RICK TORBETT: BUILDING A GREAT SHOOTING PROGRAM

Reviewing some old notes from a PGC/Glazier Clinic I attend.  Here are some gems from Rick Torbett, founder of www.BetterBasketball.com:

8 Secrets to Training:

Preparation

Repetition

Attitude

Concentration

Technique

Intensity

Conditioning

Expectations

Can't create time...have to give things up.

If you want to be exceptional, you can't be normal.

Don't shoot to get in shape -- get in shape to shoot.

Ready -- get hands right

Set -- knee bend

Fire -- breaking of wrists w/feet leaving the ground

Post -- follow through...both arms

"Catch the rim between your wrists."

Eliminate excessive motion to increase accuracy.

"Pivot square up the most important thing in shooting." -Steve Alford

Train your vision.

Mel Gibson in "Patriots" -- "Aim small, miss small"

Aim at center loop

Concentrate so hard you get a headache.

Concentrate on straight -- don't worry about long & short

Train to ignore closeouts and fly byes 

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)

RANDOM COACHING THOUGHTS (PART VII)

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

LOU HOLTZ: "The only things that change you from where you are today to where you are going to be five years from now are the people you meet and the books you read."

SELF-KNOWLEDGE

DENA EVANS: “You are your #1 critic. But you should also be your #1 fan.”

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

TOM OSBORNE: "The essence of teamwork is servanthood."

STAFF

DALE BROWN: “Actions talk around here, so my interactions with my staff are essential in giving the right impression to the players. If the players see that the head coach and the staff have good cohesion, then the team will fall in line, also.”

STATISTICS:

DEAN SMITH: "People tend to look too much at numbers and not enough at where those numbers come from."

STRENGTH TRAINING

RICK MAJERUS: “Hard to have a great basketball program without a great strength program.”

SUCCESS

JIMMY TILLETTE: “The most overrated attribute for success in life is ability by itself. Character and intelligence have a way to defeat ability by itself. And if you combine the three, you have something special.”

SYSTEM

PETE NEWELL: “There are no short cuts to success. Some coaches in their eagerness to win quickly do not have the patience to work toward the refinement of their inherited theories and will switch to a system of play which has brought success to others. The change in system may bring initial success through the element of surprise, but it will not be a guarantee for lasting success.”

TALENT

RED AUERBACH: "Talent alone is not enough. They used to tell me you have use your five best players, but I've found that you win with the five who fit together best."

TEACHING

BOB KNIGHT: “A primary goal of teaching anything is the advantage that learning gives to people over their competitors who haven’t been as well taught.”

DENA EVANS ON MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Readers of our blog already know that there is no bigger fan of Point Guard College than Bob Starkey.  I have known their CEO Dena Evans from her playing days at the point guard position at the University of Virginia.  We have encourage our players to attend PGC and many have and they always come back with a different mindset.  And that's what it's all about -- thinking the game -- the mindset. 

I don't like to refer to PGC as a camp -- because it's not...it's an incredible concept in the way they teach.  Dena and her staff (and they so committed) are GAME CHANGERS -- they are changing the game for the better.

Here's an outstanding video of Dena speaking on Mental Toughness...it is so good I'm going to post it at www.HoopBoost.com (our blog for student-athletes).


If you are interested in your players having a unique experience this summer in such a way that it will impact them and your team then by all means please check out Point Guard College at:

www.PGCBasketball.com

GOOD "STUFF" FROM DICK DEVENZIO

Marking the 10th anniversary of the passing of Coach Dick DeVenzio I am reminded about accepting an assistant coaching position at Marshall University under Judy Southard.  On my first day of work she walked in my office and handed me a copy of Dick's book "Stuff Good Players Should Know." 

She simply told me, "Read it and know it."

Years later when I joined Dale Brown's staff he did the same thing (it certainly put me in good standing with Coach Brown that I had already read the book).

So here are just a few of some of the great STUFF from Dick's book:

Five guys working together doing the "wrong" thing have a better chance of winning than five guys all doing their own thing because each thinks he knows best.

Good players get their hands on the ball on defense. They deflect some passes going inside, they hit a dribble in the lane, and they touch one or two of their man's passes.

Against a zone, you want to receive the ball each time in a position where two defenders feel they need to take you.

Faking, almost all fakes, work great in games, and there is a very good reason why. Most players, even a lot of good ones, don't fake, or at least not very often. As a result, very few defenders have had the opportunity to react to fakes, so when they meet one in a game they fall for it and get faked out. The most important rule on faking is, "Use fakes."

Good players often think about the possibility of losing. In fact, many of them think more about the possibility of losing than they think about the joy of winning, and there is a very good reason for this. Good players are usually accustomed to winning, so for them winning carries with it no great joy. A certain measure of satisfaction, yes. But not jumping-up-and-down joy. What motivates a good player is not so much any thrill involved with winning, but instead the wrenching disappointment -- the agony -- of losing.

No team ever lost by playing the wrong defense. They lost by playing that defense poorly.

Bad shots, probably more than anything else, lose basketball games, yet bad shots are ridiculously common. Go to any playground and you will see more bad shots taken than good shots. Players seem to love taking bad shots. Winning teams are most often the teams who pass up shots and wait for better ones. What is the difference between a 45% shot and a 60% shot? Not much. A bit more time. A step closer in. A bit more confidence and certainty about the one. Yet again, the 60% shot wins and the 45% shot loses.

Good players beg for the ball, not so much with their tongues (though they do sometimes shout) as much as with their body movements and facial expressions. Good players want the ball, and that want is obvious to whoever has it. The average fan would likely say that all players want the ball, and they do, but not like good players want it. Good players want it in a way that they are always close by, always popping out, always looking at the guys with the ball with a sort of desperation.

Dena Evans and Point Guard College sell Dick's books including his classic "Stuff." If you are interested click on this link:

http://www.pgcbasketball.com/store/

DICK DEVENZIO STILL "SCHAPING" BASKETBALL TODAY

I'm dedicating this post to Dena Evans, all the great people at Point Guard College and everyone of us coaches who have been effected directly or indirectly by Dick Devenzio. 

At the heart of PGC is the word “SCHAPE,” an acronym invented by PGC’s Founder, Dick DeVenzio. PGC says that its mission is to SCHAPE the basketball world—but what does that mean and how does it impact you?

The verb “shape” means to mold or to form, as in the way that a potter “shapes” clay into a vase. Dick DeVenzio changed the spelling of “shape” and created an acronym in which each letter stands for an essential aspect of championship performance. Dick’s acronym—“SCHAPE”—means not just to form, but to transform—to uplift, change or alter something in order to make it the best it can be.

The essence of SCHAPE is to bring passion, intensity, care and full attention to whatever is in front of you—the task at hand—so that whatever you do, you do it the best that you can. We then apply this “psychology of excellence” to what our athletes and coaches care the most about—striving to achieve excellence in the game of basketball.

At PGC, we attempt to “SCHAPE the basketball world.” How? By injecting the six crucial ingredients represented by the acronym into everything that we say and do. We teach players how to SCHAPE their practices, their games, and their off-court environments in ways that make everyone that they’re associated with the best they can be.

The full meaning of the acronym is much deeper than what we can cover here, but here is a brief overview of what the six aspects of SCHAPE mean to PGC:

Spirit
The following passage comes from his book, "Think Like A Champion."
Our passion and enthusiasm. We inspire coaches and athletes to get in touch with what they truly love about the game.

Communication
We communicate our values in everything that we say and do. We use a creative vocabulary to make our teaching and communication more memorable and effective.

Hustle
We consistently look to do more than our share and more than what’s expected.

Approach
Our actions are always aligned with our purpose. We are always conscious of and consistent in our approach, making sure that our actions are sourced from our values.

Precision
We pay attention to the little things in all that we do and maintain an unwavering commitment to excellence.

Enhancement
We continually look for ways to make our curriculum, our staff, and the athletes and coaches that we work with the very best they can be.

The notion of SCHAPE-ing pervades everything that we do at PGC. This is not about a fancy pep talk or another topic for a lecture: The acronym SCHAPE provides the foundation for all of our courses and is the thread that runs through all that we teach and do.

SCHAPE is the essence of Dick DeVenzio’s legacy. This legacy is what makes PGC unique—SCHAPE-ing the basketball world is “The PGC Way.”

"Any athlete involved in a team sport can often help his team by instructing his teammates, but this can be a delicate subject. There aren’t two athletes out of a hundred who like being told what to do. It’s bad enough having a coach constantly barking out commands without having teammates do the same. Nevertheless, I think this whole subject can be dealt with effectively by keeping on rule in mind. Instruct before a mistake is made. Not after."

Excellent advice for players but can certainly apply to coaches as well!

Dena and PGC sell Dick's books including his classic "Stuff."  If you are interested click on this link:

http://www.pgcbasketball.com/store/

PGC: THINGS TO HELP INCREASE CONFIDENCE

The following are notes from one of my former players and current college coach Latasha Dorsey -- herself a fine point guard.  Point Guard College not only does a tremendous job of developing points guards but also developing coaches to teach point guards and these notes came from a session that Latasha attended.

Dena Evans (PGC CEO): “You are your #1 critic. But you should also be your #1 fan.”

Confidence omes from 2 things:

#1 Preparation — time & effort

#2 What you think about all day...you become what you think about.

Rick Carlisle is most confident person Dena knows...He always thinks about the 1 good thing he did.

Dr. Bob Rotelo: “Allow yourself the luxury of forgetting the unpleasant experience.”

Diana Taruasi: She was 1-15 in national championship game. “I replayed the game in my mind that night and I never thought about it again. Yeah, I was mad, but I forgot about it and move on to the next challenge.”

Michael Jordan: “Think about mistakes for 15 to 20 minutes and never think about it again.”

Abraham Lincoln: “If we magnify our pleasures the way we magnify our disappointments, we would be a lot more successful.”

Thinking Positive Thoughts = Performing Better on Tasks

Write down 10 good things you did well in game/practice

Think about what it is that you love about playing

Train mental thoughts/habits

You have 100% control of your thoughts — no one can take that away

Control you mind, don’t let your mind control you.

THE ONE SECOND ADVANTAGE

Great post from Chad Songy of the Point Guard College:

During our five-day Director's Team Training Camp recently held just outside Toronto, I was introduced to several new ideas while in the midst of some sharp basketball minds. One of these minds was Coach Mike MacKay, Manager of Coach Education and Development for Canada Basketball. I picked up several 'golden nuggets' from Coach MacKay, including the idea of the 'One Second Advantage'.

As basketball players we should always try to gain a one second advantage. We can do so by using screens, moving on penetration, moving defenders with fakes, etc. Often that one second advantage is the difference between getting a great shot and having a shot contested or coming up with an empty possession and not even getting a shot off at all.

While it's important to create that one second advantage, it's equally as important to maintain it. The following are some habits that cause players to lose their one second advantage:

•where a one second advantage is created by moving a defender with a jab fake, losing it by driving wide around the defender allowing the defender to recover
•catching a pass with straight legs, then forces the player to have to bend down to load for the shot (which takes one second) and losing their one second advantage for that open shot
•off the ball, standing still on penetration and therefore not gaining the one second advantage from the space or separation that's created when the helping defender hedges to slow down that penetration

I found this concept really beneficial, but it wasn't until my participation in the drill below, that I truly understood the value of being aware of your one second advantage by continually catching the ball with loaded legs.

Read the rest of this post at Chad's blog: http://ow.ly/1fyQn

THE GREATEST COACH EVER LEADS BY EXAMPLE

We will never pass up on a an opportunity to share stories on Coach John Wooden. I received the following last night from my friend and Point Guard College CEO Dena Evans. Besides knowing and spending time with Coach Wooden, Dena is also a freind of Andy Hill who played for Coach Wooden. Andy has previously wrote a book about Coach Wooden titled, "Be Quick, But Don't Hurry."

http://www.amazon.com/Be-Quick-But-Dont-Hurry/dp/0743213882

It's a great book on Coach and one that's been in my collection since it came out. The following is a recent piece from from Andy:

It seems hard to believe that six years have flown by since John Wooden was in Washington, D.C. to receive our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, from the President of the United States. Those of us lucky enough to be there that day will never forget it. I was both gratified and mystified that a former benchwarmer like me was in attendance. To see our then 92-year-old Coach sitting under a huge portrait of his favorite American, Abraham Lincoln, while he greeted well wishers and fans seemed an appropriate final act for this Indiana farm boy who had become a national treasure.

But Coach has an indomitable will to keep teaching, a nd this past week he added another chapter in his continuing career as our most admired and inspiring mentor. On July 29 he received an award as the Greatest Coach Ever from The Sporting News.

Typically these types of events are dominated by too much media, some cookie cutter remarks about the featured guest, and a sense of relief when you are in your car headed home. But this event was far from typical, in large part because The Sporting News was sensitive to Coach’s “down home” nature and kept it small and intimate. Rather than booking a fancy room at a big hotel, the event took place at one of Coach’s favorite restaurants, the homey Valley Inn, in a small side room. Members of Coach’s family, a few members of the media, and 10 former players gathered to make a few tributes and hear some familiar stories from Coach.

Everything proceeded exactly as planned until Coach spoke.

UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero spoke movingly about what Coach has meant, and will always mean, to UCLA. Current Bruin Coach Ben Howland told us how he grew up watching replays of Wooden’s remarkable teams on KTLA at 11 p.m. Ben made it clear that the UCLA basketball program owes a debt to Coach that can never be repaid. I had the chance to let Coach know how deeply his teachings have impacted our lives after we left UCLA, especially those of us who sat on the bench and didn’t see our dreams come true until after we left school. Marques Johnson told a hysterically funny story about Coach Wooden the pool shark and his unique ability to interact with all of his players. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the greatest of all Bruins, summed it all up perfectly with his heartfelt tribute to our Coach and his ability to see that there was much to life beyond basketball.

All the speeches ended the same way…with an expression of admiration and love for this man who had changed us all for the better. Little talk about games or triumphs, but lots of talk about relationships, family, friends, and LOVE.

Then Mike DeCourcy, the fine basketball writer for the host, The Sporting News, presented Coach with this truly momentous award. Coach will turn 99 in October, so we assumed his remarks would be limited to a few familiar yarns we had all heard countless times before. No one could have anticipated his comments would hit us all like a bombshell.

To his players, Coach had trotted out his world famous PYRAMID OF SUCCESS year after year, and was usually met with eye rolls and yawns. But as we eventually left his day-to-day supervision to make our way in the world, for many of us his Pyramid had become our gyroscope that keeps us balanced and true to Coach’s ideals. Unlike most lessons that fade with the passage of time, Coach’s Pyramid grows in significance as we learn to rely ever more on the sage wisdom contained in it.

So what did Coach tell us as he accepted his award as the greatest ever? He told us he had made a big mistake in his Pyramid. What? Are you kidding me? Fourteen years in the making and nearly 60 years of lectures…and now he tells us he made a mistake?

Of course this revelation and the timing of it could not have come at a more perfect time. What was Coach’s big mistake? He left “love” out of his Pyramid, and he always says that “love” is the most important word in the English language.

So many of Coach’s lessons came to mind as we tried to sort through this stunning development…“the team that makes the most mistakes WINS”… “not all change is progress, but all progress requires change”…“always keep an open mind”…“failure is not fatal, but failure to change may be”…and “it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” In a way it makes perfect sense that at the moment he was being honored as the greatest ever, he admits to his closest family and friends his biggest mistake.

The years have taken their toll on this former three-time All-American at Purdue, and you can feel his pain and discomfort that he fights so hard to keep to himself. But we all marvel that his mind is still keen and his wit razor sharp. As we sat and listened to our aging Coach make a speech we will never forget, you could hear a pin drop and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. His grace, his intelligence, and his humanity blew us all away one more time.

What more can you say? We had come to honor our old Coach, and once again he had taken the opportunity to teach us, guide us, and show us the way.

No doubt he gained his notoriety and fame because of he won 10 N.C.A.A. championships in 12 years, had a streak of 88 straight regular-season wins, and most remarkably, 38 straights games in the single elimination N.C.A.A. Tournament.

But John Wooden gained his immortality with the life lessons we will never forget. And as all the guests, including former players Mike Warren, Lucius Allen, Gary Cunningham, Jamaal Wilkes, Kenny Washington, Fred Goss, and Ken Heitz said their farewells to Coach, there were no handshakes…just hugs…and kisses…and Coach’s now aging students telling their old teacher that they love him. After all, Coach may have left the word “love” out of his Pyramid…but his players got his message just the same.

How the heck do you wrap up a speech like this? Most of us would mumble some humble words of thanks…but Coach has never been like anyone else I know. It shouldn’t have surprised me when his final words struck me p rofoundly as the unadulterated essence of this remarkable man.

With his voice faltering just a bit, and his energy now waning, Coach left us with the ultimate expression of who he has always been… “I only wish I could have done more for you all.”

8/7/09

Andy Hill is an author, motivational speaker, and executive coach who played, sparingly, on three national championship teams at UCLA from 1969 to 1972. He is the co-author with John Wooden of BE QUICK, BUT DON’T HURRY (Simon and Schuster, 2001), and was formerly the President of CBS Productions responsible for shows like TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL; DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN; WALK ER, TEXAS RANGER; CAROLINE IN THE CITY; and RESCUE 911.

DICK DEVENZIO: INTEGRITY OVER LOYALTY

Dick Devenzio's influence has been around the game for decades. Yesterday I enjoyed visiting with former LSU point guard Doug Saylor who works individually with young players and the conversation drifted to Dick and how he is inspired players and coaches a like. Most everyone in the game has read his book "Stuff," which is an absolute basketball classic. It was first given to me by Judy Southard immediately after she hired me as her assistant at Marshall University -- some 25 years. Dick is one of those special people in the game that has "crossover" influence. He has effective the men's game and the women's game equally, on all levels, for an extended period of time. I was "reintroduced" to Dick Devenzio last spring sitting around talking basketball with my friend Dena Evans and Mano Watson. Dena tutored under Dick in his Point Guard College and he continued his work after he passed away in 2001. Dena later sent me one of his books "Think Like A Champion" which is a good book for coaches looking for lessons to pass to players. It is a great book for players to read. Here is a very short sample of just one of the many topics from that book:

Loyalty: Loyalty to friends, to teams and to nations is unwarranted when it conflicts with doing what’s right.

Loyalty is a word often associated with sports. Some coaches emphasize its importance. Personally, I am skeptical about it. If you find yourself demanding or asking for loyalty, you may not be doing the things necessary to inspire it.

Loyalty is often requested when it is undeserved. A person caught cheating doesn’t want you to report him and claims that doing so would be disloyal. Or a person breaking a law wants you to break it, too. In those cases, if loyalty is going to be a factor at all, it is loyalty to yourself, to your integrity, and to doing the right thing.

The way loyalty gets twisted is what I’m concerned about here. Make sure you remain loyal to yourself and to the principles you believe in. Loyalty is not always admirable; loyalty to friends, to teams and to nations is unwarranted when it conflicts with doing what’s right.

You have to decide for yourself what’s right.

Below are some articles that are well worth reading to get to know Dick and what he stands for or, as I did, to remind me of his influence and teachings.

A great article at the time of his passing in 2001 about his legacy:

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/20010603cook.asp

Article by Dick on Leadership from HoopU:

http://www.hoopsu.com/coachingtips/devenzio-leadership.html

A lot of great notes from Dick by Eric Musselman:

http://emuss.blogspot.com/2009/02/notes-from-dick-devenzios-book-stuff.html

Here is Dick's "baby" that he has been "adopted" by Dena Evans:

http://www.pointguardcollege.com/pgc/home

BEATING THE PRESS

Some thoughts on beating pressure from Dena Evans at Point Guard College



F ormula for beating all presses:
-Have an attack mindset, put fear in their mind
-Traps are opportunities to get easy baskets
-Any pass out of a trap is a good pass.

F antasy
-Goods allow presses to work
-Don’t leave guards to bring ball down by themselves.

F hrase
-Every trap ball needs 3 nearby receivers

F açade
-Pressure is a false front to make you hurry, panic, make errors, and take quick shots
-Misconception—presses are used to make you take bad shots. You beat a press when you get easy shots

INVALUABLE 6 INTANGIBLES

One of the best camps in the country for developing perimeter players is Point Guard College headed up by former University of Virginia standout Dena Evans. Dena has a philosophy she teaches the point guards including The 6 Intangibles To Master That Makes You Invaluable.

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

COMMUNICATION
Talk on the floor, call names, give them reminders often.

HUSTLE
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 the environment -- don't contaminate it...make it better doing something extra...expect to do more that your expected to...do extra...come earlier, stay later, compliment someone, smile, push a broom, pick up trash...and don't expect praise for doing something extra.

One of Dena's favorite quotes: "Championships are won with high levels of energy, spirit, and enthusiasm."

POINT GUARD COLLEGE TIPS (#1)

Point Guard College has garnered a national reputation for teaching players not only how to play the game but how to think the game. CEO Dena Evans picked up the ball from the late Dick Divenzio and players (not to mention coaches), men and women, from all levels throughout the county make the pilgrimage to learn the position. A few nuggets from one of classroom sessions includes:

TEMPORARY INCONVENIENCE = PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT

In other words, make sacrifices is part of experiencing success.