Thanks to Mike Geary for sending me an great article on Dick Bennett.
This is Bennett's best coaching advice to aspiring young players: "It's a team sport. Will you buy in, will you give so that we can be successful because it's about us, not just you? I talk about servanthood a lot with kids because my approach to the game was built on servanthood. We helped on defense, we set screens offensively, we made the extra pass. That's serving your teammates. Are you willing to play in such a way that you will make others better?"
Bennett said he learned as a coach to emphasize only what's important, stick to his convictions and realize he can't please everyone.
"You have to face criticism," he said. "I was criticized because my teams didn't play fast. The most severe criticism that I received as a coach, ironically, was after the Final Four."
Bennett said he took losses hard but learned from them.
"I think losing offers the wisdom for people to grow if they choose to use that wisdom," he said. "There's a choice, you can blame or you can accept. Almost all of my basketball wisdom came when I had my lunch handed to me as a coach."
He can sum up his basketball philosophy in six words: play hard; play smart; play together.
"Every player who played for me knew what was important to me on the court," he said.
Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/9CH7d7
