Our coaching influences sum lifelong inputs from an array of sources. No 'one size fits all'. A Letterman "Top 10" might work.
10."Every story is about someone searching for something." - Matt Haig What do we seek? Coaches want to transform teams into models of excellence.
9. MasterClass. "Learn every day." Education never stops. Access education from legends in fields across many disciplines, people like Geno Auriemma and Mike Krzyzewski, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bob Woodward, Steve Martin, Gordon Ramsay, Helen Mirren, and many more. Use analogies from other disciplines to apply to coaching. Mirren's two absolutes for success? "Always be on time" and "don't be an a*hole."
8. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Chamberlain, a Bowdoin rhetoric professor, led Union troops to a pivotal win at Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. He earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. Asked how a professor became a military strategist, he answered, "I can learn."
7. Knight moves us. The Power of Negative Thinking informs us that many games are lost not won. Stop giving games away. Work to reduce bad shots, turnovers, and unnecessary fouls.
6. Dr. Fergus Connolly's Game Changer organizes sport into predictable structure of skill, strategy, physicality, and psychology. He breaks down possessions by initial position (spacing/formation), player and ball movement, and the scoring moment. Great players dominate by "ending possessions" positively with scores, stops, rebounds, and assists.
5. Do the math. Dean Oliver’s landmark work Basketball on Paper was the Moneyball of basketball. The Four Factors, SCORE, PROTECT, CRASH, ATTACK inform shooting percentage, turnovers, rebounding, and free throws on our side.
4. "We stand on the shoulders of giants." Pay homage to those who came before us. Most of us had positive experiences from high school coaches. Adopt and adapt parts to our substance and style. And remember Pete Newell's advice that "most copies are poor reproductions of the original."
3. "Every day is player development day." - Dave Smart Skill comes first. "We can't run what we can't run."
2. "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson Our ability to relate to and communicate with players is the overarching meaning to coaching.
1. Find a mentor. Become a mentor. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." Sometimes we find mentors, but often they come into our lives when they're needed. My high school coach Sonny Lane instilled a love of the game and two Navy mentors, CAPT Tom Walsh and CAPT Bill Baker were great medical mentors.
Lagniappe. Zone offense.
Lagniappe 2. "Basketball is a game of separation." Develop tools to separate without and with the dribble.
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