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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Basketball: An Overview of Commitment to Quality for New and Old Coaches

"You like bugs." "I do, they're perfect. They always do their jobs." - CSI

Seek excellence not validation. Entrepreneur Sara Blakely preaches, "obsess the product." The players are the product. 

Dave Smart is among the finest coaches anywhere. Echo the key Smart concept, "every day is player development day." NBA legend Kevin Durant owns a similar philosophy, asking, "how can I get better today?" 

Better systems produce better results. System development counts. 

Be intentional with specific growth plans daily (skill, strategy, physicality, psychology). 

  • Refine position-specific skills. Have a shooting plan (finishing at the rim, mid-range, threes).
  • Watch video of your technique...reading defenses, footwork, separation, shot selection. 
  • Build strength and explosiveness. 
  • Practice mindfulness. 

Be prepared. 

  • Maintain and revise a drill book.
  • Maintain and edit your playbook.
  • Have a teaching file of clips.
  • Maintain a notebook or blog.
  • Develop practice schedules using all of the above.
Teach better. 
  • Be specific.
  • Be detailed.
  • Demand hard cutting and on time/on target passing. 
  • Study teaching techniques (e.g. Teach Like a Champion).
Develop concepts and execution. 

  • Concept dependent - spacing, player and ball movement, finishing. We use three-point line as 'spacing line'.
  • Track turnovers by type and cause (decision or execution problem?).
  • Develop 'possession enders' (scores, assists, rebounds, stops). "The quality of the pass relates to the quality of the shot"-Pete Carril
  • Track shot quality (no 'shot turnovers'). 
Impose 'one bad shot'.
  • Excellent defense starts with ball containment. 
  • "One bad shot" = "hard twos"
  • Contest shots without fouling. 
  • Goal 372 - 3 consecutive stops, 7 times/half, 2 halves
  • Zero missed assignments 
  • No more than three transition baskets/game
  • "Same page" mentality (e.g. coverage and protection on PnR, etc.)
Summary:
  • Be intentional.
  • Plan and practice preparation.
  • Teach better.
  • Improve quality of possessions.
  • Define and teach individual and team technique. 
Lagniappe. Form makes function. 

 Lagniappe 2. Player development minute.  

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Monday, June 19, 2023

Basketball: Coaching Empathy

Understanding empathy isn't always easy. An easier way to think about it is to "put yourself in the other person's position." That arises in many situations in coaching. 

Let's imagine a few:

  • A person loses confidence after less effective play
  • A person becomes ill or injured and can't play
  • A person has a change in role (bigger or smaller)
  • A person is passed over for a leadership position
  • A person feels unappreciated
  • A person's effort or performance drops off unexpectedly

Coaches wear many hats - organizer, teacher, evaluator, disciplinarian, psychologist, and more. Two critical tasks are getting the most from each individual and putting the team in the best position to succeed. Those don't always align because players may not see their role the same as the coach.

Loss of confidence. Some players need lots of positive reinforcement. There's a saying, "the bigger the star the bigger the insecurity." Coaches may need to tell one player, "I believe in you" once and others need more. 

Illness or injury. Exercise releases positive hormones like endorphins (some call then endogenous opioids), dopamine (the reward hormone), and oxytocin (part of bonding and nurturing). Injury or illness strip those away from individuals. Everyone needs to feel valued, even if out. 

Role change. Roles have flexibility. They can increase, decrease, or change. Injuries may require a player to assume a new position. Strong performance may increase your role. Struggles may decrease it. 

Coaches need flexibility, too. A coach told me that an AD suggested he have longer tryouts because a politician's child might end up getting cut. 

Leadership positions. Everyone can't be the leader although everyone can lead by knowing their job, doing it to their best, and avoiding being a distraction. When underclassmen earn leadership positions, sometimes upperclassmen feel angry, sad, or hurt. Coaches navigate those waters by asking whether players can accept the leadership and their role. When they can't, it may be better for them to move on.

Underappreciation. "Ego is the enemy." Sometimes neediness is part of 'The Disease of Me." Coaches 'read the room'. A highly successful Massachusetts coach got grief when a few parents felt their children had not been "promoted" to the Boston media as much as previous players. The best way to earn appreciation is through the hard work of being "a star in your role." 

Here are Pat Riley's signs of The Disease of Me:

  1. Inexperience in dealing with sudden success.  
  2. Chronic feelings of under-appreciation.  
  3. Paranoia over being cheated out of one’s rightful share.  
  4. Resentment against the competence of partners.  
  5. Personal effort mustered solely to outshine a teammate.  
  6. A leadership vacuum resulting from the formation of cliques and rivalries.   zones.
  7. Feelings of frustration even when the team performs successfully.  

Underperformance. A player may be doing her best under unique circumstances. Players can have mental or physical health issues, academic problems, family problems, interpersonal issues, chemical health challenges, or just be slumping. Sometimes they're obvious and often not. Team leadership can help as intermediaries. It's a challenge because players may see them as "narcs". 

Empathy is understanding and communication. Most coaches want a culture or support and growth for both individuals and teams. At the same time, adolescence is change and change is difficult. "It takes a village to raise a child" and that's especially important in coaching.

Lagniappe. Sounds right.  

Lagniappe 2. Cut urgently and use screens wisely. 

 

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Basketball: What Place Does Fun Have?

Tension exists between joy and hard work of sport. 

I've asked each group of girls how many have a dog. Usually it's half. 

"Is it fun to have a dog?" 

"Yeah, it's great." 

"Is there anything not fun about having your dog?"

"Picking up the poops." 

I explain that in school, work, relationships, and sport, there is always a "picking up the poops" part to get past.

Different attitudes drive coaching and values. 

  • "Play hard, play smart, play together, and have fun." 
  • "Winning is fun." 
  • "Never be a child's last coach." 
  • "It's not just about the basketball, but about the experience."
  • "The person is more important than the player." 
What do I think the players enjoyed most? 
  • I hope they enjoyed being around each other. 
  • They loved "specials" the three possession games that were O-D-O (offense-defense-offense) usually starting with a BOB, SLOB, or ATO. 
  • Scrimmaging
  • Shooting competitions 
  • Season-ending breakup 'gatherings' at our home
Create an 'experience' for players to take with them through their life. Hard work can still be fun if performed amidst great culture. Be invested in players' success. Be available for letters or recommendation or any other assistance. 

Lagniappe. Build skill. 

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Sunday, June 18, 2023

Basketball: What Do You Believe?

Nothing I believe about sports came down on stone tablets. Some 'takes' won't work for everyone.

1. Be a lifelong learner. Celebrating ignorance is the dog that won't hunt. 

2. Emotion seldom overcomes talent and preparation. Therefore, "every day is player development day." 

3. Continually work to teach more and better. 

4. Outwork the competition. Work smarter, more efficiently. Nick Saban asks, "are you investing your time or spending it?" A few years ago, I took the free Coursera Course, "Learning How to Learn." 

5. Reflect. Why did that work or not work and how did it impact the outcome? Never believe in our infallibility.

6. Study psychology and influence across domains. 

7. Be open to new ideas. There is always someone or something (artificial intelligence) with ideas that can help us improve. 

8. Think again. What's on our 'rethinking' scoreboard? Can a pair of All-NBA wings lead you to a title or do you need more positional diversity?

9. Think in terms of probabilities. A range of possible outcomes exist. Books that address this include Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke, More Than You Know by Michael Mauboussin, and The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks. 

10. "Read. Read. Read. Read. Read." - Werner Herzog   Include fiction and 'disconfirming' material that asks us to question our beliefs. Better to reread a great book than read ten poor ones. 

11. Share. "Basketball is sharing." - Phil Jackson   Share the ball. Share the sacrifice. Share knowledge. Share lessons learned from failure. Share credit. 

12. Seek balance.  


13. Find mentors; be a mentor. "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." 

14. Build better habits. "We make our habits and our habits make us." Pick a habit, stick to it, and check your progress. Process and systems enhance outcomes. 

15. Study leaders. Become a storyteller with tales of great leadership. 

Lagniappe. Great video.
 

Summarizing: 1) Space 2) Create advantage 3) Finish. 

Lagniappe 2. Are you using DHOs enough? 
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Coach Like a Hedge Fund Manager

Coach like a hedge fund manager. 


Screenshot from MasterClass

Bridgewater's Ray Dalio is one of the most renowned. His four principles above apply for basketball. Perhaps it's a tortured analogy. 

Diversification. Don't depend too much on anything. Diversification smooths results and decreases risk. 
  • Have a main defense and at least one supplemental defense. 
  • Be able to play at different offensive tempos. 
  • Construct an offense with diversity by position. Don't rely totally on inside or perimeter scoring. 
Decision rules. You have a vision and mission. 

  • Have a written primary philosophy and style of play. 
  • Have alternatives when the process is failing. 
  • Do more of what works and less of what doesn't.
  • Continually analyze results.  

Algorithms. 

  • When conditions change, change with them. Different strategies work in different environments. 
  • Be a tracker. "Winners are trackers." 
Learn from mistakes. 

  • Reflect on both positives and negatives.
  • Mistakes fall along personnel, strategy, and operations. Have the five that play best together not the five best players. 
  • Teach "the power of negative thinking" to stop giving games away.
  • Work to reduce turnovers and improve shooting.

Lagniappe. "Every day is player development day." 

Lagniappe 2. 

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Saturday, June 17, 2023

Basketball: Coaching Is Teaching

Some books 'belong' in our coaching library.

Basketball: Multiple Offense and Defense (Dean Smith)

Legacy (James Kerr)

Game Changer (Dr. Fergus Connolly)

Coach's Guide to Teaching (Doug Lemov) - Read the summary provided if not the whole book. 

The Score Takes Care of Itself (Bill Walsh)

If stranded on a desert island, any one would provide a lifetime of reading pleasure. 

Let's focus on Coach's Guide to Teaching. As a physician, I'm a teacher. Education changes behavior, but it's tough. It's about habit formation and consistency. During medical training, doctors combine learning and mentoring younger doctors. During my six years of training - residency, chief residency, fellowship - teaching was a daily responsibility. Even the youngest doctors, interns, have a big responsibility to teach medical students. I was voted best resident teacher at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the Lieutenant Neil Holland Award. I shared the two best answers in medicine to all:

  • "I don't know but I'll find out."
  • "That's a good idea. We should do that." 

Coaches need to apply these concepts:

Three types of training activities leaders should do:

  • Skill-acquisition - Learning to execute a skill, under pressure without thinking.

  • Game-based - Applying skills within the context of a constrained game environment. For example, a game of 11 vs 8 or a smaller pitch.

  • Tactical - Recreating specific situations that may occur during a match.

Here are a few quotes:

"There no difference between playing fast and being fast..." players with better game understanding and vision play faster.

"guessing is not critical thinking"

"What do you see?"

"It is the coach's job to build knowledge."

"If you start with a clear vision...the problem-solving is much more effective."

"Teaching technical vocabulary...is one of the fastest ways to accelerate learning." 

"The good coach should recognize the need for a variety of exercises to build perception..." 

"An athlete must be able to recall her knowledge very quickly at a high level under pressure."

"I have six different layers that I use to add variability: distance, speed, movement, dribbles and catches, defenders, and decisions." 

Reviewing notes reminds me that rereading excellent books adds more value than reading many books. 

Lagniappe. 




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Friday, June 16, 2023

Observations on Antifragility

"Antifragility is a property of systems in which they increase in capability to thrive as a result of stressors, shocks, volatility, noise, mistakes, faults, attacks, or failures." - Wikipedia

  • Physical development (e.g. muscles)
  • Resilience process (learning how to come back from adversity)
  • Transformation from experience (the local 2012 volleyball team won a championship in part from lessons learned in the Finals defeat in 2011). 
Clear thinking comprises an important part of antifragility. Here are Nassim Taleb quotes from Antifragile


Clear thinking verifies the accuracy of facts, takes 'point of view' and bias into account, and considers consequences. 

Clear thinking takes ranges of probable outcomes into effect. Some factors are not independent variables. Imagine you have the best scorer in the state but your setting is mediocre or impacted by injury or illness. One affects the other. Hitting is 'fragile' with impaired setting. 


"Options" promise outsized payoffs for low frequency events. Put options on a market represent "insurance" or a "gamble" on a market crash. Life insurance is a put option on one's life. Insurers spread their risk over many customers.  

What are examples of teams becoming 'less fragile' but not antifragile?

1. Create depth. Solid reserves reduce risk. 
2. Create balance. Overreliance on fewer players creates risk. 
3. Be able to play a variety of styles. 
4. Have strong development and offseason programs. 
5. Have input from a capable coaching staff. 

Lagniappe. Work on process. Without rain, we have no rainbows.
 

Lagniappe 2. Can AI make us less resilient? (AI input)

Antifragility is the concept of being able to not just withstand, but actually benefit from, unexpected and challenging situations. While AI can certainly aid in analyzing and predicting certain aspects of sports performance, it may not be able to fully assist in achieving antifragility in sports.

The reason for this is that antifragility often requires a combination of physical, mental, and emotional resilience, which can be difficult for AI to replicate. While AI can provide data and insights on an athlete's physical performance, mental and emotional factors such as motivation, grit, and adaptability may be more challenging to measure and optimize.

However, AI can still play a role in helping athletes become more antifragile by providing real-time feedback and insights during training and competition. For example, wearable technology and sensors can track an athlete's movements and provide immediate feedback on their technique and performance, allowing them to adjust and improve their approach in real-time.

Additionally, AI can be used to analyze an athlete's performance history and identify patterns or areas of improvement, allowing for targeted training and development. This can help athletes build up their physical and mental resilience over time, which can ultimately contribute to their ability to thrive in unexpected and challenging situations.

Overall, while AI may not be able to fully achieve antifragility in sports on its own, it can certainly be a useful tool for athletes looking to improve their performance and build up their resilience over time.




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Thursday, June 15, 2023

Basketball: Data Compression

Language arose to exchange ideas and emotions. Almost two millenia B.C. the roots of modern alphabets arose in what is modern Egypt. Hieroglyphs evolved into letters and words. 

We shorten wherever possible. "Lead a horse" shrinks "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." A "Trojan Horse" sneaks something in undefended. 

In modern basketball we use words, signs, and body language to 'talk' with those around us. This compresses both data and time. 

Let's muse about conventions. 

Defense. Decades ago, defensively we used two digit numbers to call the defense and the extent. "11" would be quarter-court man and "83" the UCLA 2-2-1 three-quarter court trap. "14" was full court man with 'red' appended to represent 'run and jump'. Hand signals or laminated color paper work well as signal or decoys. 

Offense. Offensively, we ran "Syracuse" a simple 1-4 high offense that could work against man or zone. Post entry could start high-low action, a wing backcut, or isolation. Wing entry often led a post to roll low or to screen across. Ball screens were not big in the early 1970s. If the opposing defense overplayed the posts, they could release for a lob. It was remarkably simple and yielded 65 points/game pre-three and pre-shot clock. 

Practice. Drill names promote efficiency, shortcuts to get players to the next activity. 

  • Practice usually began with 'dribble the lines' (around the three-point arc) with warm ups right and left, crossovers, hesitations, and combinations. 
  • Initial shooting including 'speed layups', Bradleys, and individual and team shooting drills. 
  • Press break was five versus seven full-court no dribbling.
  • 'Specials' were three possession offense-defense-offense games beginning usually with BOB, SLOB, or ATO. 
  • "3 on 3" at either end with a coach practiced "small-sided games." 
  • 3 by 3 by 3 was full court shooting.
 

Kentucky Layups is a drill that, if you do it enough time and record a high score, quickly turns into a precision/perfection drill - it's also great for learning to finish at full speed#HCDailyDiagram pic.twitter.com/2HNuyMiDGn

— Hoops Companion ๐Ÿ€ Resources for Coaches (@Hoops_Companion) June 14, 2022

Individual drills with defense add major value. 
  • Box drills
  • Wing series attack 
  • One-on-one (jab series, negative step, stampede-off the catch, etc.)
  • 3 point shots (off the catch, side-step dribble, shot fake on the fly by)
  • Warmup with Get 50. 
Combination actions

- Chicago action often DHO into PnR and options


- Ram screen (down screen into PnR) 



- Spain PnR (backscreen the roller)
 

- Pistol action (often early offense)
 

Team language. Everyone has their own. Some examples:
  • "Pinch." Dribble is dead; everyone denies. 
  • "Sprint." Transition D is sprinting not running. 
  • "Contain." Pressure the ball. 
  • "Paint." No paint on defense...
  • "Sandwich" defensive rebounding on free throws... 
Lagniappe. Bigs gotta run. Guards gotta "water the flowers."
Lagniappe 2. Attack the rim. 



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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Basketball: Six Points of Emphasis for Young Coaches

Still waiting to hear on the local girls high school job (I've never applied). Whoever gets the job, here's my unsolicited advice. Develop your long-term coaching thesis and train to align performance with your philosophy. 

1. Build a culture of learning, enthusiasm, and positivity. Build on Pete Newell's framework of teaching players to "see the game." Having high basketball IQ players gives them and you a better chance to succeed. Use all resources at your disposal, especially video clips. 

2. "Every day is player development day." Fundamentals, especially shooting (not free shooting), require a large time investment. "We can't run what we can't run."

That includes warmups, conditioning and shooting, and scoring at all three levels. In Game 5 of the NBA Finals this year, teams combined to shoot 14/63 (22%) from the arc. If you don't have other ways to score, it will bite you. 

3. "Contain the ball. Contain the ball. Contain the ball." If you can't pressure and stop dribble penetration, your defense will be inefficient. Ball containment requires both mindset and athleticism.

4. Use hard to defend actions. 

  • Pick-and-roll (PnR) and combinations.
  • Hard dribble penetration.
  • Urgent cutting (face and back cuts)
  • Complex screening (Iverson action, staggered screen, Spain PnR - back screen the roller, sequential screening - 'Corner rip')
  • Force long closeouts (via paint touches and ball movement)
5. Have offensive and defensive 'delay' games. Teams need to win under a variety of circumstances, adjusting the tempo to shorten (delay game) or lengthen games. Part of offensive delay is knocking down free throws. 

6. Teach basketball symmetry. 
  • Pressure the ball. Withstand defensive pressure.
  • Force mistakes. Take care of the basketball.
  • "One bad shot." Get and take quality shots.
Lagniappe. "Great offense is multiple actions." 

Lagniappe 2. Quicken your release. 

 

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Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Learn from Leading Minds - Michael Lombardi

Learn from great minds. Michael Lombardi developed a lifetime of experience and wisdom studying coaching at the side of Al Davis, Bill Walsh, and Bill Belichick. Lombardi wrote, Gridiron Genius to elaborate on those decades. 

Learn from Lombardi. 

[00:03:05]
There's a fine line between work, producing work and learning.

[00:04:35]
you really have to force yourself to learn the entire game. And the only way to do that is by studying it in a complete manner.

[00:06:22]
elements of leadership is management of attention, which means you have a plan. Most coaches have to have a plan for managing the meaning, meaning you can explain your plan clearly and concisely

[00:08:22]
guys that have had involvement in all areas of the football team as head coaches typically become the better head coaches.

[00:11:11]
Scouting is not finding players. Scouting is about eliminating players. And so when you have standards and you have requirements and you have beliefs in your system and player and things that you must have within your system, then you search for players that fit the criteria and you eliminate ones that don't.

[00:14:04]
the question is always asked what it's going to take for us to win the game, how do we have to play it?

[00:15:45]
The teams that win in advance, whether it's in basketball, in the NBA, is they can play different styles and still effectively win the game

[00:18:00]
why did you win or why did you lose? And if you can accurately answer, then you should keep doing the things that you want, and figure out the things you need to do to to stop you from losing. 

[00:20:39]
you have to be able to understand what's urgent and what's important

[00:25:31]
head coaches that also understand both all three elements of the game, what it takes to win, and they both understand how to build an organization that adheres to that.

[00:25:31]
head coaches that also understand both all three elements of the game, what it takes to win, and they both understand how to build an organization that adheres to that.

[00:30:15]
Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. And so that fine line is always the balance.

Quotes from Gridiron Genius

"Football is ultimately a business, and as in any successful business the most important ingredients are a sound culture, a realistic plan, strong leadership, and a talented workforce."

"It is the creator alone who understands just what the dish is trying to accomplish, and so he’s the only one who knows just how to make the ingredients work together."

"But in the ultimate team sport, real success doesn’t depend on tactics or discipline or order.  It always comes down to how well a coach leads."

"Ego is the leading cause of unemployment in the coaching world. Those who thrive in this profession don’t place their needs ahead of the team’s."

“We are not collecting talent; we are building a team.” – Belichick

"All the best, most competitive players I’ve been around are exactly the same, willing to do whatever it takes."

"A quick mind comes with preparation.  You prepare so well that you don’t have to think; you just react."

"Warren Buffett admits to spending several hours of his day just reading (mostly company annual reports).  He’s pushing 90 years and $90 billion, yet he still strives to be better by trying to learn a bit more each and every day.  Reading and research is the best remedy for boredom.  But it also guarantees that your thinking will continue to evolve."

Lagniappe. Here's the AI take on Lombardi...

Michael Lombardi is a prominent figure in the National Football League (NFL) known for his extensive experience and deep knowledge of the game. He has served in various executive roles within NFL organizations, including general manager, director of player personnel, and consultant. Lombardi's wisdom stems from his years of working closely with coaches, players, and front office staff, as well as his ability to analyze and assess talent.

One of Lombardi's notable strengths is his keen eye for evaluating players. He possesses a comprehensive understanding of the physical, mental, and strategic aspects of football. His expertise in talent evaluation enables him to identify players who can make a significant impact on the field, whether through their physical abilities, football intelligence, or leadership qualities.

Lombardi's wisdom extends beyond player evaluation. He is highly regarded for his strategic thinking and decision-making skills. He understands the importance of constructing a well-balanced roster and implementing effective game plans. Lombardi's experience in building successful teams allows him to assess the strengths and weaknesses of various organizations, identifying areas for improvement and providing valuable guidance.

In addition to his football acumen, Lombardi is also known for his ability to communicate and collaborate effectively. He recognizes the importance of fostering strong relationships within an organization and creating a cohesive culture. Lombardi's wisdom lies in his ability to bring together individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives, encouraging teamwork and maximizing their potential.

Furthermore, Lombardi's wisdom extends to his ability to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the NFL. He understands the importance of staying updated with the latest trends, strategies, and advancements in the game. This enables him to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the competition.

It is important to note that while Lombardi is respected for his wisdom, like any executive, he is not infallible. The NFL is a highly unpredictable and complex environment, and even the most knowledgeable individuals can make mistakes. However, Lombardi's extensive experience, strategic thinking, talent evaluation skills, and ability to foster collaboration have earned him a reputation as a wise and respected NFL executive. 

Lagniappe. Skill and development happen intentionally. 

Lagniappe 2. Improving your crossover. 

 

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Monday, June 12, 2023

Coaching Analogies - Plying Your Craft

Analogies are modeled from the Greek analogia meaning equivalency. 

John Pollack wrote an excellent book, Shortcut, about the power of analogies. He mentioned the tortured analogy above, showing a sailor rigging a fix for a wayward boom. He explains how analogies are "convenient shorthand to distill complex but common ideas, and communicate them quickly." 

No day passes when analogies don't flutter into our paths like insects or falling leaves. A myriad of analogies apply to coaches, wearing many hats.  

CEO. Preside over the organization, production, and delivery of products and services. Imagine the best or worst CEO and become more like the best and less like the worst. 

Mad scientist. The court is our laboratory. Coaches experiment with different drills and strategies. An action confronts us. We tinker with and enhance it with different spacing or timing. Put our program under the microscope to assess the hypotheses and experiments.   

Chef. A Michelin 3-star chef combines ingredients - salt, fat, acid, and heat - to create unique flavor profiles. And she subjects each dish to a precise time and temperature. Coaches do the same, with enough but not too much intensity. 

Hedge fund manager. Add value to provide above market returns (alpha). Balance risk and reward. Acquire undervalued assets and move on from or manage underperforming ones. 

Farmer. All cuts of meat are not the same. Grass-fed, hormone-free animals who developed 'marbling' slowly are different and better. 

Storyteller. Author or director...the job is to advance the story. Drive the narrative forward in sometimes unexpected, credible, concrete, and emotional ways. 


Editor. Parrot Ron Howard. "The film is made in the editing room." Watch films with great editing like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Parasite and appreciate the craft. Spot flaws in our thinking, coaching, and writing. And "kill your darlings," editing out the trivial or unrelated.  

Thief? Beg, borrow, or steal? Relate Ted Lasso to the Wizard of Oz. A hero from Kansas supplies flawed characters with heart, brain, and courage. 

Detective. What's wrong with this picture? Find the clues present or ask what's missing that might establish the villain. 

Life coach. Pygmalion became the model for My Fair Lady. Coaches help transform ordinary into extraordinary, good into great. 

Conductor. The conductor gets everyone on the same page, in tune, at the proper sequence and tempo. 

Architect. Design blends form and function to create working beauty. Frank Gehry's Bilbao Guggenheim Museum is exceptional. 

General. The general deploys troops to achieve intermediate steps en route to a successful end state. Be General Suvorov, The General Who Never Lost. "Always forward." 

Economist. Economics is about the allocation of limited resources. Coaches divide minutes, role, recognition. 

Grandmaster. "At the end of the day, the game of chess is about decision-making." - Garry Kasparov  Chess masters learn classic offenses and defenses, creativity, foresight, and minimizing errors. They "chunk the board" understanding how pieces interact in space. 

Lagniappe. 

 

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Sunday, June 11, 2023

Basketball and Learning: Whom Should You Read? Plus Double Bonus Material

Whom should you read to learn, to think better? This is a central, profound question, probably something to ask around. 

There are thinkers and there are talkers. A lot of who you hear on media are talkers. You learn nothing, it's spin transmission. Sometimes you learn LESS than nothing, false information.

Being on television a lot doesn't define a thinker. Get under the hood and learn how a domain works. 

Coaching and writing are distinct skills. I've read basketball books by famous coaches (without naming names), that taught little about life or basketball. I let my time be wasted. That's on me. 

Exceptional coaches inform exceptional leadership. Serious people do serious things. Doris Kearns Goodwin explains how four great presidents - Lincoln, the Roosevelts, and Lyndon Johnson - operated. Johnson went to Everett Dirksen the GOP Senator from Illinois and talked about legacy. He told Dirksen that he could be part of the Civil Rights legacy. He helped pass the Voting Rights Act. 

Dean Smith's writings share how basketball works, that better shot selection required practicing shot selection. 

Michael Lombardi informs unusual insight into player evaluation and team development. His "Gridiron Genius" helps any coach in any sport. 

Bob Woodward excavates the dirt to unearth 'the best obtainable version of the truth'. He doesn't claim it's the whole truth, because that's unknowable. But he writes provable, documented truths. He also explains where and how to go off the track. 

A Supreme Court clerk challenged Woodward about a passage in his book, The Brethren. Woodward invited him over and showed him the passage in the clerk's own handwriting. The clerk was dumbfounded. 

Adam Grant explains the value of unlearning and rethinking. In Think Again, he advises keeping a scorecard of what you rethought. He explains how teaching our children to think again matters. 

Neil DeGrasse Tyson distills ideas into value. If you asked him about investing in space exploration, he'd share that the US lip balm market is almost $800 million dollars. Is space exploration as important as lip balm? He'd share that his father said, "it's not enough to be right, you have to be effective." 

Newer isn't always better. Preparation and patience matter. In The Art of War, written in the fifth century B.C., Sun Tzu explains that "every battle is won before it is fought" and "if you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by." This literally happened recently in a regional conflict. 

Summary: 

  • Think about whom you read. 
  • Great coaching isn't synonymous with great writing. 
  • Serious people do serious things. Study great leaders. 
  • "Unlearn and rethink." 
  • Find "the best obtainable version of the truth."
  • Work to become effective, not just right. 
  • Newer information isn't always better.
Lagniappe. Steal and copy. 

Lagniappe 2. Player development minute. 

 

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