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Win with character and competence.
Nobody wins without coaching, player, and team competence. As Coach K would say, "Basketball is about making plays, not running plays."
Teams benefit from players who are "force multipliers." Those players don't have to be the "most talented," but they catalyze actions:
- Toughness
- Unselfishness
- Work ethic
- Communication
- Competitive spirit
The sine qua non 'toughness' reference is Jay Bilas's "Toughness" which followed his Sports Illustrated piece. Every player should get a copy.
Unselfishness
Phil Jackson said, "Basketball is sharing," arguably the greatest hoop quote ever. Sometimes unselfishness appears in the Hoosiers style (Jimmy Chitwood playing Bobby Plump) action. More often it manifests as willing passing, shot selection, hitting the floor, playing both ends of the floor, sacrificing for the team.
Work Ethic
Do what you have to do when you don't want to, so you get to do what you want to do later. "Repetitions make reputations." Every successful player and coach is a worker.
Communication
Organize our thoughts. Tell people what we're going to say, say it, then review what we said. Be specific. Get everyone on the same page, buying in, giving and getting feedback. The 'worst losses' come from failed communication.
Competitive Spirit
When a team develops as many players committed to success as their coach, special can happen. Competitors connect with their teammates and the fans. They are ordinary people who help others make the extraordinary happen. The LeBron "chase down block" or the Bird-Jordan-Magic era exploits of winners.
Wooden placed TEAM SPIRIT as one of his 'central row' elements.
Nobody says to fill the team with character alone, necessary but not sufficient. Neglect it at our peril.
Lagniappe. When I coached 12-14s, I avoided drills that I thought had "higher probability" of causing injury. Everyone doesn't feel the same way or says, "Anything can cause injury." They're right.
Many coaches on Twitter hate this drill, but we do it every single day. Here’s why: 1. It sets the culture immediately. We once had a recruit watch practice, and after seeing this at the end of warmups he said, “Wow, you guys love defense here.” Exactly. Within the first five minutes of practice, our players know what matters to us, and anyone watching knows too. 2. It creates a standard. A lot of players are more physically capable than they realize, but hesitation gets in the way. When diving on the floor is something you only ask for in a big moment, it feels like a big moment. When you do it every day, it becomes normal. Winning the floor stops feeling heroic and starts feeling expected. De-sensitization is a big part of hustle, 50/50 and toughness. 3. It creates energy. Everyone is moving, yelling, reacting and doing it together. The gym gets loud early, and I’ve always believed the energy you start practice with has a way of bleeding into everything that follows. For 30 seconds, that is a pretty good return. 4. It gives us a small daily dose of movement work. We mix in foot fire, lateral slides and different movement patterns. Is 30 seconds going to transform someone’s agility? No. But small doses repeated every day add up and there is a reaction element to the drill, one leads and all other react. 5. It develops leadership. A different player leads the drill every day, which gives everyone a chance to use their voice, set the standard and take some ownership over the defensive culture instead of everything always coming from the coaches. Is this drill going to magically create a great defensive team? Of course not. But if you can give me many better ways to spend 30 seconds while reinforcing culture, toughness, energy, movement and leadership, I’m listening. Until then, we’ll keep doing it.
— Mike Jagacki (@Mike_Jagacki) September 21, 2026