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Friday, July 11, 2025

Basketball - Not Just Kid Stuff, The Letter of the Day, "E"

Edison said inventors used imagination, persistence, and analogy. Coaches have those attributes, too. 


Today's message brought to you by the letter "E" as in Edison. 
  • Excellence
  • Exceptional 
  • Effectiveness
  • Efficiency
  • Enders, as in "Possession Enders"
Excellence. As children our grades read E, G, F, or P. E stood for excellence. Inside the UNC Women's Soccer locker room, a plaque reads "Excellence is our only agenda." Thousands of years ago, Aristotle supposedly said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

Exceptional. Exceptional performance arises through overarching commitment to exceptional work. Our work won't always be exceptional but we owe ourselves that effort. "Always do your best." 

Effectiveness. Coaches and players become effective when they change their world. Gandhi's impact came from his philosophy, "Be the change." 

Efficiency. Don't put in the time, put in the work. Get more done in any given "unit of time," with higher tempo practice, naming every repeated drill, and sprinting between drills. Brad Stevens said that he learned by watching Belichick's Patriots practice. I saw what was possible watching Geno Auriemma's 2016 team practice. 

Enders. Possession enders get scores and stops. They assist or score, rebound, get blocks, steals, and deflections. They impact the game at both ends of the court. Opponents must account for their presence at all times. 

Lagniappe. Effectiveness. 
Lagniappe 2. Champions act like champions before they are. 

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