Red Auerbach wrote an autobiography with Joe Fitzgerald, "Red Auerbach."
Does he share anything that can help us?
Do your homework. "He has to be my type of kid." Explain. In another era, Auerbach called up small town chiefs of police and principals asking about character and trouble. "The selection of material is more important than the handling of it."
When Mike Lombardi was an NFL assistant, he kept numbers of SEC sororities to check on player character. If a player mistreated women, the Patriots wanted no part of him.
That reminds me of Nick Saban cautioning players to be an AND guy not a BUT guy. No "buts" about missing class, late for meetings, bar fights or failed drug tests. It also recalls Chris Bianco saying that great pizza comes from great ingredients.
Is a player all in on the team or on themselves? Is she a leader or a loner?
Network. Auerbach landed Sam Jones via Bones McKinney. "You've got to know whose advice to take." Do you recommend a player with questionable character or whose style is over the edge? Information is widely available, but coaches' recommendations still matter. I'd rather recommend fewer players but be trusted than lose credibility. Also, it may help to have a "comparable" player in mind when describing a player. Subconsciously, we 'anchor' on information, not always accurately.
Impact winning. Auerbach found players that he believed would add to his team - Wayne Embry, Paul Silas, Don Nelson, Bailey Howell. The players thought Auerbach looked for players who wanted to win, badly.
Desire. When asked why the Celtics won more often, Jerry West said, "The Celtics were just a cut above in their desire to win...totally prepared to sacrifice whatever was necessary in order to win." Having a critical mass of winning players matters.
Pedigree. "I also liked the idea of getting kids who had played on championship teams...I want a kid who was great, but who never stopped being nice. Many recall that while at Loyola of Chicago, Porter Moser often chose players from state championship teams. Winning breeds winners.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. The player who has always gone the extra mile in preparation is likely to continue to do that.
Summary: Find great ingredients.
- Do your homework.
- Network.
- Find players who will impact winning in your system.
- Seek guys hungry to win.
- Look at the pedigree.
Lagniappe. Great outcomes for both individuals and teams relates to improved systems. This video explains one process.
It would he hard to develop unified systems in a broad way without unified goals.
Lagniappe 2. How many players on our clubs have we developed who can execute this consistently?
