Basketball - Storytelling, Career Arcs, and Asset Allocation

People succeed in many ways - academically, parenting, athletically, artistically, in their vocation, literally their calling.

Coaching allowed sharing success stories of women and men for our young girls. 

• Arlene Blum lead an all-women's expedition to climb Annapurna, one of 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters
• Frances Perkins, was a labor leader-reformer and the first cabinet level woman as Labor Secretary under President Franklin Roosevelt.
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Bowdoin rhetoric professor turned Civil War hero helping win the Battle of Gettysburg and a Congressional Medal of Honor. 

Their history is our history.

In a 1973 high school "mimeograph," certain careers were suggested as available to women - teaching, nursing, seamstress. 

"How to Invest" shares an anthology of interviews by David Rubinstein, including one with Paula Volent, an investment manager at Bowdoin who produced astonishing returns eclipsing those of 'the Ivies'. 

A few quotes from the article reminds us that women can succeed in any field. 

She began her career in art history and through chance ended up in a business career after working closely with Yale's superb investor David Swensen. While at Bowdoin from 2000-2001, she helped grow their endowment from $465 million to $2.72 billion. She understands risk management. 

Basketball is similar. Study a problem, its possible solutions, and then apply the ones that seem most likely to work. 

Invest in yourself. Read. Someone asks, "what three sports books are worth reading this summer?" Game Changer: The Art of Sports Science by Fergus Connolly, The Why is Everything by Michael Silver, and The Art of Winning by Bill Belichick. 

Successful coaches become experts in asset allocation - practice time, roster formation, playing time, deployment of strategies. Both Bill Belichick and Brad Stevens hold economics degrees. 

Success in any field requires self-reflection, understanding your field and pressing your strategic advantages in people, strategy, and operations (how you play). 

Strive to think clearly and communicate well. Present yourself well in speech, writing, and nonverbal communication. People judge coaches on our behavior, ideas, and communication. 

Changing people and strategies creates a regular challenge for coaches. Supporting a struggling player can yield benefits or failure. When we miss our exit on the highway, we don't drive forever. We look for the next exit. "The next exit" in sports can result in sadness and hurt feelings. But the best coaches know they need to act.  

Lagniappe. Develop a diversity of coaching abilities. 

Lagniappe 2. Excellent spread on spacing. 

🧵THREAD: What is SPACING in basketball — and how do you train it effectively?

Spacing isn’t just “standing apart.” It’s about creating space for real decisions.

Here’s how to break it down 🧠⤵️

— Jose Daniel Gonzalo (@CoachJDGonzalo) May 20, 2025