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Saturday, February 21, 2026

Basketball Coaching Truths Behind the Curtain

Coaches seek truths, including those behind the curtain. The ones that separate better from ordinary.

Here are ten with the background revealed. 

1. Talent beats tactics.

The truth: Most championships are won by roster construction, not the playbook. A level playing field isn't our goal. 

Historical context: Red Auerbach built around Russell. Pat Riley had Magic and Kareem. Phil Jackson leveraged Jordan, then Shaq and Kobe. 

Real-world example: Coaches are hired to “fix” teams that lack shooting, rim protection, or creators. Nothing compensates for lack of talent and will to execute. 

Whispers: It diminishes the mystique of coaching. It shifts credit toward recruiting, drafting, and development pipelines.

2. Defense needs attention management

The truth: Defensive breakdowns are rarely about effort. They reflect misplaced attention.

Context: Modern basketball prioritizes reads. Weak-side tags, rotations, stunt-and-recover concepts. "Dumb jocks" are a misnomer.

Example: A team can be “intense” and still give up back cuts because they ball-watch. Guys like Chris Oliver preach perception.

Whisper: It downplays toughness. It demands film study and teaching detail. 

3. Roles drive chemistry more than personality

The truth: “Chemistry” improves with role clarity. 

Context: Dean Smith was meticulous about substitution patterns and roles. So was Popovich.

Example: A player who knows when and why he plays defends harder than one guessing.

Whispers: Transparency invites accountability. Coaches want to play their cards close to the vest publicly. 

4. Top coaches subtract more than add

The truth: Complexity often reflects inexperience.

Context: John Wooden practiced fewer things longer. Brad Stevens shrank playbooks.

Example: It's not how many sets we have but what we can execute. We need stuff that can work during fatigue and pressure. 

Whispers: Simplicity doesn't impress others in clinics. 

5. Conditioning lessens degraded performance. 

The truth: Fatigue degrades judgment before it shrinks effort.

Context: Sports science shows lessened reaction time and impulse control with exhaustion. It's the sports version of the "cookie test." 

(from Brave AI) : "Decision fatigue occurs when repeated decisions, especially those involving self-control, deplete mental energy, reducing the ability to make effective choices later. 

A foundational study by psychologist Roy Baumeister demonstrated this by having participants resist eating chocolate chip cookies—while another group ate radishes. Those who resisted the cookies showed significantly lower persistence on a subsequent challenging puzzle, indicating that resisting temptation drained their willpower."

Example: Late turnovers are rarely character failure. They reflect brain drain.

Whispers: It weakens the grandeur of grit.

6. Off-ball play determines ceilings

The truth: Players spend 80–90% of possessions without the ball. That is where winning happens.

Context: The rise of spacing and gravity concepts reframed the game. Movement stresses defenses more than isolation.

Example: Teams that space, screen, and cut urgently produce high-value shots without dribbling shows.

Whispers: Highlights follow the ball.

7. Officials shape outcomes more than admitted

The truth: Foul thresholds vary by crew, venue, and moment.

Context: Veteran coaches historically "read the refs" based on early calls.

Example: Teams that adapt hedge angles and help depth early steal possessions.

Whispers: Nobody likes excuse makers.

8. Development is not linear

The truth: Growth spurts, maturity, and confidence aren't coaching genius.

Context: Many “breakout seasons” link to physical development.

Example: The upperclassman who adds strength becomes “coachable.”

Whispers: Recruiting stories relate to coaching reputation.

9. Culture enforcement plays up

The truth: Standards rely on enforcement.

Context: Bill Walsh emphasized the 49er "Standard of Performance.

Example: Optional activities take life from accountability.

Whispers: If no "task-orientation" then no accountability. 

10. Coaching influence declines as talent rises

The truth: As systems rise, the standard deviation of performance shrinks. Player decision-making takes 

Context: In the NBA, in-game adjustments matter less than shot-making variance.

Example: Coaches manage rotations and tone more than each possession.

Whispers: A mystique surrounds certain coaches. 

These truths challenge the preferred story, that charisma, scheme, and motivational speeches define destiny.

In reality, coaching at its highest level manages attention, role clarity, and simplicity. "Protect the brand."

Lagniappe. This protects the brand. Good analysis...distinguish "intentionality" (Cover 1.5) that is less likely at lower levels. 

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Friday, February 20, 2026

Basketball Lessons from Ray Dalio's "Principles" (Examining Our Process)

Preview: Pain, Our record, Stress, Versatility, Self-assessment, Emotion

Sport parallels society. A key investing principle is, "There is no get rich quick approach." Risk and reward travel together and high risk is more likely to create busts than booms. Better process presages better outcomes. 

Former Bridgewater chief Ray Dalio wrote Principles, which shares valuable lessons for coaches. The core idea wasn’t about markets. It was about decision loops under stress. “Pain + reflection = progress.”

Being “underwater” — down 20%, down 40%, portfolio bleeding — is the investor’s version of a losing streak, a 12–2 run against you, a season that isn’t going as scripted.

Washington Post investigative reporter Bob Woodward has a principle that each piece should share at least six key points. Here are six Dalio-style lessons from being underwater that translate for sports and coaching.

1. Pain Is Data, Not Identity

Investing lesson:
Losses aren’t evidence of stupidity. They’re signs your model is incomplete.

Dalio's Bridgewater culture excavated mistakes to be logged, studied, and not repeated. 

Basketball parallel:
A blown assignment isn’t a character statement. It reveals a need for better systems, reads, and communication. Some coaches tell players, "You don't care" when they haven't shown players how to see the game. 

Coaching application:
When a team is underwater, e.g. 2–5, losing late leads, the question is  "What is this teaching us about our assumptions?"

Great programs transform pain through diagnosis and treatment. 

2. Mr. Market (Our Record) Is Not Wrong

Investing lesson:
James Grant discusses "Mr. Market," who is never wrong. When you’re losing, it’s tempting to blame anything and everything. Dalio’s stance: assume the record is right and you’re missing something.

Basketball parallel:
When you lose, officials, schedule, and luck become targets. Don't apply "biases" to make excuses. 

Coaching application:
If your team can’t defend ball screens, stop blaming spacing trends. Kevin Eastman, former Celtics assistant says, "Do it harder, do it better, change personnel, or "&#*@ it ain't working" - do something else."

3. Stress Reveals Reality

Investing lesson:
Bull markets hide leverage risk. Bear markets expose fragility. Risk will find you without management. 

Basketball parallel:
Weak culture hides and survives in blowouts. It breaks in tight games. Communication and execution break down in softness.

Coaching application:
End-of-game failures don’t create cracks; they reveal them. Poor communication, lack of conviction, shaky trust - bubble to the surface.

Being underwater clarifies weak structure...possession by possession - turnovers, shot selection, rebounding, defense. Young players must learn how to win. 

4. Diversification Beats Conviction

Investing lesson:
Dalio emphasizes balancing risks. Concentrated conviction can feel heroic - until it’s catastrophic.

Basketball parallel:
Teams that rely on one scorer or one action look powerful… until that option is neutralized. Watch a player who relies on one skill, e.g. three-point shooting, get nullified when a defense takes her 'good looks' away. 

Coaching application:
Develop secondary playmakers. Teach multiple coverages. Build scoring redundancy.

Depth is antifragile.

5. Reflection Must Be Systematic

Investing lesson:
Dalio didn’t just reflect emotionally; he built algorithms and checklists from mistakes.

Basketball parallel:
Saying “we need more effort” is not analysis.

Coaching application:
After losses, log specifics:

  • Turnovers by type

  • Points per possession allowed in transition

  • Late-clock decisions

Pain without structured reflection becomes frustration. Pain with structure becomes growth.

6. Being Underwater Tests Emotional Governance

Investing lesson:
The worst investing mistakes happen after drawdowns - panic selling or doubling down recklessly.

Basketball parallel:
Teams unravel not from one bad run but from emotional reaction to the run. The difference between being 15-5 and 11-9 is often a few possessions per game creating close losses. 

Coaching application:
The true test of leadership is response to adversity. Does the team:

  • Rush shots?

  • Argue calls?

  • Deviate from identity?

Or does it narrow focus?

Underwater moments expose emotional discipline.

The Big Picture:

Dalio’s deeper point:

You are not your results. You are your decision process.

In investing, you can make a good decision and still lose money.

In sports, you can run the right action and miss the shot.

The goal is not to eliminate losses.
It is to build a process that improves because of them.

“Being Underwater Is a Classroom.”

Because in both markets and locker rooms, the scoreboard is not the lesson. The reaction is.

Lagniappe. "You can't use everything." Find one or two actions that you can. 

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Thursday, February 19, 2026

Basketball - Anti-Tank Missiles

Restoring a competitive team demands a lot - usually high draft picks, player development, trades and free agent signings, and skilled manipulation of the salary tax thresholds.

Getting high draft choices means absymal records and lottery luck, often aided by "tanking." Nobody wants to watch teams "not fully trying to win." 

The NBA plans to institute rules to limit tanking. What could that include:

1) Fines for "detectable" lack of effort (how do you know?)

2) Fines or penalties for holding out players 

3) "Play out" tournament where low end teams compete to "win" the better draft choices. 

How is the NBA planning to address this?

Current player participation rules

Rules that function as “soft” anti-tanking tools

The Player Participation Policy (resting “star” players triggers scrutiny/fines; teams can’t sit multiple stars for “rest”). It’s more about availability/load management, but it’s been used as an enforcement lever when behavior looks tank-like.

Common “speculated” fixes

Lottery tournament (bottom teams play for odds instead of being rewarded for losing).

“Draft wheel” (rotating draft order over multiple years that removes incentive to lose).

Post-elimination incentives (draft position based partly on wins after a team is eliminated “you must compete late” in season).

“Other” ideas under discussion

Freeze/lock lottery odds at the trade deadline (decrease late-season impacts of losing).

Flatten lottery odds more (reduces benefit of worst records).

Use multi-year records for lottery odds (e.g. a two-year performance window - similar in spirit to how the WNBA has used multi-year records).

Limit repeated top-of-draft rewards (e.g. no top-4 picks in consecutive years).

Expand “lottery eligibility” concepts to play-in teams (decrease incentive to favor the lottery over the play-ins).

Reduce pick protections in trades (protected picks can make tanking “cleaner” easier).

Lagniappe. Clearly, the NBA is going to do "something."

Lagniappe 2. Want more resources? Coach Hacks shares a lot. 
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Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Basketball - Playing Present


Full commitment helps elite operators make faster, better, instinctive decisions. Total commitment "takes a lot of work," the opposite of multitasking.
How can we build the habit of "playing present?"
  • Reduce distractions (e.g. background television)
  • "Pomodoro technique" - 25 minutes work/study, 5 minute break
  • Mindfulness. Mindfulness improves attention. 
  • Remove the cellphone from our immediate environment. Schools recognized this and banned cellphone use during class. 
Some Input from AI (ChatGPT Plus)

Basketball punishes distractions. We replay the missed layup.We anticipate the final score. We worry about who’s watching.

Meanwhile, the ball is live. The best players are not the most emotional. They play present more consistently

The Myth of Multitasking

You cannot guard your player and think about the last turnover. You cannot shoot freely while calculating your shooting percentage.

You cannot defend the possession in front of you while arguing with the previous call. Attention is finite. When it drifts backward or forward, performance drops.

Win This Possession

A possession lasts seconds. That’s the game. In "Above the Line," Urban Meyer reminded players, "A to B, 4 to 6 seconds." That's a football play. Basketball's usually longer. 

Fight for this possession. Sprint back. Talk early. Touch the paint. Finish the play. Stack winning possessions. Outcomes follow.

Control What You Can Control

You can’t control the whistle. You can’t control the crowd.
You can’t control a hot shooter.

Control your stance, voice, effort, decision.

Anchor Your Presence

When players drift mentally, bring them back physically. Stop and take a breath. Be where your feet are. Stabilize your mind with your body. 

The Cost of Not Being Present

Most turnovers are not talent failures. They are attention failures. Late read on a trap. Ball-watching on a cut. Buddy running in transition. The scoreboard records points. Lapses create points.

Playing Present Is a Competitive Edge

At the high school level, games swing on emotional momentum. One bad call, missed box-out, a careless pass. Presence is recovery speed.

A Simple Standard

Ask one question between possessions:

“Am I locked in now? If no, reset. Basketball rewards the present tense.Talent sets the ceiling. Focus sets the floor. Win this possession, every possession. When Dave Smart says, "The best teams play harder for longer," that's what he means. 

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Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Basketball - Take Care of Our People

Leaders earn followers. Colin Powell tells the story about being a new Secretary of State and inviting the President (Bush I) to a briefing at State before a Mexico visit. He entrusted the presentation to two junior staffers he didn't know. This was his opportunity to show trust in the staff...and they delivered.

Consider how to treat everyone well, if not the same. 

Credibility

Coaches earn credibility. Street cred doesn't come with a title. The coach needs to be able to 'read the room', lead, teach, and add value. Provide value to the team and mutual respect follows.

Gen Z

Generation Z (Gen Z) is generally defined as individuals born between  1997 and 2012, making them 14 to 29 years old in 2026. Gen Z doesn't want to hear, "this is how it is" or "we've always done it this way." They want to know why and supporting reasons. Blind authority doesn't fit their worldview. 

Teaching

Coaches have to know our stuff and find ways to communicate it to players. That could include analogy (Coach K's punch with a fist not five fingers) and teaching techniques like the Socratic Method. Brian McCormick's "three nos - no lines, no laps, and no lectures" makes sense to me. Practice time is precious. 

Meet Them Where They Are

Younger players don't like to be 'singled out'. I had bought a black T-shirt to honor the "Practice Player of the Week," but learned out that wasn't going to fly. And it wasn't about washing it. In Anson Dorrance's Vision of a Champion, he shares a few principles. Young women are sensitive about being called out, about negative video, and about leading - not wanting to be called 'b*tchy'. Don't rediscover the wheel. 

Mutual Support

Sometimes I'd gather the team, asking each player to share something positive about the girl next to her (not "I like her hair"), about how she plays. Players want to hear their name and they want positive feedback. I also sent periodic email to parents with the "sandwich technique" - two positives amidst an area for improvement. 

Relationships are always a priority. They're a privilege and deserve to be treated as such. 

Lagniappe. What belongs on our practice plan... 

Lagniappe 2. "“The reason that ‘guru’ is such a popular word is because ‘charlatan’ is so hard to spell.”" - Barry Ritholtz in "How Not to Invest"

 

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Monday, February 16, 2026

Basketball - To Whom Are You Talking?

Know your audience. In a book, article, or interview, you address a variety of 'constituencies'. Do you want to inform, educate, correct, raise questions, or have some other intent?

The "Bully" Pulpit

Don't be a bully. "Listen, you have no right to criticize me or question my basketball decisions." Remember Chuck Daly's advice, "never get in an argument with a guy who buys ink by the barrel."

You want to address the reporter's question, but do so in a manner not to insult either the questioner or possible targets of the question. If someone asks a "gotcha" question like, "Is it true that there's a morale problem on the team?" find a way to answer, however evasive. "On any given day, in any family or organization, we have ups and downs. And we communicate about them within the family because that's what families do." 

Fandom

Bobby Knight had it right, "If you listen to the fans in the stands, soon you'll be up there sitting next to them." As a messenger, you don't have to be dismissive or question their intelligence. "It's always a difficult decision to assign minutes to a given player against a certain lineup, depending on the matchups, player strengths and limitations." 

The Team

"It's true that we didn't play our best tonight. We've worked hard to prepare them to compete every night. Maybe we overworked them recently and they didn't have as much "stuffing" tonight." Rather than blame them for a lack of effort directly, you're shifting the responsibility off them and onto yourself. 

Your Opponent

Give credit to the opposing team, their coaches, and their administration. "Those guys work hard, prepare hard, and competed hard in tonight's game. If we didn't play well at times, their players and scheme had a significant role." 

The Basketball Community

Every game has meaning. "When we play well and succeed, we want to understand what we did and why we won. We also want to understand where we didn't do well and find ways to clean that up in the future. Win or lose, engage the process of "teamwork, improvement, and accountability. We won tonight and we're pleased but we're not satisfied. We want to be harder to play against every time out." 

Colin Powell shared perspective in "It Worked for Me." Here are a few of his suggestions:

1. They get to pick the question. You get to pick the answer.

2. You don't have to answer any question you don't want to. 

3. Never lie...beware of being too open.

4. Never reveal private advice you have given your superiors.

5. Answers should be directed to the message you want readers/viewers to get. The interviewers are not your audience. 

Lagniappe. Many scouting questions address "possession enders." 

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Sunday, February 15, 2026

Basketball - Intelligence

In his book, "It Worked for Me," General Colin Powell asked intelligence agencies to categorize statements by: 

  • Tell me what you know. 
  • Tell me what you don't know.
  • Tell me what you think. 
  • Always distinguish which from which. 
This can apply to people (character versus reputation), businesses (sales versus estimates), sports (the "Moneyball Effect" - if he's a good hitter, why doesn't he hit good?), and more. 


What we think we know doesn't always square with facts. If someone publicly pledged a donation to a charity, that doesn't fill the charity's account. If a pro executive is rumored to have misbehaved, we don't know if it's true. The organization has to do the digging and make judgments.

When someone tells me, "this team has a ton of talent," I think, "that's interesting. It's worth watching." When the team goes 5-15, then file the source as "less reliable." 

Truth
  • Statistics. If you're team three-point percentage is 22 percent, that doesn't square with "great shooters." 
  • Record. Bill Parcells' "You are what your record says you are." 
  • Postseason play. "Good record, bad playoffs" then you ask about scheduling, coaching, choking. 
  • If someone tells us a secret, it's on them to have revealed it and on us to keep the secret. 
Unknowns
  • The insider goes to practice, sees how the sausage is made - the ingredients, the coaching, the tone. The outsider can't know. 
  • Within the unknowns are health, team spirit, conflicts, etc. 
Opinion - What You Think
  • Novelist and playwright William Goldman famously said about Hollywood, "Nobody knows anything." That's a good starting point. 
  • "Experts" said the Celtics would be bad this year without Tatum, Holiday, Horford, Porzingis, Kornet. They're second in the Eastern Conference. "Nobody knows anything." 

Sorting It Out
  • The Navy has an investigative process (JAGMAN) based on facts, opinions, and recommendations. The investigator must record the who, what, where, and when based upon "findings of fact." There's little ambiguity because opinions must flow from facts. 
  • Lack of transparency. If there's no transparency, then recognize that. 
Lagniappe. On humility. 
Lagniappe 2. The Duke Way. Hat tip: Larry McKenzie 








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Saturday, February 14, 2026

Basketball - Apply Elite Habits

One of the greatest NBA players ever, Kevin Durant, starts his day asking, "How do I get better today?"

Win the Morning

  • What's in your morning routine? Start by drinking an eight ounce glass of water to hydrate.
  • Think "invest" time don't spend it.
  • Apply specifics - diet, exercise, reading, journaling, whatever works for you

How do I build skill? 

  • Mental practice also raises performance. 
  • Can I work out with a teammate to elevate two of us? 
  • Commit to leaving your comfort zone.

What am I reading today? 

  • After reading a chapter, quickly summarize it mentally.
  • What enduring lessons can I take from this book?
  • Include topics across domains - leadership, self-help, biography

How am I becoming a better athlete? 

  • "Plan your craft; craft your plan."
  • Exceptional athletes strive for "personal bests."
  • Include speed, quickness, strength, endurance.

How do I become a better leader? 

  • Leaders influence others and 'earn' followers. 
  • Keep a "leadership scorecard." 
  • Model excellence as an exemplary teammate daily. 
Better habits, better you. The younger you start, the better you become. 

Lagniappe. What are you reading today? I'm reading:

"It Worked for Me" - Colin Powell

"Lincoln on Leadership for Today" - Donald Phillips

"How Not to Invest" - Barry Ritholtz

Lagniappe 2. Excel at the mental game. 

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Friday, February 13, 2026

Basketball - How Not to Coach

Learning across domains can expose where we go wrong. Barry Ritholtz's "How Not to Invest" informs structurally problematic and beneficial thinking.

We can't enumerate everything in each category but we can discuss key areas that help define "How Not to Coach." We can’t list everything. But we can identify patterns. I've listed several in each category...

Bad Ideas

  • "Any idiot with a whistle can coach."
  • OJT and reproducing my coach's system
  • Five-year plans
What qualifies as "good coaching," according to players and parents? It likely sorts according to minutes, role, and recognition. It's natural that parents see through their parenting lens. 

Pete Newell decried coaches 'copying' the system they came up in. He said that often results in a "poor reproduction of the original." 

New coaches may promise to restore programs to respectability if not prominence. If you want a five-year plan, then align with the feeder system or you are doomed to failure. The trend toward losing your best players to private schools won't help either. 

Bad Numbers

  • DATU. "That doesn't apply to us."
  • Raw data. "She scores 15 points per game."
  • The Four Factors working against us. 
The player turned down a three-pointer and her dad screamed in frustration. She was 1 for 19 on the season, so she made a statistically valid choice. "Shooting" skill shows up in the stats not in opinion. 

Consider the denominator. How many times do you see "Susie led the Muskrats with 15 points," jacking up 25 shots? 

Shot charts and data reveal who we are. Turnovers, bad fouls, and bad foul shooting turn possibility into frustration. 

Behavioral Issues

  • Selfishness
  • Teamwork
  • Sportsmanship
  • Off-court issues 

Teens often struggle with "egocentric" (me first) behavior. That complicates shot selection, teamwork, and sportsmanship. At the varsity level, coaches worry about academic and substance (especially alcohol) issues. There's only so much positive counseling coaches can do, reinforced by parents. 

Good Ideas 

  • "Playing harder for longer"
  • Winning close and late (Offensive/Defensive Delay, Special situations)
  • Hard-to-defend actions
  • Star in your role

Close games are rarely won by highlight plays. They’re won by:

  • Executing late-game offense and defense
  • Avoiding bad shots
  • Valuing the ball
  • Making free throws
  • Avoiding unnecessary fouls
Most young people are great. They want to succeed, to be coached, and enjoy the experience. Positive coaching, understanding what wins close games (the dos and don'ts), and team spirit are contagious. Help players understand successful play - physical and mental toughness, good decision-making, and avoiding giving games away (bad shots, turnovers, blown assignments, and fouls). 

Practice situational (close and late situations) basketball and flourish. 

Lagniappe. Sacrifice means "giving something up and recognizing that you'll get something different back." 

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Thursday, February 12, 2026

Basketball - Championship Progression

“Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”

― Francis Bacon 

Hope never replaces work. On the 1969 World Champion Baltimore Orioles, Mark Belanger hit a robust .283. For his 18 year career, he hit .228. Outliers help fuel championships. 

Teams often follow progressions.

  • Beat bad teams at home. 
  • Beat bad teams on the road. 
  • Beat good teams at home. 
  • Beat good teams on the road. 
Common sense informs that results parallel improvement in talent, competitiveness, and toughness. 

Among the top ten NBA teams, nine have winning records on the road. 
No NBA team in the bottom ten has a road winning percentage above .360.

According to Brave search AI, only six teams have winning records against teams with over .500 records 
One of the best NBA teams in my lifetime was the 1986 Celtics with Bird, McHale, Parish, Dennis Johnson, Ainge, and Bill Walton. The 1985–86 Boston Celtics, who won the NBA championship, had the following home and road splits during the regular season:

  • Home Record: 40–1 at Boston Garden, the best home record in NBA history at the time. 

  • Road Record: 27–14 away from home.

Including the playoffs, the Celtics went 50–1 at home, losing only once in the NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets.

 For the 2024–25 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the following home and road splits during the regular season:

  • Home Record: 36–6 at Paycom Center

  • Road Record: 32–8

Including the playoffs, OKC was 44-8 at home. 

What's the message? If our vision is competing for championships, then we need the talent and 'competitive character' to win against good teams. "Anywhere, anytime."

Lagniappe. Championship attitude is a big ask. 

Lagniappe 2. "Control what you can control" is a cornerstone of Stoicism. 

 

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Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Basketball - Colin Powell's Thirteen Rules

Rules aren't always rules, as much as (via Pirates of the Caribbean) guidelines.

General Colin Powell, formerly Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State started his 2012 book, It Worked for Me with his thirteen rules. He shares many relevant stories from his long career. 

Here are his rules and possible uses. 

1. It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.*

"Well, maybe it will, maybe it won't." 

Players, families, and fans aren't always happy with minutes, roles, results, and recognition. Part of coaching is becoming uncomfortable with being uncomfortable.

Basketball - The worst losses stay with us forever.  

2. Get mad, then get over it.

Carrying around disappointment and grudges serves no master. As Samuel L. Jackson tells himself, "Not every role is for you." And as Coach Cob reminds us, "You are a coach, but not the coach." Decisions made under the shadow of anger appear without the benefit of the most light. 

Basketball - Remember a medical adage, "two-thirds of all serious problems arise from having an open mouth" (drinking, smoking, eating, speaking, etc.)

3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Legendary trader Jesse Livermore's life informs this. He made and lost fortunes multiple times. In the end, he committed suicide. Don't make a permanent decision out of a temporary problem. 

Basketball - Have to think Donald Sterling had some regret...

4. "It can be done."

Army officers must maintain a positive attitude to succeed in tough missions. Both coaches and players cannot succeed without self-belief. 

Basketball - Just as every great loss sticks, so does every great win. 

5. Be careful what you choose: you may get it.

This parallels "be careful what you wish for." A 'dream job' can turn into a nightmare. Or the job may not turn out to be what you thought it was. It suggests that "due diligence" must be more than a slogan. 

Basketball - If a player chooses the "The Life" over "The Game," they'll end up with neither. 

6. Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.

This has significant nuance. Remember what Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler said about some recruits, "If you don't get him, he can beat you once a year; if you do, he can beat you every day." Do you want that low character, high talent player in your program? 

Basketball - Remember the "two knucklehead rule." A second knucklehead will destroy your team. 

7. You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

There's a saying that people unable to manage their own lives can easily manage others. Trusted advisors are 'that' - advisors. If you're the guy in charge, you (not the advisors) own the decision. That can involve anything - talent recruitment and retention, strategy and style of play, assistants...

Basketball - Assistants support the Head Coach. There cannot be two. 

8. Check small things. 

Every good coach focuses on attention to detail, having everyone on the same page, and "taking care of what's in their boat." And every coach has a horror story about a detail disaster (e.g. the Webber timeout). 

Basketball - Remember Knight's "Power of Negative Thinking." Avoid the actions (e.g. bad shots, turnovers, bad fouls) that thrive on losing teams.

9. Share credit. 

People need appreciation. Some of the worst people to be around are "credit hogs." Professor Adam Grant's book, "Give and Take" shares stories about givers, takers, and matchers. One football coach who will remain nameless, was famous for taking credit for wins and assigning blame for losses to players. 

Basketball - Distribute credit and like "bread cast upon the waters," it will return to you. 

10.Remain calm. Be kind. 

Leadership demands the ability to stay calm when those around us are not. Everyone has slipped up and been unkind, especially under pressure. Do all we can to preach and practice virtue. 

Basketball - Kindness will return and so will lack of kindness. 

11.Have a vision. Be demanding. 

"Be demanding without being demeaning." And remember that if we don't know where we're going, we might end up there. Chart the course before the journey, including a coherent philosophy. My coaching philosophy has always been TIA - teamwork, improvement, accountability. 

Basketball - Coach told us, "If I stop yelling at you, it's because I've given up." So it's okay to be coached. 

12.Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers. 

"Don't take criticism from people from whom you would not take advice." Being steadfast and committed to making good judgments challenges everyone. Others' advice may be intended for their well-being, not yours.

Basketball - Don't be in a rush to make decisions without enough information.  

13.Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. 

Optimism is a strength. One set of values was called a "COTE of armor" - confidence, optimism, tenacity, and enthusiasm. Another adage is "you cannot fashion a positive life with a negative attitude."

Basketball - Find force multipliers - talent, communication, coachability, teamwork, technology and analytics, opponent and self-scouting...

These 'rules' resonate with me for several reasons:

  • They apply across many domains. 
  • They reflect wisdom of both facts and self-regulation. 
  • Each is expansive and deserves careful thought (maybe their own discussion)
Lagniappe. Care about the value brought to our communities. Coaches touch the lives of many. 

Lagniappe 2. What environment makes us our best? 

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Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Basketball - Close Inspiration Gaps

Age creates gaps between young leaders and old lions. Old leaders express a preference for history, memoirs, and politics. What inspires youthful leaders navigating uncharted waters?

Inspiration is uniquely personal. Inspiration is the surfboard helping the rider transform the power and danger of the wave into the thrill and experience of the ride.

Inspiration, like coaching, technology (e.g. video, shooting machines, analytics), and teamwork, is a force multiplier, helping the whole become more than the sum of the parts. 

Inspiration per se is never enough. preparation and perspiration translate that doesn't might be into reality. 

Candidly, I don't know what best inspires student-athletes. I suspect that factors that worked over fifty years ago (praise, positivity, personal attention, trust, encouragement) still work. 

What elements propel students athletes toward high performers?

Coaching

"Everyone benefits from coaching." - Sean McVay  This has become a go-to quote. It simplifies Atul Gawande's Checklist Manifesto and The Coach in the Operating Room. The proof may arise from skepticism about anyone who says that they know everything worth knowing. Great coaches inspire and eager athletes inspire coaches. 

Mentors

Mentors coach but aren't necessarily 'domain-specific'. In the masterful Finding Forrester, Sean Connery mentors young Jamal Wallace. Connery finds friendship and renewed joy in writing as a mentor, while Wallace pursues both basketball and scholarship at an elite private school. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." 

Teammates

Teammates can elevate, inspire, and frustrate us. Supposedly, Duke's Christian Laettner would inbound the ball a few feet away from Bobby Hurley to annoy him. In Teammates Matter, walk-on Alan Williams shares how much teammates meant to him at Wake Forest. 

In our professional lives, we encounter all kinds of teammates - supportive and diligent and fortunately few who inspire, "don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out." Be the former. 

Models

As a young ensign, I attended Officer Indoctrination School in Newport, RI for a summer. Our company commander was LT Unruh, relentlessly positive and a terrific model for young officers. 

Upperclassmen have vital roles for young players, showing them the proverbial ropes, "this is how we do it." You don't need star status to influence teammates profoundly. Remember both the Golden and the Silver Rule. The Silver Rule says, "Do not treat others in a way you would not want them to treat you." Don't bigfoot young players...or anyone. 

Reading

What books inspire young adults, student-athletes, or have inspired you? 

ChatGPT Plus proposed this initial list:

Here’s a clean, no-frills list — five books that are widely credited with inspiring student-athletes across sports:

  1. Once an Eagle — Anton Myrer (too long, a standard for military academy students, check a summary)

  2. Wooden — John Wooden (timeless)

  3. Mindset — Carol Dweck (a summary would suffice)

  4. Legacy — James Kerr (one of my favorite books)

  5. The Inner Game of Tennis — W. Timothy Gallwey (I'd substitute "The Four Agreements") 

It generated a second list specifically for high schoolers. Here’s a tight list that lands well with teenagers:

  1. Mindset — Carol Dweck

  2. The Inner Game of Tennis — W. Timothy Gallwey

  3. Legacy — James Kerr

  4. Chop Wood Carry Water — Joshua Medcalf

  5. The Boys in the Boat — Daniel James Brown

I've read all except "Mindset" but reviewed the principles. The Boys in the Boat is another favorite. FWIW, I've read "Legacy" three times and "Chop Wood, Carry Water" twice. 

What are you reading today? 

Experience

Nobody escapes the influence of personal experience. Watching Geno Auriemma and the UCONN women practice (Breanna Stewart et al.) was amazing. Many of you cherish your first varsity selection, first appearance, and ideally on court success. Embrace the best of times and try to learn from others. 

Eventually, we become our own coach. Find inspiration as fuel for your journey. 

Lagniappe. Life. 

Lagniappe 2. Transition. 

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