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Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Basketball “Moat-Widening”

"The only duty of a corporate executive is to widen the moat. We must make it wider. Every day is to widen the moat. We gave you a competitive advantages, and you must leave us the moat. There are times when it's too tough. But duty should be to widen the moat." - Charlie Munger, Wesco Annual Meeting, 2008

Have a moat, make it wide, and fill it with alligators.

Successful programs are different. The coach’s job is to widen the moat, to better their already sustainable competitive advantage. 

How? 

  • Internal recruiting… seek the best athletes available for your program. If we lose a player to other programs, thank the player and their family and wish them every success. We win some and we lose some. 
  • “Every day is player development day.” Player development includes skill, game understanding, physical training and psychological growth. 
  • Be transparent… this is what we do and how we do it.
  • Be holistic… “ Excellence is our only agenda.” Grow great student-athletes…show them what success takes in the classroom, on the court, in a job.
  • Get allies. Remember Mr. Rogers' "look for the helpers." 
  • Be realistic. Progress is uneven. 
  • Say “yes.” Win the PR battle. Write recommendations enthusiastically. Network.
  • Build brand awareness. If you’re not a writer, ally with someone who “buys ink by the barrel.”
Exceptional requires a player, a coach, an organization to "obsess the product." Half-baked commitment won't do it. Finding others willing to share the obsession challenges anyone. 

To get the best athletes, we have to look at youth programs and love the process. If encountering parents who want you to "kiss the ring" offends you, then you won't get those players or the occasional headaches. 

Teach sharing, a "team first" approach. We are salespeople. We sell the idea that the best players make everyone around them better. 

Have a clear philosophy of teaching players to do more things right and fewer wrong. Get a "critical mass" of like-minded people and you've got something. 

Lagniappe. 
Lagniappe 2. The head game... 

Lagniappe 3. Ask players to explain your core philosophy. Pressure the ball. Deny penetration. Deny the middle. Contest shots without fouling. Block out or 'hit and get'.  Good teams summon the will and skill to get stops. 

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