Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Basketball: Becoming Our Best

Poet Donald Hall on the importance of ambition in poetry (and in life): 

"I see no reason to spend your life writing poems unless your goal is to write great poems. An ambitious project—but sensible, I think. ... If our goal is to write poetry, the only way we are likely to be any good is to try to be as great as the best." - Via James Clear, "3-2-1 Thursday Blog"

To become our best, surround ourselves with the best. That includes family and friends, mentors, and players. 

Everything begins with a plan. 

Have a plan. I read that Kevin Durant wakes up asking, "how can I get better today?" In Coach Krzyzewski's MasterClass, K discusses KD looking down while K addressed the team. He mentioned it to him privately later, saying that the Olympic team needed him showing great body language. Durant responded with a 33 point per game response. 

As a young Navy doctor, I often ate lunch with "old doctors." Peers asked why. "They know stuff." 

Work your plan. Great artists, craftsmen, writers, and performers excel through work. Young Ben Franklin wanted to write and joined his brother in the printing trade, a nine-year apprenticeship. He read articles, cut them up, and reassembled. Keep revising our lives. 

In Usher's MasterClass, he shared this tip, "Study your mentor's mentors." That meant a pair of Michael Jackson's, James Brown and Gene Kelly. 

Check the plan. Coaches diagnose strengths and weaknesses and develop solutions. I've shared the story of surgeon Atul Gawande who hired a senior surgeon to oversee his technique and suggest refinements. Everyone benefits from coaching. Great players want continued growth. 

John Calipari has a Personal Board of Directors with whom he meets periodically. Bill Belichick has an annual coaching retreat with Nick Saban. Serious coaches want to improve, too. 

Be curious. Don Meyer's collected wisdom saw coaching growth from blind enthusiasm, to sophisticated complexity, and mature simplicity. Read, study, collect stories, and stay current in our field and contemporary culture. Use our cultural literacy to communicate with the young people with whom we interact. That extends to understanding groups less familiar to us. The "Black Love" MasterClass was outstanding. 


Bring energy. Coaches can't have low energy days. I remember coaching on a warm summer Sunday and having nothing. I cut the session short. I found I had a fever and needed antibiotics for an infection. Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements reminds us to "always do your best" and positive coaching needs positive energy. 

Check our direction. Get coaching GPS. If we miss our turn on the highway, we exit. The old saying says, "if you're in a hole, stop digging." 
If we're assistants, find ways to help head coaches without compromising them.

Stay relevant. Keep learning about life and basketball. Read diversely. I enjoy the exposure that MasterClass shares with different experts in various fields. 

Summary: 
  • Have a plan.
  • Work your plan.
  • Check your plan. 
  • Be curious. 
  • Bring energy. 
  • Check our direction with 'coaching GPS'. 
  • Stay relevant. Read widely. 
Lagniappe. Be civil and respectful. "Think Nine Times and Tweet Once." 

Disagree without being disagreeable. "I look at the problem this way and here's why." 

Lagniappe 2.  

Top coaches put their players and teams in position to succeed.

Lagniappe 3. "Multiple actions." North and south, west to east, north and south. 


SLOB. Zipper, DHO, corner cut. 
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