LIFE LESSONS FROM GEORGE RAVELING

I can remember as a very young coach purchasing my first motivational cassette tape.  It was "If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me" by George Raveling.  It had a profound effect on me -- I was in control of my own destiny.  The following are some notes on Coach Raveling that I found rummaging through some of my stuff from Coach Eric Musselman:

* "The game of life is the biggest game you'll ever play. We need to be a dreamer, an earner, a worker, and to believe in ourselves."

* "We don't dream enough. A man's and a woman's dreams soon become their realities. Dream big. We cannot accomplish anything in our lives unless we imagine it first."

* "Be a learner. A person who does not read is no better than a person who cannot read. Education is a lifelong process." (Ed. Note. Those of us fortunate enough to know George Raveling know that it is not uncommon for him to read 100 books a year.)

* "The most important fundamental to living a successful life is to believe in oneself. You should be number one on your hit parade. You are at a minimum a 25% better person than you think you are."

* "Most people fail in life because they don't have a plan. Set a goal and write it down. Put it where you can see it every day. Work toward your goals every day."

Be sure to check out Coach Raveling's website -- it's OUTSTANDING!

http://coachgeorgeraveling.com/

THE DISEASE OF AVERAGE

AVERAGE is what the failures claim to be when their family and friends ask them why they are not more successful.

AVERAGE is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, the worst of the best.  Which of these are you?

AVERAGE means being run-of-the-mill, mediocre, insignificant, and also-ran, nonentity.

Being AVERAGE is the lazy person's cop-out; it's lacking the guts to take a stand in life; it's living by default.

Being AVERAGE is to take up space for no purpose; to take the trip through life, but never to pay the fare; to return no interest for God's investment in you.

Being AVERAGE is to pass one's live away with time, rather than to pass one's time away with life; it's to kill time, rather than to work it to death.

To be AVERAGE is to be forgotten once you pass from this life.  The successful are remembered for their contributions; the failures are remembered because they tried; but the AVERAGE, the silent majority is just forgotten.

To be AVERAGE is to commit the greatest crime one can against one's self, humanity, and one's God.  The saddest epitaph is this: "Here lies Mr. and Ms. Average -- here lies the remains of what might have been, except for their belief that they were only AVERAGE.

-Edmund Gaudet

A BASEBALL MANAGER'S PRAYER

The following comes from "The Difference You Make" by Pat Williams:

On one occasion, I sat with Alvin Dark and his wife, and I asked him to share with me the most important lesson he learned as a baseball manager.  I had my pen poised, and I took down his reply word for word.  He said, "Here is a prayer I've tried to live by as a manager:

'Lord, when I'm wrong, make me willing to change.  When I'm right, make me easy to live with.  Strengthen me so that the power of my example far exceeds the authority of my rank.'

Pat, I have always tried to remember that you manage by influence -- not by authority"

MICHAEL VS. KOBE

The following was written by Sean Sweeney for Dimemag.com.  Below is an excerpt of his review of Phil Jackson's newly to be released book "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."  Read Sweeney's complete write up here.  In the article Sweeney talks of the comparisons and contrasts between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant by the one person who can be do it -- Phil Jackson:

The Los Angeles Times received an advanced copy of the book, and while content centered on Andrew Bynum should be interesting, let’s face it, that’s not who we really want to read about. Here are some notable observations from Jackson regarding Bryant and Jordan:

“Michael was more charismatic and gregarious than Kobe. He loved hanging out with his teammates and security guards, playing cards, smoking cigars, and joking around.” 

“Kobe is different. He was reserved as a teenager, in part because he was younger than the other players and hadn’t developed strong social skills in college. When Kobe first joined the Lakers, he avoided fraternizing with his teammates. But his inclination to keep to himself shifted as he grew older. Increasingly, Kobe put more energy into getting to know the other players, especially when the team was on the road.”

“No question, Michael was a tougher, more intimidating defender. He could break through virtually any screen and shut down almost any player with his intense, laser-focused style of defense,” said Jackson, who coached Jordan to six championships and Bryant to five. 

“Kobe has learned a lot from studying Michael’s tricks, and we often used him as our secret weapon on defense when we needed to turn the direction of a game. In general, Kobe tends to rely more heavily on his flexibility and craftiness, but he takes a lot of gambles on defense and sometimes pays the price.”

“Michael was more likely to break through his attackers with power and strength, while Kobe often tries to finesse his way through mass pileups,” Jackson wrote. “Michael was stronger, with bigger shoulders and a sturdier frame. He also had large hands that allowed him to control the ball better and make subtle fakes.

“Jordan was also more naturally inclined to let the game come to him and not overplay his hand, whereas Kobe tends to force the action, especially when the game isn’t going his way. When his shot is off, Kobe will pound away relentlessly until his luck turns. Michael, on the other hand, would shift his attention to defense or passing or setting screens to help the team win the game."

“One of the biggest differences between the two stars from my perspective was Michael’s superior skills as a leader,” Jackson said. “Though at times he could be hard on his teammates, Michael was masterful at controlling the emotional climate of the team with the power of his presence. Kobe had a long way to go before he could make that claim. He talked a good game, but he’d yet to experience the cold truth of leadership in his bones, as Michael had.”

At first, I wasn’t sold on this book. Over the years, I read every major basketball book I could get my hands on, including Jackson’s numerous “tell-alls” (“The Last Season” is definitely my favorite). After a while, you feel like you’re hearing the same stories over and over again. (Like the one from this latest book where Jackson recalls a meeting between Jordan and Bryant during the 1999-2000 season. The first words out of Kobe’s mouth were “You know I can kick your ass one on one.”) Yet after seeing what’s in store for us, “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success” seems like a must-read.

4 KEY WORDS TO A MULITIPLE DEFENSIVE SYSTEM

I got these spending a few days with Joe Ciampi who was one of the best defensive coaches I've played against during his tenure at Auburn.  These days Joe is an assistant for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA:

DELAY...the ball coming down the floor

DEFLECT...inside passes...all passes inside 3-point arc...fingertips on the ball.

DISRUPT...offensive flow thru traps...always trap out of a timeout.

DISGUISE...Auburn played 60% Match-Up 40% man during Ciampi’s career.

 

DETERMINE NEVER TO BE IDLE

"Determine never to be idle.  No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any.  It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing."

-Thomas Jefferson

MAKE SURE ALL THE DOGS SEE THE RABBIT

The following is a great story by Lt. General Russel L. Honore from his book "Leadership In The New Normal."  It reminds me of Coach Don Meyer talking about the importance of not just "seeing the picture" but "painting the picture."

When in charge, take charge.  When you have the opportunity to make a difference, make a difference.  And every now and then, check to make sure you still have followers.

When I was a kid we lived near a plantation.  That plantation had a sugarcane field on one side of the road and row of small houses on the other, and every house had a dog.  Every now and then a rabbit would break out of the sugarcane field and get spotted by a dog.  The dog would take off after it, and as he went down the road, other dogs would join the chase.  Pretty soon that lead dog would have seven, eight, ten dogs running and barking behind him.  They'd keep running and barking until they passed every house.  All the kids in the yards would stand up and watch.

But after about a minute, all but one of the dogs would quit running, leaving only the lead dog chasing the rabbit.  You see, the rest of the dogs started running and barking because they saw the lead dog doing it, and if it seemed worth running behind him, they followed.  But the couldn't see the rabbit, so they stopped.  But the dog that could see the rabbit, he kept running.

You might see the rabbit, but if the people behind you don't, they won't be running for long.  They're going to fall off.  They're going to be nonbelievers.  They're going to become non-performers.

If you're the leader, you have to be sure everyone behind you sees the vision.  They have to see where you want to go.

That's why as a leader, your job is to make sure the purpose stays visible, attainable, and worth running toward.  If you don't, you followers will stop thinking there's a reason to run.

RAY ALLEN: THE PROCESS OF SHOOTING

There's much to gather in this short interview with Ray Allen.  Of course you can see the determination to improve.  There is the well-thought process he goes to improve.  But I especially loved the humility he shows when talking about himself, his teammates and Reggie Miller.

POST PLAY TEACHING POINTS FROM KEVIN EASTMAN

1. It is fist fight to get open, it is a foot fight to score

2. It is a leverage game to get position, it’s a shoulders game, low shoulder wins

3. Three C’s- Catch Chin and Check…check for (1) cutters (2) Traps (3) Digs

4. Perpendicular Post ups- create an angle with you baseline foot, at that point your shoulder should be square to the ball

5. The floor always shrinks at the next level- quickness and length

6. Your knees are involved in leverage

7. Your feet give you the advantage, the ball gives you separation

8. See 90% of the floor when you catch the ball

9. Give up position for possession

10. Butt into thigh…No deny

11. Play low to high

12. You must sprint to spacing

13. When you catch the ball pause for poise

14. Let the garbage clear before you go to work

15. Post depth…Depth makes the game easier

16. When posting don’t be concerned with the defenders feet, rather the deny arm

17. Dribble the ball to get in line with the target hand when feeding the post…”get the palm”

18. Offensive rebounding…know your teammates because it gives you a head start

19. Run rim to rim not free line to free throw line

20. Don’t waste a post-up when the ball can’t get to you, it’s better to be late than early

21. You can’t play straight up--- mid line- rent- homeless

 

BASKETBALL THOUGHTS FROM COACH DON MEYER

The following came from Don Meyer during his three sessions at the LSU Lady Tiger 2004 Coaching Clinic.
 
4 THINGS YOU NEED TO BE GOOD OFFENSIVELY
#1  Inside Game (can get this through the following means: fast break, posting,           flashing, driving the basketball, and on the offensive glass).
#2 Outside Game (important to have in order to open up the inside game)
#3 Penetration Game
#4 Pull-Up Game (very few have a good pull-up game)

5 PHASES OF GREAT TEACHING
#1 Tell them what to do
#2 Show them how to do it
#3 Have them show you how to do it
#4 Correct them
#5 Repetition (Proper & Quick)

 

4 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GREAT POINT GUARD
#1 See the entire court and do what needs to be done.
#2 Go from dribble to a pass or dribble to shot quickly.
#3 Passing = timing, accuracy, quickness, deception.
#4 Masters the pass fake, shot fake and change of pace.

 “The overriding principle in our program is ‘team attitude.”  We want to be the best team on our schedule.  We want to play in such a way that when we win, we lose.  We want people to say ‘they play hard.’  We want to win when the ball doesn’t bounce right.”

“It’s OK to be angry.  It’s not OK to be quick to anger.  Don’t go to sleep angry.”

 

4 AREAS OF TEAM BUILDING

#1 Shared Ownership…”our” team!

#2 Shared Suffering...you learn more at a funeral than a wedding.

#3 Individual Responsibility...we never use the word ’individual’ unless it’s followed by the word ’responsibility.’

#4 Collect Pride

 

COACH MEYER ON SHOT SELECTION

1st Bad Shot = Bad Shot

2nd Bad Shot = Bad Player

3rd Bad Shot = Bad Coach

 

KEY ZONE PRINCIPLES

#1 Run...take advantage of mistakes

#2 Rebound...it is more difficult to blockout from a zone defense

#3 Attack the Rear of the Zone

#4 Keep your ball handler between two shooters

#5 Stretch the zone...it opens up the middle