HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HOOP THOUGHTS!

Today is officially an anniversary for our blog Hoop Thoughts. We ran our first first post three years ago today. I thought it would be fitting to repeat the first blog that was actually an email that came to me from Coach Dale Brown. I would like to personally thank all of the great support that I've received (over 458,000 visitors as of this morning). I would also like to thank the many that have contributed and the many I've stolen from! I really believe this is not MY blog but OUR blog. And here was OUR first blog post two years ago:

Well this is my first entry (and first attempt at blogging) so I thought I would go over 16 CONSISTENT CHARACTERISTICS OF GREATNESS. These come from my friend and writer Don Yaeger and I received them via email from Dale Brown.  By they way, don't miss a chance to visits Don site: http://www.donyaeger.com/

HOW THEY THINK

1. IT’S PERSONAL...they hate to lose more than the love to win.

2. RUBBING ELBOWS...they understand the value of association.

3. BELIEVE...they have faith in a higher power.

4. CONTAGIOUS ENTHUSIASM...they are positive thinkers...they are enthusiastic...and that enthusiasm rubs off.

HOW THEY PERPARE

5. HOPE FOR THE BEST BUT...they prepare for all possibilities before they step off the field.

6. WHAT OFF-SEASON?...they are always working towards the next game...the next season...the goal is what’s ahead and there is always something ahead.

7. VISUALIZE VICTORY...they see victory before the game begins.

8. INNER FIRE...they use adversity as fuel.

HOW THEY WORK

9. ICE IN THEIR VEINS...they are risk-takers and don’t fear making a mistake

10. WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS...they know how and when to adjust their game plan.

11. ULTIMATE TEAMMATE...they will assume whatever role is necessary for the team to win.

12. NOT JUST ABOUT THE BENJAMINS...they don’t compete just for the money.

HOW THEY LIVE

13. THEY DO UNTO OTHERS...they know character is defined by how they treat those who cannot help them.

14. WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING...they are comfortable in the mirror...they live their life with integrity.

15. WHEVER EVERYONE IS WATCHING...they embrace the idea of being a role model.

16. RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN...they know their legacy isn’t what they did on the field...the are well-rounded.

30 DAYS TO A CHAMPIONSHIP: ON COURT TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Coach Jim Boone: As a basketball program that’s philosophy is firmly rooted in our Motion Offense and the Pressure Pack Line Defense, the development of our offensive and defensive fundamentals, coupled with the enhancement of our individual skill level are of paramount importance. We have always taken great pride in the emphasis that we have placed upon skill development, and the improvement that our players always make over their time in our program.

Therefore, when at Tusculum College, our primary focus in our Pre-Season work has always been with this objective; the Fundamentals of our System of Play and Individual Skill Development work. Again, our feeling has been, as our individuals improve, then so do we collectively as a team.

However, in taking over our program at Wesleyan, with a Team that has played an entirely different style, we have rethought this premise, and have redirected our focus to that of developing the Big Picture, our Team Offense and Defense. We are fortunate that the NCAA changed the Division II rule for this year, allowing us to work with any number of players for a maximum of two hours during the week. I believe that in order for our players to fully benefit from our skill development work that they must first see the Big Picture, to understand how the parts fit in. Thus, we have utilized the time provided by the NCAA to conduct Team Practice, and to introduce our players to the principles and structure of our Motion Offense, as well as, the rules and structure of our Pressure Pack Line Defense.

Our basic schedule has gone as follows:

Odd Weeks: Two 1 Hour Team Practices

Even Weeks: Two 30 minute Skills Development Sessions

One 1 Hour Team Practice

Today we will conduct a Team Practice, emphasizing Spacing and “Holding the Ball for a Two Count” – something that non-motion teams do not do, yet a must for us – “it’s better to be a little late than early offensively”. We will teach screening and cutting, reading the defense, and then apply this in a 3/3 ball-side drill, again emphasizing spacing and exactness of movement in a limited area, and then to 5/5 Offense to Defense. We will also work some conversion offensive breakdown and spend about 5 minutes on our closeout technique early on in this practice.

We feel that by following this schedule our players will develop a better understanding of not just how we play, but how the various components of our skill development activities fit into this play.

Also, we have used this time to teach our players how we practice, how they must prepare and approach practice, the pace of practice, the discipline and work ethic that we demand in practice, the communication of practice and our play, along with their ability to maintain their utmost concentration throughout practice. Our time on the court is very high intensity, there is no wasted time, an energetic and positive attitude is expected and demanded. This has been different, very different for our players, and not that it’s the right way or the wrong way, it’s simply our way, the Bobcat Way! So, we have used our Team Practices to not only teach our system of play, but how we want our players to go about learning and practicing this system.

It has also been an administrative adjustment regarding our practices. This is our class room, our teaching time – I am a teacher first and foremost, and our time on the court is precious. Our Arena is a multi use facility, thus ourselves and our Facility Management personnel have both had to make some adjustments. We have practiced at some odd times to accommodate our colleagues, and Wesleyan has changed their approach to scheduling practices in order to work with us and our desire to create the absolute best teaching and learning environment possible. It’s been awesome, and I commend our administration for their cooperation and support!

I am really pleased with the progress our team has made in our first 30 days on the court, we are beginning to screen and cut as a habit versus a coach’s directive, we are gaining an understanding of the critical importance to positioning regarding the success of our defense, we are learning how to communicate, and we are embracing the pace and chaos of practice. And, we are beginning to look like a Bobcat Basketball Team as we progress through practice. Yes, we have sacrificed to some degree in our individual skill development, but we will re-focus our attention to this most important area as we begin official practice on October 15th, providing our players with an opportunity to first understand how these building blocks fit into the big picture, and even more so, understanding how we go about practice at West Virginia Wesleyan.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

A reminder that I am on Twitter and often tweet information not found in this blog. I also send out blog updates from Twitter as well along with other coaching information.

http://twitter.com/UCFCoachStarkey



THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING YOUR WORK AREA

As coaches, we spend a lot of time at our desk -- a lot of time!  We're making phone calls, meeting with players, watching video, writing recruiting letter.  Here are a few good pointers from the master Brian Tracy on make the time at our desk more efficient.

Have Everything At Hand
One of the best ways for you to overcome procrastination and get more things done faster is for you to have everything you need at hand before you begin. When you are fully prepared, you are like a cocked gun or an archer with an arrow pulled back taut in the bow. You just need one small mental push to get started on your highest value tasks.

Clear Your Workspace
Begin by clearing off your desk or workspace so that you only have one task in front of you. If necessary, put everything on the floor or on the table behind you. Gather all the information, reports, details, papers, and work materials that you will require to complete the job. Have them at hand so you can reach them without getting up or moving. Be sure that you have all writing materials, computer disks, access codes, email addresses and everything else you need to start and continue working until the job is done.

Make It Comfortable
Set up your work area so that it is comfortable, attractive and conducive to working for long periods. Especially, make sure that you have a comfortable chair that supports your back and allows your feet to sit flat on the floor.

The most productive people take the time to create a work area where they enjoy spending time. The cleaner and neater your work area before you begin, the easier it is for you to get started and keep going.

Assume The Position
When you sit down, with everything in front of you, ready to go, assume the body language of high performance. Sit up straight, sit forward and away from the back of the chair. Carry yourself as though you were an efficient, effective high performing personality. Then, pick up the first item and say to yourself, "Let's get to work!" and plunge in. And once you've started, keep going until the job is finished.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, take a good look at your desk or office, both at home and at the office. Ask yourself, "What kind of a person works in an environment like that?"

Second, resolve today to clean up your desk and office completely so that you feel effective, efficient and ready to get going each time you sit down to work.

30 DAYS TO A CHAMPIONSHIP: SPEAKING AT OUT STATE COACHING CLINIC

Coach Jim Boone: The tremendous opportunity to represent West Virginia Wesleyan, as a speaker at the West Virginia HS Coaches Association was truly an honor and a privilege.

Not only was it a time to share our ideas and basketball philosophy, but it was a time to re-new several great friendships and create new ones. I am truly blessed to be back home in the Mountain State, where I have so many life-long friends, especially in this great profession. In some ways, it was like a class reunion, I guess that’s what 30 years in coaching creates, it was awesome!

As well, our recruiting will be an inside-out approach, as we are going to recruit West Virginia High Schools kids first and foremost. The opportunity to share a Saturday afternoon with our state’s best coaches, priceless!

To touch on recruiting, like most college coaches, we will only recruit young men who have a desire to earn a degree, are great teammates, and have a positive attitude, along with great character. But, we are a little different than a lot of programs, that focus primarily on athleticism and ability. Not that these attributes are not important, they are – but we will delve deeper and look for kids that truly fit who we are and our mission.

We search for attributes such as toughness (both physical and mental), competitiveness (We want the “Have Too” guys, not the “Want Too” guys), leadership, a hard work ethic (it’s demanded here and you cannot survive without it), and an a strong passion, an ardent desire to be a great player (yes, a gym rat!). I believe these attributes are also skills, just like athleticism and ability, and they are skills that will be enhanced and illuminated in our program.

Again, the opportunity to share a Saturday with 45-50 head high school coaches in our state, our primary focus in recruiting – there is no singular activity that I could do to replace this opportunity to build relationships with this most important group of people to Bobcat Basketball!

A brief overview of the Clinic: First, the Clinic organizers, Mick Price of Ravenswood HS and Rick Greene of George Washington HS were phenomenal – a first class, well organized, tremendous event. Furthermore, the facilities and hospitality of Charleston Catholic HS, along with their Coach Bill McClanahan and Athletic Director Bill Gillespie were off the charts!

The day’s first speaker was Bryan Poore, who has done an incredible job at West Virginia State University in reviving their great tradition in basketball (not only is WVSU my Alma Mater, but Bryan and I went to HS together at Winfield). Coach Poore spoke on the WVSU Press, which has become one of the most feared defenses in the WVIAC (I took great notes).

Next-up was Mark Cline, another great friend. Coach Cline was a great HS player in the state, who went on to play at Wake Forest, and has become a very successful and respected college coach. Mark is currently the assistant coach at Marshall University, and he shared MU’s Post Play philosophy and development – outstanding! To quote Mark, “I’m not a coach, I’m a teacher, and this is my class room!”

I followed Mark, and spoke on our Pressure Pack Line Defense. WV Tech supplied their players as demonstrators – they did a great job with my presentation, and throughout the entire day.

After lunch, Randy Anderson – another great friend and an outstanding HS coach at Boyd County HS in Kentucky – Randy, was also a tremendous HS player in WV and had a stellar career at Glenville State College. Randy’s presentation was outstanding and he left me with this quote: “Do you Influence your kids, or do you Impact your kids?” Awesome!

Bob Williams, head coach at WV Tech and his assistant coach, Adam Williams (son of a great, great coach and a legend in WV as both a player and coach, Tex Williams) ended up the on-court work. Bob did an outstanding job of walking the coaches through the Tech “Swing Offense”. Coach Williams credited his former assistant, and another legendary WV HS Coach, Jim Fout as doing the research into Bo Ryan’s Swing and developing it for the Tech program. Adam, was superb taking us through the Tech philosophy and several drills regarding Skill Development.

But, that was not the end – for those who chose to stay, Coach Price headed up a Coaches Round Table. He supplied several questions for coaches to help each other with that were outside the realm of X’s & Os’ - ranging from fund raising, to discipline, to creating opportunities for your players to be recruited, and much, much more.

An absolutely incredible day – finally to quote Coach Randy Anderson, at the end of the day, we do this for the “Relationships & Memories”, it’s what makes this profession of coaching the best in the world.

I am truly blessed to have re-kindled many great relationships, to have created several new ones, and to have made memories on Saturday, that will last a life-time!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GIVING ORDERS AND TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO GET THINGS DONE

I love this passage from the book "Execution" though I would replace the word coaching with teaching:

Coaching is the single most important part of expanding others’ capabilities. You’ve surely heard the saying, “Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.” That’s coaching. It’s the difference between giving orders and teaching people how to get things done. Good leaders regard every encounter as an opportunity to coach.

From "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

JOHN MAXWELL ON DEVELOPING DISCIPLINE

H.P. Liddon said, "What we do on some great occasions will probably depend upon what we already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline." I believe that with all of my heart.

Discipline is doing what you really do not want to do, so you can do what you really want to do. What makes it hard is that in our own human nature, we do not want to do certain things, and so therefore, what happens is we have a tendency to be undisciplined in the areas that we do not care to do.

Three areas to develop discipline:

1. Disciplined Thinking.
George Bernard Shaw said, "Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week."

While writing my newest book, the focus of the whole book was based on the idea that people who understand how to get to the top and stay there are people who think their way to the top.

One of the major differences in this discipline of thinking is that people who think their way to the top have the ability to do what I call "sustained thinking." They have the ability to think on an issue for a long period of time, until that issue becomes clear on the decision that should be made.

People who do not think their way to the top have the unwillingness of discipline to master sustained thinking. They will think about something for a while, and then they will get off it and go on to something else.

They have never learned how to discipline their thoughts by writing them down. I always keep a pad with me of things that I am thinking. I write thoughts down so that I can stay concentrated and disciplined in that area.

2. Disciplined Emotions.
We have choices when it comes to our emotions:

1. We can master them, or

2. They can master us.

I was playing golf the other day at East Lake Country Club, a great golf course here in Atlanta. It is known for being the links where Bobby Jones played. As you may or may not know, he is a legendary golfer who won a major tournament at twenty-one. By age twenty-eight, he had already won the grand slam and retired.

Jones had an uncle who said that by the time he was fourteen, Bobby was probably already the best golfer in the world. He certainly was popular. However, Jones was also known for his temper because he would throw his clubs when he got irritated. Jones' uncle sat down with him and said, "Bobby, your problem is you've mastered the game of golf, but you haven't mastered your emotions; and until you master your emotions, you'll never be a champion in golf."

3. Disciplined Actions.
I call the two actions of initiating and closing the "bookends of success" because I really think they are.

I know some who can initiate but they can never close; I know some people who can close but they can never get it cranked up. You have to kick-start them every time. When you can do both, initiate and close, you have the bookends to success.

Allow me to leave you with this closing thought about developing discipline: You cannot give what you do not have, and self-improvement precedes team improvement.

The only way that I can keep leading is to keep growing. The day I stop growing, somebody else takes the leadership baton. That is the way it always is.

www.JohnMaxwell.com

JIM ROHN: THREE KEYS TO GREATNESS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

There are very few that have been better than Jim Rohn.  Here is his list of keys for greatness and as you can read, he things it starts best with young people:

Eight years ago I went into the studio and recorded a 56-minute video for teenagers called "Three Keys to Greatness." Although my focus was for teenagers, the principles I shared certainly apply to adults as well.

Recently I was asked to list these three keys using a couple sentences for each. Now for your benefit here they are again.

1) Setting Goals.
I call it the view of the future. Most people, including kids, will pay the price if they can see the promise of the future. So we need to help our kids see a well-defined future, so they will be motivated to pay the price today to attain the rewards of tomorrow. Goals help them do this.

2) Personal Development.
Simply making consistent investments in our self-education and knowledge banks pays major dividends throughout our lives. I suggest having a minimum amount of time set aside for reading books, listening to audiocassettes, attending seminars, keeping a journal and spending time with other successful people. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones says you will be in five years the sum total of the books you read and the people you are around.

3) Financial Planning.
 I call it the 70/30 plan. After receiving your paycheck or paying yourself, set aside 10 percent for saving, 10 percent for investing and 10 percent for giving, and over time this will guarantee financial independence for a teenager.

SHAKA SMART ON HIS PLAYERS LEADING

Coach Smart says his team does not elect captains -- they simply have leaders

1. Take care of yourself (be one time, go to class, etc)

2. Lead vocally (positivity, communicate, talk)

3. Lead by being the hardest worker on the team

4. Can you call out your teammates and saw what needs to be said? (Be unpopular)

5. Be an extension of the coaching staff

.....Team first at all times

.....You are the team, the team is you

30 DAYS TO A CHAMPIONSHIP: A COACHING STAFF UPDATE

Coach Jim Boone: Putting together a staff is much like putting together a team. You will most likely not have a great deal of success if your team is comprised of all point guards (although we have had a few that I felt that if they comprised our entire team we would be tough to beat!) or if they are all centers – as players are not equal in abilities and talents, nor are coaches. Therefore, we must assemble a staff that can excel in each of our “Key Result” areas, and that compliments each other in reaching these goals.

We are all about “Team” with our players, and as well, in developing our staff. If we want and expect Team Success, we must have Staff success. We don’t want individuals and egos, we want a “Staff”. Success comes in the satisfaction that we derive from knowing that we have all done our very, very best to be the greatest we can possibly be!

We touched upon the following keys to staff and coach success in an earlier BLOG, but I believe they are important enough to mention once again.

What do we need from our Staff:

1. Loyalty – we don’t want or do we need phonies, we need staff members that have the confidence in their abilities to speak out at the appropriate time, but thoroughly understand the importance and absolute demand of loyalty from our entire staff.

2. Work Ethic – again, if you want your dreams to come true, don’t sleep.

3. Knowledge – our coaches must have a passion to teach, but also a passion to learn.

4. Appearance – we are evaluated every minute of every day by our actions and our appearance, we are representing West Virginia Wesleyan, our program, and each other.

In selecting a staff, I don’t want clones of myself, I don’t want yes men, I don’t want phonies. I do want coaches that embody the above attributes, that have a passion to learn and improve, that complement each other, and who believe in our “Mission”.

I loved the quote that Doc Rivers, Boston Celtics Coach, used to the coaches at this summer’s Coaching U Live, regarding Team Success. Your team must have total “Buy-in” – to the Coach, the System, and the Mission. This is also true with your assistant coach staff.

I am extremely excited about our coaching staff – it’s the youngest most energetic staff I have ever worked with, and I absolutely love it. Both Jimmy and Ryan have already begun to develop significant relationships with our players, and I attribute much of this to their youthful energy and ability to instantly relate to our guys. This has been awesome for me, they have helped me in so many ways as we work daily to build positive relationships with each of our players.

Jimmy has a great understanding of how we are going to play and does a tremendous job of relaying this to our team – his four years as a player in our system coupled with his experience coaching last season will be invaluable to our program. Ryan will contribute in this way, but he has also brought with him an administrative skill set and maturity that he developed over the last two years serving as a graduate assistant at California University of Pennsylvania. Ryan will handle a great deal of the leg work dealing with our recruiting efforts, while Jimmy will be responsible for our strength and conditioning program – together they form a great team on the floor in teaching our players “The Bobcat Way”.

As well, we are very fortunate to have BeJay Corley, a former Division I player, who completed his career on the court with Wesleyan last season. BeJay is not interested, at least at this time, in becoming a coach, as he completes his MBA at WVWC. But he has volunteered to assist our program and has simply been tremendous. BeJay has really helped me to gain a much better understanding of Wesleyan, our Athletic Department and our team – his contributions will be outstanding.

As the head coach, I present to our staff a list of core responsibilities from which to review. I ask them to select two or three things they would really like to do, and a couple they would rather not. There are no promises, but I like to know what their thoughts are as I develop their assignments and responsibilities for the year. Ultimately it is my responsibility to put them into the positions that will best serve our team and program. We will then meet once again, to review the rough draft of this document, I want them to have input – after all, it’s their job!

We will then have one last final meeting to outline specifically the details of each core responsibility and an estimate of how much time they should be devoting to this task relative to their entire job description. Everyone is present, I want our entire staff to understand the effort that each is putting in to our program’s success.

This is something that I picked up years ago from Bill Walsh’s book, Finding the Winning Edge.  One of the best “Program Building” books I have ever read, it has helped me immeasurably in my efforts to build successful programs and create our staff responsibilities and “Key Result” areas.

This is going to be a great coaching staff, because, we are going to be a great team that compliments and respects each other, as we embark upon this “Mission” together!