THE OTHER MADNESS IN MARCH - FIRING COACHES

While all the attention this time of the year centers around "March Madness" and the excitement of the NCAA tournament -- and with great reason -- there is yet another madness: the firing of coaches.  For us in the business it is a very difficult time because many of those coaches that are fired are friends -- we know them, and their families.  If you are in the business long enough, some of those being shown to the unemployment line are your former players.

Please know that I'm not saying there aren't situations where a change in leadership is needed.  It happens.  But we are in a microwave society where we want coaches fired in the middle of the season because they are in a three-game losing streak.  Coaches are getting fired with winning records...because they can't "win the big one."

To boosters, the majority of fans and even some in the media the bottom line is winning, winning now, and winning big.  There is never a consideration about the job the coach and their staff is doing in developing young people. Those aforementioned individuals would be shocked at the amount of time spent by coaches away from the X's & O's working in the community or spending time problem solving with their student-athletes.

This past weekend, it was reported that Tulane's men's basketball coach Ed Conroy was told during a game that he was being fired.  During!  The only problem is that Ed was in the middle of upsetting the University of Houston so the dismissal had to wait a day.  I know Ed.  He's a good coach and an even better person and has done a respectable job at a school that historically has a difficult time of "winning."  If this report is true, the administrators involved should be shown the door before Ed -- not for the dismissal but for its embarrassing execution.

There was a time when administrators dug in and supported their coaches because they could see the work and progress in front of them. 

Most people in listing the greatest of the greatest in men's basketball coaches would list Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. Yet in his first three years at Duke, Coach K was 38-47.  The last home game in that third year Duke lost to rival North Carolina by 24 points.  The next week there was a 43-point loss to Virginia in the ACC tournament.

Would any coach in America survive this today?

But then Duke AD Tom Butters dug his heals in and fought off the boosters screaming for a change.  I once read an article where Butters talked about a particular wealthy booster that pressured him greatly to fire Coach K.  A few years later Butters spoke of the constant letters from that same booster urging him to pay what he has to pay to keep him!

And right down the road another legendary coach Dean Smith got off to a slow start.  After three years, Coach Smith was 35-27.  The fourth year got off to a rough start.  The Tar Heels returned to campus after a 107-85 loss to Wake Forest.  It was their fourth straight loss.  At the bus pulled up the gym on the Carolina campus, there, hanging in a tree, was a dummy dressed like Coach Smith.

In 1967, Coach Wooden took UCLA on an amazing post-season run that would see them capture seven straight National Championships. That string ended in 1974 when the Bruin again made it to the Final Four before losing.  The next year, Coach Wooden's final one as a coach, UCLA again advanced to the Final Four capturing the programs 10 national title in 12 years.

Coach Wooden tells the story that immediately after the game, while the team is still on the court celebrating, one of the team's most prominent boosters came up said, "Congratulations.  I'm glad you didn't blow it like last year."

One of my mentors, Sue Gunter, went through three losing seasons.  At the SEC tournament during her third losing season, an administrator was telling everyone that she would be fired when she got to campus.  Upon arrival, Coach Gunter went into the AD's office unannounced talked him to keeping her because she knew they were getting ready to turn the corner.

Coach Gunter coached nine more seasons at LSU where she averaged 23 wins a season, advanced to eight consecutive NCAA tournaments, including five Sweet 16's, three Elite 8's and the Lady Tiger's first Final Four appearance.

But what I've failed to mention -- what far to many people fail to understand -- is what the student-athletes would say about Coach K, Coach Smith, Coach Wooden and Coach Gunter.  It wouldn't be about how they developed their jump shots or improved their ball handling.  They would talk about the like lessons that came from being in those type of programs.

The same type of life lessons that are being taught at Division II and Division III schools under the leadership of good coaches.  The same type of lessons that are being taught at mid-major schools that aren't in the limelight of the national basketball scene.  The same type of lessons that are being taught at universities that may not be winning enough games to satisfy fans and administrators that have lost sight of the primary purpose of athletics.

Again, I'm not saying that coaches should never be fired.  Far from it.  But now we have too many administrators from ADs to school presidents who bow to the pressure of the boosters and alums making decisions to quickly for often the wrong reasons.

We have fans that start FireMyCoach.com not understanding that the coach and their staff have families.  I have from time to time wondered how they would feel if we showed up at their place of employment and yelled and screamed obscenities at them while they performed -- with their families sitting nearby.

I have the greatest respect for the coaches that do it the right way.  That come to work and grind each day to make a difference in the life of the people they coach, the staff they work with and the community they live in.  I respect the coaches that battle the pressure and work to win games so they can continue to do what they love.  I think love is the only word to describe why people stay in the business as long as they do -- at least those that are doing it for the right reason.  I have respect for the coach that take undue criticism from those not in the arena.  I have respect for those coaches that bounce back after being fired to find a job so they can continue doing what they love and impacting those within their reach. 

I have a constant reminder of the grind of our professions.  It comes from the book "The Coaches" by Bill Libby.  There is a passage in it that another of my mentors Dale Brown once had framed, handing in his office.  When he retired, he gave it to me and it has hung in every office I've had since.  It reads:

He’s called a coach and it’s a different job. There is no clear way to succeed. One cannot copy another who’s a winner, for there seems to be some subtle secret chemistry of personality that enables a person to lead successfully and no one really knows what it is. Those who have succeeded and those who have failed represent all kinds.

They are young, old, experienced, they are soft, tough, good natured, foul tempered, proud and profane. They are articulate and even inarticulate. Some are dedicated and some casual. Some are even more dedicated than others. Intelligence is not enough, and dedication is not enough.

They all want to win, but some want to win more than others and just wanting to win is not enough. Losers almost always get fired, but winners get fired also. He is out in the open being judged publicly for six or seven months out of the year by those who may or may not be qualified to judge him. Every victory and every defeat is recorded constantly in print. The coach, this strange breed has no place to hide. He cannot just let the job go for a while or do a bad job and hope no one will notice as most of us can. He cannot satisfy everyone, seldom can he even satisfy very many, and rarely does he even satisfy himself. If he wins once, he must win the next time also.

They plot victories-, they suffer defeats; they endure criticism from within and without; they neglect their families, they travel endlessly and they live alone in the spotlight surrounded by others. Theirs may be the worst profession in the world. It’s unreasonably demanding, poor pay, insecure, full of unrelenting pressures and I ask myself: Why do coaches put up with it? Why do they do it? I’ve seen them fired with pat phrases such as, “Fool”, “Incompetent”, or “He couldn’t get the job done”.

I've wondered about that, having seen them exalted by victory, and depressed by defeat.  I've sympathized with them having seen some broken by the job and others die from it. One is moved to admire them and to hope that someday the world will understand them; this strange breed they call coach.

 

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.

THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP FROM DEAN SMITH

The following comes from "The Carolina Way" written by Dean Smith and Gerald Bell with John Kilgo:

All great leaders know you can’t just talk about good character; you have to live it. To become an extraordinary leader, you must build your own personality skills. This comes first. You must be what you want your followers to become.

Effective leaders build themselves fundamentally. They develop healthy personality characteristics. They love people, care about them, are interested in them, and enjoy interacting with them.

They learn to work well with all kinds of people.

The greatest leaders I’ve known are absolutely devoted to their people. There’s no way to fake it. They put their people in the center of their thinking. They treat their employees with dignity and respect, and they don’t embarrass them or berate them.

A leader won’t accomplish much, or even be happy, unless he or she is willing to compete. Leaders should love competition and not be stifled by it. They must give everything they have to achieve their personal and companies’ goals, as long as it’s done with honesty and integrity and within the rules. Good leaders enjoy putting themselves on the line.

Modesty is also a trait of good leaders. They accept criticism and understand their limitations.

Good leaders love sharing credit for success and understand why it’s important.

OWNING THE TIMEOUT

When Coach Smith spoke, he expected your full attention. Anything less resulted in a reminder that not paying attention could affect the outcome of a game.

His behavior during time-outs in close games was a lifetime lesson.  Sure, he'd discuss the upcoming sequence of events and what would be required to make them successful, but he always started with a bigger picture. If we were down three points with a minute to play, he’d enter our huddle with a smile. “Isn’t this fun?”

Former UNC player Woody Coley from the book, "The Carolina Way"

DEAN SMITH BREAKS DOWN WORKING HARD INTO 3 COMPONENTS

The following comes "The Carolina Way" written by Dean Smith:

I break down the idea of working hard into three main components:

1.      Pure effort: It may seem paradoxical, but it’s the people who bring the same great effort to work effort to work every day who don’t burn out.

2.      Concentration: You must stay in the present and focus on each task, one at a time. Don’t jump ahead to another problem before you finish with the one at hand.

3.      Self-discipline: Managers must work until they finish a project. That means having the patience to repeat things until they are done correctly. Usually it’s the dreary 5 percent of the wrap-up that’s the hardest.

SOME TOP BLOG POSTS ON COACH DEAN SMITH

I've certainly blogged a bit about Coach Dean Smith over the years because of the respect I had for his ability to teach and create culture.  Here are few of our favorite blog posts:

Dean Smith on Praise and Criticism

Dean Smith: Individual Defense and Team Defensive Pride

Career Starter Book: The Carolina Way

Dean Smith on Leadership, Competing, and the Process

Teaching: The Carolina Way

Dean Smith on Punctuality

Dean Smith on Process Over Results

Dean Smith on Teamwork and Unselfishness

6 Things Dean Smith Gave Us

Dean Smith's Offensive Philosophy

Dean Smith's Method for Maintaining Discipline and Respect

Ultimate Coaches' Clinic: Dean Smith

Dean Smith on Carolina Shot Selection

Dean Smith: Every Person on the Team is Important

Hold Off On The Starting Line Up

Dean Smith's Thoughts on Philosophy

Dean Smith: Two Types of Coaches

Grading Each Possession The Carolina Way

The World According to Dean (Part I)

The World According to Dean (Part II)

MAXIMIZING THE SHELL DRILL

I have received a lot of requests for notes from my WBCA Convention lecture on "Maximizing The Shell Drill" and so I am posting them today.  When I spoke to the convention on Saturday, I told them I wanted to show them various ways to best utilize the shell drill without delving into defensive philosophy.  There are a lot of outstanding defensive coaches out there with various methods of defending -- from Pack Line to Pressure and in between.  However, I believe the shell drill is one of those common denominators for developing any defensive system.

As we talk about the shell, one of the things I told the convention was that I thought the best drills created the following:

1. Made players think -- this leads to anticipation which is critically important to good defensive play.

2. Made players see -- you have to have good vision to be a good defender and good drills stretch a defenders vision.

3. Made players communicate -- it goes beyond talking -- it's about communicating.  Not talking for talking's sake.  And of course, it's about listening.

PRACTICE CONCEPTS FOR SHELL DEFENSE
There are three basic thoughts in understanding the importance of shell defense and what it can do for your system.

1. Build your base defense

2. Teach how to defend a movement or action

3. Prepare for an opponent

 

BASIC 4/4 SHELL DEFENSE

The most basic of shell defenses has been 4 on 4 Shell with two guard and two wings.  This was a primary defensive drill daily for Dean Smith at North Carolina and is an important part of our shell series as well.  At North Carolina, they liked to make a guard to wing entry pass, cut the passer through and fill with the other two. But how can you take a 4 on 4 Shell and put it to even great use?  Below is one of my favorite quotes from Bob Knight:

 

“The greatest thing a coach can have is an imagination.”

-Bob Knight

 

We may work on 4 on 4 Shell and not allow any cutting.  With the utilization of the dribble today, we may tell our offense that they can only attack off the dribble.  For us, this is "4 On 4 Shell: No Cutting/No Screening."  Of course we can also allow cutting and screening and we do a large majority of the time depending on what we want to accomplish that day.  You can also control the alignment of your shell.  It doesn't have to be two guard and two wings depending upon what you want to work on.

 

Diagram #1: 4 Out Shell...working 4/4 on the perimeter

Diagram #2: 3 Out/1 In Shell...working 4/4 with a single post

Diagram #3: 2 Out/2 In Shell...working 4/4 with a double post set

What are your guidelines in regard to your shell?

No Cuts or Screens...just penetrate and pitch

Allow Cuts and Movement but no Screens

Allow Screens...Ball Screens and/or Screens Off The Ball

 

SHELL MOVEMENT AND ACTION

This is a great way to maximize your shell further.  You can dictate the entry movement in your shell to either work on something you need to improve in or to prepare for an action by an opponent.  Diagram #4 shows a basic guard to guard pass with the passing guard setting the down screen.  We got this action from Coach Buzz Peterson.  We utilize this one a lot because it works on screen of the ball and great emphasizes the importance of jumping to the ball.  Now it's up to you how you defend it.  You can slide through the screen, tag it or switch it -- that's up to you and your philosophy.  What we will do is make this an automatic action for the offense.  Guard to guard pass, down screen away.  At some point, I will yell "Live" and then the offense can deviate from the scripted action.  Another example is shown in Diagram #5 where the guard to guard pass can lead to a double staggered action.  There is nothing you can't do with your imagination in terms of giving your shell an entry to improve your defense.

ADVANCED SHELL ACTION

5/4 Open Perimeter (Diagram #6)

Playing 4/4 with an open perimeter player

Guidelines: The open player can move about the floor but you can only pass to her outside the arc...when the open player catches, she is to drive to the rim...when the helpside rotates and stops her she can pitch it out. We like to put a red scrimmage jersey on the open player to distinguish her from the rest.

 

Shell Movement: Freelance the 4 player movement or give them some action to work on.  This is another that we like the down screen action we first saw from Buzz Peterson.  We will stay with the down screen action until I yell "live" and then they will be open to freelance and utilize the open perimeter player.  It should be noted at this point that I rarely utilize the shot clock in shell drills.  I want to condition our team to be able to defend for extended periods of time.

 

5/4 Open Post Low (Diagram #7)

Playing 4/4 with an post player

Guidelines: The open post player can move block to block to receive the ball but not shoot...have post player catch it, chin it, check it and then pass it back out.  Again, your defense of the low post is your own.  As I said at the convention, I do believe all coaches should have a plan for attacking the low post with defenders other than the low post defender.  You can dig in from the ballside or attack with your helpside but you should have something to fall on when needed.  At LSU, we had the National Defensive Player of the Year in Sylvia Fowles.  We often utilized our helpside to double the low post.  Not because Syl needed help but the more low post touches, the more possibility of her fouling.  So against certain post players, we would try to double and force a quick pass out.

 

Shell Movement: Freelance the 4 player movement or give them some action to work on.

 

6/4 Baseline Rotation (Diagram #8)

Playing 4/4 with two open perimeter players in each corner.

Guidelines: You want to look to hit the open players in the corner often...want them to drive until the helpside rotates and stops...looking for complete rotation in this shell set.  This drill is designed not only to give quick, early help but to maximize the execution and important of rotating.  You've got to help the helper.

 

Shell Movement: Freelance the 4 player movement or give them some action to work on.

 

4/4 or 5/5 Change — Half-Court (Diagram #9)

Playing 4/4 or 5/5

Guidelines: The offense executes offense until coach yells “change”...offense must lay the ball down on the floor at the very spot...offense becomes defense and defense becomes offense...however, offensive player that becomes defensive player can not guard the man that was guarding her...attack at the same basket.  I love this drill because it creates instant chaos. Basketball possessions are rarely if never perfectly orchestrated.  The good defensive teams can defend when things break down.  And that's what this defensive drill does.

4/4 or 5/5 Change — Full-Court (Diagram #10)

Playing 4/4 or 5/5

Guidelines: The offense executes offense until coach yells “change”...offense must lay the ball down on the floor at the very spot...offense becomes defense and defense becomes offense...however, offensive player that becomes defensive player can not guard the man that was guarding her...now you are converting to the other basket.  I really love this drill as a transition drill -- both offensively and defensively which reminds me of another great Coach Knight quote:

 

“The best drills work on both offense and defense at the same time.”

-Bob Knight

 

Change Segment

This is the final phase of our shell action.  It is actually a culmination of all our shell drills and is another great way to create chaos, and get your team thinking and talking. Call out a shell and whose ball it is...let them play it out and call out another...keep continuing...up to the players to get the right number on the floor.  We are calling these out as soon as the possession is over.  It is lightning quick and if they are slow to react -- offensively or defensively -- I'm on them.

“5/4 Open Perimeter...Maroon Ball!”

“4/4 Change Full Court...White Ball!”

“5/4 Open Post Low...White Ball!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEAN SMITH ON PRAISE AND CRITICISM

It was important to know how to treat each player because the players were not all alike.  If I was critical of one, he might go downhill for the rest of practice. After criticizing him, I tried to find a reason to praise him, although it wouldn't be false praise.  At best false praise results in short-term benefits.  How are work ethic and self-esteem enhanced through false praise?  They aren't.  I waited until he did something well, even if it mean waiting for days. It was wasn't good teaching to allow mistakes to go uncorrected.

Some players responded to my criticism by getting angry and playing better.  Each player responded differently.  It was up to me to find out the best way to deal with each on an individual basis.

During my one-o0n-one meetings with the players I asked each one if it would bother him if I criticized him in front of his teammates.  I told him that if it would, I could bring him to the office after practice and do it.  Waiting until after practice to criticize wouldn't have been as effective, of course, but it was an option.  I can't recall any player's choosing to do it that way.

We certainly didn't want our players to criticize a teammate for making a mistake.  One of the major elements of our team-building effort was an understanding that the players support one another.  This was part of our cast-the-first-stone theory.

Of course, it's just as important to praise as it is to criticize.  We were careful in practice to praise unselfish acts, good execution, and effort.  Praise behavior you want to see repeated.  Positive reinforcement is crucial to team building.

From "The Carolina Way" by Dean Smith

DEAN SMITH: INDIVIDUAL DEFENSE AND TEAM DEFENSIVE PRIDE

The value of each player's awareness of the importance of team defense cannot be overestimated.  The quick transitions between offense and defense in basketball sometimes obscure the value of concentrated defensive effort.  Scoring occurs rapidly and more easily than ion other sports.  Because of this, players are more susceptible to believing that a letdown on defense can always be quickly compensated for on the subsequent possession.  Perhaps it's more convenient in basketball to rationalize inadequate defense with the old cliché about the best defense being a strong offense.  Unfortunately, the offense oriented statistics we have made popular in our sport do little to offset this accent.

Human nature, in general, is such that we instinctively feel more aggressive  and exuberant when we take the offensive, as opposed to finding ourselves on the defensive.  At North Carolina, we have tried to alter that accustomed role.  We believe in taking the offensive on defense.

We attempt to instill team pride in defense.  A team effort must be required in order to get the job done.  The pressing, pressure defense which is our primary attack requires five defensive players working together against four offensive men.  We are usually off someone, overplaying, always helping, and always looking for help.  Of course, we do assign individual match-ups prior to a game.  However, we seldom tell a player that he has the sole responsibility of keeping his man down.  His job is to contribute his efforts in an overall manner that will help our team keep our opponent down.

From "Basketball Multiple Offense and Defense" by Dean Smith