Basketball Friday: Emphasis on More "Pistol Actions", Opening a Gap, and A Closeout/Containment Drill

"What is the difference between describing 'how' and explaining 'why'? To describe 'how' means to reconstruct the series of specific events that led from one point to another. To explain 'why' means to find causal connections that account for the occurrence of this particular series of events to the exclusion of all others." - Yuval Harari, Sapiens

Why write every day? Basketball offers a rich, inexhaustible domain of knowledge. Similar to cooking, it shares a wealth of flavors and spices to offer depth. 

Basketball Friday examines the 1-3-1 - one drill, three concepts, and a play. Harari's quote suggests we look at the WHY and the how. 

PLAY. Open a gap to facilitate a drive. Remind players to WIN IN SPACE and to avoid forcing into traffic. Via Coach Collins. 

This HORNS SET becomes a "replaced" pick-and-roll as the guard gets the pick from 4 and 5 becomes the roller. 

CONCEPTS. Learn more facets of "Pistol" as options for early offense. Recently, Coach Daniel shared the pass entry, screen, and screen-the-screener actions. 

Here's his entire presentation.

This clip shows a screen entry with a roll and finish, then action reminiscent of "Elbow Get" action where the big man screens across, diagrammed below.

Be versatile. Anthony Davis helped the Lakers win a title in the era of the "skilled big man." James Wiseman mimics the multifaceted Davis in this clip, firing in a three and then turning a UCLA cut into a wing ball screen-and-roll. Beautiful basketball. 

DRILL. Closeout and containment. 

Closing out and containing the ball are critical defensive skills. The drill begins with the players shoulder to shoulder. Defense sprints to the baseline and closes out. Offense dribbles to half court and attacks. 

Lagniappe: Coach John Leonzo demonstrates a small-sided-game (SSG), 3-on-3. Here's a link to an SSG post from Coach Fernandez. 

3v3 can be a great way to work on offensive actions and reads. So fun watching our team play together and for one another! pic.twitter.com/A7OBujCH5U

— John Leonzo (@John_Leonzo) October 23, 2020

Lagniappe 2: Elite trainer Drew Hanlen reminds us not to major in the minors. To impact winning and contribute, work on your specific game skills. Many players and coaches should watch this daily. Do well what you do a lot. 

 

Coach Pete Newell remarked that a coach's job is to help players see the game. Brilliant. Imagine the possibilities. 

Basketball: Rebounding Tips That Create Advantage

One of my favorite slogans is "Possession and possessions." What matters is having the ball and what we do with it. 

Poor rebounding never won anybody anything. Players need rebounding assignments. Here are five 'observations' that create an edge. 

1. All rebounding areas are not created equal. During three-point shots, research shows more opposite side rebounds from corners than higher locations and the highest percentage of offensive rebounds in the center areas. 

2. Coach Wooden recommended rebounders assume the "jumping frog position" with hands up when blocking out. Sylvia Hatchell shortened her advice to "hit and get."

3. I read (somewhere) that stationing a guard at the foul line to rebound on average produces three rebounds a game, which is substantial. 

4. If a player gets a lot of rebounds without blocking out, retraining them to rebound differently may reduce their productivity. "Do more of what works and less of what doesn't." 

5. Free throw rebounding (my opinion) is underemphasized. "Pinch" (below) the best offensive rebounder. 

6. Defensive rebounding relates to position and toughness. Offensive rebounding correlates with anticipation and aggressiveness. Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo added toughness with football helmets and shoulder pads. 

7. Tap out. Tapping out doesn't always mean giving up. Think of it as a rebounding assist.

8. Corner seal. Especially from the corner, if the defender is too close to the basket, "box in" the rebounder to take advantage of the rebound by pinning them underneath. Great rebounders know what to do and when. 

Lagniappe: Competitive rebounding drill demo from Chris Oliver (@Bballimmersion)

Lagniappe 2: Coach DeMarco (@Coach_DeMarco) shares an NCAA tournament backdoor play

Basketball: Unintended Consequences Plus Messina on Character

"True friends stab you in the front." - Oscar Wilde

Keywords: Muhammad Ali, Boeing, Donald Sterling, Bill Russell, Spencer Haywood, Dream Team, NCAA Scandal, Rudy Gobert, Etorre Messina, Pistol Offense

Life is filled with unintended consequences. Actions leave positive and negative ripples. Seven year-old Cassius Clay saved to buy a blue bicycle. Within a week, someone stole it. Every time he entered the ring, Clay, later Muhammad Ali seethed, "he stole my bicycle." 

Boeing's redesign of the 737 MAX boosted fuel economy, but created aerodynamic risk. by moving the thrust forward on the airframe. That created a stalling angle risk that they tried to fix with sensors and software. Nineteen months later, the 737 MAX remains grounded. Boeing's stock took a haircut from over $400/share to under $100/share. 

A former NBA owner never intended racist comments to become public. But they triggered a cascade of misery leading to his ouster. Ironically for wordsmiths, Silver sacked Sterling. Our words can follow us forever. 

The Ice Capades helped launch the Celtics' dynasty in 1956. Celtics' owner Walter Brown guaranteed Rochester owner Les Harrison lucrative Ice Capades bookings in return for agreeing not to draft Bill Russell. The Celtics wound up with Hall of Famers Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, and K.C. Jones from that draft. Some argue that the story wasn't that simple. 

In 1971, courts ruled that the NBA could not stop a player from being drafted before four years after his high school class graduated. Overturned in the Spencer Haywood lawsuit, the ultimate consequence benefited the league as young players entered. The court's logic, "First, the victim of the boycott is injured by being excluded from the market he seeks to enter. Second, competition in the market in which the victim attempts to sell his services is injured. Third, by pooling their economic power, the individual members of the NBA have, in effect, established their own private government." 

The Dream Team took the Olympics by storm, crushing opponents in 1992 by an average of 43.8 points. Moreover, their dominance helped grow international basketball, leading to an increasing influx of terrific foreign players. 

Two and one-half years after leaked FBI documents exposed Division 1 NCAA basketball cheating, major universities and their high-profile coaches have remained bulletproof. The wheels of justice turn slowly for basketball bluebloods. Money greases the skids of plausible deniability. 

Rudy Gobert (below) mocked the seriousness of the coronavirus. Later, he tested positive, part of the process triggering the shutdown of the NBA and professional sports. The Jazz center later pledged $500,000 to assist with COVID-19 relief. 

I thought the likelihood of the NBA pulling off the restart and season completion in the Bubble was about 20 percent. I couldn't have been more off. 

Only time will tell when the next unintended consequence shoe drops as the NBA seeks another restart during a third wave of pandemic illness. 

Lagniappe: Character

"Character is skill number one." - Etorre Messina

"Sports don't build character, they reveal character." 

“Tell me who your friend is — I’ll tell you who you are.”

 

"The players know basketball and they immediately understand if you can help them get better."

"When you give up on principles, you break down."

"We try to make thought into instinct." 

 

Lagniappe 3: Break down film into bite size chunks. I think serious players should watch video every day. Excerpt from Coach Daniel...

Young players often struggle with early offense. We could provide teaching templates and pistol does that. I've selected three actions (47 seconds of video).

• Pass entry 
• Screen entry
• Screen the screener 

Basketball: Dawn Staley, The Playbook. "What Is Delayed Is Not Denied."

 The Netflix series, "The Playbook," is brilliant. My notes on the Dawn Staley episode:

"It's strange how my puzzle of life gets put together." Coaches assemble puzzles. 

"Men's rings are more like trophies." 

"I grew up playing with boys...whatever the guys were doing, I was doing." 

"What fueled me...was to get on the big boys court." 

"If my ball was being used to play, I was going to be on the court." 

"I made them respect my game." 

No. 2. "Growth takes place outside of your comfort zone." 

"I wasn't comfortable talking to anybody, to know how to study, to know how to take notes (at UVA)." 

"You gotta work just as hard as you do on the basketball court in the classroom."

"I started competing in the classroom."

No. 3. "Create a home court advantage...without the fans we can't recruit the type of players we need to compete for a national championship." 

"The fans really did the part of making us look like a national championship team (number one in attendance in the country for the third straight year in a row)."

"We created a place where people feel really special." 

"When you make somebody feel special, they want to help you succeed." 

No. 4, the 24 Hour rule. "You have the mental capacity to keep moving or you don't." 

"Twenty-four hours from a win or a loss, WE MOVE ON...let it go."

No. 5. "What is delayed is not denied." 

She kept two pieces of nylon from the 2017 Championship, one to keep and one to give to another coach close to winning a title. 

Lagniappe: The Dream Player.  Staley Not Shelley (Frankenstein), Dawn Staley builds her dream player. 

Lagniappe 2: Get under the hood of coaching. Dawn Staley explains, "Coaching is not just X’s and O’s. It’s handling the egos and personalities of a roomful of (young) players." That applies at every level. 

Basketball: What I'll Do Differently If I Coach Again

I wear multiple hats including doctoring and coaching. With COVID-19 cases surging both locally and nationally, I don't see my senior citizen self coaching soon. 

But if I did, what lessons emerged? How will you coach differently to create advantage?

"Every day is development day" equates to "you own your paycheck (minutes)." Players, you own your offseason growth as a person, academically, athletically, and basketball skill. If you haven't touched a ball since the season ended, I can't help you. If you read my 2400+ posts, it won't help you if you ignore your body and the ball. Fitness and technique are perishable skills.

Limit the numbers game. Last season we played with thirteen players. Developing players prioritizes practice. I love practice. Get every player a lot of touches and at least 125-150 shots/practice. During a game, many shots for a player might get her into the teens. 

Parents invest time and money in their children and many view minutes as return on investment. It's hard enough to divide 160 minutes (5 x 32) among twelve players and worse with thirteen. 

Prevent fouls. Excessive fouling comes from many sources - lack of concentration, poor technique, ignorance of bad shots, poor coaching (we own that). I will emphasize how much avoiding bad fouling helps the team. 

Practice more individual defense . Our individual defense, especially containing the dribble wasn't acceptable. Whatever the reasons, it merits more time and training. 

Add another small-sided game (SSG). Sideways from Aaron Fernandez. 

This meshes well with the configuration of our gym and available baskets.

More practice against pressure. We had only three hours of practice per week and with Monday holidays and New England winter it's always less. But investing at least 15 minutes/practice to combat pressure is necessary. 

Scrimmage more. Most of our fifteen minute scrimmage came within O-D-O (offense-defense-offense) which practiced three possession games starting with special situations (e.g. BOB/SLOB). This led to a lot of ATO and special situation success but perhaps less efficient half court defense. 

Provide more feedback after games. Learn more from games, especially regarding turnovers and shot selection. This requires either video or stat tracking which requires manpower. 

Enhance competition. Women's college teams practice against men's units. At the middle school level, that's not practical. UCONN's women's practice men's squad understands the line between playing hard and injuring the women. At the high school level, practice against boys would challenge athleticism and toughness. 

I don't feel entitled to encroach on players' time outside of official practice. Offering videos or books to study differs from mandating it. The best players gravitate to more information and more coaching. 

There's a gradual shift underway in commitment to basketball relative to other sports (soccer, volleyball) and activities. It feels like basketball is losing, just like baseball is losing to lacrosse. 

Share changes you plan to make in your coaching. 

Lagniappe: Spread Flex 

Lagniappe 2: Sustainable concepts create sustainable edges. Coach Daniel examines the "downscreen into PnR" and its nuances. 

Lagniappe 3: Bits from 2017 Florida Coaches Clinic (things players liked) 

Basketball: My Playbook Isn't Your Playbook

"If you're afraid to be fired, you'll always tell the player what she wants to hear." - Patrick Mouratoglou

Netflix's "The Playbook" shares coach's rules. My rules shouldn't be your rules. 

Coaches develop substance and style over a lifetime, honing our craft in fits and starts. Experiences mold us just as water wears away rock. Our job is to tell players and teams what they need to hear. Sometimes that won't be good for either of us. I doubt Bill Belichick celebrated releasing Bernie Kosar or benching Drew Bledsoe. Nobody seeks hell in a handbasket. 

Almost half a century ago, Coach Sonny Lane reamed us out after a two-point loss to the defending state champions. "The only reason you lost," he thundered, "is that it said LEXINGTON on their jerseys." That changed our lives. 

Cub reporter Peter Gammons chronicled the rematch in Boston Garden, "This was the 1960 World Series, the KC-Miami playoff of 1971 and Havlicek Stole the Ball rolled into one high school game."

Trying to become someone we're not only frustrates us. Find principles to own. 

Rule No. 1. "Think it through." Generate what if scenarios and "pre-mortem examinations." The plan failed because of what? What did we do wrong or what didn't we do? 

Rule No. 2. "Seek understanding not validation." Everyone remembers Pete Carroll for a pass interception on the goal line. The likelihood of an interception (analytically) was about one percent. A run with three wide receivers blocks eight defenders with six blockers. Former Patriots assistant Mike Lombardi liked the Patriots chances against the run. Don't judge process by outcomes ("resulting").  

Rule No. 3. "The game is about the players." Nobody (except the coach's family) comes to watch the coach. Direct our efforts at making the team and the players their best.   

Rule No. 4. "Take care of business." Our preparation, our habits, and our work make us. Don't let others define you. Don't let defeat define you. 

Rule No. 5. "Be detail-oriented." A team reflects its instruction. "One bad play, bad play. Two bad plays, bad player. Three bad plays, bad coaching." 

Rule No. 6. "Share something great." Hire tough. Beware the three deadly S's - softness, sloth, selfishness. Nobody cries when a company removes the lazy or selfish employee. A colleague told me almost thirty years ago, "hire the person who needs the job, not the person who wants it." 

Rule No. 7. "The magic is in the work." Chop wood, carry water. Play urgently. Be desperate to succeed. Do not quit. 

Rule No. 8. Prepare. The Scouts' motto was "be prepared." Pack your bag the night before, double checking for the "emergency" items you need - medication, extra shoelaces, extra socks, snack, water. 

Flanking the top of the pyramid are faith and patience, belief and time. 

Rule No. 9. Believe. You can only be as good as you think you are. Bill Parcells said, "confidence comes from prior success." Earn confidence through preparation and practice. Too many times the girls ask, "how good is the team we're playing?" Coach Don Meyer emphasized, "it doesn't matter who you play; it matters how you play." 

Rule No. 10. We're all as good as "the talent." A roster has lottery picks, first round choices, second round draftees, and free agents. If we have a lot of the latter and none of the former, we'll struggle against the opposite. Sportswriter Hugh Keough quipped, “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; but that is the way to bet.”

"Don't beat yourself up; there will always be someone else there to do it for you." Win with humility and lose graciously. 

Lagniappe: Seattle Storm (via Chris Dorsey) sets the side PnR from spread offense

Lagniappe 2: Pregame shooting "3 Lines" - pass, sprint to half-court, catch and shoot

Basketball: Transition Truths, "A Game Meant to Be Played Fast"

"Basketball is a game meant to be played fast." - John Wooden

"Basketball isn't a running game, it's a sprinting game." 

Most players and fans enjoy transition offense, showcasing speed and athleticism. It gets everyone involved and use more players. Moreover, excellent basketball teams find edges in transition.

• Numerical advantage 
• Higher points/possession in early shot clock 
• Defense not set
• Shooting before zone defense established
• Rim protection priority opens perimeter shooters

2019-2020 Regular season points/possession sort for transition. 

2020 Playoffs points/possession in transition. I was surprised to see the numbers hold up in the bubble versus the top teams. 

What features belong to great transition? 

• Transition is a mindset for opportunistic (easy baskets) scoring.
• Steals and strong defensive rebounding are the most common triggers.
• Efficient outlet (higher is better) or early push of the dribble 
• Run wide (the Showtime Lakers encouraged wings to be at the sideline at half-court) to spread the defense
• First or second pass over half-court
• Look ahead for the long pass (video below).
• Attack the basket for layups or drive and kick
• Win 3 on 2 and 2 on 1 advantages
• Excellent conditioning

Transition 3 on 3 with chaser

"Look ahead" for "touchdown" transition.

The Hoiberg "speed drill" encourages rapid ball advancement. 

Transition effectiveness depends on points/possession and frequency. If you run well but little, the impact is obviously small. The 2018-2019 Raptors led the NBA in transition points/play and were in the top five in transition frequency (above). 

Do well what you do a lot, which is why Dave Smart ranks scoring in and defending transition among his top priorities. 

The Raptors excel not only after steals and defensive rebounding but after made baskets. 

In this clip, Kyle Lowry scores early, at the six second mark of the possession. 

Siakam attacks the rim and NBA spacing sets four perimeter players available for the open three. 

If we don't focus on transition, we won't execute transition. 

Lagniappe: Wonderful coaches in other sports like soccer show us the way. For example:

“It’s being able to get your message across as simply as possible.”

“Fergie made you feel important. Even at Under-9 and Under-8 level he knew your name and asked you about your family. He made you feel amazing.” Collaborate with younger players and coaches. 

“At Man United, it was competitive, but it was fun. Sir Alex created an environment where the work ethic was ridiculous and players were allowed the freedom to enjoy their football."

“First and foremost I think it’s about being a good person. If you’re not a good person, people won’t respect you."

Basketball Friday: 1 Drill, 3 Concepts, 1 Set. Emphasis: Championship Offense Highlights

Winners live a championship mindset. Learn a few things every day; soon we know a lot. Basketball Friday shares a drill, at least three concepts, and a set play. 

Drill. "The devil is in the details." Get the first step advantage practicing your jab step against a defender. Skills trainer Drew Hanlen teaches the micro aspects of the move, protecting the ball, establishing a rhythm, and changing pace. 

 

Concepts. Championship teams do championship things. "Great offense is multiple actions." Let's examine highlights from the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm, cobbled from multiple YouTube videos. 

First, 2018 DHO into pick-and-roll. Yes, talent helps, especially having 2018 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart. Note the filled corner on the help side. Note, it's one of the myriad options of the Pistol Series presented by Coach Daniel. 

Second, throw ahead. The Storm look ahead with the 4 or 5 rim running and their running mate trailing. Sue Bird looks to push the ball and throw TDs. "Fall in love with easy shots." 

Third, have multiple attacks. Stewart's skillset allows her to space and score or drive as a versatile finisher or passer. 

Fourth, "let's play two." Seattle runs "two-man game" with a variety of configurations among DHO, pick-and-roll, and here a rescreen into a three against drop coverage.  

Fifth, smart players do smart things. "Movement kills defenses." Against man or zone, with the ball in the post, sagging defenders open the helpside high slot. Sue Bird finds the hole with the help of a screen and buries the shot. It's a wonderful example of a paint touch and ball reversal. 

Set Play. From the Celtics, a UCLA cut variant into an off-ball screen. 

Lagniappe: Three timeless sports quotes...

One man practicing good sportsmanship is far better than fifty others preaching it.

– Knute Rockne, football coach

A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.

– Ara Parseghian, football coach

It’s not up to anyone else to make me give my best. – Hakeem Olajuwon

Basketball: Coaches Anonymous, Who Seeks and Gives Help?

"Hi. My name is Ron and I'm a basketball coach." "Hi, Ron."

"Anonymous" help groups blanket society - AA, Al-Anon, and Alateen help people trapped in the vortex of alcoholism. Reality shows like "Bar Rescue" and "Hell and Back" give failing entrepreneurs second chances. 

Many experts praise mentoring, for example Atul Gawande, the surgeon-author who hired a coach. "Surgical mastery is about familiarity and judgment." Steve Kerr values mentoring as part of team-building strategies along with mindset and culture. 

But who's there for coaches who needs help? 

How do they come to coaching community attention? They're not sending out distress signals. One young coach insisted I address them as "Coach So-and-So" and not by first name. Seriously. As a doctor for forty years, I don't feel disrespected when patients call me, "Ron." Coach is a term of respect and endearment, more than a title. 

Sometimes, we all need an intervention and it's usually not because of X's and O's but communication, philosophy, identity, and culture. There are more bad players than bad coaches, but bad coaching causes more harm than limited players with restricted minutes and limited roles. 

What "red flags" pop up for programs adrift? 

• Decreased participation. Strong programs create demand. 
• Decreased community support. Fans vote with their feet. 
• Lack of clarity. There can be no accountability without clarity of responsibilities. 
• Low energy. Where's the buzz? 
• Changing leadership and management. Organizational instability is telling. 

Influence links to "liking." If someone likes us, they may be receptive to our observations and even criticism. "What if" we spent more time on fundamentals, changed tempo, matched style of play to your team's athleticism? I'm not saying that a basketball whisperer can come in off the street and fix everything. But coaching is a nurturing profession and egoless peer support deserves more attention. 

Lagniappe: Be someone's hero. 

Lagniappe 2: Excerpt from Chris Dorsey, @GentsCoachD, Storm Offense

Lagniappe 3: From Slappin' Glass...creating separation 

{Things We Liked- #Heat v #Celtics Game 2} So much great coaching between Spoelstra and Stevens. Here are some of the things we liked most from Game 2 including: Creating Space in the PnR, Clearing the "Nail Help", Baseline Cuts, and Clever ATO's Attacking the Switch... pic.twitter.com/k55x6GA9RA

— Slappin' Glass (@SlappinGlass) September 18, 2020

Basketball: Notes on Doc Rivers' "Playbook" from Netflix

Netflix has a series on coaches entitled "The Playbook." Coaches explain their raison d'etre. Steal from Doc! Here are Glenn Rivers' thoughts from Episode 1. Doc's eloquence speaks from experience, victory and defeat. 

"I'm Doc Rivers...and I'm gonna make mistakes."

"Every decision I make will be about what's good for the team." (See John Wooden.)

"If it's good for the team, it's good." (It may not be good for Doc or for an individual.)

"I never called it practice...I'm going to play basketball." 

Rule No. 1: "Finish the Race" 

As a child, he wrote on the board, "I want to be a pro basketball player." 

His father said, "whatever goal you have, just finish the race." 

"I like getting to the office before people get there...I love my job." 

"You're not going to be someone else's victim," is the lead-in to the Donald Sterling story. Rivers talks about the players' body language, how closed off they were. He said to the players, "you don't see my blackness right now...we are not going to be victims." He explains being demeaned in school, in life, vilified in an interracial marriage, and having his home torched in San Antonio. 

Rivers explains that it will never be all good all the time. "If we're gonna win, we're gonna have to sacrifice...the challenge...was getting them (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) to buy in." 

A woman brought the concept of UBUNTU to him. "Ubuntu is the essence of being human...a person is a person through other people." "The better you are, the better I am." "Our team started living UBUNTU." 

Kevin Garnett called him at half-time after Doc's father died, "When you're sad, I'm sad." 

Rule No. 4 "Pressure is a privilege." Banners remind you that you haven't done it. He put a spotlight on the wall at the Celtics' (Waltham) facility on a blank wall...for Banner 17. 

"You can play your whole life and never win." 

"People think that if you're the champion, that you don't get hit." (His idol was Ali.). How many punches can you take and keep moving forward?" 

Jack Nicholson said to Rivers during the 2008 Finals, "we are dead men walking." 

"You have to put your heart on the line."

He said that he never went into the locker room after the 2008 Championship game...went to his office and smoked a cigar that Red Auerbach had given him. 

"You get pleasure in watching young men grow up...your job is to make them better players, better people, better teammates." 

"I'm gonna coach you to who you should be someday." 

Lagniappe: I'm following my player as a competitor and as a young woman. In this clip, her AAU team runs scissors through her. 

Lagniappe 2: Teach "Proximity." Ball pressure, communication, switching. #NoEasyBaskets

What a great defense here by Bayern
Ball pressure
Lucic ready to jump to the ball pic.twitter.com/QAkBUIqYK9

— MaxFrontini (@MaxFrontini) October 21, 2020

Basketball: "How Good Do You Want to Be?"

“In my three decades of coaching, I’ve learned that the process is much more important than the result.” - Nick Saban, in How Good Do You Want to Be? 

Basketball secrets live in the public domain. You're not going to be LeBron, Harden, or Breanna Stewart. I can't be Dean Smith, Pete Carril, or Jon Chaney. Commit daily to be the best version of ourselves.

Michael Jordan told UNC assistant Roy Williams that he would work as hard as any player they've ever had. Williams responded that if Jordan wanted greatness, he had to work harder than that. 

Whom do you want to be? If you need to be special, then separate yourself with the package of athleticism, skill, knowledge, decision-making, resiliency, and toughness. Do unrequired work, seek mentoring, and adjust. 

What is your today plan? Without a specific plan and follow-through to address development, expecting results is unrealistic. Write it down. 

Coaches, what have your top players done to raise their game? One player, Samantha Dewey, missed an entire season with knee surgery. She attended almost every practice and game, filling up her notebook. After two seasons in high school, she transferred to a private school, where she won a state championship and has at least four D1 offers. 

• Develop your body with nutrition, conditioning, and athletic training.
• Be coachable. 
• Maintain your notebook.
• Work on multi-level skill growth (e.g. inside, mid-range, perimeter).
• Study video. Knowledge never knocked on anyone's door. 
• Play a lot. 
• Maintain high academics. "There is no ability without eligibility." 

What have they not done? 

• They were never discipline problems.
• They were never bad teammates.
• They were not problems at home. 

How do you find a mentor? 

• Show up. "90% of success is showing up." 
• Be seen as a worker.
• Ask questions.
• Ask for help. Coaches want to help.

There is no downside to hard work. Nobody regrets giving their best. Win the process; live with the results. 
 

Lagniappe: “Promise a starting time, but not a quitting time.” - Nick Saban

Lagniappe 2: Video study - what a good offensive player reads.

"And then some..."