One of the things that I feel strongly about -- something that I will talk about when I speak at clinics -- is that the two most important things a coach can teach their team is to TALK and to THINK. It's not passing, dribbling, shooting or closeouts -- it's TALKING and THINKING. Now the critical point to understand is that effective talking and thinking make the execution level in all phases of basketball rise.
Today, as we prepare for our first official practice tomorrow, I have been reviewing some of my basketball notes including some from Jeff Van Gundy. A few of his thoughts that give credence to my theory of the two most important things that we can teach our players include:
"We like talk to be ELC -- Early, Loud, Continuous."
"Never heard a team that talked early, loud and continuous that was not intense."
"If you can talk it, you can do it."
"The game comes down to decisions."