HOW DO YOU ANALYZE FAILURE?

Today I enjoyed talking leadership with Coach Marsha Frese of UMKC today and one of the things we were talking about were books that were good for coaches and players.  One we talked about was "Go For Gold" by John Maxwell.  I love the book because its laid out with daily readings for leaders to take in and apply.  Here is quick example:

The next time you experience a failure, think about why you failed instead of who was at fault. Analyze any failure:

·         What lessons have I learned?

·         Am I grateful for this experience?

·         How can I turn the failure into success?

·         Practically speaking, where do I go from here?

·         Who else has failed in this way before, and how can that person help me?

·         How can my experience help others someday to keep from failing?

·         Did I fail because of another person, because of my situation, or because of myself?

·         Did I actually fail, or did I fall short of an unrealistically high standard?

·         Where did I succeed as well as fail?

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?

 

AGGIE DEFENSE: PART II

Over the next few weeks, we will take a look at some the thoughts, principles, and guidelines for our defense. In Aggie Defense: Part I we talked about philosophy and the key concepts for our non-negotiables.  Today we will look at some basic thoughts and concepts for our Transition Defense:

“If you don’t get back on defense,

you may as well get back on the bus.”

-Don Meyer

 

 

GOOD OFFENSE LEADS TO GOOD TRANSITION DEFENSE

 

In all successful journeys there is the first step. For each defensive possession, there is transition defense and those teams that stress and excel in this phase are further a long in being good defensively than those teams that don’t.

 

Ironically, I think when you start the conversation about great transition defensive teams, you must being on the offensive end.  Your offense can go along way in setting the table for your transition defense.

 

Offensive keys that aid in solid transition defense include

 

1. Floor balance...have proper spacing which allows your offense to be in a position to get back defensively is extremely important.

 

2. Shot selection...how many times have you seen a bad shot lead to a transition basket?  You offense can anticipate transition defense better if they know when, where, and by who in terms of the shot being taken.

 

3. Value the ball...the hardest thing to convert back on is a turnover.  If the turnover is in the open court it can be.

 

Therefore, teams that shot at a high percentage and take care of the basketball tend to be at the least good defensive teams because they have given their defensive an advantage in terms of conversion.

 

THE CONDITIONING FACTOR

 

The other element of transition defense before we go over the guidelines is conditioning — and I believe this is two fold:

 

1. Physical Conditioning

Teams committed to great transition defense are in great physical condition.  They pay the price in fall conditioning and continue to value conditioning through their practice habits.  One of the first places a player will take off when conditioning is a factor is in getting back defensively.

 

2. Mental Conditioning

This is one that must be developed through the structure of your practice.  There cannot be a mental “delay switch” for players in terms of getting back.  It can’t a be a shot taken and then a one or two-second period where the defense is watching.

 

"If you think that your half-court defense wins your games, you don’t understand the game. If you take film and break it down, you will find out that only 30% of your points are coming out of your set plays and the other 70% are coming in transition, second shots, and foul shots. So the transition game is what it is all about." 

-Hubie Brown

 

We tell our players its “one or the other.”  Either you are going to the offensive boards or you are sprinting back (unless we are in a full court press).

 

The setup and execution of your practice will be singular most important thing you do to develop both physical and mental conditioning for transition defense.  While certainly all coaches have a series of transition defensive drills they live to utilize, one of the most important things you can do is to always convert during scrimmage situations.  And in those conversion situations, stress, teach and coach transition defense.

 

AGGIE TRANSITION DEFENSE GUIDELINES

 

SPRINT BACK...STRAIGHT LINES...NO BACK PEDALING

Important to know in transition defense that the first three steps are the most critical...don’t worry about find the ball during those first three steps...get out quickly with long strides and cover as much territory as possible.

 

TALK & POINT UNTIL EVERYONE IS MATCHED UP

To be successful on a consistent basis, all five players must be engaged in talking and pointing...there will be times when we have to defend someone other than are original assignment but there should never be a situation where we have two players on one offensive player and another player wide open.

 

“LOAD TO THE BALL” HEAVY HELPSIDE...5/4...5/3...5/2

As we are getting back, if you are not sure immediately who you are picking up, move to the middle of the floor in a help and anticipate position...it will give you a closer angle to pick up someone on the ballside...if end up defending someone opposite the ball then you are in help where you should be any way.

 

PICK UP THE BALL (ONCE THE HOLE IS COVERED)

We want to pick up the ball as early as possible and funnel it out of the middle...however, we don’t want to leave someone under the basket wide open...once we know we have the rim covered, aggressively and intelligently attack the basketball.

 

TAKE AWAY THE RIM AND THE BALLSIDE LOW POST

While this is the primarily responsibility of our post players, perimeter players may have to assume this responsibility at times...make sure we don’t allow easy post feeds from the point guard or the wings...if we are mismatched, fight to front the low post until help comes.

 

POST DEFENDERS: MEET THE OPPOSING POST AT THE ELBOW

We want to be waiting with an extended forearm...the goal is to stop the post or force her to veer one way or another...at no time is it acceptable to allow an opposing post a direct cut to the low post for an immediate post up opportunity.

 

FIND & PICK UP DEAD 3’S EARLY

At least 3 steps above the arc...giving up an open, rhythm 3 is also unacceptable...Goal #1, take away the touch...Goal #2, force catch further away then where she wants to catch...Goal #3 (last resort), closeout hard to force her to put it on the floor and now allow her a clean rhythm look.

HELPSIDE DEFENSE GUIDELINES

Excellent, defined parameters for good helpside play via Coach Rick Majerus.  These don't have to be your principles but the key is what are your principles of helpside play -- and more importantly, do you players know?

1.       Help Stance

a.       No cuts below you

b.      Jump to ball in stance with vision and talk

c.       One step off line of the ball

d.      If anything, be close to the ball

2.       Help on Baseline Drive

a.       Attack to below the block

b.      Attack outside the lane

3.       Helpside Flash

a.       No one cuts below you

b.      Move on a diagonal to the cutter

c.       Meet at or outside the lane

d.      Maintain ear in the chest

e.      Through you! Stand him up

f.        Deny to the top and force back door

g.       Butt to the ball

4.       Helpside Blockout

a.       Get outside the lane- make the hit

b.      If your man doesn’t go, step at him & rebound down.

5.       Helpside vs. The Lob

a.       Come low and outside of lane-thru you.

b.      Deflection-only if you know you can get it.

JAY BILAS ON PUSHING LIMITS

Our team passout today via the book "Toughness" by Jay Bilas.

COACH WOODEN ON PRACTICE PLANNING

As we quickly approach the first of our practice sessions, here are some great thoughts on practice planning from Coach John Wooden:

“I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day. In fact, in my later years at UCLA I would spend two hours every morning with my assistants organizing that day’s practice sessions (even though the practice itself might be less than two hours long). I kept a record of every practice session in a loose-leaf notebook for future reference. Prior to practice time, the secretary would type the entire daily plan onto a 3x5 index card, gave them to me, and I distributed them to all coaches and managers. Those cards informed every staff member of all activities and the exact time each would start and finish. As a result, coaches and managers were prepared to quickly transition from activity to activity without any wasted time. Every second is important…”

QUALITIES OF A SERVANT LEADER

Preparing to start our season-long study on leadership with our Aggie Leadership Council. Our council is made up of members of our team and we will meet weekly to discuss, learn and develop leadership concepts.  The core of our group will be centered with the goal of being Servant Leaders.  In dong some research today for workbooks, I came across an outstanding blog post from Skip Pritchard dealing with nine qualities of servant leaders.  You can read the entire post here but here is a brief look at the nine qualities:

1. Values diverse opinions.
A servant leader values everyone’s contributions and regularly seeks out opinions.  If you must parrot back the leader’s opinion, you are not in a servant-led organization.

2. Cultivates a culture of trust.
People don’t meet at the water cooler to gossip. Pocket vetoes are rejected.

3.  Develops other leaders.
The replication factor is so important.  It means teaching others to lead, providing opportunities for growth and demonstrating by example.  That means the leader is not always leading, but instead giving up power and deputizing others to lead.

4.  Helps people with life issues (not just work issues).
It’s important to offer opportunities for personal development beyond the job.  Let’s say you run a company program to lose weight, or lower personal debt, or a class on etiquette.  None of these may help an immediate corporate need, but each may be important.

5.  Encourages.
The hallmark of a servant leader is encouragement.  And a true servant leader says, “Let’s go do it,” not, “You go do it.”

6.  Sells instead of tells.
A servant leader is the opposite of a dictator. It’s a style all about persuading, not commanding.

7.  Thinks “you,” not “me.”
There’s a selfless quality about a servant leader.  Someone who is thinking only, “How does this benefit me?” is disqualified.

8.  Thinks long-term.
A servant leader is thinking about the next generation, the next leader, the next opportunity. That means a tradeoff between what’s important today versus tomorrow, and making choices to benefit the future.

9.  Acts with humility.
The leader doesn’t wear a title as a way to show who’s in charge, doesn’t think he’s better than everyone else, and acts in a way to care for others.  She may, in fact, pick up the trash or clean up a table.  Setting an example of service, the servant leader understands that it is not about the leader, but about others.

COACH MEYER ACADEMY NOTES FROM 1994

Coach Ari Fisher whom I worked with on the staff at LSU forwarded me some of his old Coach Don Meyer notes -- from the 1994 Academy.  As Coach Fisher said, "Amazing how this still holds true."

Suck Scum = pay dues, nothing is above you in the program (Wooden sweeping floor himself)  

Know why you coach = ask yourself what it would feel like to be coached by yourself

Ideas= you can’t use every idea; must use what fits within your personality and personal style of play 

Why am I coaching? = must have detailed, specific answer, nothing to do with x’s and o’s (Meyer/help build a foundation for life and how young people should treat others regardless of circumstance)  Listen to older coaches; even if you dislike them or their methods or system of play

Learn from games = NBA, high school, WNBA, D-1, 2, 3, JUCO, NAIA (tape as many games as possible)     

Young coaches problems= transition (defense), zone offense, press offense, rebounding….. 

Wooden = “Love and balance” avoids burnout & shows kids they aren’t tools but are human beings  

Mandatory reading = ‘Make the Big Time Where You are’ by Frosty Westering FB coach at Pacific Lutheran College   

Three golden rules of coaching = preparation, preparation, preparation, 

Reason to help others = because you want to or because it is right; not because it is nice or makes you feel good OR you hope someone does something for you; better to want them to pay it

Confidence = comes from trusting fundamentals, preparation, and knowing everyone else on team has the same feeling- it is done through teaching, practice under game conditions, and attitude of perfection, “demonstrated ability”- Bill Parcells  

Careful what you say = a life can be destroyed in the few seconds something pours out of your mouth.  There aint no rebound button on life.

Over check = ‘check, check, and recheck’.  Expect, Inspect, Accept 

Careful scheduling = must breed or create confidence before league or conference games.  With a good team, do not go overboard so kids will still be fresh and crisp mentally and physically during March 

Ownership = players call out drills, have a phone list for emergencies, communication paramount between players, coaches, and coaches to players      

Concept of how to play = uncomfortable pace, must be able to speed up or slow down equally well

Team building = winning is not enough, developing a team is most important