Thursday, March 29, 2012

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON COACHING (PART III)

FAILURE

SPARKY ANDERSON: "I think my whole career, the thing that drove me to try to do things right, was the fear that I would fail, not only myself, but fail a player."

FAMILY

PETE NEWELL: “Regard your team as a family. Give the same attention to the bottom guy as you do the top guy. You have a responsibility to all of your players."

FLEXIBILITY

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: “I have a plan of action, but the game is a game of adjustments.”

FUNDAMENTALS

BOB KNIGHT: “There are some fundamentals that have to be adhered to and mastered in any business. Some people grasp those fundamentals, and teach them or learn them, and others don't. And those who don't are never as successful as those who do.”

GOALS

PAT SUMMITT: “We always make sure that our plans for the season can be achieved. Setting goals is incredibly important to success. But if you set a goal that seems impossible to achieve— if you go into a year saying your goal is to win the national championship—then you risk losing morale, self-discipline and chemistry if you falter early.”

HABITS

PETE NEWELL: "I believe you can never change a habit, or create one, with a word or a piece of chalk. You can talk all day, put all sorts of diagrams on the board, but a habit is not going to change. It's a conditional reflex, created by a repetitive act. Habits are created through physical acts."

HUMILITY

JOHN WOODEN: "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

IMAGINATION

BOB KNIGHT: "Imagination is one of the most important things a basketball player can have. If you don't have an imagination, then it's very difficult to recognize and anticipate."

INTEGRITY

DICK BENNETT: “I can’t sacrifice integrity for talent.”

INTELLIGENCE

PETE CARRIL: “Whenever two players or teams of equal ability play, the one with the greater courage and intelligence will win.”