THE ULTIMATE COACHES' CLINIC: JEFF VAN GUNDY

In 2008, Pat Williams, the GM of the Orlando Magic and a tremendous motivational speaker put out a book, "The Ultimate Coaches' Clinic." It is a fascinating book because of the style Pat utilized. He surveyed over 1000 coaches and administrators for insights to what is important to successfully do their job. From time to time I will share a few but it is a great book to own and I highly recommend it. Here are some thoughts from Jeff Van Gundy:

• The players don’t care if you are short or tall, black or white, a former player or not, all they care about is whether you can help them.

• When I was 29 and an assistant with the Knicks, Pat Riley told me I could be a head coach in the NBA. Then Pat said, “Remember these four things, and you can lead anyone:”

......Competence—know your stuff.
......Sincerity
......Reliability
......Trustworthiness

• John Wooden and Dean Smith were right. Focus on the process and not the result. That is how you get better. The more you talk about winning, the less winning you do.

• Don’t accept in victory what you won’t accept in defeat. You can’t overlook mistakes when you win a game, because they will come back to haunt you later.