Coach Mike Krzyzewski helped the USA Basketball Olympic team develop "Gold Standards" of culture.
He relied on the players for input because he expected the team not to win FOR the United States but AS the United States.
Coach K asked the Men's US Olympians to go up to their rooms and think back to what it was like to be 16 years old playing basketball. On each player's bed, they found their Olympic USA uniform laid out.
Coach K said that Kobe Bryant cried when he saw that.
VALUES + STANDARDS = CULTURE
He praised Grayson Allen's leadership as a freshman, eighth man on a National Championship team.
Trust. From the course guide, "Coach K defines trust as being able to look at your teammates and say, “I value your word, and I believe you in an instant” while they say the same about you. Fostering trust, in turn, promotes honesty, leading to a more accurate assessment of the group’s goals, challenges, and opportunities."
As a Middle School coach, I worked to keep expectations simple: *TIA
T = Teamwork. Play together. Do what is best for the team.
I = Improvement. Get better every day as a person and as a player.
A = Accountability. Hold ourselves to high standards. Be punctual, prepared, committed, and good teammates. We had only one award, the Best Teammate Award, not the MVP but the player with whom you valued playing.
Lagniappe.
Klay Thompson feeling a double and passing out of it. An unexpected pass, but a welcome one pic.twitter.com/3yGMiYTCpl
— Charlie Cummings (@klaytheist11) December 19, 2022
This falls back on making teammates better - moving the ball, moving without the ball, screening, communicating, helping and recovering, and so on.
Lagniappe 2. Coach K quotes:
“Confrontation simply means meeting the truth head-on.”
“Believe that the loose ball that you are chasing has your name on it.”
Lagniappe 3. Coach K suggests an exercise:
