Like most of you all, I'm really looking forward to the college basketball season. Here is a nice video from the folks at Duke Blue Planet for their upcoming 2012-2013 season. As always, they always produce the best quality videos,

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Are you ready?? The NBA season is getting ready to go, no lockout/strike this year. A nice (but short) segment on NBA Coaches at practice. My favorite sound bites are from Frank Vogel, enjoy...

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Another great video produced by Duke Blue Planet, the official Duke Athletics department. Great message as well, true champions are created in the off-season... what are you doing when nobody is watching??

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A great video from the Duke Blue Planet themed "Always Home". There's an old saying -- tradition never graduates. You get that sense of tradition when you watch and hear the former players talk about coming back home to Duke.

Anyways, I've been reading lots and watching a bunch of coaching DVD's, some good X's and O's content to come now that summer is upon us...

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When you go in the lion's den, you don't tippy toe in — you carry a spear, you go in screaming like a banshee, you kick whatever doors in, and say, 'Where's the SOB?' -- Brian Billick, former Head Coach of the Baltimore Ravens

I was reading something the other day from Brian Billick (who is now a FOX Sports football analyst) and I came across the quote above. I remember when he said it, it was 2000, the year the Ravens won the Superbowl. They had just beaten the heavily favored Tennessee Titans in Tennessee in the playoffs and a reporter asked him in the press conference why Billick was so confident they would beat the favored Titans. That's when he replied with the now famous quote: "When you go in the lion's den..."

It's still smack dab in the middle of the summer but I'm already jacked up about the upcoming seasons for both football and basketball. The school I am at has a storied basketball tradition and our Varsity team is touted as a pre-season championship contender. By contrast, the Varsity football team (relatively new, in year five) graduated most of the talent and is predicted to finish dead last in our division, the prep beat writer wrote in his preseason predictions that we would be lucky to survive the season. What's interesting is people think that it must be weird to have the two opposing set of expectations. I tell them the expectation for both is the same, to get into the playoffs and win a championship.

As coaches, there's always talk about what makes a championship team, or how to turn around a struggling program. By moving around and being a part of both rebuilding programs, and championship teams, I've seen what has worked, what hasn't, and I've had many chances to reflect on these ideas. There is one commonality regardless of the situation you find yourself in. As a coach, you must never compromise your expectations; you have to set high standards and commit yourself fully to achieving them. Coaches lead, and players get their confidence from us as coaches, and they lose it just as easily from us as coaches as well. If you're going to stand in front of all of your players before a game, before a season and say "lets just try to survive out there", or "I think we have an OK shot at winning," what kind of message do you think you are sending your players. You've already thrown up the white flag before the fight.

As a teacher, I've had the similar opportunity to teach in both public and private schools. Last year, I taught at a prep school which boasted a 100% university admission rate, and was ranked as one of the top high schools in the country. People always think that prep school kids are smarter, or more studious than public school kids, that it's a matter of money and genetics. That's a load of BS. There is one singular difference between private and public, successful and unsuccessful -- level of expectations. Prep school kids (and their parents) expect their kids to go to college and get good jobs. The kids at public schools who have similar expectations do just as well. The kids (and their parents) who have low expectations achieve what they aim for, mediocrity or lower.

Back to coaching to close. Some of you are probably reading this and are skeptical. You say, "yah, but Coach, we're just not a good team this year". The question I ask you is this: Did your preparation change as a coach when you were a "good" team? Do you take your foot off the pedal because the team you have this year isn't a "championship contender"? Winning is hard, winning championships is even harder -- a lot of things have to fall into place and a lot of things are out of your control. I get that, we all do. But you are in control of how you plan and prepare for your season, and each game. A coach is a leader, and part of being a leader is to set the expectation. As your seasons approach, I ask you to assess and evaluate your expectations of your own teams? What kind of signals are you giving to your players? Coaches, I'm asking you to stop tippy-toeing and kick that freakin' door in.

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Going through the 2011 Nike Coach of the Year clinic manual and I want to quote coach Houston Nutt, head football coach for Ole Miss,

Players are looking for the following characteristics in a coach:
- They are looking for somebody they can trust.
- They are looking for somebody the can depend on.
- They want to have someone predictable and consistent.
- They also want to have someone committed to them.
- They don't really care how much football you know until they know how much you care.

I hear all the time from coaches that kids are too lazy these days - "... they don't wanna work... they're too busy chasing girls/boys... they lack discipline... they can't make a commitment... they don't know how to communicate anymore... they're too self-interested..." But what about we as coaches? Have coaches changed over time?

To be honest, I don't think kids or coaches have changed much at all over the times. The thing is, players will always find a way to let you down. They will be late, they will skip practice to be with their boyfriend/girlfriend, they will decide to take plays off, they will sometimes have an attitude. However, as a coach, you will always have to be perfect. You can't be late. You can't decide not to show up. You can't promise new practice jerseys, and then not come through. You can't have morning practices some weeks and night practices other weeks. You can't make a practice calendar, then change the dates at the last minute. It just has to happen once, just once, and you've lost all credibility and respect from your players. Players may not remember all the good things that we as coaches do for them, but they sure as heck remember everything you didn't do. It is our responsibility, as coaches, to practice what we preach and to teach players how to do it the right way all the time.

If you think about it, what players want from their coaches is rather simple really, they want you to be there for them. But it's easy to say, hard to do because it requires discipline. We ask it of our players, we sure as heck better live it as coaches? For example, take our summer lifting workouts, we go Tue/Wed/Thu from 1pm-2pm. It is voluntary as per the rules for all schools, but I'm there every session. We don't get that many basketball or football players out because of summer vacations, etc.. but there are several core players that are always there. They know that the date never changes, the time never changes, and it never gets canceled for the weather or for any other reason. Is it hard for me to be there each day? Yes and no. It is only 3 days of the week for 1 hour. But I'm on my summer holidays from teaching, and there are some days that I wished I could change it to 4-5pm so I can get in a round of golf, or 10-11am so I can meet a friend for lunch, or just to cancel it on a sunny day because I'd rather hang out at the beach. But I go each day because I believe it's important to our team that our players are working to get better, and because I've made a commitment to being there for them.

I know that there are extenuating circumstances, health issues, personal problems, work schedules, but understand that being a coach carries a big responsibility. A lot of people go into coaching and don't really understand or are ready for that kind of commitment. Coaching is sometimes as easy as just being there for your players, which can also be the hardest thing.

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It's definitely the dog days of summer, and I'm trying to get in some reading and came across this great article about Coach Bobby Greco Jr. pursuing his dream to coach football. It's hard enough to coach with all of my faculties in working order, I can't even imagine how to do it from a wheelchair. But that is exactly what Coach Greco does everyday, as an assistant with St. John Fisher College.



Anyways, I was at a Kevin Eastman clinic over the weekend. It was a great clinic, a wonderful opportunity to talk X's and O's and I'm just putting together some notes and stuff from the clinic and to decide what I will post on next. It was a defensive clinic so most probably it will be related to defense. In the meantime, if you have some ideas, feel free to shoot me a message.

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I read about DivIII La Roche College head coach Coach Scott Lang and the tragic story of his passing late last year and it nearly broke my heart to read about how he had suffered a heart attack during practice one day and passed away right there in the middle of their court. Here is an update on the story from ESPN showing how the team played out their year and ended up winning their conference title for the first time ever, and honoring their coach along the way. Heartbreaking, but touching at the same time,



Words to live and die by:

"They may be wealthy, but we are rich..."

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It's that time of year when coaches get fired and hired all across the country. Today, Texas Tech decided to part ways with Pat Knight. One great quote from Knight that really stuck with me in reading about it today was this one:

"I've proven I can coach. I run a clean program, I don't cheat, my players graduate and we have discipline. So if you don't want me here there's going to be someone else that wants me."

What a great quote. In a situation where all kinds of doubts can be swirling in your head, where you second-guess yourself, your philosophy, whether you are cut out for the profession, it's good to just remind yourself that just because you got fired, doesn't mean that you have no idea what you're doing.

Things don't always work out, but as long as you have integrity and work ethic, there will always be a place for you. That there are indeed things more important than winning, like doing things the right way.

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Watching some college basketball yesterday and caught the big BYU win over SDSU lead by BYU guard Jimmer Fredette. When I watched him play, the thing that struck me the most was how composed he always is, he never lets the emotion of the game get to him, he is always in control. When the ESPN analysts talked about Fredette looking for pickup games at the prison to hone his skills back in his hometown, I was intrigued. Here is the ESPN segment that goes into it,



One of the virtues that is undervalued by coaches is mental toughness. I do think it is something that can be developed like any skill. But its harder to develop because in order to be mental tough, you have to be in the position to make mistakes over and over again and then learn from them. It's a painful process, but it's the only way to become stronger.

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Been even more busy then ever picking up more teaching blocks to fill my schedule, which means I'm driving 30-40 miles a day to and from schools and then practices at night. Oh yes, the joys of being a first-year high-school teacher. Anyways, basketball is in full swing now and I'm thoroughly enjoying the assisting role that I'm in. Our team had a good couple of weeks but ended with a loss in the finals of the big tournament in town.

I went through the plethora of highlights and interviews from college gameday yesterday, and this ESPN coaches roundtable with Coaches Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, and Bill Self really resonated with me, especially when talking about coaches and losing games. It really is true that the losses always feel way worse than any of the wins (Although I don't know about the feeling about the win to win the Championship that Self talks about because I've never won one). I remember almost every loss I've coached (both as a head coach and assistant), between football and basketball, over the past 7 years. And I've lost a lot of games. I've often hoped that the older I get, the less the losses will wear on me, but it never really does. I would say though that I used to think a lot more about what we could have done, and now I focus more on what we need to do to get better, but it still wears on you.

Another great quote from the interview is from Tom Izzo talking about how a player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team. If the leadership is there, if the players have demonstrated to me that they can take responsibility for making their own decisions, then I think Izzo is absolutely right. I've never had a big enough ego to think that I as the coach was above the team. Ultimately, I tell players that it is their team. It's a cliche but it's true, they aren't playing for me as the coach, they are playing for each other.

Finally, I think Bill Self is right on when he says that the more you get there, the more you want it. I have been fortunate enough to have coached (as a head and as an assistant) in a few Championship games in both football and basketball, unfortunately I have been on the losing end each time. But once you get there, you have that burning desire to get back. And I don't think winning it all will make it any less desirous the following year. Winning is contagious as they say.

Without further ado, the coaches roundtable...

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When I think of Coach Wooden, I think of Integrity and Greatness. Instead of sadness, we should celebrate the 99 years of wisdom that Coach has given us not just in basketball but in being better human beings. I have several books from Wooden and I stare at his Pyramid of Success every day in front of my computer,



To the man they call "Coach", Well Done, Well Done indeed, Coach...

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Most of y'all probably know my bias towards Steve Nash, being Canadian and all and especially from B.C. After he played game 4 with one eye and completed the sweep of the Spurs, everyone I know here said exactly the same thing, "Good old Canadian kid."

That got me thinking about point guards and as I was going through some old notes, tidbits from here and there, I came across an article talking about good guards by Dave Bollwinkel of the Boston Celtics, that Steve Nash does every single one of them. Show me a good team, and I'll show you a good point guard, the 2 go hand in hand. The article is below:

"Good Guards"
By Dave Bollwinkel, Boston Celtics Scout

Far too often, high school guards believe that what college coaches are looking for is someone to light up the scoreboard. While scoring is certainly an advantage, you can make it as a college guard if you understand and master all nine points listed below, even if you are not a great scorer.

Good guards...

1. Get their team into offense by:
- Developing a good handle
- Including the retreat dribble

2. Know how to attack pressure.- Always looking up the floor

- Looping the lag guard to create an open side of the floor (reverse the ball early in the offense)
- Using the retreat dribble to back out of traps, stay out of trouble, and to space the floor
- Avoid dead man's corner (at half court)

3. Know when and how to feed the post.

4. Creating through dribble penetration.
- Both for the post and the perimeter
- Deliver the pass into the shooting pocket
- Make use of on ball screens to assist in penetration and to create your own scoring opportunities

5. Make good decisions
- Know their teammates
- Take reasonable risks, think running the break
- Know game situations (clock, score, possession arrow, etc.)

6. Knock down the open jump shot

7. Doing their homework early when it comes to foot organization.
- By "one-twoing" into all 3 point shots (step into their shots)

8. Defend the dribble
- Can pick up full court and work the dribbler
- Can flatten out dribble penetration in the half court

9. Run the show
- Recognize the importance of good guard leadership
- Are "self-authorized leaders" (They take Ownership of the team)

If you're looking for more on developing guard skills, take a look at the Five-star Basketball DVD on Becoming a Championship Point Guard from Memphis Grizzlies NBA Scout, Scott Adubato.

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Reading through the news of the day and came across this golden nugget of advice from none other than Coach Bobby Knight who gave a commencement address to a group of graduates today at Trine University:

“Preparation is the key to victory in any game that you play. The prepared people win a lot more than the unprepared people. You can never spend too much time on preparation. The will to prepare to win is far more important than the will to win.”

I count myself as probably someone who prepares alot, probably too much, as some of my friends say. In fact, the lack of preparation is one of my major pet peeves. When I observe other coaches coach, or other teachers teach, the first thing I take note of is how prepared they are. To me, preparation is so important because it's really the only thing as a coach I have complete control over. There are so many other things that are out of my control, but the one thing I know I can control is how prepared I am for each practice, for each game, for each season.

Want more practice planning advice, then don't miss Bobby Knight's DVD on Practice Planning.

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Hope y'all are enjoying the playoffs as much as I am. Here is a great interview from NBA TV with Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown. It's a short clip, but if you read between the lines, what he's saying is pretty profound. Once a coach, always a coach...



Some quotes from the clip:

(On differences in the players 20 years ago and now). Players don't play 4 years in college anymore, and when they come into this league and they don't play on a good team, they play right away, and they don't have a lot of good role models (ie. its easy for them to fall of the rails).

I coach execution, I don't coach effort (ie. that's your responsibility).

(Talking about David Robinson asking Coach Brown to introduce him at the Hall of Fame) When you're a coach, and you are around greatness, and somebody recognizes that you are a part of that, that's special.

Anyways, if you are a Bobcats fan or Coach Brown fan, take a look at Larry Brown's DVD on Secondary Break and Pick and Roll Offense. Coach Brown is the only coach to ever win both a NCAA Championship and an NBA Championship.

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From last weekend, ESPN aired a 2 hour documentary titled, "The Association L.A. Lakers" from NBA Entertainment which chronicles the entire regular season of the L.A. Lakers including unprecedented locker room and off court access, narrated by Andy Garcia. Of course for me, the best parts were the short snippets talking to Phil Jackson. Here is the trailer from NBA TV:



If you missed it this when it first aired last weekend, thanks to the Internet, someone has uploaded it here (around 200MB).

My favorite Phil Jackson quotes are:

Phil on player leadership - Leaders have to be assertive, I think Kobe has come to realize that.

Phil on teamwork - Sometimes I criticize myself about not exploring the modern game, kicking the ball and shooting 3s. But the principle of this game is teamwork, it always has been, it always will be.

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I caught most of the end of season press conference by an embattled Jay Triano, head coach of the Toronto Raptors the other day. My big takeaway was the idea of creating a culture of accountability. Some quotes from the press conference:

"Do I have to demand more discipline from these guys who maybe aren't going to be professionals and act in a professional manner every single game? Absolutely. I have to make adjustments. Just like players have to get better in the off-season, I have to make adjustments as well."

Often times, you hear the phrase, "coach is too soft on them, he's not tough enough". In my opinion, it's not about being "tough" on your players, it's about making them accountable. Players have to know what is expected them, what is acceptable and what is not. You don't have to be "tough" on them to make your players accountable.

What kind of culture are you striving to create? What are your non-negotiables?

I always like to watch the benches when I watch games, I can always tell the culture of the team by watching the bench, and how players behave when on the bench. When I look at the Raptors bench this season, I didn't always see a team that was business-like and focused on the same goal.

Along this theme of accountability, I was observing a Spring Football practice the other day and there were several questions that I left thinking about afterwards:

What is your policy on dealing with lates to practices?

Do you allow players to come in late? How do you think this is perceived by other players on the team? Why are players are allowed to waltz into practice late and start participating in drills?

How do you deal with the alpha-dogs on your team?

Are you consistent in your treatment of players? How is this perceived by the other players? Why are certain players allowed to take plays off and not others? When and how do you choose to deal with motivation issues with your star players?

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Like most of you, I'm getting really excited about the games tomorrow at the Final Four begins in Indianapolis. From the PBS talk show Charlie Rose yesterday, here is a great 1/2 hour interview with Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Unfortunately, I can't embed the clip, you can view the entire clip online on the Charlie Rose website. They talked about a number of different topics and I've added some of the best quotes below:

On Adapting to Your Players Year to Year:
We had to change, half-court defenders, rebounders. Less drive and kick, pressure full court defense.

You have to decide what team you are. Are you a drama, a comedy... then combine that with the basics of being good defensively.

On Trust:
When asked why he is so successful? There is instant trust.

I'm not more melo, I listen better. I let people talk more than when I was younger. I trust my people more.

Shoot your bullets, don't leave anything on the court. I tell players to trust their instincts.

Don't over talk your players so that their cup overfills. Allow your players to fill it up on their own.

It's not about what you know, it's about what the players know and can do. If you fill your players with too much info, they're thinking more about what to remember then reacting.

On Player Roles:
The rebounder is as important as the shooter. The rebounders have to believe that they are playing as an important role as the one taking the shot.

Well, hope y'all enjoy the games as I will. Anyways, if you are a big Duke fan like me check out Mike Krzyzewski's new All Access Duke Basketball Practice 4-pack DVD which includes 438 minutes of practice and Q&A with Coach K.

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This is a little old (from last week on ESPN's Inspirational Coaches) but I love anything that Roy Williams has to say about motivation and leadership. For sure, it has been a transitional year for the Tar Heels and Coach Williams talks about setting short term goals, and adjusting them year to year,



Coach Williams believes in using quotes as motivation for his team and here are some great ones he talks about in the video,

"Everyone has the will to win, Champions have the will to prepare"

"Persistence prevails when all else fails"

"Be led by your dreams not by your problems"

If you want to learn more from Coach Williams, check out his great DVD on the Secrets of the UNC secondary Break.

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Ever heard of starting six players and taking the intentional technical foul? I'm a big fan of legendary coach and former head coach of UNLV Jerry Tarkanian's blog, and in his latest post he talked about doing just that: starting the six seniors on Senior Day. Sometimes the right thing to do is just the right thing to do. I've never really thought about it too much myself now that I am a coach and somewhat far removed from my playing days. But I remember how I felt when I was a senior in high school, and having been mostly a bench player most of my career, being given the opportunity to start my final game, it was something special.

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