Basketball: Important

“Happiness begins where selfishness ends.” - John Wooden 

Professor Adam Grant describes phases during career development:

Phase 1: I’m not important.

Phase 2: I’m important.

Phase 3: I want to contribute to something important.

Finding players fully committed to Phase 3 isn’t easy. Players have family and friends whispering, “Get your shots. You’re every bit as good as she is.” (I've literally heard this conversation.)

Erik Spoelstra explains that most players are role players and “there is always a pecking order.”

Coaches define roles and players must embrace “being a star in your role.” Scott Celli, the local volleyball coach, has won a state title and ten sectionals. He informs players of their roles and potential to expand them, and asks if they can be happy if a reserve. A few players have chosen to leave, but the team culture and success have created trust and loyalty. 

Not all players and their families in developmental ball are happy, even if they feel important. I can’t recall any with disgruntled parents who became stars at higher levels.

Help players feel important.

• Greet everyone by name on arrival
• In development play, everyone plays twice each half
• Everyone gets a chance to play with stronger players (I worked to avoid playing two ‘soft’ players together).
• Everyone gets opportunities in drills, small-sided games, and scrimmages 
• Everyone got emails to parents about strengths and areas for growth 

Lagniappe. Adults were kids, too

Lagniappe 2. Shooting drill. 

GROUP SHOOTING DRILL 💥

1️⃣ 1 Dribble Pull
2️⃣ Flare
3️⃣ Pin Down

Repeat 3x to get 9 shots & then rotate.

Passer becomes shooter, rebounder to passer and shooter to rebounder.

First group to make X amount of shots. pic.twitter.com/0v7iE1tlGN

— Reid Ouse (@reidouse) May 31, 2023

Lagniappe 3. 

What do players hate about coaches?

Subbed after mistake
Contradicting themselves
Playing faves
Not abiding by own rules
Not caring about players as people
Not listening
Only in it for wins
Boring repetitive drills/practices
Micromanaging
Constant lectures
Comparisons
Dishonesty

— Jon Beck (@CoachJonBeck) May 31, 2023

The Good Loser

I came across a box of cards in my office called TableTopics Family. The last card asks, “What makes a good loser and are you one?”

“Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” Competing with grace and humility matter. Some of the harshest critics I know never won anything. 

Losses dispense lessons. We all lose. We lose loved ones, fail at relationships, in the workplace, and on the court. Good losers leave with valuable questions and better solutions. 

• Was I physically and mentally prepared?
• What went well?
• Where did I not do well enough?
• What could I do better next time?
• Did I compete?

Although he eventually won a pair of National Titles, Dean Smith said that he never felt like a loser prior to winning one.

Be a worthy opponent. Prepare and practice well, compete, and bring our best version to the court. Years ago our seventh grade girls played the top team in the league, whose players won the state championship in the top division in Massachusetts this winter. We lost 47-43 in a hard fought game. After the game, the girls said that the Andover parents told them they competed harder than any other opponent that season. For me, that game was the highlight of our season. 

Good losers don't give games away. Good losers can be beaten but not defeated. Good losers do not quit. 

Teddy Roosevelt gave a speech in France in 1910 called "The Man in the Arena." 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Summary: 

• What makes a good loser and are you one?
• Losses dispense lessons. Learn.
• Ask better questions.
• Never feel like a loser.
• Be a worthy opponent. Compete.
• Good losers can be beaten but not defeated.
  
• Good losers do not quit.
• Earn the respect of the Man in the Arena.

Lagniappe. 

A nice BLOB by the Lynx.@FastModel #WNBAXsOs pic.twitter.com/N21At7Q4VR

— Jackson Davis (@JacksonDavisUNT) May 29, 2023

 

Getting on the Right Track by Being Wrong

"Being wrong is the only way I feel sure I've learned anything." -  Danny Kahneman in Adam Grant's Think Again.

Bowdoin professor Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain joined the Union Army and had a pivotal role at Gettysburg, ultimately earning a Congressional Medal of Honor. When asked how a rhetoric professor became a military strategist, he answered, "I can learn." Can we?

Where might we be wrong? Who could educate us to be less wrong?

1. "The main thing is the main thing." What is our main thing? Is it likely to yield sustainable competitive advantage? 

Let's presume the main thing is skill. Get more skill or refine existing skill by hiring a coach. Outside perspective helps us overcome blind spots. 

2. Some "practices" become obsolete. Brian McCormick challenges us to practice better by elimination. Whether I'm fully on board with all his "Fake Fundamentals" is irrelevant. The argument "we've always done it that way" is more indictment than proof. 

I won the "Pitchers' Mile" in 5:07 indoors as a college junior but that did nothing to advance my career. "You can't run the ball past the batter." 

3. "Basketball is a game meant to be played fast." - John Wooden  Coach Wooden often had superior talent. In the setting of superior talent, maximizing the number of "positive possessions" makes total sense. 

We came out pressing and within a minute, we were down six. Timeout. The opposition had superior talent and ball movement and extending our defense was bad coaching. You can lose a game in the first minute. I owned that and took responsibility to the team after the game. 

4. How much should we scrimmage? Ask the question differently. What are the most effective activities for player development? Small-sided games make a lot of sense by involving everyone, getting more touches, and combining competition, offense, defense, and decision-making. This blog stealing from @CoachFernandez1 is a clip and save.

5. "I wish I hadn't said that." Hold fire. Widen the space between receiving bad news and responding to it. We're not obligated to have an opinion. 

• Regardless of whom the next local coach is, they'll have my full support. If they don't want it, that's good, too. The AD won't get a note on why the selection process or the choice is flawed. Heck, I don't even know who all the applicants were. 
• Don't ever bring up another player to a parent. If they want to praise someone other than their child, great. Other than saying, "yes, she's terrific and your daughter is too," forget about it. 
• Have a 24-hour rule. Explain that conversations after games take place the following day after we've all processed and relaxed. 

Confidence should grow with competence. This simplifies a model of Adam Grant with individuals above the line seen as "Armchair quarterbacks" or backseat drivers. Those below the line can see themselves as 'imposters' willing to recognize our limitations. They're open to learn, to help, and to embrace the hard work of improvement. 

One analogy could be to Alcoholics Anonymous where the first step to getting control is accepting that you have a problem. Unwillingness to question ourselves is weakness not strength. 

Lagniappe. "Basketball is a game of separation." Recognizing and exploiting angles matters. 

Unbleeping Basketball

Sport is a microcosm of life. Basketball has problems. They don't rise to earth-shaking levels like climate change or political polarization. 

Respect. Sportsmanship includes respect for officials, teammates, coaches, and opponents. Respecting the game includes real toughness not fake toughness of stare downs, cheap shots, and worse. If a girls' AAU game isn't over, boys, stop encroaching on the court, dribbling during live play. 

Respect the officials. Some coaches start "working the officials" at the tap. Your bad behavior spreads to the stands like napalm. It makes for a worse experience for everyone. 

Lack of uniformity among rules. Uniform rules between the US and FIBA seem destined. I understand the strategic difference between shot clocks and not, but I think the game is better with the clock. Many disagree. 

Haters. Everyone can't be a fan or broadcaster favorite. The philosopher Epictetus had the perfect reply, "If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: “He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.” 

Hate for national broadcasters is on the rise. If our team isn't playing well, don't blame the announcers. Unless, of course, it's J.J. Redick. 

Social media. Anonymity brings out the worst in us. As Stoicism reminds us, "you don't need an opinion on everything." Reminder, "Don't let 140 characters rob you of $140,000 in scholarship." Professor Adam Grant shared life lessons. 

4. Internet trolls https://t.co/J7PActF6Nh

— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) January 1, 2022

Dignity and decency. No matter how famous, rich, or successful you are, there's no place for racist, sexist, or homophobic comments. Epithets say nothing about the target and everything about the source. 

Muffet McGraw hired only women. Her candor was refreshing...men get preference everywhere, so she hired women at Notre Dame. 

Understand 'development'. Everyone wants to win. But if you want to win long-term, teach kids to see and play the game. More attention to fundamentals and limiting the percentage of zone defense in youth games would be worthy starting points.

Help kids learn to drive. Don't drive them away from the sport you profess to love. 

Lagniappe. Terminology. Horns chest.

Lagniappe 2. Educate. Help players communicate better. 

5 Ways to Nail Hooks:

1. Know the narrative
2. Create Contrast
3. Speak to Your Audience
4. Tell a Story
5. Use Humor and Surprise

Find the right combination and you'll captivate and engage like never before.

— Postwise (@TryPostwise) April 17, 2023

 

Basketball: Work, Double Bonus

“No mud, no lotus.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh #Quote #Quotes #QOTD #ThinkBIGSundayWithMarsha pic.twitter.com/66gUZ9J3vw

— vegy🍎power Ⓥ (@VegyPower) May 28, 2023

Thoughts for a sleepy Sunday. 

"Nothing works unless you do." 

"Do the unrequired work."

"Champions do extra." - James Kerr, in Legacy

"Old men grow great by planting trees in whose shade they will never sit." - Greek Proverb

When given an opportunity to improve, "always say yes."

"Never cheat the drill." 

"Do five more." - Dan Pink  (Read or write five more pages. Do five more sprints or reps. Make five more calls.)

"Always do your best." - Don Miguel Ruiz in The Four Agreements

"You can run with the big dogs or sit on the porch." 

"Are you investing your time or spending it?" - Nick Saban 

Lagniappe. 

• The illusion of choice
• Develop relationships.
• Finish. "It's about what you're willing to do."
• Communicate individually.
• Value second chances.
• Trust the process. 
• Set standards for yourself. 

 

Basketball: Intentional Design

"Stop making excuses."

"We play in a tough league."

"We don't have enough talent."

"We can't shoot."

"We lack size and athleticism."

"We're inexperienced."

"We lack a winning tradition."

We've all been there, because every coach laments what she doesn't have, while not every coach utilizes the available resources.

The best activities combine offense, defense, decision-making, competition, and conditioning. Why not just scrimmage? That's more useful when players have more skill and don't require as many 'touches' for each player during development. That's why 'small-sided games' have increased in popularity. 

Design your team intentionally from the bottom up by improving technique, tactics, physicality, and psychology. Consider blending multiple facets like skill and physicality together. 

Skill and conditioning. Drills like "Racehorse" blend passing, cutting, receiving, and finishing. "Don't cheat the drill." 

Change passers at one minute intervals. 

Skill and strategy. We practiced 3-on-3 at both ends inside the split. 

Introduce examples in your drillbook and playbook then add defense. These are not all the examples. Simulate "half of horns" flattening the defense by locating the 3 in the corner. Then practice pick-and-roll offense and defense with x3 allowed to help. 

Use 'box drills' with defense to teach 'basketball actions' from the elbow. Players learn to front and reverse pivot, to read the defender quickly and to attack on the catch starting back to the basket. 

Skill, strategy, physicality, and resilience. Play half-court 4-on-4 with no dribbling or 5 versus 7 "advantage disadvantage" to simulate full court press breaking.

Skill and physicality. 1 on 1 on 1. 

"The game honors toughness." Make practice hard so games are easier. 

Lagniappe. Grow a variety of finishes. 

Basketball: Tricks of the Trade

"Tell me something I can use today." 

1. Talk with a difference. "Pinch." When the on-ball defender forces pick up of the dribble, defenders yell 'pinch'. This alerts everyone to denial defense and alerts officials that the five second count is on. 

2. "Red." When fronting the post, on-ball defenders get up aggressively to prevent the lob and helpside defenders need to be alert. The defender fronting calls "red" to engage team defense. 

3. Defense starts with ball containment. "Don't back down!" Exhort players to get up on the ball. "Nose on the ball" or "crawl up into them." As I've said many times, no 'dead man's defense' (six feet under). 

4. Allowing offensive rebounds on free throws is both negative and demoralizing. Use "sandwich technique" on one side and your best rebounder on the other. 

5. Timeout organization. Get the most from time outs. 

• Have one or two core messages to share.
• Have a "seating arrangement" 1 through 5 left to right so there's no confusion about assignments on special situations plays.  

6. Use every second. There's no "slapping the ball" to start plays. The official starts the play as the ball is handed to the inbounder. 

7. Winners want the ball. "The ball is a camera." If you want the rock, it has to see you. Get open enough so the ball can see you. And don't start a hard cut unless the dribbler can see you. 

8. "The ball has energy." Bring energy and energize teammates. Move yourself and the ball (0.5 second decisions) to raise team energy. 

9. "Movement kills defenses." Player and ball movement stress defenses. The adage, "great offense is multiple actions" implies movement. Think about it:

• Great individual penetration
• Urgent cutting 
• Pick-and-roll
• Complex screens 
• Long closeouts

10."Keep a daily journal of what you learned, not what you did." - Don Meyer   We improve by learning what to do, what not to do, and how to do more of what works and less of what doesn't. 

Lagniappe. Study and learn Pete Newell's triad of "footwork, balance, and maneuvering speed." 

Tatum has been electric this postseason ⚡

ECF Game 1 | 8:30 PM ET on #NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/AE7z2intO0

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 17, 2023

Basketball: A Few Lessons Coaches Can Learn from Baseball

"What's the problem?...we're the last dog at the bone." Teams with fewer resources (player pool, practice time, facilities) better have great coaching, player, and team development. 

"If he's such a good hitter, why doesn't he hit better?" - Billy Beane in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball"  Use analytics to measure what impacts winning like the Four Factors - differential shooting percentage, rebounding, turnovers, and free throws (SCORE, CRASH, PROTECT, ATTACK). 

Immaculate inning. Three strikeouts on nine pitches. That's all well and good, but "don't major in the minors." Don't overemphasize a curiosity rather than what matters more (below).

Have an out pitch. That translates to "GO TO" and "COUNTER" moves, the skills that get and keep you on the court. As a coach, have "out pitches," your best actions in special situations - ATOs, BOBs, SLOBs, sets versus 'man' and zone defense when you need a hoop. 

Get swings and misses. Successful teams have executable plans to play harder for longer than opponents. Do well what you do a lot. 

Get soft contact. Get opponents to hit your pitch to avoid hard contact. That means "one bad shot" or "hard twos." Make contestedness your defensive mantra. Challenge everything, drives and shots without fouling. 

Oriole pitching coach Ray Miller preached work fast, throw strikes, change speeds. Control tempo, take care of the ball, change defenses. 

Baseball is a game of "making adjustments." Basketball has adjustments, too. Personnel, tempo, changing defenses, extending or pulling in defenses all have merit. 

"If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying." Slippery elm and cutting baseballs with belt buckles don't apply to basketball. Some coaches urge picking up any ball going out of bounds as 'theirs'. It's been done. The NBAs thinking about technical fouls for flopping.    

"When you have multiple closers, you have none." If you have a closer, spend time with them to develop closer actions whether shot, drive, or "draw two" and dish. 

"Scout weaknesses." Scout strengths and weaknesses. Limit the opponent's best actions and see if they have exploitable weaknesses.

Summary:

• "We're the last dog at the bone. If resource poor be coaching rich."
• Analytics: "Why doesn't he hit better." 
• "Don't major in the minors." Focus on what matters.
• Have an out pitch and get swings and misses.
• "It's a game of making adjustments." 
• "If you ain't cheating you ain't trying." 
• "When you have multiple closers, you have none." 

Lagniappe. Pete Newell said the coach's primary job is to teach players to "see the game." 

Basketball: The Yoda Effect, "You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned"

Think again. Happens all the time. Unlearn what we have learned. Embrace change. 

DNA double helix discoverer J.D. Watson was a confirmed racist, believing black people inferior. The first to have his DNA sequenced, Watson learned he was one-eighth African. DNA reality confronted his beliefs. 

CAT scans were new in the 1980s. We called them 'dog scans', hard to access and 'unneeded' in most cases. We didn't understand their power; we hadn't embraced the technology. We had to unlearn what we learned. 

Where does reality challenge our basketball beliefs?

1. Three-point shots went from curiosity in the 1980s to one of the foremost weapons in basketball today. Baseball explained that "chicks dig the long ball." Now everyone does. 

2. "Basketball on Paper" by Dean Oliver emerged almost twenty years ago as a blueprint for success with its Four Factors. In many ways, we reimagined basketball with a clearer understanding of "possession enders" excelling in field goal percentage, rebounding, turnovers, and free throws taken. 

3. Management learned that the three factors predicting NBA success for draftees were age at drafting, college attended, and performance. The young star at blueblood programs became high priority acquisitions. Michael Lewis discussed this in The Undoing Project with Daryl Morey in Lewis's book about Nobel Laureate Danny Kahneman and his coauthor Amos Tversky. 

4. Foreign born players were too soft to succeed in the rugged NBA world. Stars like Ginobili, Nowitzki, Antetokounmpo, Doncic, and Jokic have rendered that concept obsolete. 

5. Women couldn't create their own shot. The new generations of girls and women show athleticism and skill that moves ever-closer to their male peers. 

These are just a few truths revealed. What are yours? 

Lagniappe. Proof. 

Dirk Nowitzki deserves so much credit for moving the NBA forward globally

Nikola Jokic has a ridiculous amount of Dirk in everything he does on a basketball court

Tough shots, awkward but effective movement at 7 foot, touch from everywhere on the floor, dominance pic.twitter.com/ob2SibeDNJ

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) May 24, 2023

 

Basketball: Begin at the Beginning, Give and Go

Attack with hard-to-defend actions with emphasis on execution. 

 Develop your catalog of "Hard to Defend" actions:

• Elite dribble penetrators 
• Urgent cutting (give-and-go, back cuts)
• Pick-and-roll
• Complex screening (Iverson, Spain PnR, Corner rip, Flex)
• Multiple actions forcing long closeouts

Let's focus on give-and-go actions. Many teams run spread offense... with calls like "Open" or "Five-O" or "Fifty." 

Rule 1. "Set up your cut." 

Rule 2. "Cut urgently." 

Rule 3. There isn't one pass that gets every job done.

Having a great passer helps. 

353. Clear an area to displace defensive help. 

Iso 53. Attack from different areas of the court...such as the corner. 

Modify the give-and-go by using a roller as the 'go'. 

Lagniappe. Attack off the catch is a trend - split, stampede, shake. 

Basketball Humility Helps Us

Adam Grant's Think Again explores ideas on flawed and better thinking. I highly recommend it. 

Humility drives progress.

Don Meyer taught core values - PUSHT - passion, unity, servant leadership, humility, and thankfulness. I think of PUSHT as "push through" adversity. We've all heard the expressions, "stay hungry, stay humble" and "thinking less about yourself doesn't mean thinking less of yourself." 

Aesop's fable 'The Tortoise and the The Hare' reminds us to value the grind, staying engaged. The tortoise stayed humble and ironically kept going and going and going.  

Indiana Jones knew humility. 

Dean Smith's quote informed humility, "a lion never roars after the kill."

 

The Grant graph from Think Again depicts how humility helps spawn curiosity and how that precedes discovery. Ask key questions.

• "What if?" 
• "What does our team need now?"
• "What am I specifically doing today to improve?"
  
• "How can we score?"
• "How do we limit our opponent from scoring?"

Anyone professing to know all the answers can't be trusted. Learners know we are 'works in progress'. 

Humility drives us to do more, to become more. Humility underlies our process, accepting that better habits make us better people. That echoes a James Kerr theme in Legacy, "better people make better All-Blacks." 

Benjamin Franklin included humility as the last and thirteenth on his list of core values. He acknowledged that achieving humility was tough, "as if I did, I surely would be proud of it." 

Adam Grant points out in Think Again that arrogance is the opposite of humility. He quotes blogger Tim Urban who wrote, "Arrogance equals ignorance plus conviction." Discipline is more important than conviction. Discipline binds productive habits. 

Our core basketball values are teamwork, improvement, and accountability (commitment to high standards). Humility backstops all.

Teamwork - I need others to make the team better. 

Improvement - Do more and become more. 

Accountability - How I work and play impacts everyone. 

Grant shares a belief/tools matrix in Think Again. Where are we? 

Understand that belief varies by situation. Coaching situations are unalike. You might have "confident humility" to coach high school basketball but be unfit to coach another sport at any level. Clint Eastwood humbly said, "a man has to know his limitations."

Humility functions as a tool to keep us vigilant in search of truth.

Lagniappe. Work on our non-dominant hand.

 

 

Basketball Post 3500: Why Possessions Fail

"It's about the evidence." - Gil Grissom, CSI

Study why possessions work or fail. Edit failure out. Be specific. 

Consider Dr. Fergus Connolly's paradigm across sport:

• Initial formation/spacing (use the three-point line as spacing line)
• Player movement
• Ball movement 
• Scoring moment (shot quality and execution) 

"Great offense is multiple actions." Let's examine why possessions died...first in the extreme. 

"What were you thinking? (Self-destruction)

• Live ball turnovers bleed into defense with high points/possession. All turnovers are not created equal. 
• Turnovers, shot clock violations inform "turnovers kill dreams."
• "Shot turnovers" = airballs/"no hope" shots.

"This is not how it's done." (Start over)

• Poor spacing, as in Chuck Daly's "spacing is offense and offense is spacing."
• Players stand around "ball watching." Just don't do it. 
• Ball sticking, you're not James Harden. 
• Bad shot distribution, fewer shots for best shooters. Bobby Knight said, "Just because I want you on the floor doesn't mean I want you to shoot." Geno Auriemma added, "I would let you shoot it, but your teammates don't want you to." 
• Jay Bilas, "It's not your shot, it's our shot." 
• Lack of talent as in, "they have no shooters." 

"If it looks as though there's no plan, there's no plan." (Coach Who?)

• Iso ball, hero ball, "Night at the Opera" - me, me, me.
• Video shows absence of intent. Where's the separation arising from individual skill or team actions? If you don't score in transition, force live-ball turnovers, don't run sets, or create separation, how do you plan to score?
• Absence of hard to defend actions manifests (hard cutting, PnR, complex screens) as low point totals. 

“Failure to revise or eliminate.” (New plan, new players, new coach?)

Stuff doesn’t work. “We can’t run it because we can’t run it.” Abandon failure. "Kill your darlings." Belief that we're infallible proves fallibility. 

Summary:

• "Great offense is multiple actions."
• "What were you thinking?" 
• "This is not how it's done." 
• "If it looks as though there's no plan, there's no plan." 
• “Failure to revise or eliminate.” 

Writing 3,500 posts is a lot like eating an elephant. It's only possible one bite at a time and every bite doesn't taste the same. 

Lagniappe. 

 

 

Empower Yourself by Letting Go and Becoming More (Sunday Double Bonus)

Overcome our 'wiring' by learning new skills. Explain. 

Think critically. We're wired to believe what we hear and what we see. Danny Kahneman explains that in Thinking Fast and Slow. System 1 (reflexive) keeps us safe. Hear a noise in the brush. Danger! Run away and live to fight another day. System 2 is our 'think it through' (reflective system). Diagnose the best way to handle this problem, relationship, or challenge. Both are necessary but neither is sufficient. 

Handling pressure is more System 1. System 1 responds to training to help us recognize and respond quicker. 

.

Let it go. There's an old joke in our family about Irish Alzheimer's. "You forget everything except the grudges." You think you've be wronged or slighted and you won't forgive or forget. Living through grievances is no way to live. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. 

Widen the space. Widen the time and space between being 'provoked' and responding in kind. Mindfulness helps by strengthening the brain's thinking and memory centers and lessening the amygdala, the brain's 'quick reaction force'. Use the '24 hour rule' to avoid harmful counterpunching and remember Lincoln's "hot letters" that he 'never signed, never sent'. 

Put the team first. Human nature says, "I, me, mine." Remember Chuck Daly's "NBA players want 48 minutes, 48 shots, $48 million" quote and that many basketball and parental conflicts arise from the Hoop Holy Trinity of "minutes, role, and recognition." Work to overcome "me first" thinking and promote team over self. 

"Share something great." Be a sharer. Make Phil Jackson's quote, "Basketball is sharing" a priority. Basketball thrives in the public domain. Celebrate the great sharers like Kevin Eastman, Mike Neighbors, Don Meyer, and others. 

"Celebrate other's wins." Sometimes we picture ourselves as followed by the black cloud of Joe Btfsplk. "Nothing good ever happens for me." Feeling joy for the good fortune of others gets reflected back upon us. 

Don't wallow in misery when joy is out there. 

Lagniappe. Hat tip Dave Edwards. 

Know what wins! #MeyerEveryday! https://t.co/ORtU5AX7Eo

— David Edwards (@davidpedwards1) December 10, 2022

Basketball: Giving Better Feedback

Giving and receiving feedback as a coach or player are vital. Think back to the lesson of Boston surgeon Atul Gawande who hired a surgeon to oversee his surgery. His senior colleague made valuable comments to help him improve. Everyone benefits from coaching. 

I recall a key line from Thomas Crane, be "performance-focused, feedback rich to achieve sustainable competitive advantage." 

I remember critical feedback that changed me as a player and coach. 

"You have to change positions, you're not big enough to be a forward." Our high school team had a least five players who were 6'5" tall. I was 6' 1 1/2 inches.

"You have to get quicker to defend the guards in this league." I spent a lot of time at practice as a junior guarding "Frank" dribbling. Frank was lightning fast with the ball. In the offseason, I jumped rope. I got quicker.

"You have to handle the ball better against the press." I played a lot in the summer to become adequate at either the 1 or the 2. Because I guarded the opponent's top guard, I almost never got substituted out. Somebody has to do dirty jobs. 

"Play your best player more." Cecilia already played the most minutes and legitimately should have always been in there. Minutes always come at a premium. I increased her playing time from about two-thirds of the game to 75-80 percent of the time. She earned everything by showing up ninety percent of the time for offseason training. Herb Welling told me, "When you get the special player, you have to take care of her."

"Speak up." As med students, you learn your role. Intern Ann Knowlton advised me to share more of what I knew. At graduation I got the Boston University award (including $100) for excellence in Internal Medicine. Learn how to participate.

Tips to provide better feedback:

• Remember "Communication begins at the listener's ear." 
• Make the feedback palatable. 
• "Shout praise and whisper criticism." 
• Use "sandwich technique" putting correction between praise.
• Keep the praise to criticism ratio above 3:1
• Use "and" instead of "but." You did well AND differs from you did well BUT..." 

Lagniappe. Got a post game? Exceptional video. 

Basketball: Don Meyerisms from "The Best Things I've Seen in Coaching"

Don Meyer had exceptional wisdom and the generosity to share. He kept three notebooks - basketball knowledge, general information, and a gratitude notebook for his wife that he gave her annually.

Here are quotes from "The Best Things I've Seen in Coaching." All of these work as well for life as for sport. 

"Krause's Rules:

• Find yourself - one word description to sum you up.
• Find your unique gift or talent - everyone has one.
• Give it away - spend you whole life giving the gift away

"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

"Help servant leaders to get better."

"Never met a happy person that was selfish and unhappy person that was unselfish."

"Can't serve others when we are only concerned with ourselves."

"Never let the sun go down without resolving all bad situations." 

"Write things down immediately." (Young people use their phones for this.)

"Don't work for the system. Make the system work for you." 

"Constant, daily, never ending improvement..."

What is stopping you from becoming a complete coach? 

Have a learning attitude each day:

• Read 
• Ask questions
• Teach

"Never waste an at-bat in life."

Seven qualities of elite performers:

• A strong desire to succeed
• Positivity in the face of challenges
• Controlling the "controllables"
• A high commitment/balanced attitude
• A high level of belief in self and team
• Process orientation
• Positive communication and body language 

 Lagniappe. Top stack slip. 

I've seen this play thousands of times, but I love this early slip from Northwestern State out of it.

- run it a few times
- make the slip if the defense starts to cheat/thinks you're doing what you've done the last 3 times down pic.twitter.com/6izQ7kBFqf

— Hoops Companion 🏀 Resources for Coaches (@Hoops_Companion) May 18, 2023

Coaching Summer Rereading List

There's no perfect list because reading is a matter of taste. Currently, I'm reading James Patterson's 4th of July which I picked up from a neighbor's "book birdhouse." A NY Times article suggested reading fiction is important for preserving brain function and who doesn't need that? Off we go. 

It is better to reread a great book than to finish reading ten bad ones. Some books have excellent content yet are poorly written so won't make the cut. 

Game Changer by Dr. Fergus Connolly. Connolly shares both the big picture of how sports are organized and the granular details that impact winning. It's a must read for serious coaches.

Legacy by James Kerr. Kerr examines the ethos, culture, and leadership of the legendary New Zealand "All-Blacks" rugby team. Players learn to 'sweep the sheds' and "leave the jersey in a better place." There's no place for players unwilling to sacrifice for the good of the club. I've read it more than three times. 

The 15 Lessons in Legacy are:

Character, Adapt, Purpose, Responsibility, Learn, Whanau, Expectations, Preparation, Pressure, Authenticity, Sacrifice, Language, Ritual, Whakapapa, and Legacy.

The summary on the back of the book really emphasizes the key themes of the book:

“Champions do extra. They sweep the sheds. They follow the spearhead. They keep a blue head. They are good ancestors. In Legacy, best-selling author James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the world’s most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business. Legacy is a unique, inspiring handbook for leaders in all fields, and asks: What are the secrets of success – sustained success? How do you achieve world-class standards, day after day, week after week, year after year? How do you handle pressure? How do you train to win at the highest level? What do you leave behind you after you’re gone? What will be your legacy?”

How Good Do You Want to Be? It's impossible not to have cognitive dissonance about Nick Saban. He's charming and obnoxious, warm and sanctimonious, generous and flawed. But "How Good" shares a lot of what's under the hood for maybe the greatest college football coach in history. 

The Smart Take from the Strong by Pete Carril. The Princeton legend shares his thoughts on hard work, relationships, and the value of finding "lightbulbs," players who light up the court with their presence. 

Toughness by Jay Bilas. Toughness is a skill for life. Bilas' book evolved from a classic ESPN.com article. He shares many 'specifics' that apply to every game ever played. "It's not your shot, it's our shot." 

The Politics of Coaching by Carl Pierson. Coach Pierson lays bare the subterfuge and conflicts of almost every imaginable situation. Parents use protective behaviors like preventing rising freshmen from working out with the team. Coaches seek to undermine other coaches to steal their job. Carl discusses the value of objective measurements of strength and conditioning so when parents ask why Susie didn't make the team, you can say, "she was 45 of 45 in speed, jumping, and strength testing." 

Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense by Dean Smith. If stuck on a desert island with one basketball book, I choose this. 

Making Decisions by Ed Smith. Smith shares his detailed thought process as English cricket selector. He has invaluable insight into personnel selection, psychology, and applying analytics from differing leagues. 

Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Who has time to read books with 900 plus pages like her Team of Rivals about Abraham Lincoln. "Leadership" is the Cliff Notes to her books on FDR and Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Lyndon Johnson, warts and all. Coaches are leaders and nobody is entirely self-taught. 

Lagniappe. 

One spring, the Old Coach addressed his team by saying, “Before you spend a lot of time preparing yourself for the ‘next level,’ be sure you spend enough time preparing for ‘this level’.”

— Coach Battenberg (@TerryBattenberg) May 16, 2023

Here's an excellent AI take...

Certainly! Here's a summer reading list for sport coaches that covers a range of topics including leadership, psychology, strategy, and personal development:

1. "The Inner Game of Tennis" by W. Timothy Gallwey - A classic that explores the mental aspects of sports performance and the role of self-awareness and focus.

2. "Wooden on Leadership" by John Wooden - Insights from legendary basketball coach John Wooden on leadership, character, and achieving success on and off the court.

3. "The Power of Positive Leadership" by Jon Gordon - A guide to cultivating positive leadership skills and creating a winning culture within a team.

4. "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" by Carol S. Dweck - Dweck explores the concept of growth mindset and how it can transform the performance and potential of athletes.

5. "The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams" by Sam Walker - Investigates the characteristics and behaviors of successful team captains and their impact on team performance.

6. "Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life" by James Kerr - A study of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and their culture of excellence, emphasizing values, leadership, and teamwork.

7. "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman - Explores the dual processes of the mind and decision-making, offering insights into cognitive biases and how they can affect coaching strategies.

8. "The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How." by Daniel Coyle - Investigates the science behind skill development and offers practical strategies for unlocking talent.

9. "The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" by Bill Walsh - The late NFL coach Bill Walsh shares his leadership philosophy and strategies for building successful teams.

10. "The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups" by Daniel Coyle - Examines the importance of culture in creating high-performing teams and provides practical tips for fostering a positive team environment.

11. "The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance" by Josh Waitzkin - A memoir by a chess prodigy and martial arts champion, exploring the process of learning and achieving mastery in any field.

12. "Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't" by Simon Sinek - Investigates the role of leadership in creating a culture of trust and cooperation within a team.

Remember, this list is just a starting point, and you can tailor it to your specific interests and coaching style. Happy reading!

AI generates an impressive list (I've read nine of these). Professor Kahneman answered an email sharing, "I can't believe anyone read the whole book." (Tedious) 

Lagniappe 2. 

Having a strong work ethic will make up for a lack of talent.

You may not be the tallest, strongest, or most athletic player out there. But you can outwork the players that do have those advantages over you.

🏀🙇‍♂️

— 90 Percent Hoops (@90percent_hoops) May 16, 2023