GREAT OFF-SEASON CHECKLIST VIA MITCH COLE AND AGGIE BASKETBALL

Another great email newsletter from Coach Mitch Cole of our men's basketball staff here at Texas A&M!  I've posted a couple before but I strongly encourage anyone that has not signed up to get these monthly emails from Mitch to do so -- everyone is packed with great information.  Email Mitch and request to be on the list and you will regularly get stuff that will help your program.

Here is a sample from the one that was sent out today -- timely because it's about summer improvement:

SUMMER THOUGHTS

More and more, coaches are finding that the summer is when the most improvement can occur for our players and our teams. Every level from High School, to AAU, College, and the Pros, there are limits to what coaches can and cannot do regarding time spent with our athletes. Regardless of the limitations, coaches need to find the best approach within the rules to insure that the players are developing and improving throughout the summer. 

Below are a few Categories with questions/ideas that staffs should consider regarding PROGRAM GROWTH in the summer:

Skill Instruction
Do we have a plan for our players Development this summer?

If we can’t work with them, have we effectively communicated which areas they need to grow in and improve?

Is there a way we can get our older players to initiate time in the gym with the rest of our team?

Recognition, awards and charts can be a good way to provide incentive for improvement in the summer.

 

Strength and Conditioning
Are we measuring improvement from our athletes? Do we have checkpoints every 6-8 weeks? (Recognition for summer improvement could be a way to keep them motivated during the off-season.)

 

Are the methods we are using productive, but still interesting and fresh to avoid burnout?

Do our athletes understand the importance of rest, nutrition and safety in training?

Send them interesting articles on pro athletes and their testimonials on how they achieved greatness through hard work!

 

Open Gym
Is there a regular time for the players to shoot and play pick up games? 

 

Are the pickup games competitive? (Lost are the days when you played in a packed gym of players dying to get on the court, but knowing if you lose, you may sit 3 or 4 games waiting to play again!) Can we create that environment?

Most pickup games hardly resemble a real game. How can we make open gym more game-like? Consider shooting Free Throws for fouls, starting possessions at half court, extra points for put-backs, etc. 

Basketball Camps
Do our camps provide a healthy balance of fundamental skills teaching, shooting competitions, and 3v3 or 5v5 games?

 

Are our older players engaged in camps, willing to participate and impact the younger kids in the area?

Are we working to build our camps and promote the program in the community? 

T-Shirts and gear are natural Billboards for your program. Buy T-Shirts in bulk and provide as many as possible!!!

Academics
Are we aware of the “at-risk" guys in our program that might need to recover classes or get ahead in the summer? Losing a player due to grades can be a program killer!

 

It’s been said that most students fall behind in the summer in Math and Reading. Can we incorporate a plan that might stimulate our players to read, write, or be engaged academically? 

Weekly communication with links to articles, or book suggestions followed up with conversations could be useful.

 

Team Building
Is there a time in the summer to get together as a team and cast a vision for next season? 

 

A short trip to a baseball game, a Team Camp, a mid-summer “Weekend of HOOPS,” a Sand Volleyball game, BBQ? 

Weekly communication with positive messages or articles on TEAMWORK and STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

Are we thinking through how to eliminate distractions to our team’s growth? 

 

Staff Development/Rest
Are we growing in knowledge as a staff each summer? 

Challenge each coach to think through a few new ideas that might help in each of the above categories. Have someone on the staff take different categories like Motivation, Offensive and Defensive Concepts, new and improved Strength and Conditioning ideas, work a different basketball camp, or read a few books on leadership development, etc.

Lastly, is the staff taking time to get away? Sometimes great ideas begin to form when we have removed ourselves from the day to day activities. Recharge the batteries before the fall arrives! 

AND THEN SOME

Absolutely love this -- good for everyone in your organization: staff, players, managers, trainers -- everyone!

And Then Some

These three little words are the secret to success. They are the difference between average people and top people in most companies.

The top people always do what is expected...and then some...

They are thoughtful of others; they are considerate and kind...and then some...

They meet their obligations and responsibilities fairly and squarely...and then some...they are good friends and helpful neighbors...and then some...

They can be counted on in an emergency...and then some...

I am thankful for people like this, for they make the world more livable, Their spirit of service is summed up in these little words...and then some!

Carl Holmes

THE BEAR ON CREATING "ONE HEARBEAT" WITH YOUR TEAM

The following comes from "Developing the Leaders Around You," by John Maxwell:

Coach Bear Bryant expressed this same sentiment when her said: “I’m just a plowhead from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together—how to lift some men up, how to calm others down, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat together as a team. There’s always just three things I say: ‘If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, they did it.’ That’s all it takes to get people to win.”

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

EFFECTIVE PASSING CONCEPTS

The following guidelines for effective passing comes "Coaching Basketball's Blocker-Mover Motion Offense," written by Coach Kevin Sivils.  I've known Kevin for many years.  He is a student of the game and in fact, the teachings of Coach Don Meyer and Dick Bennett are major part of his inspiration for penning this book.

Use Hand Targets to Communicate With the Passer

Passing requires communication between the player in possession of the ball and the player who desires to receive the ball.  Verbal communication can be misunderstood or not heard during the chaos of game.  Visual signals with hands cannot be misunderstood and for this reason is a more effective method of communicating a cutter's intent to the passer.

Three basic hand signals must be learned buy all players, allowing the cutter/shooter to communicate intent and the passer to anticipate where to pass the ball way from the defense.  The first is an extended open hand, indicating the direction away from the goal the cutter/shooters intends to cut towards.

The second hand signal is the clinched fist, indication the shooter/cutter intends to cut "backdoor," in the direction of the goal.  This cut is used when the defense is applying intense overplay denial defense, a common tactic used against excellent 3-point shooters in the desire to prevent the shooter from receiving the ball beyond the 3-point arc.

The third and final hand signal is used to indicate the shooter is open and ready to shoot upon receiving the ball.  This signal is indicated by the shooter having hands in the shooting pocket, knees bent ready to shoot and being squared up to the goal.  The shooter needs only to catch the pass in order to shoot if the passer makes and accurate pass directly into the shooting pocket.

Pass Away From the Defense

Turnovers due to intercepted passes are usually a result of passing the ball to a teammate.  Sounds silly, but it is true.  Unless the teammate is wide open for a shot, the ball should never be passed directly to the teammate.  Instead, the ball must be passed away from the defense.

Shorten the Pass

Not only must the passer pass the ball away from the defense using a frozen rope, the cutter/shooter must "shorten the pass" by stepping the direction of the oncoming pass to meet the ball.  This decreases the chances of the defense intercepting the pass and increases the likelihood of a foul on an aggressive defender.

Pass the Ball Where it Can Be Caught

It is not enough to pass the ball away from the defense.  The ball has to be passed to the receiver in a location the receiver can safely catch the ball.  Passing the ball where it can be caught entails two different concepts.  The first concerns the receiver physically being able to catch the ball.  The second involves court and defender location.

COACH SUMMITT ON TEAMWORK AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS

In honor of Coach Pat Summitt's birthday, here are a few of our favorite blog posts on Coach:

Great Thoughts On Teamwork from Pat Summitt
This came via Greg Brown's book "The Best Things I've Seen In Coaching."

Ultimate Coaches Clinic: Pat Summitt
A great list of philosophical thoughts from Coach Summitt comprised by Pat Williams.

Coach Summitt on Mental Toughness
An excerpt from her book "Reach for the Summit"

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.

THE BEST PLAY IN THE PRESENT, NOT IN THE PAST

One of the terms we utilize with our players comes from Coach Don Meyer.  We tell them we want them to be NBA players.  NBA stands for Next Best Action.  In other words, we want them constantly player in the future and not in the past.  Great shooters have poor memories.  They never remember their last missed shot but instead, work to get their next make. 

It is the process oriented teaching that Coach Nick Saban drives home to his players.  He is not interested in his players checking the score or time on the clock as that information has nothing to do with them "dominating their opponent" on the next snap. 

While at LSU, baseball coach Skip Bertman had a small toy toilet in the dugout.  When a player had a bad at bat, a fielder committed an error, or a pitcher had a bad inning, they came in and "flushed" the toy toilet as a physical symbol that it's over -- it's gone -- time to focus on the here and now.

Of course this isn't an easy habit to develop -- especially for great competitors.  In his book "How Champions Think," Dr. Bob Rotella recalled a conversation where Dean Smith spoke to Michael Jordan about letting go of a bad game:
 
I remember hearing Michael Jordan speak some year ago about a lesson he’d learned from Dean Smith about dealing with failure. Michael had left the University of North Carolina and player a couple of years in the NBA. But he returned to Chapel Hill in the off-season to play pickup games with other Tar Heel alumni and talk with Coach Smith. 
 
On this occasion, he was talking to the coach about how hard it was for him to accept the seemingly cavalier attitude of his Bulls teammates toward losing. After a loss, he said, he would stay in the shower for an hour, replaying everything he did wrong as the hot water pounded over his body. Or he’d sit by his locker with a towel over his head, marinating his brain in images of mistakes. His teammates, on the other hand, would shower and get out of there. Michael thought they didn’t care.
 
Dean Smith disabused him of that notion. He told Michael that if he wanted to become the player he could be, he ought to give himself no more than ten or twenty minutes to reflect on a bad performance. That would be enough to learn everything that could be learned from it. After that, he advised Michael, he ought to think about playing great basketball in the next game—or do something else and not think about basketball at all. “If all you do is keep reliving your mistakes, you’re going to destroy yourself,” Dean said.

BO SCHEMBECHLER ON WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO SIGN THE RIGHT PLAYERS

Yesterday I posted a blog on an amazing article written byJen Sinkler  on rugby coachJack Clark.  You can read the post here.  Still, I'm going to repeat a small portion of that blog dealing with Clark talking to Sinkler about something he learned from Bo Schembechler.  For all of us that recruit, it's a great reminder of the importance of not just recruiting the best players but recruiting the right players -- and there's a big difference:

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.”

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.