USING ANALYTICS TO CHART INTANGIBLES AT PRACTICE

There has been so much talk in recent years about analytics and how each of us utilize them to best benefit our program.  But I came across an article from last year about how Buzz Williams of Virginia Tech goes as far as charting intangibles in practice.  Here is an excerpt from the article in Collegiate Times written by Faizan Hasnany:

With the stakes as high as they had been all season, Buzz Williams and his staff didn’t let the moment distract them, relying on something that has been an integral part of Williams’ coaching philosophy since his earliest head coaching days at the University of New Orleans: data analytics.

“He’s been using (analytics) ever since I’ve known him. I would say since he’s been a coach, he’s been a numbers guy. He’s really, really smart and he’s really, really good with numbers,” said Devin Johnson, who worked with Williams as an undergraduate assistant at UNO, at Marquette and now as the Hokies' director of player personnel. “I would say he’s been using it since day one.”

Analytics are not just at the core of how the Hokies scout and prepare for other teams, but are used in everything that they do, from practices, to recruiting and everything in between.

“In practice we count touches. So if me and you high-five each other, how many touches did you have at the end of the day? We feel that your touches and your high-fives motivate your teammates to get through that practice,” Johnson said.

Bringing quantitative value to things like effort, communication and teamwork has allowed the Hokies’ coaching staff to objectively reward its players for those extra efforts. It has also helped to establish the tough and hard-working character for which Williams’ teams have always been known.

“At the end of each week, for practice, we have something called a belt winner,” Johnson said. “That comes from analytic numbers from the touches, from the dives on the floor, how much talking and how many times you put your hands on your knees, which shows signs of weakness, so we count that and that’s a negative analytic that we take into account.”

You can read the article in it's entirety here.

AN ANALYTIC APPROACH

I want to thank Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown for passing on this article to me on Penn's Steve Donahue and how he uses analytics to shape his offensive and defensive philosophy.  You can (and should) read the entire article here.  Below are some of the fascinating take aways I grabbed Coach Donahue:

"We basically had three rules on offense and three rules on defense, and they are both basically an analytic approach," Donahue said. "I want to get a layup or a dunk. When I'm attacking the basket, I ask my guys, 'Are you 95 percent certain that you're going to make this or get fouled?' If you're not, there are mechanisms in place to find my second thing, a standstill, in-rhythm three. The third thing is post up with two feet in the lane, one on one. If you get that, great; if not, it should be kicked. So everything we do evolves from that."

Offensive rebounds, Donahue said, fall into the layup/dunk category. If you have a 95 percent chance, go for it. If not, kick it out for a three, often the most-open shot in the game when defenses are scrambling after a missed shot. In the 2010 second-round NCAA win over Wisconsin, Cornell made four threes off offensive rebounds, half of the eight they made in the game. One season, Cornell made an incredible 35 percent of its threes after scrambles - a loose ball or mostly offensive rebounds. And that three is the most psychologically deflating in basketball.

During practices, they chart all those kind of situations and assign values.

"We try to give it a numerical value for each guy," Donahue said. "He got there and he made the right play or he made a bad decision - minus-2 for a bad decision, plus-2 for a good decision. We kind of do that as a motivating factor to our guys, so when we watch film, they know why you were minus-8 that day."

The Penn coach leaves very little to chance.

"We want to see a good dribbles-to-pass ratio," Donahue said. "Two passes to one dribble in a possession is great. If we start getting seven to one, now we know we're really playing well."

Think Spurs against Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.

The defensive tenets mirror the three offensive goals.

"We don't want to give up a layup or dunk and we don't want to foul doing it," Donahue said. "We don't want to give up a standstill, in-rhythm three and no second shots."

Nothing is certain in basketball, but Donahue said his teams almost never lost when they got 10 made threes, 10 or fewer turnovers and 10 or fewer offensive rebounds for their opponent.

THE BASKETBALL DIARIES

I usually re-post this each year.  Four years ago, while coaching at the University of Central Florida, Greg Brown, then the Associate Head Coach at UCF, came up with an idea that we dedicate our blogs for an entire week to what we as assistant coaches do.  It was a serious and massive undertaking to do in the detailed fashion that we chose in the middle of the season but we thought it would be something worth sharing.  It gives a 7 day, minute by minute of everything that a coach does and it is one of the most popular posts I've had in terms of hits.

We've decided to post it again for those who may have missed it the first time.  As we mentioned, it's extremely long.  It includes charts, videos, and graphics of everything from practice, games, scouting, travel, team meetings and a little more.

If you visit, you'll want to scroll to the very bottom and work your way up.  The first entry of the week is at the very bottom.

THE BASKETBALL DIARIES

AGGIE TEAM BUILDING AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Another outstanding email newsletter from Coach Mitch Cole and the Aggie men's basketball staff.  I have so much respect for how hard these guys are working to build a program here.  If you haven't subscribed to their newsletter please do by emailing Coach Cole at: mcole@athletics.tamu.edu.

Here are some of the areas they covered in this past issue:

Lately we've been covering the topic of Team Building and Program Development. Some of the common problems of developing a Championship mentality we identified previously were:

TRANSITION DEFENSE 

COMMUNICATION 
DISCIPLINE/ "NON-STAT SHEET" STATS
ROLE IDENTIFICATION 

DISCIPLINE

After touching on Transition Defense and Communication, this week we will focus on developing a culture of DISCIPLINE with an emphasis on getting our players to excel in categories that don't get a lot of "press". At our level, younger players or those who have gotten away with being more talented than their opponents usually struggle in these areas.  So how do we develop DISCIPLINE in the skills that are not always recognized, but that we all know are crucial to success? 

IDENTIFYING THE "NON-STAT SHEET" CATEGORIES 

It may be helpful to first identify the some of the most valuable, but under-appreciated skills that CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS seem to execute. We should then define each one and communicate their importance to our players. Consider the following non-stat sheet categories that won't get noticed in the box score:

OFFENSE:

1. SCREENING WITH INTENT- "Understand angles,  Be determined to get teammate open, Use legal technique, React to teammate's cut."

2. CUTTING WITH PURPOSE- "Cut to Score, Cut to get fouled or make the defense react, Cut to make another defender help. Cut with Violence!"

3. PASSING WITH PRECISION- "In drills, pass like you are being pressured, Use correct hand, Use appropriate type of pass, 5 on 0 Accountability."

4. KNOWLEDGE OF SYSTEM- "Understand terminology, Know at least 2 positions, Know the "Why" in your Offense, Can you help others learn?"

5. LEGIT ATTEMPTS AT OFF. REBOUNDS- "3-4-5 man should get 40% of our misses back, but at least "Touch" or get a hand on 50%".

DEFENSE:

1. HIGH/ ACTIVE HANDS- "Closeouts, Contesting Shots, Rebounding, Defending the Post, Block Vision of Passer"

2. DEFLECTIONS AND DISRUPTION- "Does someone hate to play against you? Make the offense uncomfortable.Win the deflection game" 

3. GETTING THROUGH SCREENS- "Have the toughness to NOT GET SCREENED. Have the IQ to anticipate the ACTION. Do your work early!"

4. BLOCK-OUTS- Coaches should make a big deal of this. Best blockout guys may not be leading rebounders. Give recognition each game.

5. 50/50 BALLS- Who is our best loose ball guy?. Coaches should be their BIGGEST cheerleader! Must be praised. Film clip to inspire team.

After identifying and communicating some of these to our team, what is the best way to hold players accountable to DO THEM!? Rewards, Incentives, Recognition and Punishments are ways most coaches get the message across. As with anything, its all about the "CONTEXT" we find ourselves in. 

 Talented and Experienced Teams

Some teams are talented and experienced and know these things are important,  but they can still win most games by talent alone. A team like this might need extra recognition in the locker room for players that excel in these areas. Everyone cheers for the scorer. But praising the "dirty work guys" might get even the most TALENTED players to see the value in these areas. If its an opponent we know we can beat, create goals that force our players to pay attention to these details. Despite winning the game, a more talented team should still try to achieve certain goals. (Deflections, Rebound Margin, Screening Accuracy, to name just a few)

Less Talented and Younger Teams

We as coaches know that a less talented team might struggle to score. We can't always control that. But what if our team's were masters at the "Non-Stat Sheet" Categories. We would at least give ourselves a chance to win games while establishing a strong culture for later in the season or the next. For a team like this, accountability might take the form of Rewards for the good, but also Punishment for failing to meet certain goals within the game. ("If we can't win the game, let's at least win the "game within the game" as they relate to the above categories.) Build on the positives, work to eliminate the negatives.

Two categories every team could strive to eliminate are: 1. "Careless" Turnovers  2. "Non" Blockouts. Sprints the next day either for individuals or the team can help eliminate these. Win or lose, if the players know that they will be held accountable if they continue to lose focus in these areas, positive strides can be made as the season progresses. 

What is your team's weakness? How do you drive home these important categories and get your guys to be disciplined in the "Non Stat Sheet" Skills of the game? What's your process?

 

DOUG COLLINS' THOUGHTS FROM COACHING U LIVE

One of the most enjoyable parts of Coaching U Live for me was listening to Doug Collins.  He spoke on both days and I garnered a ton of great notes -- here are just a few:

"Work to be the best individual player you can be so your team can win."

"I outlived my dream." (loved that one)

"Once you build trust, you can speak the truth."

Coach Collins talked about H.A.L.T.
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
This is when we are most vulnerable (decisions)

Coach Collins told Avery Johnson that his biggest challenge as a coach would be to find 5 guys that love the game as much as you do and to not let the other 8 distract you.

"As coaches, we too often get seduced by talent."

As a coach, Collins was concerned about things he can control:
1. Conditioning
2. Preparation
3. Reward my competitors (my players that competed)

"To change a team you must change their comfort zone."

"Don't be in competition with players for publicity."

3 Things you must give you team:
1. Faith
2. Hope
3. Live

Easy baskets (scoring them offensively and stopping them defensively were important to Coach Collins. 
1. Points of turnovers
2. Turnovers
3. Transition Defense - points allowed
4. Paint Points
5. 2nd Chance Points

Key stats for Coach Collins:
1. Point Differential - Big in NBA
2. Road Record
3. FG% Differential

Again, this is just a short list of what Coach Collins shared with us.  The most moving was Saturday night when he shared his '72 Olympic experience with us.  He went into not just losing the controversial Gold medal game but the process of the tryouts, the practices (21 straight days of 3-a-day sessions), the games, etc.  It included how Coach K utilized him with the Dream Team, sharing his story and how they honored him. He also shared some great practice and games stories from his time coaching Michael Jordan with the Chicago and then Washington.

TEACHING AND DEVELOPING THE DEVIL RAY WAY

The following article comes the SI Vault and is written by Jeremy Hellickson, Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, and David Price.  It is an outstanding article and you need to find the time to read it all -- especially if you are a baseball coach or fan of baseball.  It's a tremendous article for those that work with pitchers.

The thing that impressed me is the mental approach that the Devil Ways take to every phase of the game.  It is a very lengthy article but here are a few of excerpts that connected with me.  In the first one it is the use of the word "students" and the detail of statistics they have to push their points home to the young pitchers:

Opposite the clubhouse is a low-slung, flat-roofed building, one side of which is covered in a montage of buzzwords such as STRENGTH and TEAMWORK. This is the Rays' meeting room, their equivalent of a lecture hall. While the major league pitchers are playing office-chair soccer, the minor league pitchers and catchers are getting their daily 9 a.m. tutorial. Yesterday the topic was the importance of holding runners and delivering pitches to the plate in a timely manner. The goal for every pitcher is to let no more than 1.3 seconds elapse between the start of his delivery to the ball's hitting the catcher's mitt.

Today's lecture might well be titled, The Importance of the Changeup. The minor leaguers are told that last year Tampa Bay had the lowest ERA (3.19) in the American League in 22 years. No staff in baseball was close to being as good. The Rays also held batters to the lowest batting average (.228) in the AL since it adopted the designated hitter 40 years ago, and struck out more batters (1,383) than any team in the league's 112-year history.

The changeup, the students are told, is the key to such success. Last year, according to Fangraphs.com, the Rays threw a greater percentage of changeups (18.4) than any team in baseball. (San Diego was next, at 15.5%.) And they did it with the second-best average fastball velocity (92.9 mph, two ticks below the 93.1 average of the Nationals).

The lecture lasts about 30 minutes. When it ends, the pitchers walk onto a practice field in brilliant golden sunshine under a morning sky of robin's-egg blue—hues that have been prominent in the Rays' color scheme since 2008, when they ditched the Devil Rays nickname and began one of the most astounding and efficient runs of success in the free-agent era. Tampa Bay has won an average of 91.6 games during the last five seasons, lower than only the Yankees and the Phillies.

In this excerpt, it is the specialization of the teaching and the concentration of a specific area to help their pitchers find success:

Two weeks earlier the major league pitchers gathered in the bullpen on this field. They sat on the ground to listen to pitching coach Jim Hickey teach. It would be the first of three lectures Hickey gives annually to promulgate "our core philosophies" on pitching. The subject of the first one, Hickey would say later, is "the most important" of all.

Hickey spoke about getting ahead of hitters. It may sound pro forma, but boilerplate has no place in baseball's Silicon Valley. Let the rest of baseball regard the first pitch as the most crucial in getting ahead of hitters. The Rays use the first three pitches to define getting ahead, with the third often the most important. There are 11 possible counts in an at bat. The Rays believe no pitch changes the course of that at bat more than the 1-and-1 delivery. "It's almost a 200-point swing in on-base percentage with one ball and two strikes as opposed to two balls and one strike," Hickey told the pitchers. "Get ahead, and everybody becomes David Price," the team's 2012 Cy Young Award winner. Last year Rays pitchers allowed a .204 OBP after 1-and-2 counts, as opposed to a .363 OBP after 2-and-1 counts.

Again, I'm a big believer in that the "mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1" and here again we see how the Rays feel about the mental side of baseball.:

The Rays work the head as much as the body. The holistic approach is guided by manager Joe Maddon, author of the "thought of the day." "The first thing most coaches want to do is change something physical," Maddon says. "Why? Because it's easier than working the mental side. The mental mechanics take more work but provide better results."

I love the "process-oriented" approach to slowly developing their young pitchers as explained in this excerpt:

Tampa Bay likes every pitcher to touch every minor league level and has a strong preference for leaving pitchers with one team throughout a season. Moore, Cobb, Hellickson, Shields, Davis and Jake McGee (now a Rays reliever) all made between 90 and 138 starts in the minors and threw at least 490 innings.

"Part of that [approach] is that we are competitive now," Friedman says. "We rely on young players more than most teams, so we try to get them to the point where the learning curve when they get to the big leagues is short. They can help us win games sooner rather than later."

Again, a reference to teaching with "campuslike environment" and the word "culture":

The truth is that the Rays do as much as any club to remove luck from developing pitchers. The campuslike environment of their training camp, the pitchers "willing" pitches to their spots, the analytics and the swivel-chair soccer games—it all defines the culture of the Rays' way.

MEASURING WHAT'S IMPORTANT AT PRACTICE

I'm a big believer in the proper usage of statistics.  Yesterday I posted on the importance of "deflections" to let Rick Pitino know about the effectiveness of his team.  We also chart deflections -- in practice as well as in games.  As you will read below, if something is important to measure in a game, it should certainly be important to measure in practice.  Here is a post I wrote some time ago on practice stats.  From the book "Practice Perfect" are more thoughts on charting practices.

You should measure two things:

1. The effectiveness of your practice
Does doing something in practice actually enable people to do it in performance?

2. Practicing the right things. 
Are you practicing the things that need to be practiced in order to improve performance?

The typical coach will often watch a game as an unfolding narrative.  Coaches may look back at a game and have a general idea of how it went:  "We played well."  "We struggled to play together as a team."  "We had trouble on defense."  But to determine what it is that you should be practicing, you should look at games (or lessons, surgeries, or sales pitches) as a series of date points.  Instead of subjectively evaluating how your team played, look for specific data that reflects the skills you have practiced.  For example, how many players made diagonal runs? How many teachers asked their students to do something again if they didn't have 100% participation?  How many times did a particular sales strategy result in a sale?

Collecting and measuring date on performance post-practice allows you to evaluate your own effectiveness in facilitating practice.

From "Practice Perfect" by Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway and Katie Yezzi

COACH PITINO AND THE LOUISIVILLE CARDINALS LOVE FOR DEFLECTIONS

Here are some excellent excerpts in article by Pat Forde on Coach Rick Pitino and his method of charting deflections.  This is only a portion of the article and it is very much worth clicking here to read it all:

Mike Marra's playing career at Louisville ended last September, when he blew out his knee for the second time in two seasons. But his contribution to the program is perhaps more vital now than when he was a spot shooter off the bench.

A student assistant coach, Marra is in charge of charting Rick Pitino's most cherished statistic: deflections. Every time a Cardinal tangibly impedes the other team's offense – by tipping a pass, blocking a shot, making a steal, swatting a dribble or grabbing a loose ball – Marra dutifully credits that player with a deflection.
 
This is the hustle meter the 60-year-old Pitino created half a lifetime ago, as the young head coach at Boston University. He took it with him to the NBA, then back to college, then back to the pros, and back to college again. As the game has evolved and changed in countless ways, dedication to deflections has never changed with Pitino.
 
Deflection totals provide the objective data that answers a subjective question: How hard are you playing?
 
The higher the deflection totals, the more active the defense. The more active the defense, the harder the team is playing.
 
And if there is one hallmark of Pitino-coached teams, it is an almost religious fervor for maximum hustle. They simply never relent, as Sweet 16 opponent Oregon will be the latest to learn Friday night in Indianapolis. There is a beauty to their consistent work ethic, and deflections are the most basic building block of that hard-work culture.
 
"I can't say enough about Coach Pitino and how he gets his guys to play for 40 minutes," said Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy last Saturday in Lexington, after his Rams were run over by Louisville 82-56. "As impressive as I've ever seen. … That is extremely hard to get your players to do and a tribute to the players."

As the designated documenter of deflections, Marra is given a prime seat near Pitino at every game – because when the manic coach wheels around in-game barking for information, woe unto the assistant who is not prepared with an answer.

At every timeout, Marra's clipboard is handed to Pitino before the Cardinals reach the huddle. There is other statistical information on the board – mostly shooting percentages and rebounds – but the numbers at the top are deflections. There is a total for the team and a player-by-player tally.

"It's telling you how much effort your team is putting out on the defensive end," Masiello said.

The goal for every game is 17 to 22 deflections by halftime and 35 at the end of the game. Deflection totals are written on the locker room whiteboard at halftime of every game, and sometimes are a barometer for how playing time will be apportioned in the second half.
 
The postgame numbers are put on the board as well, and often are the first thing Pitino comments on. That's the public record for players to gauge their effort. Later on, Pitino will review the film and personally make sure the deflection totals are accurate.

When the numbers were good, the players heard about that as well. Masiello recalls games four years ago where future NBA player Terrence Williams would have a triple-double: points, rebounds and deflections. You can guess which stat mattered most to the head coach.

"He would make a bigger deal about the deflections," Masiello said.

MIAMI, LARRANGA UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND STATISTICS LEAD TO TEAM IMPROVEMENT

Got the following article via Coach Eric Musselman on Miami's Jim Larranga.  It comes from the USA Today and was written by Nicole Auerbach.  You can read the entire article here.

Back in high school, Larranaga had wanted to win a free-throw shooting award, a prize completely based off percentages — "I've always been fascinated by numbers," he said — and he shot 88% his senior season and won the award by a fraction of a point.


"If I'm going to be good, I'm going to judge myself against other players who are really, really good," Larranaga said. He carried that into coaching. As an assistant at Virginia, he charted the performances of various lineups to figure out the most effective group of five. Compare, compare, compare. Then go with what works. Video might show him that now. Or a sheet of numbers from kenpom.com.

The use of such tools has propelled Miami to unprecedented success in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The Hurricanes' 13-0 start in league play was the best of any team since 1998-99, and a win Saturday at No. 3 Duke would clinch the ACC regular-season title in this, Larranaga's second year with the team.

"The thing with Coach is, as long as he's been doing this, he's never stopped learning," Caputo said. "You're looking, searching for things that will give you a bit of an edge. I think it was just word of mouth — there's no great story.

"Looking at a team on a sheet, it's a concise way of understanding. … A lot of times, you ask someone how they did on a test. They say, 'Good.' Well, what does that mean? A 'C'? That's pretty good, right? Not if everybody in the class got an 'A'. Or I got a 'C', but everybody failed the test. You try to see the things you value … and then see where that ranks within your league and nationally. That tells you what your team is like."

The Miami players hear about advanced statistics more than they see the numbers themselves. They aren't given statistical printouts; they don't get bogged down in the details. Their coaches tell them the important ones. This team is 50th in tempo, that team is 300th. This one is in the top 10 in offensive rebounding, that one turns the ball over on just 14% of possessions.

"They understand rank very well," assistant coach Eric Konkol said. So the coaches toss the key stats in with normal prep work, like talking about opponents' tendencies or watching video. Together, it provides a full picture of what the 'Canes will be up against. Miami scouts its opponents, but it also self-scouts, tracking where it stacks up against the nation's best to motivate itself.

Said senior Julian Gamble: "They give us those types of statistics to let us know where we are and where we need to improve. You want to be the best, and numbers don't lie. If you say you're not No. 1 in the country in something you want to be, you know you have something to improve on."

Larranaga and his staff emphasize points per possession; it's a good way to stress defense, something that players can rely on even when shots aren't falling on a given night. On Tuesday, prior to the Virginia Tech game, Gamble recited a sentence that would please his coaches: "We're 16-2 when we hold teams under one point per possession." Make that 17-2 after the win over the Hokies.

Miami is ranked sixth in the country in defensive efficiency, 39th in offensive efficiency and 26th in turnover rate — all significant improvements from two seasons ago.

This lingo, while new to the Hurricanes, is far from foreign from those at George Mason, where Larranaga spent 14 seasons before coming to Miami in April 2011.

"He was innovative," George Mason athletics director Tom O'Connor said. "He was focused on (advanced statistics), but that didn't override the fact that he still had to go out there and teach offense and defense. It's good to have all the statistics, and it can definitely be a major plus. I think he saw that early on. He's always been ahead of the curve if he sees something that can help his program be successful."

During the Final Four run of 2006, before he relied on advanced statistics, Larranaga's attention to detail and search for any advantage manifested itself in scouting and game preparation. He also brought in a sports psychologist to talk to his team before the season.

"He adjusted well to every team," said Will Thomas, a starter on the 2006 team. Thomas added that the points of emphasis were the same then as they are now: overall defensive toughness, rebounding and defending the 3-point line. Those same principles now show up in columns on kenpom.com.

"There are still coaches who don't use email or coaches that don't really like video spliced up because they like to get a feel for the how the whole game is played," Konkol said. "There are certainly positives in every way you do it. It just comes down to being comfortable with your style. We're very comfortable here at Miami using the stats."

DON'T LET STATS KEEP YOU LOOKING BACK

W. Edward Deming, the management and quality guru, said best when he told executives that managing a company by looking at financial data (lag measures) is the equivalent of "driving a care by looking in the rear view mirror."

The following comes from "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" by Chris, McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling.  From the coaching stand point I think it means that we can't rely solely on statistics to advance our team.  It's about relationship and developing players instead of just numbers.  Paying to much attention to stats from former games keeps you living the in the past.  Analyze the data, and then get to work on making players better.

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.”