The game shares lessons, sometimes painful. One team's heroics are another's heartbreak.
Learn lessons from teammates and opponents, players and coaches.
Prepare. Become 'professional' at a young age. Cecilia always arrived early, was meticulous in 'gearing up', stretching, and warming up. Alan Stein spoke of seeing a young player, headphones on, going through a shooting routine thirty minutes before the camp day started. His name? Steph Curry.
Be consistent. "Don't cheat the drill." Excellent players bring relentlessness to practice. They walk the walk with focus and intensity.
"Say 'yes'." When given opportunities, say 'yes'. Extra shooting practice? "Yes." Offseason workouts in the heat? Bring yourself and ice water. Asked to participate in a podcast? "Of course, I'd love to." Have a library, drill book, playbook, and teaching file of videos and articles.
"What teammates make others better? How?" Energy, teamwork, and playing hard are skills. "Basketball is a sprinting game." Some guys set naturally tough screens. The defensive guard who patrols the foul line on defense picks up a couple extra rebounds a game.
"One on one." Build skills practicing against and playing equal and better competition. Discover what works and what doesn't against teammates. Then do more of what works and leave those other clubs in the bag.
"Thirst for improvement." I had a conversation with my coach, Sonny Lane. He explained how a freshman player asked how he could improve. "Play, a lot." The player listened, became a league All-Star and outplayed a Celtics' future draft choice in Boston Garden. Next, in the sectional championship game, he went 6 for 6 in the fourth quarter at the stripe to send the game into overtime.
"Get tougher." As an assistant, I saw our team get outplayed, dominated in the hunt for loose balls and rebounds. I told them, "you have to stand up for yourselves against everybody. It is never acceptable to quit on your teammates." Playing with force is underrated.
"Get better." In the continuum of technique, tactics, physiology, and psychology, technique (skill) has no substitute. Players must put in the time. There's no shortcut.
"Don't back down." The opponent's guards frustrated us at every turn. They were in our guards' pockets both on and off the ball. Be a copycat.
"Pace and space." The New Hampshire state champions (Winnacunnet) faced our powerhouse high school girls in a holiday tournament game. Elite spacing and transition, regularly applied, ran us out of the gym. The running game is no accident.
Master sets. When they needed a hoop, the Pentucket girls pulled another rabbit out of a hat...an Iverson action, horns, and a winning BOB. Have Aces in the Hole.
"Find escape velocity." Excellent teams handle pressure both full and half court. Set up advantage-disadvantage 5 versus 7 and 4 versus 5. Vary workouts but stick to your core values and concepts.