TRAITS OF A GOOD REBOUNDER

Maybe one of the most unglamorous parts of basketball is rebounding yet there is a direct correlation between rebounding and winning. Rebounding is also a great way for a player to create a niche for herself on a team. Maybe you can’t dribble the ball exceptionally well or possibly you’re not a good shooter – but if you live on the boards, the coach will find playing time for you.

First and foremost, let’s understand what a rebound represents – a possession! That’s critically important. It doesn’t matter if it’s a defensive rebound or an offensive rebound, you have just given your team a possession that they may not have otherwise received.

Excellent rebounding teams often win because they usually have a greater number of possessions than their opponent. It means they have more opportunities to scores while their opponents have less.

Excellent rebounding teams usually win because they shoot a higher percentage. They shoot better because they rebound which leads to fast break opportunities. They shoot better because they get second chance opportunities on the offensive glass which often leads to a follow up shot from close in.

Excellent rebounding teams usually win because they hold their opponents to a lower field goal percentage. They do this by keeping them getting out and running consistently. They also take away the second chance points on the opponent’s offensive end.

Excellent rebounding teams usually win because they get to the free throw line more. They get to the free throw line more because of extra possessions they create for themselves as well as the ones they deny their opponent. How many times do you see a fouling situation occur on a offensive rebound put back?

Excellent rebound teams usually win because they have more heart. It is heart that is a primary ingredient in good rebounding and if you have a big heart on the glass, then it is probably going to spill over to the defensive end of the court as well as the offensive end.

A big part of rebounding is obviously technique and certainly we are going to talk about methods of rebounding – both individually as well as a team. We will delve into offensive and defensive rebounding and the various methods that are used for maximum results. But first and foremost, we should look at the make-up of a great rebounder. The individual that excels in rebounding has a special blend of physical and mental characteristics that allows her help her team on the boards.

A good rebounder is a well conditioned athlete.
Rebounding is one of the most tiring phases of basketball if a player is truly committed to rebounding. The pace of the game already makes is a demanding game but the good rebounder is going hard to the glass on every shot – and over the course of the game, that’s a lot of shots. So the good rebounder is going to understand the importance of conditioning. She is going to work hard with the team during conditioning and probably do a little on her own as well. She must be tireless in her approach.

A good rebounder is physically strong.
Because the good rebounder knows she must sometime move through people as well as over them, she can appreciate the work she must do in the weight room. This doesn’t mean she has to be big and muscle bound but she knows she must have the strength necessary to hold off her opponent when she is blocking out. She’s going to work hard in the weight room, more than the average player and she’s going to do the extra push-ups. Strength is important on the boards and there no reason in today’s game that she can’t improve in that area.

A good rebounder is mentally and physically tough.
Going to the boards is a very demanding job. It gets extremely physical inside with a lot of bumping and pushing. Some players don’t mind going to the boards occasionally, but the good rebounder is tough and not only does she not mind the contact, but she relishes it. She loves not only to receive the contact but likes to dish a little out as well. Mentally she knows the importance of rebounding and she blocks out any aches and pains. Mentally she also makes sure the contact doesn’t go too far. She wants to bang with her opponent but not to the extent that she draws a foul.

Good rebounders are smart players.
You have to be smart to read the where the shot may fall off…especially one shot by your opponent. The smart player can anticipate when and where her own team will shoot. She makes mental notes on opponents and understands their tendencies in terms of how she best get around them and get to the backboard.

Good rebounders have a rebounding mentality.
I’ve never seen a good rebounder that didn’t think every shot was a miss. When the ball is shot, they know that ball is not going in and they follow it’s path and try to make a read as to where it will come off. Part of that special rebounding mentality is they have a great hunger to rebound. The good rebounder loves to rebound more than she loves to score.

Good rebounders are relentless.
Good rebounders have a strong desire to rebound – they are relentless. They go to the boards to try and grab the rebound. If they can’t grab the rebound, they are going to work as hard as they can to try and get their hand on the ball where the can tip to themselves or to a teammate. If they get bumped, they recover and keep going. If they get knocked down, they hustle up. They are not going to let anyone or anything stop from going to the glass.

Good rebounders love rebounding.

I've learned this from having the blessing of coaching one of the best rebounders I've been around - Anriel Howard.  This past season, and it's not quite over, she set the Texas A&M single season rebounding record.  Despite only being a junior, she has become the all-time career rebounding here in Aggieland.  She also owns the NCAA Tournament record for rebounds in a game -- 27!  And, please pay close attention -- she is only 5 foot, 11 inches tall.  But if you watch her play and see her grab a rebound in traffic, or chase one down you will see the biggest smile on her face.  She genuinely loves rebounding.

Coach Don Meyer always had a saying, "It's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize."  All coaches will readily agree to the importance of rebounding.  But how strongly are you emphasizing it on a daily basis?

One year at LSU, to commit to emphasizing rebounding, we decided to take the games leading rebounding to the post-game press conference after every game whether the press requested them or not.  The player could've shot 2 for 10 from the field and turned it over 4 times but if she let the team with 13 rebounds that game she was going to the press room.  It was are way of letting our team (and the media and fans) know that rebounding matters in a big way.

Do you break it down in drill from every day?

Are you pointing it out and holding players accountable in practice every day?

Do you have rebounding stats that players can see on a daily basis?

Do you watch specific video clips on rebounding?

As a coaching staff, what are you doing every day to commit to improving your rebounding?

THE ADVANTAGES OF A LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

If you ever heard Coach Don Meyer speak, he would at some point ask you, “who’s running your locker room?”  It is in incredibly important question.  While coaches have an opportunity to lead their team during practice sessions, team meetings and games, it is all the time away from the coaches where leadership is most valuable.  I learned this at LSU while coaching Temeka Johnson who did an amazing job of leading our team the 21 hours out of the day when we weren’t around them.  

The locker room, or anyplace away from the court and the coaches, can be a place to strengthen and secure your culture, or it can be a toxic area that create cancers within your team. They key is being able to find the right team members, educating them on leadership, and then giving them a venue to which they positively effect their teammates.

We are not talking about "captains" necessarily.  As Coach Meyer would also point out, "you can pick captains, but you can't pick leaders."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski says, “The single most important ingredient after you get the talent is internal leadership. It’s not the coaches’ as much as one single person or people on the team who set higher standards than that team would normally set itself.”

The key is getting the players to buy in to the culture and philosophy that you as a staff feel is essential for growth and success.  To do that, you need to create at atmosphere of ownership for the players.  As Tom Izzo says: “A player-coached team is always better than a coach-coached team.”

One of my staff responsibilities at Texas A&M is to head up our “Leadership Council.”  It is a group of our student-athletes that meet weekly to discuss the elements of leadership and how we can best apply them to improving our team.  Often we spend time working on basketball skills as coaches — shooting, passing, dribbling and rebounding — but not leadership.  I often hear coaches talk about how they lack leadership on their team and I always respond, “are you teaching it?”

I got the idea of having a Leadership Council watching and studying how Nick Saban, then the head football coach at LSU, created one and utilized in his program.  I'm a big believer that leadership is a best executed with a group of core leaders as opposed to a single person.

This biggest part of our Leadership Council is not me preaching but me listening a lot.  We have six members this year on our council and my number one goal is to create ownership of our culture with our team.  It’s their vehicle…they have the keys…now where and how are we going to drive it.  Their voice, thoughts and ideas are critical to developing successful leaders — not just for our basketball team but for later in life.

Our objectives with the council include:

#1 To develop and improve upon our leadership as individuals.

#2 To create a leadership culture that will positively impact our team.

“Leadership isn’t a difference maker, it’s THE difference maker.” -Urban Meyer

Last year’s council included Taylor Cooper, Alyssa Michalke, Curtyce Knox, Jasmine Lumpkin, Anriel Howard and Danni Williams.

And our council last year was been outstanding.  The previous year we had lost three starters — all who spent some time in the WNBA.  We lost the SEC 6th Person Player of the Year and our top post player off the bench.  Coaches and sportswriters alike pegged us to finish in the lower half of the SEC.  Terms like “rebuilding” were used often.  Yet there we were finishing in the top half of the SEC, winning two games in the SEC tournament, owner of 21 regular season victories and a dance ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

And a big reason had to be the job our council has done in communicating with our team and providing a great example.  The season can be a grind and the response of a team to the difficulty and adversity that is face is essential.  We talk about making sure that our leadership council wins the locker room.  The leadership is magnified significantly AWAY from practices and games.

We meet weekly in our conference room with the letters “Leadership Council” above us.  In the past, we have had individual photos of each member of the council.  This year, we exchanged that for a team photo with the quote “Life’s most urgent question is what are you doing for others,” by Dr. Martin Luther King.

Learning to lead is not an easy thing to do.  It takes time and understanding of what goes into it.  The reason most reject opportunities to lead is because of the great responsibility that comes with it.

We tell them to follow the words of Jim Rohn: “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better.  Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills.  Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.”

The first thing we do each year is create a Mission Statement.  This year our council came up with the following:

By serving selflessly as leaders, setting an example worth following, and establishing a positive culture, we will develop strong, confident leaders capable of overcoming adversity and challenges in pursuit of their goals.

One of the things we do each we is discuss passages from “The Daily Reader” by John Maxwell.  I am always blown away with each our student-athletes and what they bring away from the daily reading that they choose to share.

Last year we asked our council to then go into detail about how we can put our mission statement to work and, lead by Alyssa, they came up with the following:

Serving Selflessly as Leaders

◄Listen and understand the needs of our teammates

◄Provide mentorship and guidance to underclassmen and new-comers

◄Praise our teammates in public, while saving criticism for private conversations

◄Always put others first, no matter the situation

◄Setting an Example Worth Following

◄Have a positive attitude at all times

◄Body language, tone, execution during practice, etc.

Take coaching and criticism well

◄Use it as an opportunity to grow and develop into a better person and player, not a chance to talk back to a coach or teammate

◄Exhibit a strong desire to improve with every rep, every drill, every practice

◄Encourage and support our teammates who are facing adversity

◄Behave appropriately, respectfully, and maturely at all times, including road trips, study hall, team dinners, etc.

◄Be respectful and appreciative to those people serving us (managers, practice players, coaches, waiters, staff, etc.)

◄Be a quiet professional, but know when to speak up to make a point

Establishing a Positive Culture

◄Hold each other accountable to high standards, knowing that our example and our choices carry considerable weight

◄Call each other out when we’re not practicing well, when we miss a team function (weights, study hall)

◄Challenge and push each other to become better individuals first, better athletes second

◄Be firm, fair, and consistent, both when praising and holding our teammates accountable

◄Don’t encourage, tolerate, enable, or cause behavior that is detrimental to our team

Developing Strong, Confident Leaders

◄Challenge others to step outside their comfort zone in pursuit of personal development and improvement

◄Set an example of strength, confidence, and maturity when faced with challenges

◄Provide opportunities for others to showcase their strengths and abilities

◄Of course, as in the game of basketball itself, game plans are important but they are insignificant if not followed by execution.

What an amazing document!  I’m proud of them for their vision but more importantly for their effort they’ve put forth in executing that vision and then following through with their execution.

Thank you Leadership Council for a job well done — and more importantly, leaving a legacy for this year's group.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

FUNDAMENTALS ARE FUNDAMENTALS

Got this via an email from Greg Eubanks last week.  I know Greg through my relationship with Coach Don Meyer. Greg played for Coach Meyer from 1988-92 and as I told Greg, I know that Coach is looking down and smiling at his comparison of baseball to basketball fundamentals!

◄Breakdown drills - a starting infielder in MLB is working on fielding grounders and he starts from his knees. Crossover: do the shooting progression

◄at :42 - Line everything up - "once you cross your body you've got no control" (at 2:15). Crossover: Get your wrist, elbow, knee and toe all lined up on your shot

◄at 1:05 - Details matter - How he gets the ball out of his glove, where the ball sits in his glove makes the difference in getting an out or not. Crossover - Details matter - it's the difference in winning and losing

◄at 1:00 - Look at the intensity in which he practices, the exaggeration with his eyes and hands

◄at 4:12 - "It's a process. It doesn't happen in a couple of days."  Crossover - You don't become a great shooter or ballhandler overnight or by only doing it every few days. It's a process that takes work and you'll see results but it may not be for a while.

◄at 8:06 - Why do we do drills? We isolate skills and when we carry that over to the 5/5 is when the magic happen.

◄at 10:55 - If you practice the skills you'll be ready for the games and you can play aggressive and make plays. "Play wide open with our minds and wide open with our athletic ability"

You think Ozzie is in the MLB just by chance? He's talented but that's just one factor.

 There's lots of talented guys who never come close the MLB.  He's also coachable, pays attention to details, and works hard. 

What are your goals and what are you doing to achieve them? What's holding you back?

THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE

In a few weeks I'll be speaking at the PGC/Glazier Coaching Clinic in Dallas.  I have two segments and my last one is titled: "Don Meyer - Lessons Learned from a Legacy Left."  I've spent the last few days rereading Buster Olney's great book on Coach Meyer, "How Lucky You Can Be," and came across a passage back in the acknowledgments that I'm going to share with my team today:

"I first met Don Meyer when I was twenty-four years old and a first-year reporter at the Nashville Banner.  Meyer's practices were always open to the public, and so, once or twice a week, I would sit in and watch and listen. When the team met in a classroom before or after practices, I would take a seat in the back.  The underlying message that I heard him present to his players -- that every single day provided you with the opportunity to pursue excellence or not -- resonated with me from a young age."

DON MEYER EVERYDAY WISDOM

A few years ago, we had Abby Jump write a guest blog post for us on the lessons she had learned on the recovery process of a seven-month rehab due to a severe injury.  It was an amazing post you can go back and look at here.

She recently reached back out to us and wanted to share her notes from a talk that Coach Don Meyer had gave to her team about eight months before he passed.  They are excellent Abby -- thanks for sharing!

DON MEYER EVERYDAY WISDOM

I was fortunate enough to meet Coach Don Meyer eight months before he passed prior to my junior season at Wright State University. Our team quietly sat for hours listening to Coach Meyer talk about characteristics of great players and teams, things he had learned through winning and losing, and life lessons. Before meeting Coach Meyer, I knew I wanted to be a college basketball coach and I was encouraged to write down everything he had to say. All that came out of his mouth was so golden to me as a player and future coach that I couldn’t move my pen fast enough. I ended up writing seven pages filled of notes and probably could’ve written more if my hand wouldn’t have went numb! To this day, I refer back to these notes daily in helping me become a successful assistant coach, mentor, colleague and friend. I find myself flipping through a composition notebook nearly five years old in times of success, tragedy, stress and when I just have a ‘what would Don Meyer say?’ moment.

I had only one chance to speak to him and wish I could’ve had more because these seven pages have drastically helped me in my life and in my coaching career. Below are some notes I had taken as a young and eager player who dreamed of being as impactful as Don Meyer:

IF YOU AIN’T SERVIN’, YOU AIN’T LEADIN’

Every morning I have a 6-pack. Not what you’re thinking! A 6-pack of goals for the day. It allows me to stay committed and productive.

Process/Product à How you do something is most important

Cause/Self à Successful teams, players, and people put the cause over themselves everyday

There are two types of ENERGY PEOPLE: Energy givers and energy suckers

Have a fox hole list of trustworthy players who you would want beside you in the hole of distress.

Sooner or later TEAM PLAYERS win out

NEVER have to say “I wish I would’ve lived the life I wanted to live instead of the life everybody else wanted to list.”

Your example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing!

Don’t make decisions because they’re easy, popular or convenient. Make them because they’re right. 

The hardest decision to make is the right one.

Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Plan, Prepare, Practice like you lost your last game

Three rules of life:

1. What is your talent that is unique? Find it.

2. Develop that gift to the fullest because people don’t pay for average

3. Give your gift away every day.

Give back, there won’t be a UHaul behind your hearse

Be what you is, because if you aren’t what you are, you ain’t what you is. (He said this was written inside a bathroom stall in Mexico)

Success can knock you to your knees faster than losing – HUMBLENESS

Have adrenaline for your job every day! Some coaches aren’t nearly as affective at the end of their career because they can’t handle the additional stress. They don’t have the energy that they h ad in the beginning of their career.

You have to be sick for coaching – Love every second. You have to love what you do every single day.

You can tell a lot about a person how they treat someone who can’t help them

Be a lifelong learner!

BEING PART OF A TEAM

About 7 or 8 years ago, while coaching at LSU, I received a great opportunity to leave and join an organization outside of coaching that would allow me to work camps, speak at clinics and do individual training.  The offer was incredibly gracious -- enough for me to deeply consider it.  As it would happened, Coach Don Meyer was staying at my home a few days after I received the offer and as I did in those days, I asked him for his advice.  And I'll never forget what he said.

He told me I would enjoy many parts of the new job -- especially the teaching.  He told me he thought I'd be good at it.  But then he said, "Bob, just make sure you never forget, there's nothing like having a team...being part of a team...growing a team. When you don't have a team there will be a hole in your soul that you won't be able to fill."

I was thinking about the advice that Coach Meyer gave me when I read an article last week where someone asked Alabama football coach Nick Saban if he was at the point where he considered retirement.

He responded he had not and then said:

"I've said this before: I've been a part of a team since I was nine years old. It scares me to death to figure what it's going to be like when I'm not a part of a team.”

So for those of us that rise this morning as part of a team, let's be thankful.

THOUGHTS ON EXTENDING YOUR CAREER

Last night I was talking to a colleague about our profession.  At times it can certainly seem like a roller coaster.  He wanted to know what the key was for having an extended career in coaching.  I was reminded off a presentation I gave a few years back at the A Step Up Assistant Coaching Symposium.  The topic given to me by Felicia Hall Allen was "The Art of Extending Your Career."

I opened with this:

THE GOAL IS NOT THE GOAL

"While I am assigned to talk to you about extending your career, I'm going to go a different direction saying that extending your career should not be the goal.  The goal is to become the best assistant coach you can become on a daily basis and an extended career will follow."

I think the first thing we need to decide in coaching is what is our "Why."  We must have an overriding purpose for coaching -- it has to be the centerpiece of our culture and what we stand for.  For me, the growth of the student-athlete has to be #1 on the priority list.  

"It doesn't matter where you coach,

it matters why you coach."
-Don Meyer

I spoke about studying Nick Saban and the philosophy he has in regard to the process.  The process is keeping focused on the task at hand -- executing as well as you can with what directly lies in fornt you at that very moment.   Coach Saban does not want his players looking at the scoreboard.  His belief is that the time and score have absolutely nothing to with the intensity and concentration you need to utilize on the very next play. 

I believe the same is true with our careers.  If we are getting up in the morning thinking about extending our career or looking ahead at that next job than we are taking away energy that we need to utilizing on what is really important -- today!  The absolute best way to move of the ladder as well as extend are career is to own and master that which has been given to us at this very moment.

One of the areas that I spoke about was Professionalism.  I firmly believe that ethical choices are a full-time job.  It must be character over victory.  Don't let a short-term gain for a win be overshadowed by a poor choice you made to try and get an edge.  

THE TRUE IMPORTANCE OF WINNING

Of course, our biggest obstacle is winning.  We are expected to win immediately and constantly.  And don't get me wrong, winning is important as the following thought from Vince Lombardi points out:

"No leader, however great, can long continue 

unless he wins battles.  The battle decides all."

-Vince Lombardi

It's true.  If we want to continue to impact young people through coaching...if we want to have a positive contribution to our communities -- we have to win -- to keep our jobs.

I gave the example of a coach being hired at a BCS program and having a record of 38-47 after his first three years.  The last home game of his third season, he lost to his rival by 24 points.  He then went to his conference tournament and lost by 43!

I asked the coaches at the clinic "What do you think the athletic director did the next week?"

Of course, the all answered "Fire the coach."

They were stunned when I told them the AD gave the coach an extension.  I then told them the AD was Duke's Tom Butters and the coach was Mike Krzyzewski.

Those days are over.  The days when an administrator can see through the losses to see that a coach is doing the right things and building something.  I've heard Coach K speak at clinics and he even admits that if he were hired today and got off to the same start that he'd never see his fourth year.

Still, we can't let winning be a conflict of interested.  We can't be overly consumed or blinded so much in trying to win that we turn our head to discipline and our culture.  The best coaches are willing fight for the culture even if it might cost them a victory.

That's not to say winning isn't important.  Certainly we have to teach winning to our teams.  As a young student at Marshall University, the basketball coach at the time, the late Stu Aberdeen spoke about the importance of winning.  As he explained, when we are on the operating table fighting for our life, we better hope that the doctors and nurses have a strong desire to win.  Coach Aberdeen explained that should we ever be falsely accused in a court of law, that we better hope our attorney has driven to win.

As I mentioned earlier, ethical choices are a full time job -- and I do believe there is a right way to win and a wrong way to win.  If you are a principled person that means a great deal.  I posed the question to the coaches at the symposium -- "are you willing to lose your job?"  Do you believe so much in the principles of integrity that you would walk away from a job that did not share in your beliefs?

BE A CONTINUAL LEARNER

The second part of the process of staying in this business is becoming a continual learner.  There must be a fire within to constantly be searing knowledge to help you grow as a person and a teacher. 

My suggestion to the coaches in the audience was to become an expert at something in the game: post play, shooting, zone defense, etc.  Pick something and learn it at the highest level.  I think it is always important to be a good recruiter but don't be labeled as such because you don't excel in other areas.

Today there are so many ways to improve.  We had just came off of a Final Four season at LSU and one summer I went to Oklahoma to watch Sherri Coale and her Sooners practice for three days in preparation to go overseas.  The next year we again made it to the Final Four and I headed to Duke to watch Gail Goestenkors to again observe several practices before she took her team overseas.  

Today there are so many clinics to attend: Coaching U, Nike, PGC/Glazier.  There are tons of great blogs and Youtube loaded with information.  Have you attended an NBA or WNBA practice session? If not, you are missing out on some of the game's best teachers.

One other factor in being a continual learner today is the not just accept but to embrace technology.  Whether it's social media, apps for our phones and iPads or every improving methods of watching and breaking down video -- it's all there in front of us to help us improve.

FIND BALANCE

The next part of extending a career is to find balance.  I spend a great deal of time in my office -- always have and always will.  But I find a way to incorporate my wife with our program.  She has always been a big part of our culture.  Whether it's having the team over to decorate our Christmas tree, throwing a Mardi Gras parting in February or just having them over for an occasional home cooked meal, Sherie has always been active in helping us serve our student-athletes.

It's also important to plan family time.  Schedule time for your spouse and children though out the season -- an honor those commitments.  I learned most of this the hard way.  I once coached eight consecutive summers without a vacation.  I stayed up all night in the office two nights a week during the season watching video and getting scouting reports ready.  Then my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer!  It was an amazing paradigm shift for me and give me instant perspective.

Coach Don Meyer also talking about having "your time," where it is just you.  It can be a time of meditation or reflection.  For me, I like to do it early in the morning while everyone is still asleep.  I can catch up on some reading or spend some time writing in my journal.

Yet another example of helping you with balance is creating a circle of influence.  A handful of people that your believe in and trust.  Most importantly, these people need to be someone that love you enough to tell you the truth. Someone that can tell you your full of crap when you are.  Some can be coaches but it's always good to have some non-coaches in your circle.

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR FINANCES

Part 4 of an extended career is the handling of your finances.  I shared with the coaches, and especially tried to get through to the younger ones that my biggest regret in coaching wasn't a decision on the floor but it was not getting involved with a financial planner early in my career.  I have had one the past 20 years and the results (and security) are amazing!  Many young coaches don't think they make enough money to work with a planner -- that's actually all the more reason you do.  One of the first things that Kay Martin of Ameriprise was talk to me about short-term and long-term goals.  Part of that process was to create an emergency fund that would pay into gradually to where we would have three months worth of salary to live on should anything happen.  Well, we have far more than three months now and its a great feeling to have that type of security -- not just for me but for my family.

I also have a special tax accountant that understands my profession and helps to keep that organized and more importantly, helps me maximize all of the possible exemptions and write offs available to me.

"You must gain control of your money

or the lack of it will forever control you."

-Dave Ramsey

BE FLEXIBLE

Next on the list of theories for having a long career is your ability to be flexibility.  It is a game, no a world, that is constantly evolving and changing. As assistant coaches we have to adjust to changes on our staff...we tend to change jobs a couple of times we must adjust to head coaches...we must adjust to administration...we must adjust to the times.  The best way to adjust is to stay open minded -- be a good communicator (which means a lot of listening as an assistant coach).

We must also adjust to the players.  This does not mean give in and allow the players to dictate policy.  But I firmly believe every player has a story and it is our job as coaches to learn that story.  Our ability to know them at a deeper level is critical for us to help them.  At UCF, we utilized Bill Rogers (who worked with Pat Summitt's Lady Vols along with some professional teams) in order to learn about their personalities.  What was their leadership potential? What were the primary motivators for each individual?  How did they best learn -- were they audio, visual or physical learners?  And then we adjust how we teach to meet them in the middle, where they can best be taught.

BE A PROBLEM SOLVER

Whether at clinics, via email or phone conversations, I often get the question "what are the attributes for being a successful coach?"  There are several in my opinion, most of them are obvious.  But one that is critically important is that you must be a problem solver.  Coaching is about solving problems.  

Not enough resources? Solve it.
Not enough post players or shooters? Solve it.
Lacking in facilities? Solve it.
Team chemistry problems? Solve it.

I'm not sure that there is not at least one minor problem per day in coaching -- but you have to solve it.  Solving problems to me begins with attitude.  Working for Coach Dale Brown I learned that we were not to use the word "problem" but we were to use the word "opportunity."  Coach Brown would tell us not to come in his office with a problem unless we were ready to offer a solution.  When people ask me what made Coach Brown so successful, again there are several reasons.  But one was he was a solution-oriented person when it came to problems.  He would amaze me with his attitude -- almost excited that a problem has arose because he loves the challenge of defeating it.

HAVE A SYSTEM OF ORGANIZATION

The final area I touched on was to become organized and primarily I was talking about improving your ability to document everything.  All conversations I have I follow up with the person I was speaking to with a short email of bullet points.  I do this with my players as well.  If I meet with a player to go over video, we both take notes and I email them to her.  Of course discussions of behavior -- both positive and negative -- are followed up with an email.

I'm a big believer in writing handwritten notes -- even with all the technology today.  I love to write a handwritten note to a player and stick it in her locker.  I also screen shot text messages -- positive and negative with players for my files.  I want as complete a written file on dealings with players, coaches, administrators, media and anyone else on the professional level.

We live in a time where you need to have your bases covered.

The final suggestion for extending your career?  Enjoy the ride! Embrace the grind -- even the problem solving.  The best coaches I've been around get a rise our of solving a problem.  You must be passionate about what you do but you still need a plan -- the role of an assistant coach is never easy but it is important.  Accept that role and challenge yourself to be the very best your can be.

COACH DON MEYER CLINIC NOTES - 2005

These are my complete notes from listening to Coach Don Meyer at the Baden Coaching Clinic in Coral Springs, Florida in 2005.  For those who have read Buster Olney's outstanding book on Coach Meyer, "How Lucky Can I Be," this was the clinic that Coach attempted to drive me off my diet with a pack or Oreos. 

Everything in RED is mine and highlighted as such because it struck a chord with me that day.

Get all the good ideas but you can’t use them.

Keep philosophy simple...Majerus says this is a difficult thing.

Tarkanian: “The more they think, the slower they get.”

Search for the teachable moment:

              -Loss

              -Big Win

What you say after loss or big win is tremendously important.

Why I Coach (Coach Meyer’s list) - make my list

Teach toughness (life skill)

Teach team attitude (everyday)

Teach fundamentals

Teach life skills

Bus ride — team bonding.

We need to collect our player notebooks and review them...periodically check them make sure “they get it.”

Jerry Krause

Be yourself

Find your unique talent or gift

Give your gift away

Real coaching is the test of time.

Wooden: “I miss the smell of the practice floor.”

Practice...one of the things you can control...not looking for pretty—looking to get better.

  

Hank Iba: “You must practice the game in the manner in which it is played.”

Joe Paterno: “It’s a coaches job to replicated game situations in practice.

7 C’s of Coaching

              Conditioning...to play hard you must be in shape

              Communication...early, often, loud

              Concentration...never saw a confident team that was quiet

              Compete...drills must be competitive

              Consistency...result of doing it everyday

              Chaos...must have it in practice because you have it in games

              Coach

John Wooden: “We might not be the most conditioned team but they think they are.”

Lon Krueger: “Prepare, practice and play like you just lost your last game.”

Morgan Wooten: “Leadership starts at the top.”

Good leaders make the team think they did it.

Got to have internal leaders.  We must develop

“An army of lions lead by an ass will be defeated by an army of asses lead by a lion.”

-sign on Doug Collins office

Wooden philosophy on helping kids: “It is better to go too far than not far enough.”

Points of Contact

Attraction: people feel attractive by you make them see themselves.

Somewhere we need to meet someone who expects greatness of you.

Listen to your leaders as a coach.

Got to have a couple of kids that know the game.

Coaching Energy—

Rest...if you are fatigued you can’t be consistent

Exercise

Relax...from your work

Enjoy the fruits of your labor

Enjoy the relationships with your kids and your friendships with coaches.

No down time if you coach right.

Savor the success of your work...journey’s a lot better than the end.

Thoughtfully reflect on what you learn in order to improve

Coach Meyer keeps 3 journals

              -Things I learned today

              -Basketball

              -Wife (will give to her as a present)

One minute assessments (Develop this in my coaching style)

              1 thing YOU did well and WHY

1 thing WE can do better and HOW

Coach Meyer: “What motivates me?  Being around coaches who care and love to teach.”

3 Stages of coaching:

Blind enthusiasm

Sophisticated complexity

Mature simplicity

Coaching...Passion...Burden

No job too small, no sacrifice to big.

Leaders must be accessible to kids (give this quote to our kids)

5 Stages of coaching:

     Survival

     Striving for Success

     Satisfaction

     Significant State (dangerous level = jealousy)

     Spent (have burnt the candle all the way down)

You should feel your program is the “front porch to the university” (Mark Emmert)

Demotivational Factors:

Fear

Doubt (yourself/system)

Worry

Worst reason to take a job is for the money.

MATTHEW 6:25-:34

Do Not Worry

    ²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

    ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

5 “F” Words

              Faith...believe in something not yet seen

              Family...have to have a family with your team

              Friends...have to have them for balance

              Fitness...lifetime goal

              Finances...talk to your kids about

America keeps score by dollars — lousy way.

Money is a terrible master, an excellent servant

Not what you have but what has you.

Money has yet to make a man rich.

Nothing drains your energy more than a non-responsive player.

Life is too short to spend with losers.

Never be afraid to tell a coach, players, or team that you love them.

Coach Meyer’s Morning Routing (I need to develop one for off-season)

Meditate

List of people to pray for

Goals to achieve that day

Plannerpads.com

Dictaphone (do a better job of using mine)

Coaching pitfalls...

Pressure...Parents...Problems...Administration

On dealing with administrators: “Don’t wrestle in the mud with the pig because the pig likes it.”

Pressure is good...stress is bad.

A diamond is a hunk of coal made under pressure.

You’re a poor specimen if you can’t handle the pressure of adversity.

Cozy up to pressure.

A good enemy is often better than a good friend.

Coach Meyer will talk to parents about anything but playing time.

Coaches must learn to deal with parents.  Kids don’t pick their parents.

Can we win with you on the floor?

Can we win with you on the bench?

Body carriage

Passion

Aura

X Factor

Charisma

“They knew he was going to be great long before they called him ‘Bear.’”

It’s OK to make a mistake...not OK to mope, pout or quit...this applied to players and coaches (coaches first).

Learn from your kids...they’ll surprise you...if not, you’re a bad teacher.

Key to a great program...Look for ways to win!

Are you a victor or a victim?

NBA...Next Best Action

Greatest strength...greatest weakness — be balanced.

Only thing that can keep us safe is humility — lifetime learned.

Coach today the way you want 10 years from now.

Knight is into the common denominator of wins and loses.

Why did we win?

Why did we lose?

Dean Lockwood talking to Pat Summit on plane ride back from Michigan State loss…

...was Michigan State better conditioned...Summit: “No”

...did Michigan State have better athletes...Summit: “No”

...was Michigan State tougher...Summit: “No”

...was Michigan State more skilled...Summit: “Yes”

Team Building

Physically touch 1/3 of your players every day.

LaRussa—red fungo bat — converse with players at batting practice

Northern has daily sign-in sheet with space for comments.

Bulletin board is important but less is more on it.

“Waterhole”

Water fountain outside of Coach Meyer’s office

Players always stop and get a drink of water

Allows Coach Meyer to have a conversation with them

Sign on fountain: “No true wolf passes by without taking a drink.”

Team building: informal time...informal things together.

Scouting Sheet

              Seniors go over with others

              Watch video together the night before

             

Team goes to high school games together (community support/recruiting)

Team works concessions for other sports

Coach Meyer takes team on retreat.

“What are you going to give your team everyday?”

Player notebooks...do a better job of checking them!

Camp/Team (3 things everyone does)

Everyone takes notes (including coaches)

“Please”  “Thank You”  “Yes sir”  “No Sir”  “Yes mam”  “No mam”

Pick up trash

Teach Each Other!!!

Northern sometimes lifts after a game.

Stretch before and after practice

Recover procedure

Bananas/Gatorade

Redshirt workouts

We need to do this with redshirts or little used subs

Keeps them in shape...improves their skill...gives them value

Wolf Dog Festival

Great for community

have face-to-face with team before they leave for summer

Books:

“Getting Things Done”  - David Allen

Anything by Bruce Brown

Juggling — add to our 2 ball routine.

Coach Meyer look to use Swing Offense

Coach Meyer inbounding the ball on the left side to allow point to use right hand to cross main street.

PITFALLS OF POOR PLANNING

Type, laminate and keep copy on desk and in planner

#1 Allowing “to-dos” to rule day instead of prioritizing

#2 Setting unrealistic number of things to do each day

#3 Failing to have your planning system with you at all times

#4 Forgetting to allow time between schedule appointments

#5 Failing to allow 1 1/2 hours a day for the unexpected

#6 Not having an effective system for capturing and retrieving information

#7 Failing to have a personal management system

#8 Retaining unnecessary information

#9 Failing to plan for “big rocks” weekly, “small rocks” daily

#10 Failing to allow time for advanced planning