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Sunday, January 28, 2024

Basketball: Infallibility and Doghouses

Every successful person has failed. Mickey Mantle struck out over 1700 times during a Hall of Fame career. But when he wasn't striking out, he had 536 home runs, appeared in twelve World Series and won seven, and earned twenty All-Star selections. Yet somehow, he only earned 88% of Hall of Fame ballots in 1974. 

Study failure to learn how to succeed. Here's an excerpt:

Chapter 5: Change your response to failure by accepting responsibility

People’s reactions to failure

1. They are angry – taking frustration out on others

2. They cover up mistakes.

3. They speed up – try to leave troubles behind by working harder and faster, but without changing direction.

4. They back up. May lie first and then back up to cover up. Need to be able to admit it.

5. They give up.

Every failure is an opportunity to take the right action and begin again. Need to take full responsibility and admit mistakes. It takes character – we need to get ahead of ourselves and take responsibility for our actions.

Every player has bad practices and bad games. Every coach makes mistakes, too. 

Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors has been most forthcoming about his mistakes. Here's just a partial list from Coaching Toolbox:


Think about where we made coaching errors. I'll list just a few:

1. Distorted work-life balance. Every coach struggles with this. As a volunteer, part-time coach and full-time doctor, I saw this slap me upside the head daily.

2. Keeping priorities straight. Developmental basketball is development. Winning is a bonus not a mandate. 

3. Adding too much to the plate. Young players with limited knowledge, experience, and only three hours of practice per week, soak up a finite amount of information. 

4. "Man's got to know his limitations." Young players have home, school, and other responsibilities in addition to basketball. 


Don't sacrifice young kids on the altar of winning. "Never be a child's last coach." Don't be the guy who puts a twelve year-old in 'the doghouse' from which their only escape is quitting. Have compassion and empathy for players. 

5. Be Helen Mirren. In her MasterClass, Helen Mirren addressed what it takes to be successful in her field. She said, "two things...always be on time and don't be an A*hole." Those rules work for many disciplines. 

Summary: 
  • We're not infallible. Everyone makes mistakes. 
  • Seek work-life balance. 
  • Set and keep priorities.
  • Learn a lot but don't jam it all down players' throats.
  • Have compassion and empathy.
  • "Don't be an A*hole." 
Lagniappe. 
Lagniappe 2. Don't be the guy who takes credit for wins and shines the spotlight on players for losses. It's a type. "We win together and we lose together." 

Lagniappe 3. Coaching offers us the chance to make people better while learning to become better ourselves. 
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