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Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Basketball: Five Ideas for Promoting Teamwork

Everyone agrees about that teamwork matters. That's where the agreement ends. 

Charlie Munger informs us about mental biases. A key one: Underestimating bias from own self-interest and incentives.

Translation: People do what is in their interest. 

Coaching response: preach teamwork as a core value... our core values were teamwork, improvement, and accountability. 

1. Awards. We had one award: the Best Teammate award, voted on by the players...not the MVP, but the teammate players thought exemplified team play. Want an award? Be a better teammate. 

One season two players were neck and neck for the award, the winner and the 'glue guy'. It could have gone either way and been right. 

2. Sacrifice. Relearn your why. Put the team first not yourself. Are you more concerned about the scorebook or the scoreboard? Be remembered as a winner not a gunner.

The team led by eight with just under a minute left, with the ball. Run out the clock. The player got the inbound pass and promptly chucked up a three. Brick. As a broadcaster, I remained calm. Had I been the coach, I might have suffered a breakdown. 

3. Minutes. The fight for minutes promotes the antithesis of teamwork. One woman's college hooper called it "crabs in a bucket." In developmental basketball, everyone plays. The higher the level the more precious the minutes. Be honest with players. At the end of the day, coaches don't assign minutes, players do. 

4. Book club. There's no best book. The point is making your point. What are some candidates? Break down the selfishness barrier. 

  • Toughness by Jay Bilas
  • Teammates Matter by Alan Williams
  • Legacy by James Kerr
5. "Group therapy." Times change. When we played, we started together in seventh grade and built relationship for years. Bonding was unhurried and natural. Most teams aren't constructed that way. Players of different ages and schools come together without coming together. Work to grow the group dynamics in other ways with team activities. Coach K has group dinners. 

I won't pretend it's easy or that we solved everything. It's always a work in progress. Care enough to get things right or at least close. 

Lagniappe. Run some core plays from special situations like BOBs.  

Lagniappe 2. How much time do you invest on close and late situations? Invest more. 

Lagniappe 3. Do the work. 

 Lagniappe 4. Be a sharer! 

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