SPURS ABOUT THE PROCESS: BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE

"We never set any numerical goals.

We just talk about trying to be the

best team we can be by playoff time."

 

-Gregg Popovich

Thanks to Eric Musselman for posting this quote on twitter.

THOUGHTS FROM BILL BELICHICK

Came across an old posting from Eric Musselman’s Basketball Notebook that had some excerpts from a Sporting News article on Bill Belichick and his thoughts on his staff and dealing with players:

On what coaches can learn from other sports: "I think maybe some of the basic coaching things, like when I talk to (Johns Hopkins) coach (Dave) Pietramala about a situation or a player or the concept of preparing for this or that or how to present it or the psychological part of it -- I think there's some carryover there. But lacrosse is a lot more (like) basketball or soccer ... it's different than football, (where) at the end of each play you huddle, you pick a new play. The games are a lot different, but the coaching principles carry over."

On what he learned in school: "One of the things I'd say I learned the most was the appreciation of the skills and talents of other people, the students, and how different they were and how talented they were and how they could do things, and not everybody did them the same way.

I think that applies to football, where you have receivers that have different styles. They're good, but they're not all the same, and you have to figure out ways to utilize those things. What one person does (well), another person might not, but they may still be able to be productive at that position. ... You can be good ... with one style of defense or another style of defense, as long as it's coordinated and fits together."

On how teams are a reflection of their coach: "Whoever's picking the players and coaching the players should pick them and coach them the way they want the team to perform. I'm not saying it's always perfect. But if you want a really fast team, you should go out and get really fast players. If you want a really big team, you should go out and get really big players. If you want a team that can really throw the ball and you're a good passing coach, then you should go out and get good passing players, and you should coach them well, and you should be able to throw the ball.

However you build you team, you should be able to see that reflected in way the team performs -- unless you made a lot of mistakes, or maybe there's too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, either coaching the team or selecting the team."

On dealing with players: "In some respects, you have to treat everybody the same. There has to be some sort of common denominator. But in another way, you can make some adjustments for some people, anybody really -- it doesn't have be one of the "name" players. That's what it comes back to. Any time you make a decision, you do anything, (if) you look back and say, 'That really doesn't help our team,' then why do it?"

On team leaders: "In a lot of cases, our best players are our best leaders and our hardest workers. They set a better example, to be as good as they can possibly be. That's an awesome situation -- that's really what you want. You want your best players to really set the pace. That's great environment for everyone else to emulate and try to keep up with."

On his coaching staff: "The assistants are the backbone of our success, really -- they're the ones who do most of the coaching. On a team basis, I do a percentage of it, but they actually do a far greater percentage of it. I think there is a balance. You want everybody to work together. At the same time, you want people to be able to work independently and come up with things on their own and handle problems on their own. But it's all in the context of a team framework."

WHATEVER YOU ARE, BE A GOOD ONE

A blast from the past -- from Eric Musselman's notebook:

Was flipping through a book today and came across a quote from Dr. Ed Penhoet (pictured here) that might have relevance to an assistant coach eyeing a head coaching job or a head coach eyeing a better job:

"Whatever you are, be a good one. Success is always built on doing well the job that's in front of you today. I've found that people who are always worried about the next move in the chess game of their life never quite get at that move. Don't think that way because, if you're always worrying about the next step, it will compromise your ability to do your current job well."

WHATEVER YOU ARE, BE A GOOD ONE

From Coach Eric Musselman: Was flipping through a book today and came across a quote from Dr. Ed Penhoet that might have relevance to an assistant coach eyeing a head coaching job or a head coach eyeing a better job:


"Whatever you are, be a good one. Success is always built on doing well the job that's in front of you today. I've found that people who are always worried about the next move in the chess game of their life never quite get at that move. Don't think that way because, if you're always worrying about the next step, it will compromise your ability to do your current job well."

DON MIQUEL RIUZ & "THE FOUR AGREEMENTS"

Thanks to Coach Eric Musselman and one of his older blogs for this:

Tom Brady mentioned in an Esquire magazine interview I saw recently that he'd read the book by Don Miguel Ruiz titled "The Four Agreements." Curious, I picked up a copy. It's a relatively short book, only 140 pages, so I was able to get through it quickly. There are some good lessons for not only coaches and their players, but for all of us.

Ruiz outlines the four most important beliefs or "agreements," which I've recapped here using excerpts from the book:

1. Be Impeccable with Your Word: "The word is a force; it is the power you have to express and communicate, to think, and thereby create the events in your life. When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself. Being impeccable with your word is the correct use of your energy.

...

But making this agreement is difficult because we have learned to do precisely the opposite. We have learned to lie as a habit of our communication with others and more importantly ourselves. We use the word to curse, to blame, to find guilt, to destroy. Of course, we also use it in the right way, but not too often. Mostly we use the word to spread our personal poison -- to express anger, jealousy, envy, and hate. We must begin to understand what the word is and what the word does."

...

2. Don't Take Anything Personally: "Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about "me." We think we are responsible for everything. Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.
...

When you take things personally, then you feel offended [when someone insults you], and your reaction is to defend your beliefs. You have the need to be right and make everybody else wrong. Others are going to have their own opinion according to their belief system, so nothing they think about me is really about me, but it is about them. Don't take anything personally because by taking things personally you set yourself up to suffer for nothing.

When you make it a strong habit not to take anything personally, you avoid many upsets in your life. Your anger, jealousy, and envy will disappear. Write this agreement on paper, and put it on your refrigerator to remind you all the time: Don't take anything personally."

3. Don't Make Assumptions: "We have a tendency to make assumptions about everything. The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We make assumptions about what others are doing or thinking -- we take it personally -- then we blame them. We also make assumptions about ourselves, and this creates a lot of inner conflict.

Even if we hear something and we don't understand, we make assumptions about what it means and then believe the assumptions. When we believe something, we assume we are right about it to the point that we will destroy relationships in order to defend our position.
The way to keep yourself from making assumptions is to ask questions. Make sure the communication is clear. If you don't understand, ask. Have the courage to ask questions until you are clear as you can be, and even then do not assume you know all there is to know about a given situation. Without making assumptions your word becomes impeccable.

Don't make assumptions. Just saying this sounds easy, but I understand it is difficult to do because we so often do exactly the opposite."

4. Always Do Your Best: "The fourth agreement is about the action of the first three. Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next. Everything is alive and changing all the time, so your best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good.

Doing your best, you are going to live your life intensely. You are going to be productive, you are going to be good to yourself, because you will be giving yourself to your family, to your community, to everything. It is the action that is going to make you feel intensely happy.
...

When you always do your best, you take action. Doing your best is taking the action because you love it, not because you're expecting a reward. Most people do exactly the opposite: They only take action when they expect a reward, and they don't enjoy the action. And that's the reason they won't do their best. When you do your best, you learn to accept yourself. But you have to be aware and learn from your mistakes. Learning from your mistakes means you practice, look honestly at the results, and keep practicing. This increases your awareness.

....

By doing your best, the habits of misusing your word, taking things personally, and making assumptions will become weaker and less frequent with time."

POINT GUARD ESSENTIALS

Point guard skills that are essential from Coach Eric Musselman:

Court vision
Decision Making
Entry Passing
Penetration Ability

SHOOTING:
--Lay-ups in Traffic
--Medium Range Jump Shooting (Catch-shoot & off dribble)
--3 Point Shooting

.........

PASSING:
--Perimeter passing
--Feeding the Post
--Passing after Penetration
Passing on Fast Break

DRIBBLING:
--Various Dribble Moves (Rt & Left Hand, types, techniques)
--How to Play Fast but not be in a Hurry

SCREENING: (All types of screens)

FASTBREAK:
--Receiving Outlet Pass
--Dribble Penetration on Break
--Downcourt Vision/Recognition
--Using the Long Rebound
--Handling Traps
--When to Rebound Offensively
--Time and Score Recognition
--Tempo Dictation

POSSIBLE REASONS PEOPLE DON'T PLAY AS HARD AS THEY CAN

The following comes from Coach Eric Musselman:

* Lazy
* Scared of losing (fear of failure)
* Procrastinator
* Don't know what hard is
* I'm better so I don't need to work as hard
* Think I'm woking as hard as I can
* Poor physical condition, caused by improper sleep, diet, etc.
* Don't believe in the coaching staff
* Conning yourself
* Reading your newspaper clippings
* Don't love the game.
* Being cool
* Poor concentration

SURE WAYS FOR PLAYERS TO IMPROVE SHOOTING

From Coach Eric Musselman:

1. Shooters must get open to receive the ball. (Many shooters do not have this skill).
2. Shooters must exhibit good shot selection. (Bad shot selection lowers shooting percentage).
3. Shooting form must be consistent.
4. Good shooters CONCENTRATE on the shot and focus on thetarget.
5. Good shooters have CONFIDENCE in their shooting ability.
6. Good shooters maintain GOOD BALANCE on the shot.
6. Become a good passer. Good shooters are often double-teamed and have opportunities for assists to teammates.
7. Acknowledge the pass you receive from a teammate.

TRAINING CAMP

Eric Musselman has passed along a few notes from the book "Training Camp" by Jon Gordon:

THE BEST KNOW WHAT THEY WANT
“I think a lot of people spend their life being average or good at something, but they don’t strife to be great.”
“The best of the best not only know what they want, but they want it more.”

THE BEST WANT IT MORE
“We cannot measure desire in terms of merely thought and wishes.”
“The best not only do the things that others won’t do and invest the time others won’t invest, but they do so with passion and intent to get better. The best are never satisfied with where they are.”

THE BEST ARE ALWAYS STRIVING TO BE BETER
“If you are striving to get better, then you are always growing. And if you are always growing, then you are not comfortable. To be the best, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable, and embrace it as a part of your growth process.” It’s a process…
“The best see where there is room for improvement and their humility and passion drives them to improve. The average ones however, don’t see it or don’t want to see it.”
“The fact is past success does not determine future success. Future success is the result of how you work and prepare and practice and how you strive to improve everyday. It’s a commitment that the best of the best make every week, every day, every hour, and every moment. Force yourself to be uncomfortable.”

THE BEST DO ORDINARY THINGS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
“Vision without execution is hallucination.”
“Work hard on the right things. It means you must identify the very ‘little things’ that are fundamental to your success, and then you must focus on them, practice them, and strive to execute them to perfection.”

THE BEST ZOOM-FOCUS
“There is no secret recipe.”
“If you incrementally improve each day, each week, each month, by the end of the year you’ll see remarkable results and growth. When you zoom-focus on the process, the outcome takes care of itself.”
“Master the fundamentals.”

THE BEST ARE MENTALLY STRONGER
“Being mentally strong means you stay positive through adversity. It means you are resilient when facing pressure, challenges and change.”
Weed and feed: “Each day you need to weed out negativity and feed it positivity. You need to weed out the self-doubt and negative talk and feed it positive thoughts, memories and visuals.”
“Pay attention to your thoughts…weed out negative thoughts.”
“Being positive or negative is a habit, and you choose the positive.”

THE BEST OVERCOME THEIR FEARS
“Those that succeed, those that reach the pinnacle of greatness, are able to face this battle (overcoming fear) and win.”

THE BEST SEIZE THE MOMENT
“Ironically, even the best have a dream and a vision within their sights. It is the journey, not the destination that matters the most to them. The moment is more important than the success or failure.”
“When the best are in the midst of their performance they are not thinking ‘What if I win?’ or ‘What if I lose?’ They are not interested in what the moment produces, but they are only concerned with what they produce in the moment.”
“Rather than hiding from pressure, they rise to the occasion. As a result, the best define the moment rather than letting the moment define them.”
“You define the moment.”
“Make every moment of your life count. Realize that this is your one shot, yet don’t focus on the result of the outcome of the shot. Just focus on the shot.”
“Seize the moment.”

THE BEST LEAVE A LEGACY
“You leave a legacy by living and working with a bigger purpose, you leave a legacy by making your life about more than just you. You leave a legacy by moving from success to significance.”

THE BEST MAKE EVERYONE AROUND THEM BETTER
“The point is to strive to be your best and inspire others to be their best, because it’s in the striving where you find greatness, not in the outcome.”

JUMPING ON THE ENERGY BUS

Heard from Coach Eric Musselman that Coach Erik Spoelstra presented players with a vocabulary calendar and the book, The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy. Spoelstra said he chose the book, authored by Jon Gordon, because the team could learn from the motivation principles. Needless to say, I'll be purchasing this book in the near future. Here are Gordon's 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy.

1. You’re the Driver of the Bus.
2. Desire, Vision and Focus move your bus in the right direction.
3. Fuel your Ride with Positive Energy.
4. Invite People on Your Bus and Share your Vision for the Road Ahead.
5. Don’t Waste Your Energy on those who don’t get on your Bus.
6. Post a Sign that says “No Energy Vampires Allowed” on your Bus.
7. Enthusiasm attracts more Passengers and Energizes them during the Ride.
8. Love your Passengers.
9. Drive with Purpose.
10.Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride.

COACHING POINTS FROM TONY DICICCO

Thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for this list of important coaching points from Tony Dicicco, former US Olympic soccer coach:

* The first thing a manager or coach needs to learn is how to listen.

* Appropriate feedback is essential for peak performance. Communication is the art of making a difference.

* The most important lesson a coach needs to learn about feedback: What you think you're saying may not always coincide with what your players are hearing.

* While some people can give too much feedback, rambling on until your players just shut down and hear nothing, my experience has been that players look for more rather than less of it. For
instance, Michelle Akers, one of the best players in the world, often asked me, "What do I have to do to get better?"

* One thing to be aware of is that often the personality of the coach is picked up by the team. If you start complaining about every call, accusing the referee of screwing your team, that attitude is going to become part of the team ethos.

* At halftime, zero in on one or two or three key points because that's the amount of information most players can process in such a short amount of time.

* When you set a goal, write it down and then it's like making a promise to yourself.

* Placing blame on others is easy. Taking responsibility for yourself is empowering.

MORE MOTION THOUGHTS FROM LARRY GIBSON

A few more notes on Larry Gibson's motion courtesy Coach Eric Musselman:

SELLING MOTION TO THE PLAYERS

Definition:

Discipline free lance (controlled freedom)

Player and ball movement within our rules

Qualities a player must possess:

Unselfishness - There must be a commitment to teamplay.

Patience - To get the shot you want, you must make 4passes in order to utilize movement and screening.

Concentration - Players must be aware of: (1) Howthey are being defensed, (2) what their teammates aredoing.

LARRY GIBSON'S MOTION PRIORITIES

Thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for this list of motion priorities from Larry Gibson.

1. Players must constantly be aware of:

... (1) reading thethe defense,

... (2) knowing what your teammates are doing,

... (3) moving with a purpose and

... (4) executing fundamentals.

2. Players must realize the importance of floor balanceand spacing.

3. Players must realize the importance of ball reversal.

4. Players mut know that the "screener is a scorer." andthe screener must be constantly reminded to be alert forscoring opportunities.

5. Players must know the proper use of the dribble.

6. Players must know the importance of "control of the ball).(Proper passing, catching and ballhandling fundamentals.)

7. Shot discipline.

8. Players mut be taught to move with a purpose.

9. Players must be patient. We like four passes before we shoot the ball.

Practice restrictions...Coach Gipson uses in teaching the offense:

No dribbling or shooting

Make a minimum # of passes before shooting

Get a specific kind of shot

Specific players shooting

Post man handles ball a specific # of times

MARC IAVARONI THOUGHTS

Thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for the following basketball thoughts from Marc Iavaroni of Toronot Raptors.

1. If you want to know about great offense, talk to the great defensive coaches. Talk to them about what they can't handle, find out waht works and gives them trouble.

2. If you can guard pick and roll offenses well, you've got a pretty good defense.

3. Basketball is a game of counters. What do they do and how are going to counter it?

4. It's all about penetration. If we can keep penetration to a minimum we don't have to rotate and create problems where we have penetration in the paint.

5. With Coach Wooden it was about recruiting quickness. Trying to get a player that was quicker than an opponent and create mismatches at every position.

JAY WRIGHT: THOUGHTS ON VILLANOVA MAN DEFENSE

Thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for passing these along to me:

1. Starts with basic man principals of ball-you-man.

2. Win or lose – make sure you played "your way." No one ever likes to lose, but when you watch game film, you always want to see that you played "your way," win or lose.

3. The trapping and switching nature of their defense is based on "Calculated Risk." They don't want to miss an opportunity to "Blitz and Step-Up."

4. Situations where Calculated Risks are appropriate for Blitzing include: 1) anytime the ball is dribbled toward you as a defender. 2) Your man brings you to the ball. 3) The ball is dribbled to the baseline setting up a trap from behind.

5. They want to Blitz all ball screens or dribble hand-offs when defenders react to the Calculated Risk situations. Teaching point is that the trappers should never foul or get steals. Trappers are deflectors.

6. When a 2-man game occurs, the other three players "load" to the 2-man game.

7. Man guarding the screener calls the "Blitz" or "Switch." If you are guarding the ball-handler, always assume "Blitz" and he must step over the top to trap, or to be put in a ball-you-man position on the roll man if a switch occurs. If a big switches on to a small, the other three defenders should "load to the iso."

10. Never want to switch for convenience, would always prefer to "Blitz" if they can.

11. These rules are all applicable in the scoring area, approximately three feet beyond the three-line and in.

12. Coach Del Harris commented that it is an effective technique to teach someone going over a ball screen to do so by crowding the man with the ball and then throwing his leg and arm over the top in one motion.

SHOWING THE DEFENSE SOME LOVE & RESPECT

A special thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for bringing this Sports Illustrated article to my attention. Written by Phil Taylor, it talks about the importance, understanding and recognition of good defensive play. Here are just a few passages from the story:

• Defense earns scholarships.

Contrary to popular belief, coaches sometimes recruit players more for their ability to get stops than to get points. Four years ago then Nevada coach Mark Fox (now Georgia's head man) was so impressed by 7-foot JaVale McGee's promise as a shot blocker that he decided to recruit him after watching a summer-league game in which McGee scored only one basket. McGee went on to block 122 shots in two seasons at Nevada before becoming the Washington Wizards' first-round draft pick in 2008.

• Defense brings playing time.

Kramer, Purdue's 6'3" linebacker-tough stopper, thought he might be headed for a redshirt season as a freshman until then assistant coach Cuonzo Martin explained to him how he could avoid that fate. "He told me that if I played defense—I mean really dedicated myself to playing defense—I could play here right away," Kramer says. He followed the advice so well that he started 24 games in his first season and made the Big Ten all-defensive team.

• Defense wins awards.

Or at least nominations. Tiller was named one of the 50 finalists for the Wooden Award for national player of the year even though he has never averaged more than 8.4 points per game. "It's tremendous that a single-digit scorer could make that list," says Missouri coach Mike Anderson. "It shows what kind of impact he has. Scoring a ton of points isn't the only way to make people remember your name. Good defenders can get themselves noticed."

To read the entire article: http://bit.ly/7RKhAw

POINT GUARD TIPS FROM STEVE NASH

Special thanks to Coach Eric Musselman for the following:

Words of wisdom for point guards presented by Steve Nash at the Nike Point Guard Academy:

"You should always want your coach to be critical.It gives you an opportunity to learn and to over-come adversity."

"You maximize your potential by being humble,develop a work ethic, strive to be a good person,and to be the best teammate you can be."

"Use your scoring ability to be a better passer,and your passing skills to become a better scorer."

"You can't be a point guard who gets into the lane and always passes. Capitalize on the real estate you have gained."

"Point Guard must be able to pass with both hands equally off the dribble."

'"I am always thinking how can I get myself better."

"On the fast break, after 2 or 3 hard dribbles you should see the whole floor and know where all your teammates are."

SUCCESSFUL TEAMS HAVE PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

The following comes from Coach Eric Musselman. It is something we made a passout for our team and I've posted it on our player's blog Hoop Boost as well.

Personal Accountability - Successful teams, one common characteristic very clearly. Every one of these teams has a person or people who hold themselves personally accountable.

These are the special people who only need a coach to teach them what and how to do something; then they take that and run with it. They understand that a major part of their job is to be self sufficient and personally accountable for their improvement and productivity.Look around the NBA at these special players, other distinct traits, all related to this personal accountability. These players:

1. Don't blame others first; instead, they look first for what they contributed (or did not contribute) to the situation.

2. Don't complain; instead, they look for ways to correct things that aren't working* don't procrastinate; instead, get things done now.

3. Always give more than they ask of others.

4. Always look to take on as much as they can handle, rather than look to pass things on to others all the time.

5. Are constantly trying to improve their game so they can bring more to the team and consistently fulfill their role.

6. Are self starters and study the game (and themselves) enough to know what needs to be done; then go about doing it.

7. Do the unrequired work, knowing that it simply needs to get done -- extra shots, extra weight training, extra film watching, etc. - without constantly needing a coach to tell them to work.

8. Hold others accountable for their jobs and roles because they know the importance of accountability as it relates to winning; this creates a collective responsibility.

9. Always be among of the most trusted players on the team, by coaches and players.