As a high school junior, I did a lot of chicken chasing. The chicken was named Frank, who was FAST. That prepared me for containing the ball as a senior when I had a bigger role.
So you want to be the starting point guard. What skills help point guard wannabes?
Become the coach on the floor.
Energize your team every day.
Take care of the basketball.
"Learn the game."
Get everyone involved.
Be a willing passer.
Lead. Make plays, not excuses. Model excellence.
1. Warm up properly with the Jay Wright/Villanova "Get 50." It bugs me to see kids walk into practice and start jacking up 3s. "We make our habits and our habits make us."
2. Extend your range via a catch-and-shoot three. Create separation for side dribble threes like Joe Harris.
3. "See the game." Sue Bird shows how to use "paint touch and ball reversal" as she relocates for a three-pointer. Relocation, relocation, relocation.
4. Become acquainted with Celtics 32 (diagram below, 17 shots, 32 point maximum).
Combine multiple distances and time (two minutes) in search of your "personal best." Again, a partner is necessary. Pitino quarters (168 point maximum) is the Herculean version with seven radians, three levels (distances), and four quarters (84 shots).
5. Handle Messiah.
Develop functional (working) moves to right and left. Continuation dribble moves include speed dribble, hesitation (hesi), in-and-out dribble. Reversal moves include crossover (on the shoetops), between the legs, behind-the-back, and spins.
Develop combination moves like hesitation into crossover and vice versa.
Have a back dribble crossover to avoid dribbling into traps.
Some players "make a living" with one dominant move, like a killer hesitation move.
This video is long but outstanding.
Better with defense and higher intensity...
Cut with purpose and urgently.
Lagniappe. Coaching thoughts from Dave Smart via Basketball Immersion.
Don’t try to be a basketball genius, keep your plan simple, focus on execution.
Read and be “book smart” but remember to apply knowledge and be “street smart.”
***If it doesn't work or we can't teach it, move on.
What made the top teams you faced so good? "Mature simplicity" of Don Meyer...
The best teams are detail-oriented, on the same page. They make it clear early how they intend to win and their plan to wear you down. In crunch time, they make the right reads and execute. Poorer teams lack the direction, skill, or will to compete. It takes precious little time to identify the hunter and the prey.
1) Movement. "Movement kills defenses." We played a team that executed pass and cut offense well. If we overplayed, they cut back door or screened. If we played off, they set up cuts and front cut with quickness. They passed unselfishly and accurately, on time and on target. Our defense wasn't excellent but their offense made us look worse.
2) Ball pressure, ball containment. We played a youth eighth grade team a decade ago on a Saturday morning. They got up on our girls without fouling. Their defensive attack mentality allowed no "dead man's defense" (six feet under). They made us work for everything. They made it a long morning for us.
3) Talk. Communication activates teammates. Talk intimidates.
4) Make the simple plays. Coach Ed Beattie's Winnecunnet High School won five consecutive New Hampshire championships and schooled our league champions in a Christmas tournament. There was no trickery. They spaced, cut, and raced the lanes in transition. Pick-and-rolls, pass and cut, pass and screen away are hard to defend when players cut urgently.
New Hampshire allowed year round coaching. They finished each practice with each player making two consecutive free throws as a team (i.e. 22 consecutive free throws). At one point, I heard they had graduated nine high school All-Americans. They were a machine.
5) The best teams don't beat themselves. They value the ball and waste fewer possessions. They understand Pete Carril's wisdom, "the quality of the shot relates to the quality of the pass." Poor teams take poorer shots, don't pass well, and make bad decisions leading to turnovers.
A vast divide lies between know that and know how. Excellence in coaching, commitment, competitive players, repetitions, and time are hard targets. Remember the success equation - ACHIEVEMENT = SKILL x TIME.
Lagniappe. Research literally means re-search. Naismith didn't invent the game yesterday. In 1942, Clair Bee authored Man-to-Man Defense and Attack. In Chapter 3, he wrote, "The use of the screen-switch, therefore, became important and defensive confusion was avoided by switching on all screening plays, whether inside or outside." Coaches didn't invent switch everything and positionless basketball yesterday.
Lagniappe 2. Smart on Success, Sustainability, Simplicity. (repost of complete notes here)
"We ran four things." Sustainability follows player development. (I can help players improve, but the few elite players separate themselves.)
Lagniappe 3. FastModel ramps up their YouTube presence with a Gonzaga BOB from a 4 low set. 4 low sets offer numerous possibilities, sometimes the least expected of which is an open opposite corner 3.
Lagniappe 4. What's more productive, making your first stringers 10 percent better or your reserves 40 percent better? Seth Godin gives examples of the power of laggards. If NBA starters scored 80 points and reserves 30 points per game, increasing the former 10 percent adds 8 points. But increasing the latter adds 12.
Forty years in medicine is a long time. I've practiced in "The President's Hospital" (Bethesda Naval Hospital), an LPH (Amphibious Missile Destroyer), small clinics, and a community hospital. I've ridden in the President's helicopter (Reagan's had jelly beans) and an ambulance screaming to Mass General. I'm no hero.
Dispensing advice to young people during a physical examination, I never know what they hear or take away. I'll share key points.
Youth is a blessing. Taking care of your body doesn't guarantee good health of immortality. But self-abuse is likely to prevent it.
Mental health problems arise, sometimes after disappointment. If you develop depression, get help. Don't seek a permanent solution (suicide) to a temporary problem.
A lot of people benefit from smoking - tobacco farmers and the entire industry employs millions. The person who never benefits is the smoker! It's a killer habit.
Ben Franklin said, "an ounce of prevention is worth an ounce of cure." Get at least seven hours of sleep (preferably eight). To guys, about one of forty thousand guys gets testicular cancer. The other 39,999 don't. Check once a month to make sure there's nothing there except for the original equipment (I've diagnosed testicular cancer in young men in the office twice, both on Friday afternoons. Both survived.).
Don't take energy drinks (I'm not talking Gatorade). They are sometimes "gateway drugs" to alcoholism and stimulants.
If you are sexually active, you don't want unexpected parenthood or sexually-transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. Love might not be forever, but herpes is. Barrier methods (like condoms) are better than nothing.
If you get stopped by the police, don't ask why. Be deferential and play the odds that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. The officer is the one with the badge and the gun. They don't need your attitude.
Do you know where you want to be in five or ten years? If you don't that's okay, but if you do, what are you doing today to get there?
"If you need help or have a question, LET ME KNOW."
Lagniappe. Dumacity...the act or condition of being a dumbass.
Avoid "DUMACITY" the extremes of self-destruction. Hundreds of young people have died from taking selfies. I suggest that you go to the link.
Programs, coaches, and players become radioactive. Figuratively, radioactivity is not the property of the beholder but the view of observers. Radioactivity isn't full on cancellation, but close.
Radioactivity means real or imagined contamination through association with the radioactive party.
Tell me more. In December 1977, a brawl, the origins of which are disputed, resulted in Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich, resulting in serious injury, fine, and suspension. Following a trade to Boston, Washington resumed his career, playing parts of five additional seasons. Washington's greatest NBA damage was reputation.
The paradigm of radioactivity is Colin Kaepernick, whose protests against racism, seeking social justice, effectively ended his career. Kaepernick is no dummy, scoring 38 on the NFL's Wonderlic Test (Tom Brady scored 33). He received an undisclosed settlement from the National Football League and practically, its acceptance of the need for support of the social justice movement.
Many Americans will never agree (there are more dislikes than likes to Goodell's mea culpa).
Numerous NHL players have been suspended for violence but only one became permanently radioactive, Billy Coutu, suspended for life in 1927 for violence against officials. I recently spoke with an NHL scouting director who agreed that skill has become a greater priority as well as players having greater respect for each other (avoiding "cheap shots").
Radioactivity dissipates at different rates. "Some isotopes decay in hours or even minutes, but others decay very slowly. Strontium-90 and cesium-137 have half-lives of about 30 years (half the radioactivity will decay in 30 years). Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000 years." The same applies to people and organizations. For some, redemption occurs quickly, for others never.
Radioactivity extends past reality. In Hoosiers, Hickory (Milan, IN) Coach Norman Dale was radioactive after punching a player as a college coach. Return to coaching offered a chance, not a guarantee, of redemption.
Radioactivity doesn't only follow violence. In late 2017, Louisville fired Coach Rick Pitino for cause, over two years later adjudicated to a resignation without liability. The NCAA vacated a Louisville national title. Radioactive "decay" brought Pitino back as Iona coach in March 2020.
The character Geiger counter-defying culture wasn't unique to Pitino at Louisville. Bobby Petrino's well-chronicled scandals came to Louisville as well. Louisville paid him both to come and to go.
A program's legacy success sometimes provides radioactivity going forward. The shadow of John Wooden made search for his successor reminiscent of the search for the next Bobby Fischer.
How do we prevent radioactive leaks?
Euroleague Championship coach Etorre Messina reminds us, "A manager's biggest achievement? Getting his team to follow the rules without having to force them."Character matters. Kermit Washington's punch is only part of legacy. He serves a lengthy sentence for embezzlement.
Nick Saban emphasizes to players that they represent the university and the football program. In Monte Burke's unauthorized biography, Saban, he uses a colorful example suggesting that the only way he could be unfaithful to 'Miss Terry' would be with Hillary Clinton, someone with more to lose than he did if an affair was revealed.
Former Patriots assistant Mike Lombardi maintained contacts with SEC sororities to score the inside scoop on Patriot draft prospects. If the sisters squealed on you, you fell off the Pats' draft board.
The scene from the film Draft Day with the quarterback lying about the playbook also came directly out of the Belichick camp.
The bottom line remains, "the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior."
Lagniappe. Pitino comes back for a reason. He can coach!
Energy is finite. Coaches help define energy levels. Author James Clear asks, "Does this activity fill me with energy or drain me of energy?"
1. The coach and point guards must bring energy every day. This is non-negotiable.
2. Reject what Jon Gordon calls (in The Energy Bus) "energy vampires."
3. Attitude creates energy. Try it. Enter a room smiling, chatting people up and energy rises. Conversely, we lower the energy level intentionally by asking people to tone it down.
4. In Above the Line, former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer discusses "crossing the red line" to enter the field. When players cross the line, they 'agree' to readiness, engagement, and expectations of meeting a high standard of performance.
5. "Fired up, ready to go." Understand how to work a room, because "one voice can change a room." It's not about politics; it's about getting people excited.
Lagniappe. Raise the energy level. Shaka Smart knew how.
Lagniappe 2. Energize your writing.
Use stronger verbs. "She ran" becomes "she sprinted."
Eliminate adverbs. "She moved quickly" becomes "she hastened."
Reduce the passive voice. "She was sitting on the bench," becomes "she seethed after Coach Jones pulled her."
Use an energy quote. Tommy Lasorda remarked, "There are three kinds of people...people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what's happening."
Lagniappe 4. Use music to find the right 'activation' level.
In "Performing Under Pressure" Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry inform the relationship between state of arousal and performance. Many athletes use music to raise their arousal levels pre-game.
Basketball Friday examines concepts, a drill, and a set play. Install a defense that works for you. No "best" system exists. Score a steal today.
What considerations belong?
Who are your defenders (size, athleticism, basketball IQ)?
What can you teach?
Can your players cope with more freedom or do they need more structure?
How to measure effectiveness?
When to change?
Do what you do well.
Limit what opponents do well.
What if? (E.g. coping with foul trouble, injury, etc.)
Regardless of your system, technique beats tactics. Players will need to learn perimeter and post defense, defending closeouts and pick-and-roll, and to finish possessions with rebounding and 'safe' conversion to offense.
With my last middle school group, we mostly played man-to-man defense. I wanted to add run-and-jump principles for an alternative full court press. We never showed an aptitude for it.
I adhere to Kevin Eastman's philosophy, "do it better, do it harder, change personnel, and #$%& it ain't working" (*change tactics).
We changed from all man to a triangle and two late in the season because that covered our inability to stop dribble penetration. The guards limited open three pointers and had "protection" from shot blockers on the back line.
"Know your NOs." - Kevin Eastman
No penetration (drives/passes)
No middle
No uncontested shots (challenge shots without fouling, e.g. a jump shot)
No second shots
No transition baskets (how many to the glass, who?)
Develop your system. Almost fifty years ago we played multiple defenses en route to a 21-4 season and a Division 1 sectional championship. In retrospect, it was likely a combination of UNC and UCLA philosophies. We lost four games by a total of seven points.
Terminology. We used the first digit to describe the defense and the second the extension of the defense.
First digit
10-20s Tight Man
30-40s 1-2-2
50-60s 1-3-1
70s 2-1-2
80s 2-2-1
Second digit
1 = 1/4 court
2 = 1/2 court
3 = 3/4 court
4 = full court
Base defenses
11 - Tight man (half court defense; denial on dead dribble)
51 - 1-3-1
71 - 2-1-2
81 - sagging man (fall back from 83)
Pressing defenses
14 - full court man
83 - 2-2-1 UCLA 3/4 court trap allowing the first pass in
54 - "Diamond" 1-2-1-1 full court trap
Red - full court man, run-and-jump. When trailing, we often but not exclusively ran the run-and-jump defense. I sometimes call it "trap and switch" to help players see the defense. 83 fell back to 81, sagging man.
Drill. I prefer to show drills that we actually use. Here's an Auriemma combo drill into rebounding battle drill.
Set Play. Coach Obradovic draws up a master stroke. T- CDR (triangle, cross-screen, down-screen, roll).
Learn across domains is one of my core beliefs. An article, song lyrics, or even a phrase may trigger a question or search for understanding.
MasterClass, Jeff Koons
"Basketball is life." Extrapolate life from art and art from life.
One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank, by Jeff Koons, 1985
What do you see? Let our imagination run. Artist Jeff Koons said, "In this show, I wanted to talk about the act of survival using a material...that underscored the impossibility of maintaining balance between life and death but still having the desire to go for it in life."
Another article said the piece, "would articulate an uncanny balance between aspirational dreams and existential reality by neither floating to its top nor sinking to its bottom, but hovering perpetually in an ‘ultimate’ state of equilibrium at its centre."
Koons' philosophy is to "practice ACCEPTANCE, remove JUDGMENT," reminding us of Walt Whitman's quote, "Be curious not judgmental, most recently expressed in the Ted Lasso series.
"Best Coach"
Every piece won't have existential implications. This shows the centerpiece of my tiny collection of appreciation art. Art adds meaning to our lives. We could see the piece representing execution, gravity holding us earthbound, or a "rock head" coach! Thanks to Natalie.
At its finest, basketball is art, grace and power. It's extra oxygen in the room.
Aspire to beautiful basketball.
Lagniappe. A coherent presentation on breaking the 1-2-2. The weakness is in the middle and the presenter suggests how to get there (e.g. screening or flashing).
Lagniappe 2. A tip from Coach Dave Smart.
(Image from Dave Smart via Chris Oliver, @BBallImmersion)
What can go wrong will. Coaches call timeouts but we seldom hit the RESET button. Why would we?
A myriad of life stressors appear.
The Holmes Social Readjustment Rating Scale shares a hierarchy, led by loss, relationships, injuries, work, and social changes. Money (being fired at work) in 8th place is lower than one might think. The first three are spousal death, divorce, and separation. People need people.
Coaches are more than amateur psychologists. We manage an almost infinite number of crises, writ large and small. How we do so figures into how people judge us.
What belongs in our basketball "stressor scale?"
1. Personal problems. Coaches and players aren't immune to any of the above. We and our players have family, work, and school issues. Family illness is particularly disruptive. We faced a tragedy from which no basketball recovery was possible and that made all other problems feel small. Grief counseling goes only so far.
2. Relationship failures. Coach-player, coach-coach, player-player. There are minor disagreements and fallouts that lead to dismissals and transfers. Transfers aren't always about relationships but players seeking educational opportunity, more competition, or different coaching. But they leave a mark.
2a.Girl-boy drama. One high school girl "stole" a teammate's boyfriend. Ka-boom, a first round playoff exit for a highly ranked program.
3. Injury. Basketball is much of some players' identities. Prolonged absence can be psychologically harmful. Time usually hits the reset button.
4. Losses come in many forms. We lose a big game, endure losing streaks, being cut (fired), or reduced in status (benched). GLOBAL PANDEMIC has surely struck hard wiping out seasons.
Most resets involve 1) tactical changes, 2) personnel and role adjustments, and 3) effort-consistency. Young players may not know what it takes to win. Others see basketball as an activity not a priority. That doesn't make them wrong.
5. Jealousy. Teenagers exhibit a lot of self-indulgent/egocentric behaviors that can manifest as intense rivalries. I've heard parents counseling players to get their touches or their shots. That's the opposite of Jay Bilas' Toughness counsel we teach, "it's not your shot, it's our shot."
5a.Parents. I've discussed the Prime Directive where conflicts arise out of parental love. You've all heard the story of the Texas Cheerleader mother. "By hiring someone to kill 38-year-old Verna Heath and her 13-year-old daughter, Amber, she would assure her own daughter, Shanna, of a place on the cheerleading squad at Channelview High School."
6. Academics. They cut both ways. Some teams lose good players. We've been blessed to have many superior students. That creates good issues as players might need to be excused from practice for extra study. I can't tell players that family and school are their first priorities and then make basketball first.
7. Illness. Because basketball is a sprinting sport, asthma and respiratory illness show up on a regular basis. COVID-19 literally wiped out our season before it started. Substance abuse, including alcohol is a nightmare every coach dreads and eventually experiences.
8. Politics. In many communities, one or two sports rule the roost. I've seen situations where the rise of basketball bruised egos at the community level. Carl Pierson's The Politics of Coaching explores the many ways sports go south. When I played, the cutting of a local politician's son led to an internal investigation examining the role of sports (participation versus winning) within the community. Three years earlier, when the school won a State football championship, it was all about winning.
9. Multitasking. Many coaches and players balance sport, work, and education.
"I think we should vote again."
10.Recognition. Both coaches and players can find credit hard to take, another good problem.
Every problem doesn't have a solution. In Madeleine Blois' In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle, the two stars resolve the rivalry. That doesn't always happen.
Some relationships fracture and split teams. In higher level of women's basketball, trust is an even bigger issue with player lack of trust in the coaching staff. In some college programs sexual orientation becomes an issue resulting in factions within teams.
Finding balance between staying the course and hitting the reset button will always be an issue.
Lagniappe. Two of many hints from great Canadian coach Dave Smart:
The “cutter” in your offense should be your weakest long shooter, they can help you by attacking inside (cutting in from the ballside wing, the top, or the weakside 45 angle).
As a player, you always need to be a threat – ask “how am I helping the team” – if you are short, and don’t shoot well, then you better learn to cut hard while you work on shooting and/or growing.
"Whatever it takes." We've all heard that. What is the the hard road?
Live an honorable life. Seven-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady follows principles in don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements. They include:
Be impeccable with your word
Don’t take anything personally
Don’t make assumptions
Always do your best.
When frustration strikes, remind ourselves about #4 above.
"Hit the books." Few disciplines allow advancement without study and learning. Precious few young players have the size, athleticism, and skill to inform a professional sports career. Learn how to learn. Study more effectively. Have a fallback plan.
Find mentors. I saw a young patient recently embarking on a career as an electrician, now an apprentice. He works with a dozen journeymen and more senior electricians and understands adding value. I gave him a piece of paper with the words, "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." If not today, someday you will be a mentor.
Build your body. Improve strength and conditioning to become "bigger, faster, stronger." Part of basketball is finding ways to wear down opponents, to play harder for longer than opponents. Like Pete Carril, I believe in conditioning within drills and scrimmaging, not in breaking out conditioning separately.
Innovate. Freddie Roach's coaching career dwarfed his fighting career. He encouraged fluidity and innovation in young fighters, turning a lightweight into a world champion (Manny Pacquiao). Box. Dance.
Become a cleaner. Devote part of your workout to 'game winners' your 'go to' and 'counter' moves for crunch time. Work with live defense whenever possible to prove their effectiveness.
Track your workouts. Pick (activities). Stick (with them). Check (record). Great habits are made not born. "Don't miss twice."
Watch video and watch some more. Study exceptional players and coaches. Examine the fine details. How did they get separation to create edges?
Discover the exceptional footwork and quickness of a Hall of Famer.
Train your brain. Mindfulness lowers stress hormones. It improves sleep. It adds brain density in the learning and memory centers. It attenuates brain density in the amygdala, the stress center of the brain. Champions like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq did it. LeBron James does.
Lead. You ARE a role model. Everyone from veterans to young players can model excellence.
Summary:
Live honorably
Study
Find mentors
Build your body
Innovate
Become a cleaner
Track your workouts
Watch the details on video
Train your brain
Lead
Lagniappe. In your organization, how do performance and trust relate?
Be the leader everyone wants on the team.
From Simon Sinek
Lagniappe 2. Second chance. Review the "Slappin' Glass" video on GET action.
The exhausted medical student had just finished his exams and celebrated with a couple of beers. Walking home, he rested against a tree. He felt a warm liquid dripping down his leg and saw a dog relieving himself. "How did you know I was a medical student?"
What’s the best advice you ever got? Compile an inspiration list.Dubner advises people to "Go Big" in life. Here are ideas:
13. "You can't do size (trading) at highs." - A caution from Investment maven Tom DeMark
14. Become a storyteller. Inform others of where things went well and poorly.
All of which brings me to the second best advice I got, from Dr. Ann Knowlton, when I was a medical student. "You need to speak up more so others will know what you know." The best advice. My parents suggested I ask this girl Ellen out. We've been married for forty-one years.
Lagniappe. Eastman Drills. We like "Force to Tape."
“If you can’t appreciate what you’ve got, you’d better get what you can appreciate.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion
Success follows players in a variety of flavors - family, academic, athletic, happiness, fame, money.
As coaches, we help take players where they cannot go alone... personal development, skill, game knowledge, letters of recommendation, job placement, winning teams, scholarships, and more.
Rick Pitino triggers a range of emotions, but his book title, Success is a Choice deserves mention. “Lying makes a problem part of the future; truth makes a problem part of the past.” Be honest with yourself and with others about yourself.Make your story great but real.
Make your coach want to help you. Robert Cialdini's classic book, Influence, includes "liking" as one of his six core principles. Why go out of your way to be unlikeable?
If you earn a mediocre grade without studying, that seldom inspires the teacher to invest time and redouble effort on your behalf. Make the teacher care.
What do coaches remember about players? We remember high performance and intangibles like punctuality, attitude, discipline, effort, energy, and teamwork are indelible.
Lauren was the first at VOLUNTARY workouts and the last to leave. Tell her something once and she was on it. She carried the laminated handout of Coach Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" to school in her gym bag every day. I wrote an unsolicited letter to our Congresswoman in support of getting her a Congressional nomination to the Naval Academy. She graduates from Annapolis in a few months and I'll be almost as proud as her parents.
Victoria (a.k.a. V-Rex) was the most intense, emotional player I've coached. She was an outstanding multi-sport athlete, an All-State volleyball player. Her favorite sport... Football.
It's impossible not to root for that type of student-athlete. Offer to write letters of recommendation and follow through. Victoria starts veterinary school in the fall. The V-Rex will become Doctor V-Rex for me.
Cecilia is the most skilled player for her age that I have coached. She rarely missed a voluntary workout and says "yes" to every opportunity to improve. She is an elite student averaging over 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game playing in a good private school league. She is shooting over 76 percent on over a hundred free throws this season and is 8/21 (38%) on threes in her past five games. And she's a six-foot tall freshman.
One hot Sunday night, I introduced her to reverse layups from the baseline. She struggled. The following Sunday, she showed how she had nearly mastered the skill. She repped "box drills" tirelessly and studies video to correct mistakes. She dropped me a line yesterday after I sent her the UCLA-Memphis Walton clip, "Thanks Coach! The Bill Walton highlights were really fun to watch!"
Samantha carried her notebook to every practice...and profited from it. She recorded her successes and areas for improvement, tracked her progress over years while building skills and sculpting her body. As a sophomore, she led the local high school team deep into the postseason then transferred to a private school where she won a state title. She has four D1 offers (at last count) and will be an impact player at the next level.
Summary: (Advice for everyone)
Make the coach care about your special journey. It's a superpower.
Have a roadmap to destiny, like the "Pyramid of Success."
Bring intensity to practice, games, and academics.
Build skills and say 'yes' to chances to improve.
Use technology, from video to notebooks to build understanding.
We're blessed to be part of a student-athlete's journey. Don't take that for granted. We participate in changing lives by adding value and reminding players, "I believe in you."
Lagniappe. From Adam Spinella, Daily ATO, "Iverson Rip."
