THE THINGS THAT MAKE COACH BELICHICK THE BEST

Shout out to Coach Buzz Williams for passing this article on to me.  If you're not following Coach Williams on twitter you are really missing out.  The article was written about Bill Belichick for the Washington Post by Adam Kilgore.  It's a lengthy, well-written article and you can read it in its entirety here but I wanted to share some of my take aways.

Coach Belichick is a forward-thinking individual.  He has no time to think about pass accomplishments or failure.  He is about coaching and living in the moment.

He was asked what was the most important thing he had done over those four decades to evolve as a coach.

Belichick looked up from the questioner, gazed at the back of the room, and replied, “I don’t know.” He snorted. He stared. The room waited for him to say something else. He didn’t.

Belichick has left it to others to fill in the blanks behind his gloomy facade, and the effects of his success — admiration, animosity, loyalty, jealously — have created wildly divergent portraits. 

 

Coach Belichick, despite being at the top of his profession is a driven, continual learner which goes a long way to explain why he has been able to stay at the top:

 

People close to him describe a reliable friend, a voracious learner, an ardent student of the game, a man whose grim public demeanor hides sharp intelligence and understated humor. He engenders loyalty with both surprising kindness and utmost competence. “As a player, what more do you want?” former Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy said. “You don’t want that fluffy [stuff]. He just wanted us to be focused on ball.”

 

Supporters, associates and former players say Belichick has adapted with a wickedly dexterous mind and a curious bent. “Probably the story of his career, from my vantage point, would be his attitude toward learning,” said Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, a Belichick confidante. Belichick once told his college economics professor that what he studied in class helped him stay under the salary cap. (“That’s an application of marginalism,” said Dick Miller, the professor.) His current defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, was a rocket scientist before he became a football coach. Belichick seeks. He listens.

 

“It’s really amazing when you think about it: He’s been coaching longer than any player on this team has been alive,” Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “That says something about his leadership, the way he learns. The way he views the game is very unique. He’s been able to stay ahead of the curve because of the mind the good Lord has given him for football.”

 

And how's this for the being a servant leader:

 

For nearly three decades as a coach in the NFL, Belichick had divined creative solutions to complex problems, the skill that fueled his rise from playing center at Wesleyan to coaching at the top of the sport. On the day the Patriots arrived in New Orleans for his first Super Bowl as a head coach in late January 2002, he confronted a problem without precedent in his career: Milloy, his star safety, wanted a new hotel room.

 

At a walk-through practice, Milloy explained to Belichick that he had heard first-year defensive tackle Richard Seymour beaming about how spacious his room was. Milloy could barely squeeze luggage into his. What was up with a rookie scoring a bigger room than a veteran? “Really, Lawyer?” Belichick responded. Belichick was already trying to prepare a two-touchdown underdog to face the St. Louis Rams; he didn’t need another headache.

 

When Milloy returned to the team hotel after practice, a concierge greeted him with a key to a new room: “Big as hell,” Milloy recalled, and with a panoramic view of Bourbon Street, a Jacuzzi and, oddly, a treadmill in the corner.

 

At the Patriots’ team dinner that night, Belichick approached Milloy. “How do you like that room, Lawyer?” Belichick asked.

 

“It’s cool,” Milloy replied. “But I don’t know why they put that treadmill in there.

 

“That’s because it was my room,” Belichick said.

 

One of the things that makes Belichick a better leader while assisting him in his quest for knowledge -- he's a great listener:

 

“I hate to think what his IQ is,” Rick Forzano said. “He looks beyond what’s happening.”

 

“Bill’s always moving forward,” said Al Groh, an assistant alongside Belichick with the New York Giants. “He’s not just thinking about this season. What is distinguishingly unique for somebody who is very bright and on top is he’s a terrific listener. He’s interested in anybody and everybody’s opinion because out of that might come a good idea. That was the case even when he knew he wanted to do.”

 

The great ones are always looking for ways to improve and not sit status quo:

 

In the spring of 2007, Belichick — a better lacrosse player than football player at Wesleyan — called Johns Hopkins lacrosse Coach Dave Pietramala to congratulate him on winning the national championship. They talked on the phone for an hour. Later, after an awards banquet both men attended, they met at a restaurant afterward and chatted for three hours. Pietramala realized Belichick had as many questions for him as he did for Belichick. They still talk or text weekly.

 

“The amazing thing to me with Coach, he’s always in search of a way to do things better,” Pietramala said. “I’m really taken back at how inquisitive he is about lots of different things. It doesn’t have to be in coaching. If we have a guest speaker, he wants to know, what did he talk about? What was good about it? For a guy who’s extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily successful, he’s always searching for a better way, a different way.”

 Championship level coaches understand the importance of details:

 

“He knew everything,” Evans said. “Literally. He knew every detail. There was instant accountability, every second of the day. Bill just knew everything. It was scary sometimes.”

 

One season during his tenure in Cleveland, Browns coaches met with Chicago Bears coaches to swap notes about teams in their respective divisions. “I swear, he knew more about Tampa than the Bears, who played them twice,” said Ferentz, then Belichick’s offensive line coach. “Their guys were looking at us like, ‘Holy smokes.’ ”

 

Belichick prepares for everything. During staff meetings, he asks questions about a tactic an opposing coach used a decade prior. During Super Bowl XLVI, in 2012, the Patriots’ headsets malfunctioned in the second half, leading to harmful miscommunication. And so, in the week leading into last season’s Super Bowl, Belichick stopped practice and shouted for the coaches to drop their headsets.

 

The best coaches know how to challenge and, in turn, prepare their players and team:

 

During practice, he can spot a fullback missing a block out of the corner of his eye, halt the drill and correct the mistake himself.

 

“It’s still mind-boggling how I sat there and watch that take place,” said former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest, now an NFL Network analyst. “He would break down both sides of the ball and be instrumental in planning every phase of the game. Other coaches can’t do that. That’s just amazing to me, having been in the league 15 years.”

 

Playing for Belichick can be stressful. Evans would pass him in a hallway or the locker room, and Belichick would present a situation and play and ask him, “What is their linebacker going to be thinking?”

 

The strict standard also brought comfort. Players understand their role with uncommon clarity, and they trust Belichick’s detailed instructions will reap success. “Playing for Belichick was the most pressure-packed and most peaceful experience of my career,” Evans said.

 

“He’ll put it up on the board,” McGinest said. “He’ll say, ‘This is what’s going to happen. This is how they’re going to attack you. If you do X, Y and Z, you’ll be okay.’ And it seems like every single week, it happens. So it’s not hard to play in that system.”

 

ONE MINUTE ASSESSMENTS

If you want something that will greatly improve your communication and connection with your players during meetings, timeouts, practice, half-time and games, here it is!  I can remember the first time I heard Coach Don Meyer explain this and it had a "Wow!" effect on me.  It will take a commitment from you to make it habit but players respond to it.  I got this example directly from www.CoachMeyer.com. Here's how it works:

 

First, tell the player one thing that YOU are doing WELL and WHY.

Then tell the player one thing WE can be doing BETTER.

Before correcting a player, give them something they are doing well. By saying "you" you give the player ownership for the good deed.

The "why" is critically important. Don't tell a player he/she made a good pass. Tell he/she why it was a good pass. 

Wrong Example: "Good pass Katherine." Right Example: "Katherine, great job of utilizing the pass fake to set up the feed to the low post and giving her the ball away from the defense."

By telling "why" you allow the player to understand what she did well. She can process it as a good thing and work to repeat it. If you just say "good pass" she has no idea why so she may or may not repeat the action.

After the compliment, you will have the attention of the player and they will better listen to the correction. Coach Meyer likes to use "we" so that the player knows that we are in this together in terms of improving in that particular area.

Terminology is critically important. Good coaches work and practice at how they talk to the team and individual players.

 

Don't you get the feeling this will work off the court as well -- with people you work with, your children, or any other interactions you have with people?

 

LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE OFFENSIVE LINE

The following are excerpts from an article written by Lester Crafton for about.com.  You can read the entire article here. 

You are learning  to take joy in the dirty work.  If you’re playing on the O-Line, you may have a rock solid core under a little play-doh, but you probably don’t have a six pack. As O-Linemen, we weren’t put on earth to look pretty, we were put here to make other people look pretty by doing the dirty work and taking joy in their successes.  And in a world full of people with big ideas, it’s the people who are willing to not only do the dirty work, but to learn to enjoy it, who actually make those big ideas a reality.  

You are becoming keenly aware of how your decisions impact other people. If a quarterback and running back miss a handoff exchange, your team could lose a fumble and maybe lose a game because of it.  If you miss a block, one of your best friends could end up with a concussion or a broken body part. One of the attributes which separates an average leader from a stellar one is how well they are able to understand the impact their decisions have on other people. 

You are developing resiliency.  How many times have you completely taken your man out of the play with a great block only to have a running back cut the wrong way and be tackled by the guy you thought you’d just destroyed?  And whose fault is it? If you’re an offensive lineman, it’s always your fault.  No matter how well you execute your responsibility, your teammates will still screw up, and you’ll still get blamed. This is part of being an offensive lineman.  And it sucks, but it’s also a very powerful, long-term leadership lesson that your glory hound teammates aren’t learning. As an offensive linemen you are by definition a leader--you are at the very front of the offensive formation.  Without the hole you create, there is no glory for any other position.  The valuable lesson you’re learning is how to deal with the opinions of others about you while simultaneously maintaining your willingness to give your best effort on the next play. The best leaders are masters at resisting the temptation to reciprocate blame when someone first puts blame on them.

You are learning the ability to work for delayed gratification.  Offensive linemen do receive credit eventually, but it’s after the winning is done.  It’s not in the weight room. It’s not on the practice field.  It’s usually not even during the game.  But when the game is over, when the season is done, and when your glory-hound teammates aren’t walking around with a limp in a decade, they will be very grateful for the effort you put in.  Leaders are faced with the same difficulties.  While your backfield teammates are learning to do the best with what’s given to them and blame you when it doesn’t work out, you are learning to do your personal best. You must accept responsibility not just for your mistakes, but the mistakes other people blame on you while improving each step of the way.

You learn to listen well and react quickly.  Have you ever committed a false start? One of the loneliest feelings in the world is leaving your stance too quickly only to find yourself finally receiving the full attention of everyone in the stands while the ref twirls his hands like an old-fashioned lawn mower.  Your teammate may or may not give you a pat on the butt, a head nod, or say “good job” after you pancake a defensive end (who never saw the trap coming)...but you can count on feeling like everyone hates you when you jump the snap count. So what do you have to learn to do?  You have to learn to listen.  You have to listen to the snap count when the play comes in from the sideline.  You have to listen in case there is an audible.

This may have been the most important concept from Crafton's article:

You may not receive much immediate glory for what you're doing, but you must still commit to forming the habit of giving your 100% each day, and don’t blame others--including coaches--for not seeing your immediate value. Instead, focus on listening, learning and improving and your rewards for playing offensive line will continue to pay off far longer than the last time you ever take off your cleats.

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GOT TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAM? LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE?

How far would you go to effectively communicate with your team?  We probably all say we'd go the distdance -- communication is essential to teaching and motivating.  But would we learn another langauge?  That's what St. Louis Cardinal manager Mike Matheny did -- and it's paid dividents.

In an article on FoxNews.com, Stan McNeal writes about how what started as a college course for Matheny at Michigan became much more in part to his college coach who knew Matheny was destined to advance his baseball career.

As McNeal writes:

Matheny was directed to Spanish classes by Wolverines coach Bill Freehan, who caught 15 seasons in the major leagues and saw a professional future for Matheny. He instructed Matheny to take Spanish every semester so he would be able to better communicate with the growing number of Latin players in the game. Matheny not only finished his education with the equivalent of a minor in Spanish, he continued to seek opportunities to speak the language after the Brewers drafted and signed him in 1998. All these years later, he still does. The key, he said, is to speak with those who know the language.

"Even if you're not perfect with it, you can see that your effort is appreciated," Matheny said. "It helped me develop a trusting relationship with a lot of pitchers over the years, or at least made that relationship easier to build."

Matheny's ability to speak Spanish never has been more helpful than this offseason. Since the death of Oscar Taveras, Matheny has spoken regularly with young right-hander Carlos Martinez to help him cope with the loss. Taveras was Martinez's closest friend on the Cardinals and, according to media reports, Martinez had invited Taveras to visit him at a resort in the Dominican Republic on the weekend of the fatal car crash.

You can read McNeal's entire article here which details Matheny handling a press conference in Spanish.

RELATIONSHIPS LEAD TO MORE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

During an interview for a job he was then seeking as a minor league manager in the Oakland organization, Bob Boone was asked to speak about the reputation he had as a catcher who so effectively “handled” pitchers. Boone, now having managed in the major league for a number of years, responded at that time, “I didn’t handle pitchers, I established relationships with them.” His point was that he intended to do the same as a manager.

Good relationships are established through effective communication. Boone’s use of the term made a distinction between manipulation and arbitrariness on the part of the message sender and the mutual respect and understanding between the sender and the receiver of whatever is being communicated.

From the book "Coaching the Mental Game" by H. A. Dorfman

KERR'S LISTENING SHOWS TWO LEADERSHIP LESSONS

A column by Monte Poole for csnbayarea.com showed two great leadership messages from the Golden State Warriors Steven Kerr.  You can read Poole's entire column here, but this is what made an impression on me in regard to Kerr.:

With his team losing two straight games to fall into a must-win situation, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on Thursday heeded the advice of a trusted member of his staff to put the club back on track in the NBA Finals.

The advice came not from veteran assistants Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams, nor did it come from young assistant Luke Walton. It did not come from player development coaches Jarron Collins and Bruce Fraser.

No, the advice came from further down the organization chart, from video-scouting specialist Nick U’Ren.

He suggested that Kerr change his starting lineup, replacing 7-foot center Andrew Bogut with 6-7 forward Andre Iguodala, who hadn’t started a game all season.

“It was his idea,” Kerr said of U’Ren. “He brought it to us this morning. We had debated some other things the other night after Game 3, but you always want to let these things simmer before you make a decision.

The first lesson in leadership is to utilize all the resources available.  You have to respect the fact that Kerr listened to his video-scouting specialist and obviously listened emphatically.

The second lesson in leadership is that Kerr didn't hesitate to give credit where credit was due.  This makes an incredible healthy working environment for those in the organization.

JACK CLARK'S 8 POINTS OF TEAM CULTURE

A few weeks ago I tweeted the link to an article on Jack Clark, the legendary rugby coach.  It was written by Jen Sinkler as part of her Thrive series at her website.  It is the best thing I've read in sometime.  It is lengthy and detailed and worthy of the time it takes to read by any coach who wants to improve.

As we see from the great ones such as Nick Saban and Bill Walsh, it is process over results.  As Sinkler writes:

Clark’s coaching style includes almost no scrimmages, and very few drills that involve full contact (i.e., there isn’t much tackling). So, how do they dominate so completely? They drill culture above all else and, put simply, they know how to win. 

“I think our winning percentage is probably 90 percent or close. We’ve been chasing excellence for a long time,” he says. “We have a performance culture where the byproduct is winning, versus ‘We’re all about winning.’ That’s not really how we think.” 

The rest of Sinkler's article goes into Clark's development of that type of culture and she lists eight areas Clark believes is important to creating his teams.

The first one was LOVE CONDITIONALLY.  I've never seen this worded in such away.  Clark was interested in a "family atmosphere" but in a higher level of team. Sinkler quotes Clark:

"You and I could go to the sports page today and open it up and see some sports team calling themselves a family. It’s what everyone does nowadays — they call themselves a family. In reality, it grates on me a little bit because my concept of family is unconditional. There’s my screw-up brother down in Huntington Beach. I love him, but you don’t want him on your team, I promise you. Family means unconditional, whereas high-performance teams are highly, highly conditional organizations." 

This is also a recruiting philosophy.  Another profound story that Clark shares with Sinkler is one about Bo Schembechler and the importance of getting the right people on your team:

There was a legendary football coach that died about 10 years ago named Bo Schembechler at Michigan. He has this quote that I think is the greatest quote. It has to do with recruiting and who you want on your team. He says, “Well, if you ever really want a guy and you don’t get him, that’s OK. He’ll only beat you once a year.” I think that’s kind of catchy. Then this old boy clears his throat and says, “On the other hand, if you get the wrong guy on your team, he’ll beat you every day.”

The second ingredient is BE THOROUGHLY ACCOUNTABLE.  As Clark told Sinkler:

"After the game Saturday we kind of know what the injury toll is, but things do get worse overnight sometimes. So we do a med check straightaway on Sunday morning, followed by a regeneration strategy, followed by this long meeting."

There was another interesting comment made to Sinkler:

"When we get caught up in our coaching, we’ve got to force ourselves to talk about what we’re doing well. But it has become part of what we do — we open every meeting with what we did well. We never cut that list short — we always build upon it. It’s got to be real, though. It can’t be stuff that is kind of halfway true. It’s got to be real stuff. Make that list as long as we can. Spend so much more time on your strengths."

This speaks to two great pieces of coaching.  The first one is to be process oriented.  Be more concerned with what you are doing as opposed to the result.  The second, and one that many coaches overlook, is to never lose sight on what you team is doing well -- both individually and collectively.  Not only must you recognize this as a coach, but share with your team and continue to work on those strengths.

Ingredient #3 is a SHARED VOCABULARY.

Clark made a point that this is as much taught as the fundamentals of the game and made mention that he didn't think teams in general had enough team meetings.

The fourth point of emphasis in developing a great team culture according to Clark would be to PRACTICE RESILIENCY.

Clark told Sinkler: "I think what matters most — outside of talent — would probably be the culture of the team: developing a really resilient, embedded team culture around performance. It’s like anything else: You’ve got to rep it. You’ve got to talk about it on day one and day five and in the middle of the season and at the end of the season."

I think this is an underrated and overlook part of culture.  I once heard Doc Rivers say, "You have to protect your team culture.  This battle is waged daily."

In other words, culture, to be successful must be intentionally thought out, planned and executed by all those involved.  Another thing Doc Rivers spoke of the "buy in" of players into the culture.

Fifth on the list is EXPECT EVERYONE TO LEAD.

This is a form of shared ownership where everyone is contributing to successful elements of a culture.  Successful people work at making the right decisions within their priorities and strive to properly manage those decisions daily.  The first and most important person that you lead is yourself.

Sixth on Clark's culture building list is IMPROVE RELENTLESSLY.

I absolutely love what Clark told Sinkler in this regard: "We believe in constant performance improvement. We say it’s not just enough to win. That’s kind of an old thing. If you go back to legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, you can get some performance over results. It’s there. We believe that and we believe that we should be getting better. We think that we should accept that burden. If we’re going to work at this as hard as we’re working at it, then we should be getting better from week to week, month to month, match to match. There should be improvement."

GET A GREAT COACH is never on the list.

Two things resonate here.  The first is Clark's understanding that teaching must be a key ingredient in successful/teams and organization.  Talent is never enough alone and it takes the right kind of coach or staff to build on that talent and then mesh the individuals together.

Clark also speaks to coaches being able to understand and properly utilize technology for ultimate results.  Part of that formula for him is to continue to grow and improve as coaches if we want to continue to grow our players and teams.

Last, but certainly not least on the culture creating checklist is VALUE TEAM.

Clark told Sinkler: "We celebrate team, talk about it and build on it. I talk to a lot of our teams on campus. I guest-lecture in the business school, so I have a lot of opportunities to talk to groups of people, especially in a team setting. Most of them don’t cherish that they’re an expert in team. They get lost in the fact that they aren’t an expert in their sport yet. They confuse that with being an expert in team."

I tweeted that this was one of the best things I've read in sometime and I sincerely mean it.  I strongly encourage you to read the entire article here.  Sinkler went in great detail with Clark regarding each of the eight components of his team's culture.

THE VALUE OF DEFENSIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Thanks to Point Guard College who tweeted this story out on the importance of communication on defense that ran on The Cauldron.  It was written by Jared Dubin and is the best thing I've seen in my 30+ years of coaching on defensive communication. It's a lengthy and outstanding piece and you can read it in it's entirety here.  However, here are some key take aways I got from the article:

Ask any coach or player in the NBA what the most important aspect of a good defense is, and without fail, they will give you the same answer: communication. Gasol, one of the league’s best defenders himself, understands the paramount importance of talking while defending.

 

“Communicate early. That’s one key that I think basketball is losing, is how important it is to know, not just to know what action is happening, but to let your teammate know where his help is at,” Gasol said. “I think that we don’t practice that enough as basketball players. Not only as a team, but as players. Knowing where your help is, and knowing what’s happening, really helps.”

 

Defensive chatter sounds simple enough, but it often eludes NBA teams, especially the younger ones.

 

“Communication, it boils down to, as much as anything, just understanding what you’re doing,” Flip Saunders said. “If you’re talking, you’re not worried about what you have to do. Young players, many times, they’re thinking about what they have to do because it’s new to them.

 

“It’s probably the biggest thing with young players, is their lack of communication. They don’t come out [of college] as good communicators. That’s something we all try to instill. KG (Kevin Garnett) will try. I believe that when they see him practice, and when they see how much he communicates and they see the impact it has, they’ll try to do it. But it’s one of those things that sometimes it takes a long time. It takes a year. It took KG a long time to get (Kendrick) Perkins to be a communicator, and he wound up maybe talking too much at times.”

 

The Timberwolves’ acquisition of Garnett at the February trading deadline reeked of nostalgia for a floundering franchise, and Minnesota gave up 26-year-old forward Thaddeus Young to get him, but there was a huge reason Saunders wanted Garnett beyond giving the fan base a throwback to the team’s greatest era: He might be the most legendary defensive communicator in the history of the league.

 

Shaun Livingston spent the 2013–14 season playing with Garnett on the Brooklyn Nets. He’s played with nine teams in his 11-year career.

 

“Garnett was the best,” he said about defensive communicators. “At all times, no matter what arena, no matter what atmosphere: you’re gonna hear him.”

 

Glen Davis also played with Garnett on the “Big Three” Celtics teams that were consistently among the best in the league at point prevention. Right from the jump, Big Baby said, Garnett hammered home the importance of always talking on defense, always letting your teammates know what’s happening, where you are, and where they should be. “Communication was one of his biggest things [with the Celtics],” Davis said. “We really figured out that had a lot to do with our success. Everybody started buying in.”

 

Ask anyone involved with the Clippers (who isn’t named Glenn) about the team’s defense, and they’ll name three catalysts for the success they have on that end: Chris Paul, Matt Barnes and DeAndre Jordan. Together, they form the backbone of a stingy starting lineup. Paired with Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick, that trio allowed just 100.0 points per 100 possessions this season. That’s the full-season equivalent of the Wizards’ No. 5-ranked defense. When even one of those players sat down, the Clips’ defensive rating jumped to 104.8 — or, the NBA’s 22nd-best defensive unit.

 

Within that group, Paul is the first line, the advance unit. His job is to relentlessly pressure the ball, shaving precious seconds off the shot clock and forcing poor decisions. He helps in the post, swipes at drivers who pass too close to his area, and Richard Shermans his way into passing lanes for steals. Barnes is the stopper, sinking his teeth into the opposition’s best perimeter scorer on any given night. And Jordan is the back line maestro, standing tall and getting his KG on, using that baritone voice and those gargantuan arms to conduct the action from the back line.

 

“Calling out screens, calling out plays, calling out situations late in the shot clock where we’re gonna switch,” Jordan said. “I’m usually in the back, so I can see everything that’s going on or that’s about to develop. So I try to give us a head start on plays.”

 

“We all talk, but myself and DeAndre are kind of the anchors of our defense,” Barnes said. “We just try to quarterback everybody, cover for each other’s mistakes and play hard. DeAndre knows every play. I take my hat off to him. He really studies the scouting report, and whenever they call a play, DJ calls it out. We all go with his call and get ready to play defense.”

 

There may be no team in the NBA that talks more than the Golden State Warriors. For the Dubs, Andrew Bogut is the man the middle, the anchor, the last line; he’s responsible for both deterrence and disruption should any opposing player dare venture into his paint. But above all of these things, he’s responsible for letting his teammates know what’s happening around them.

 

“I think it’s an important role for me,” Bogut said. “I need to be loud and verbalize everything that’s going on because otherwise the guards are going to get hit by screens and our defense will break down. That’s one of my main roles defensively, to make sure guys know what’s going on.”

 

Bogut credits the veterans he played alongside early in his career with teaching him the importance of studying sets and tendencies off the court. By being mentally prepared for his opponents, he would see a play starting to develop and know what was coming. Perhaps more importantly, he’d be able to clue his teammates in, too.

“It’s easier [to communicate a switch when you know you’re going to be doing it],” said Shaun Livingston, now a backup guard on the Warriors. “You’ve got to communicate it anyway though, because if you don’t, then that’s how breakdowns happen.”

 

The Dubs don’t just talk to make things easier on themselves, though. Livingston, like many other players around the league, feels it plays a role in gaining a psychological edge over your opponent.

 

“You learn, as you get in the league, communication can become contagious and also it can be intimidating for other teams,” he said. “If we’re playing cards and I already know your hand, then it’s like I already know your next move.”

 

Sniffing out actions before they develop is the kind of thing that can happen when you spend a long time executing the same system, with the same players. If you see the same plays from opposing teams over and over, and you’ve reacted to it — together, as a unit — hundreds, if not thousands, of times, you can cultivate a sixth sense not only for where the opposition wants to go, but where your teammates will be, and when. Five guys who have been through a lot together and know each other’s tendencies can even develop a system of communication that goes beyond words.

 

The San Antonio Spurs are the model organization when it comes to stability. They’ve had the same core of key players — Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili — for what seems like forever, Gregg Popovich has been running things since George Bush was the Governor of Texas, and R.C. Buford has been with the organization almost as long. Even the “newer” pieces, like shooting guard Danny Green, have been there for a couple years and have picked up on the Spursian language.

 

“It’s easy with communication or with the look of an eye, or a facial expression, of what we want to do or where we want to be,” Green said. “It’s easy to communicate without having to talk every play or every possession. We can use gestures or communication with hand signals for us to be in the right places.”

 

Green knows that if he points a certain way when guarding a pick-and-roll, Tim Duncan will help him ice the ball-handler into the short corner and away from danger. That kind of “corporate knowledge,” as Popovich calls it, is the key to the Spurs’ success on both ends.

 

“Corporate knowledge is always good if you have a group that’s been together,” Popovich said. “You need to have that to have the trust and the rhythm. Everybody talks about rhythm offensively, but defensively it’s just as important to have that same crew who knows how to react to each other.”

 

Gasol: “I always try to get the call as soon as we can. If one man is really close, especially on the free throws, the coach will tell the opposing team, and Mike is right there to listen and pick it up.”

 

Conley: “I normally relay the play back to him. I yell it back to him and he’ll start putting people into position.”

 

Gasol: “And once I hear it, I know what the play is and I try to get my teammates ready for, not just the play call, but the action that they want to score off. After that, it’s reads and reactions.”

 

Gasol is not blessed with the physical gifts of a Dwight Howard or Nerlens Noel. He’s not what you’d call a springy athlete. He doesn’t jump out of the gym. His high-level defensive play is, first and foremost, a result of intellect and communication. He relies on copious film study, play recognition, and communication from his teammates to put himself in the right position for every play.

 

“There’s other guys, they have athleticism that I don’t have. They don’t have to foresee the play or try to get ahead. They are so athletic that they can wait, and let the play happen and still get out there and block it. I can’t do that,” Gasol said. “It’s not my game. I have to get there before the other guy gets there or I’m going to get a foul. I have to get there before the play even happens.”

 

And unlike most big men, Gasol said he’s been drilled on the importance of defensive communication for nearly his whole basketball life. “I was brought up that way. I was always taught basketball that way. How important it is.” Gasol credits his coaches and the development staff in Spain for teaching him the game like that.

GREAT TEAMS & GREAT PLAYERS TALK

Courtesy of the NBA, Lebron James was mic'd up for game two of their playoff series vs. the Hawks.  This is a great video to show your team -- great teams talk -- great players talk.  I remember Coach Don Meyer saying don't talk your game -- yell your game...Lebron does just that.

SOME OF OUR BEST COACH K BLOG POSTS

In honor of Duke's National Championship last night, here is a list of some of our favorite blog posts regarding Coach Mike Krzyzewski:

Practice & Playing Time Thoughts

3 Things to Learn From Coach K

Having Fun Is Doing Hard Things Well

The Next Play Mentality

Choosing The Right Words

Thoughts on Coach K from Jay Bilas (Coaching U Live)

Coach K on Developing a Culture

Coach K on Maintaining Passion

Key Words for Coach K

Teamwork Begins and Ends with Communication

Coach K's Little Blue Book

Random Coach K Thoughts

PGC: 6 INTANGIBLES THAT MAKE YOU INVALUABLE

One of the great acronyms from Point Guard College is SCHAPE:

SPIRIT...good teams practice with enthusiasm and zest...a quiet gym is a losing gym...Enthusiasm = Excellence...demand energy.

"Championships are won with high levels of energy, spirit, and enthusiasm."

COMMUNICATION...talk on the floor, call names, give them re-minders often.

HUSTLE...is on all the time—not a sometime thing…"sheepdog mentality...persistent, enthused, work, everyday.

ATTITUDE...body language is important.

PRECISION...exactness...attention to detail...accuracy...sharpness of approach.

ENHANCEMENT...Contribute to environment—don’t contaminate it...make I better doing something extra...expect to do more than your expected of...do extra...come earlier, stay later, compliment someone, smile, push a broom, pick up trash…...and don’t expect praise for doing extra.

(These notes were actually taken by one of my former point guards, Latasha Dorsey)

4 CULTURAL KEYS FOR COACH POPOVICH

Coach Don Meyer would often talk about how "successful people leave clues."  It was his way of suggesting we should study those that have accomplished what we seek.  This past week, there was an excellent column on FoxBusiness.com written by Michael Lee Stallard who took an inside look at San Antonio's Gregg Popovich and came up with what he believes are four cultural elements to the Spurs success.  It's interesting that Fox Business is writing about a basketball coach but it speak to Coach Meyer's believe that you study all that are successful regardless of their field.  Here is an excerpt from the column but you can read it in it's entirety here.

Like all great leaders, Popovich creates a culture that produces sustainable superior performance.  Here are four factors that contribute to making the Spurs’ culture a source of competitive advantage.

1. Intentional About Connection
Gregg Popovich is intentional about connecting with players and staff to develop relationship excellence.  He stated it this way:  “We are disciplined ….  But that’s not enough.  Relationships with people are what it’s all about.  You have to make players realize you care about them.  And they have to care about each other and be interested in each other.” 

His intentionality begins with recruiting players who are selfless and who value teamwork.  If a player becomes selfish on the court, he doesn’t last long with the Spurs.

2. Cares for Players and Staff as People
Popovich cultivates relationship excellence by maintaining an attitude of valuing players and staff as people rather than thinking of them as means to an end.  He invests the time to get to know them.  He’s interested in their lives outside of basketball.  Tim Duncan, the Spurs’ center says, “He’s been like a father figure to me. He cares for us not only on a coaching level, but on a personal level and to have someone like that in your corner means a whole lot.”  The Spurs’ point guard Tony Parker added, “…it’s not just about basketball. And it’s very rare in our business to have somebody like that.”

Popovich wouldn’t have it any other way stating, “You can only get so much satisfaction out of the ball going through the hoop. There’s gotta be more, and because … they let me get involved in their lives, it’s a real joy for me.”

3. Gives People a Voice
Another element in the Spurs’ culture is that players and staff have a voice.  Stated another way, the Spurs culture has the character strengths of honesty and open-mindedness.  Popovich is known for saying what he thinks.  He expects and respects candor in his players and staff.  They know he wants to hear their opinions and ideas.  Popovich’s open-mindedness allows him to consider the ideas and opinions of others.  This creates an environment that encourages frequent conversations to identify the best solutions.  Once Popovich believes he has sufficient information to make a good decision, he makes it and the team moves on.
  
4. Has a Passion for Task Excellence
Watching the Spurs play is like watching the basketball equivalent of a Swiss watch. The precision movements, speed and coordination of the Spurs players is beautiful to behold.  Many coaches throughout history have mastered task excellence; however, it is rarely sustainable.  Popovich understands that without relationship excellence, task excellence and superior results are built on feet of clay. Because he intentionally develops relationship excellence among the team, the Spurs are able to achieve task excellence and sustainable superior performance

KNOWING WHO AND HOW TO COMMUNICATE

I came across a great article on Coach Gregg Popovich and the way he communicates to his players.  The article was written by Michael Erler for www.sbnation.com.  Here are just a few excerpts from the column but you can read it in it's entirety here -- Erler really did his homework in putting this piece together:

 

We've read in hundreds of columns about the Spurs and heard it in countless interviews. For example, here's Tony Massenburg dishing to Ric Bucher, then of ESPN: The Magazine, back in 2005...

"This is the first team I've been on where everybody is treated the same," says reserve Tony Massenbrug, who has been with a record-tying 12 NBA teams. (His Christmas present was a book on how to survive after 40; he's 37.) "Usually a coach will yell at the man next to The Man to make his point," he continues. "Pop gets in Tim's face and Tim takes it. That lets everyone know when Pop chews you out, it's strictly about what you need to do to get better. He can do that because of Tim- the most laid-back superstar I've ever known."

and here's Kurt Thomas, giving the goods to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, for an excellent Duncan-Pop story that wound earning Stein the 2014 PBWA (Pro Basketball Writers Association) Award for best feature...

"If you see the way he talks to Tim Duncan, you don't have a problem with him getting on your ass. If Tim can take it, you can take it. From the top guy all the way to the bottom of the totem pole, he treats them all the same."

But right below that was this quote from Manu Ginobili:

"He's very honest and straightforward," Ginobili says. "He says what he thinks, but usually what he thinks is not out of nowhere. If he unloads on you, it's because there's a reason. He knows who to unload on, too.

It's that last sentence that struck me -- "He knows who to unload on, too." It could've just been one of Ginobili's trademark affectations (English is his third language after all, and while his vocabulary would put many journalists' to shame, Manu is known for using malapropisms from time to time). But I think Ginobili meant, "He knows who is psychologically wired to respond to being unloaded on." The inference being that Pop  also understands who can't be yelled at, either.

 

I don't think anyone is lying or being purposefully misleading about Pop being egalitarian in his blistering critiques of his players. I think he is democratic, in a way, but it has more to do with what the individual's mental makeup is than their status within the team. I don't think Pop treats Duncan and Ginobili the same as Parker and Green, but it's not because Pop likes them more or thinks they're more valuable to the team. I think it's just because he's found that Parker and Green will respond to be cajoled, constantly -- whereas with the others, negative reinforcement doesn't work the same.

 

Then there's Duncan. I believe he likes to be coached hard, like everyone says. But one thing I've seen, especially as the years have worn on, is that Duncan's had less and less patience for being chastised publicly. Pop can get on him all he wants in practice, but not during games and definitely not with the press afterward. Seems like nothing bothers Duncan more than Popovich questioning his effort  --even if it's in the collective sense-- after a loss. It visibly annoys him, when almost any other type of question gets the famous Duncan poker face. From everything I've read and heard behind the scenes, whenever Pop and Duncan have their annual two-week divorce, it stems from Pop accusing him of not playing hard enough. Maybe it's how to push the big man's button to ramp him up for the stretch run.

 

Popovich has always been lauded for his ability to quickly judge people's character and find out what makes them tick. He speaks of players needing to "get over themselves" to fit on the Spurs and to be coachable, But he understands different people need to be told things in different ways.

In the end Pop does coach everyone the same ... even though he doesn't.