"The director is the keeper of the story." - Ron Howard
Authentic or imposter? Does the message advance the story? Assess the message not just the messenger. Develop and share messages that work across our lives. When we tell players "when you do these things - focus, prepare, show high effort, maintain discipline, develop great study habits - they will translate into your family life, academics, and your career."
Don't blindly accept authority. Remember the Milgram experiments where volunteers were 'instructed' by authority figures to give progressively stronger electric shock treatments. Our voice has to stand on its own. "I was only following orders" will not protect us. But coach so-and-so did that. Denying water was standard practice once. It was stupid and dangerous but didn't get push back. Think for ourselves.
- Find our philosophy. Write it. Live it. Teach it. Assess the results. Adjust.
- Steal and refine. If it were easy to copy success, everyone would. How many Warren Buffetts are there?
- Execution is where the rubber meets the road.
General:
TEAM comes first.
Our goal is to get more and better shots than our opponent.
Basketball success comes from executing fundamentals well...doing what we do a lot consistently well.
Good teams must apply and handle pressure. Every good team finds ways to apply pressure and defeat pressure.
Offense:
Movement kills defense. Passing and cutting beats dribbling and standing.
Fail fast. "The game is meant to be played fast." She who gets the most quality shots comes out ahead.
"Possession and possessions." Possess the ball. Have quality possessions; value the ball.
Execution is everything. “The game is about MAKING plays not RUNNING plays.” - Mike Krzyzewski (Duke coach)
Defense:
No easy baskets.
Pressure the ball. Attack, create chaos and discomfort.
Deny penetration, deny the lane.
Good defenses communicate. Silent teams lose.
One bad shot. Rebounding finishes the defensive stop.
