Thursday, October 31, 2024

Basketball: GPS for Life

We hear stories about how "basketball saved my life." Some readers lived that story. 

Everyone needs "life GPS," personal direction-finding equipment that comes shaped as family, teachers, coaches, passions. 

Consider the movie Hoosiers, loosely based on a Milan, Indiana basketball team. On one level, it's an underdog story about a small town basketball team that wins a State Title in 1954. On another level, Gene Hackman lives a redemption story as Coach Norman Dale. And on a third, it's a love story between Hackman and Barbara Hershey.

Hickory players get discipline and direction from Coach Dale, who rediscovers himself. 

"Life GPS" reminds me of artificial intelligence (AI), which has three goals - to make us happy, be accurate, and avoid mistakes. How can we provide Life GPS for our players? 

1) Character - Both you and others should hold your character in high regard. Model excellence across all domains - home, school, sport, work.  

2) Competitiveness - competitive character has to be the standard.

3) Feedback - praise the praiseworthy and correct the correctable. Coaching is not criticism. 

4) 360 degree evaluation - get input from coaches, teammates, subordinates, and self-evaluation. Understand strengths and weaknesses and consider ideas for improvement. 

5) Measure progress. Evaluation occurs over time. For long-term tracking, "report cards" three to four times a year would be plenty. 

Lagniappe. Timeless advice from Coach Majerus. 

Lagniappe 2. Develop dribble penetration with continued and change of direction. 

Lagniappe 3. Spread PnR  

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