"Learn to manage conversations in an efficient way." - George Stephanopolous
Time is the ultimate commodity. We're blessed with a certain amount and can't negotiate for one day more. Create value in improving our efficiency.
1. Prepare. Whether it's an office meeting, an exit interview with players, or practice, invest time to plan. This is what we must accomplish; that is how we intend to do so. Wooden's observation, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" is timeless.
2. Work back from the result to improve process. Knowing that we don't score enough isn't an answer. Find the granular root cause. Examine shot quality, free throw shooting number and percentage, turnovers by number and type.
3. Increase the tempo. Get more done by hastening from drill to drill and by full engagement during each activity. Keep time of practice segments so not to rob offense for defense or special situations. Make a walk-through a run-through. Find a practice of someone you admire, even in another sport, and study it.
4. Be punctual. Respect other people's time and teach young people to respect theirs.
5. Pay attention to "winning time." If we haven't prepared for trailing by two with four seconds left under our own basket, we can't expect youth to execute.
6. Practice 'shortening' (delay) and extending (pressure) games. One of Hubie Brown's keys to winning close games is use of time.
7. Prioritize. This is what we have to accomplish at practice today. Think back to Bill Parcells' "MUST/NEED/WANT" columns. We lost multiple games to a team because we didn't defend their SLOB play.
"We can't get beaten by a play where we KNOW exactly what's coming." Part of winning a playoff game was shutting that down.
8. Imagine losing time. If we have a 90 minute practice, imagine we only have 60. Maximize the 60 minutes. Come back to the Hollywood maxim, "Kill your darlings." Author David Mamet says comedians spend a career "cutting syllables."9. Think Brian's Song. No, I don't mean the sad story of Brian Piccolo and Gayle Sayres but Brian McCormick's "3 L's" - laps, lines, and lectures. They're time sucks. Condition within scrimmage and drills. Use more baskets to eliminate lines. Nobody needs a soliloquy from me.
10.Use timeouts better. We've all gone through some games using no timeouts and taking one in the first minute. Dean Smith advised saving three timeouts for the final four minutes, a good practice. Mastery of special situations reflects quality coaching.
ACHIEVEMENT = PERFORMANCE x TIME
Summary:
- Prepare.
- Work back from results to process. Change what matters.
- Become more efficient.
- Pay attention to winning time.
- Practice shortening and extending games.
- Prioritize.
