J.J. REDICK'S OFF-SEASON SHOOTING PROGRAM

There's a great article J.J. Redick via CoachingClipboard.org.  It’s well worth reading in its entirety here.

The piece talks about Redick’s off-season shooting program:

◄Full speed perimeter shuttles into 140 spot up two-pointers

◄Full speed perimeter shuttles into 140 spot up three-pointers

       •Must make 20 shots at seven difference spots

◄42 pull-up jumpers off the dribble

       •21 to the right...21 to the left

◄20 free throws

Coaching Clipboard points out that Redick can be a perfectionist.

“It’s more OCD. I’m pretty obsessive about things,” Redick said. He expects himself to shoot 80 to 90 percent in the Sunday drill, no excuses. “I don’t take a shot unless I expect to make it. I expect to make every shot I take.”

It was also pointed out that once Redick starts these workouts in July, he goes six days a week and does not travel -- that commitment.

DO YOU PREPARE FOR YOUR SUMMER WORKOUTS? HOW ABOUT PRACTICES?

One of our discussion points with our team this past week is their ability to maximize their workouts.  Not just the individual workouts with the coaching staff but those workouts on their own -- unsupervised.  We have stressed the concepts of "deliberate" and "intentional."  Don't just roll to the gym and jack up some shots -- have a plan before you leave your apartment...a goal to accomplish during your time on the court.

I read somewhere this past week that Kobe Bryant would go to the gym and work on the same shot or same move for one complete hour...deliberate...intentional...that's how you grow towards mastery of your skills.

Whether its a summer workout or even practices during the season -- how much better would a player be if they mentally and physically prepared for a practice. If they made sure they had the proper rest.  If they were following the correct diet.  If they got there early and actually took time to map out some objectives for the workout.  And if you could get a majority of your players dedicated to pre-practice preparation, you'd be well on your way.

There's an old Adidas video with Bob Knight where he talks about preparation -- and he's referring to practice preparation.  He speaks about when the ball is tossed up, everyone wants to win.  But the successful players are those that want to win "the day before, and two days before and three days before, because the will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win."

Most players however think preparation is solely directed towards readying for your next opponent.  But tremendous improvement can come about by being deliberate and intentional in your summer workouts and preparing for practices during the season.

As Jay Bilas wrote in his book "Toughness" --

"If I could go back and be a player again, one area in which I would strive to be better would be my daily preparation.  I would take more time to mentally prepare myself for practice.  It would have made me a better player if I had consistently taken the extra time to mentally prepare myself and focus on what I expected to get out of that day's practice, and to mentally preapre myself to truly compete that day from the first drill to the last."

Deliberate.

Intentional. 

STEPH CURRY'S APPROACH TO WORKING ON HIS SHOT

The great ones are intentional and deliberate in the approach to work and improvement.  Listening to Mike Dunlap at a coaching clinic a month ago he talked about a big key in Steph Curry's success is hit ability to create space -- before and after the catch -- to get his shot off.  This is not an accident.

There was an outstanding article on SI.com’s written by  Rob Mahoney. It a lengthy, well-written article and should be printed and passed out to your players -- you can read it in its entirety here.

For now, here are a few take aways starting with the price paid on the college level under the tutelage of his college coach:

Stephen Curry saw the white flag wave. It danced before him in a taunt as he went bullied and beaten, made to second-guess himself as he never had before. The wispy guard was put through the wringer in one-on-one workouts against bigger, stronger, more experienced players lined up one after another by Davidson coach Bob McKillop. This was Curry’s first day and McKillop intended to test the freshman’s mettle.

“I was tired and kind of frustrated and he came out and waved this white towel in my face,” Curry said. “He kept saying, over and over again: 'You wanna surrender, don't you? You wanna surrender? Go ahead, surrender.’”

Curry played on but never triumphed. Instead, he endured just as McKillop hoped he might—standing up, again and again, to be humbled.

Mahoney also writes of Curry’s growth from the standpoint of understanding shot selection:

“The biggest thing for me was the coaching aspect of understanding the balance between taking chances or making the simple play,” Curry said. “When to force the issue and when not to and understanding that dynamic of what happens on the court. I can go out and not be afraid to make mistakes, to turn the ball over every once in awhile if you're trying to make a pass through a tight window or something like that. But over the course of the game, you've got to make smart decisions and then use whatever footwork, whatever coordination to get the ball from point A to point B.”

The key? Curry’s relentless work ethic.  We talk about game shots at game spots at game speed — Curry takes it to another level.  Writes Mahoney:

"We do a warm-up drill every day that we practice where we literally work on just pivoting, stepping through, and pick-and-roll footwork. Just break it down, step by step. Those things happen so many times in a game that you might take it for granted—just the coordination it takes to be explosive in certain situations on the floor.

So we work on that in practice. Outside of that, I just kind of work on footwork in moves that I normally will make in a game, whether it's dribble moves into shots or the footwork coming off a screen, things like that. You drill that while you're getting shots up so that you'll obviously be efficient and make your workouts tough. But staying on top of that simple fundamental makes you a little bit faster, a little bit more creative, a little bit more efficient on the floor."

“With the stuff he does, he challenges himself to get less rhythm and use harder cuts and more speed,” said Warriors assistant Bruce Fraser. “He's always constantly pushing himself to make shots challenging so that when he gets in the game he's done that a lot.” 

Mahoney also points out that not only Curry coachable, but he wants to be coached and coached hard:

“I respond best when a coach is able to get on me where he's raising his voice, yelling and whatever, because he expects greatness from me—especially when I'm not performing the way I'm supposed to,” Curry said. “I like to have, obviously, a mutual respect, and a guy who can be as consistent as possible with his message. But if I need to be yelled at and refocused, I'm open to that and I usually respond well.”

DEAN LOCKWOOD CLINIC NOTES (PART I)

Spending some time the past few weeks reviewing clinic notes and this morning it was from my friend Dean Lockwood of the University of Tennessee.  This particular set of notes came from a PGC/Glazier Clinic in Chicago a few years ago that we spoke at:

You have to have a philosophy

On motivation via Louis L'Amour: "The water doesn't run till you turn the faucet on."

On improving via Max DePree: "We can't become what we need to be by remaining what are."

Needs assessment:
     What you want
     What it is
     Gap

Evaluate Your Program
1. Do a needs assessment
2. Define profile of competition you want.
3. Level of conditioning...this is where...
     ...Competitiveness starts
     ...Creates confidence
4. Coach controls environment

Teach...Emphasize...Reinforce...Support.....Measure

Be precise, clear and specific

Drills: time and score...don't stop competitive drills

Readiness and Preparation

Recognize and reward high achievers
     Starve the turkeys
     Feed the eagles

Know you boss and know how you boss defines success.

Competitive Skill Work
1. Shooting Skill -- time and score...chart
2. Team Drills -- 4/4/4 Cut Throat -- only score on defense
3. Consequences
4. Practice must be harder than games

URBAN MEYER ON CULTURE (PART II)

This is the second of three parts about the philosophy of culture as it is taught by Ohio State's Urban Meyer.  The following comes from his book "Above The Line" which I feel strongly needs to be on every coaches library shelf:

Building a culture is a three-part process.

Believe It

First you have  to think deeply about the guiding principles and core values that you want at the heart of your organization.  What behaviors are essential to execute your strategy, and waht beliefs are essential to drive those behaviors?  Identify the behaviors that are necessary to execute your strategy.  Identify the beliefs that are necessary to drive and sustain those behaviors.

Second, examine yourself.  Be honest and courageous.  Do you believe in those core values and does your behavior reflect that belief?

If you don't believe it, no one else will believe it.

Sell It

Once your culture is clearly defined, communicate it to your players and staff with clarity and consistency, explaining why it is essential to the success of the program.  This is not a deviate.  This is you as the leader standing before your team and building the foundation necessary for success.  Your culture message but be exceptionally clear: no confusion, no uncertainty, no excuses.

Demand It

When you determine what the culture is and communicate it with exceptional clarity, it is imperative that you hold people accountable to it.  Let people know that adherence to the culture isn't merely an expectation, it is a requirement.  The culture is the only acceptable standard of performance.  One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is failing to hold people accountable for behavior that is inconsistent with the culture.  Remember this: if you permit, you promote it.

The leadership challenge is to build a culture that generates and sustains winning behavior.

CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE: MEETINGS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS PRACTICE

For those that are developing a championship culture,  you must note that everything is important in framing your program.  I've yet to see a great culture that didn't understand that importance of the mental part of improving as much as the physical part.

As Bob Knight would say, "The mental is to the physical as four is to one."

Team meetings are incredible important.  In the near future, we will blog at the components of successful team meetings and how you can structure them to support your culture.  Including such things as the utilization of notebooks.  

A few weeks ago I had the honor of hearing Coach Mike Dunlap speak and he made the following comment: "Using notebooks is paramount to learning."

I have spent parts of today rereading some of my journals and found this passage from Bo Schembechler which speaks to why they had a culture of greatness:

"If you plan to succeed as a Michigan football player, you need to understand our meetings are just as important as our practice."

THE ONE INTANGIBLE THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE -- WORK ETHIC

There is so much that evolves and changes in our business.  Technology advances in everything from video to so many advanced pieces of equipment that we can use to develop our players.  Computers have certainly impacted how we do our jobs.  But there is one thing necessary for success that will never change -- WORK ETHIC...especially if you are an assistant coach.

I was rereading on of my old journals and came across this passage which I do not know where it originated:

When Lombardi was an assistant coach with the New York Giants, head coach Jim Lee Howell recalled that when left the office late at night, "there was always one light burning, the one in Vince Lombardi's office."

URBAN MEYER ON CULTURE (PART I)

I fully believe that success leaves clues.  One of the best place to look for clues is in reading -- especially books by those that have demonstrated consistent success.  One of the better books I've read in the past couple of years is "Above The Line" by Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer.  Coach Meyer opens up his program and shares his philosophy and some of the things he did in building a Championship Program.  The entire book is a great read but Chapter 3: Creating a Culture is worth the price of the book alone.  Here are just a few of my take aways from this section.

Leaders create culture.  Culture drives behavior.  Behavior produces results.

Leadership isn't a difference maker, it is the difference maker.

Performance cannot be declared.  It must be lead.  Great results are initiated and sustained by great leadership.  Not just leaders at the top, but leaders at every level.  Leadership is the triggering factor in the Performance Pathway.

Behavior reinforces the culture that creates it.

Ironically, some coaches are so preocupied with pushing for results that they fail to build a culture that sustains the behavior that produces results.  But winning behavior will not thrive in a culture that does not support it.

As a leader, you are responsible for creating a winning culture that drives behavior and produces winning results.  It's not someone else's job.  It's your job!

Exceptional leaders create a culture that engages hearts and minds, energizes action, and executes with discipline.  When that happens, the numbers and wins follow.

Culture eats strategy for lunch.  Talent, schemes, tactics and plans cannot replace a strong culture.  A great culture can make even a mediocre strategy successful, but weak culture will undermine even the best strategy.  The foundation of culture is core beliefs.  Not platitudes or quotes.  Core beliefs.  The beliefs that are the heart of the team.

DOC RIVERS & TRYONN LUE: THE IMPORTANCE OF FINDING AND UTILIZING A MENTOR

For young coaches in the game, there can be nothing more important than a mentor.  Someone who believes in you and takes the time to show you the ropes.  The other part of the equation is your ability to soak up as much from that mentor as possible..take notes...ask questions.

There's a great article on SI.com written by Jake Fischer about Doc Rivers seeing something in one of his young Orlando point guards, Tyronn Lue.  Doc told him when he was done playing to give him a call.  And a mentoring relationship began:

Lue ended up calling Rivers after his 11-year playing career came to a close in 2009. When Lue was a player, Rivers noted his impeccable attention to detail and a yearning to be a part of the coaches’ scouting reports—preparation most players didn’t concern themselves with. Rivers had no idea where to put Lue on his Boston Celtics staff, but he convinced team president Danny Ainge to take a chance on the veteran point guard most commonly known for being on the wrong side of Allen Iverson’s legendary step-over.

What began as somewhat of an internship blossomed into an apprenticeship. Lue sat right behind Rivers during games, a row back from the Celtics’ bench. As television cameras panned to the sidelines during dead ball stoppages, Rivers would constantly be captured leaning backward and whispering to Lue. “I like his brain,” Rivers says. “Every time I drew up an ATO [after timeout] or anything, he would write it down. If it was something in practice we were experimenting, he loved coming in and wanted to know why. What did you see? Why did you run that? What do you think about doing this and this and that?”

When Doc went to the Clippers, he took Lue with him -- there was more to teach.  Also from the same article:

“What I wanted him to understand was the workload,” Rivers says. “As hard as players think coaches work, when they get on the other side, they’re always surprised at the workload, the time and the fact that it never goes away and it’s never off your mind. He accepted it, he did it and he knew, from that point on, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

Lue passed Rivers’s test with flying colors. His work in the film room ultimately resulted in Rivers amending his defensive philosophy to be more congruent with the Clippers’ roster than that of the Celtics. “We had more athletic bigs with Blake [Griffin] and D.J. [DeAndre Jordan]. We could switch more things, our bigs could show and get back,” Rivers says. “Ty saw those things in film, brought ‘em up, we talked about ‘em and implemented a lot of them. He was great.”

And now that Lue has secured his first head coaching job in the NBA and has his team in the Finals, he never stops learning or listening to his mentor.  Again, from the same article:

“He’ll text me at times, 'What do you see? How would you score against this action?'” Rivers says. “I’ll draw it up on a napkin at a restaurant and take a picture of it and send it.”

JON GORDON CLINIC NOTES

Again, a big thanks to Coach Jessie Ivy for forwarding me some clinic notes taken at the Impact and Legacy Summit.  One of the sets in of notes include these from speaker/author Jon Gordon.

Leaders transform lives

Culture is not just one thing, culture is EVERYTHING.

• Most people focus on what’s urgent, instead of what matters.

• Once you know what you stand for, every decision is easy. The coach doesn’t just create the culture; your student-athletes create your culture.

• The coach and team has to fight for your culture EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

My vision/dream: Inspire and Empower as many people as possible, one person at a time.

• GRIT = #1 predictor of success.

What drives grit? A vision of where we are going.

• PURPOSE. You want your Purpose > Challenges.

• I learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself. You can feel blessed or stressed. Research has shown that you cannot be thankful and stressed at the same time.

I take a “Walk of Gratitude, “everyday.

Failure is not meant to define you but to refine you.

Faith/Fear- both believe in a future that hasn’t happened yet. Which will you

choose?

Leadership is a transfer of beliefs.

2 secrets of Clemson Football:

1. Dabo believes in his team/coaches more than they believe in themselves.

2. SAFE SEAT: sharing, questions asked.

4 C’s of Leadership:

1. Communication: builds trust, fosters commitment

2. Connection: deeper level of communication, of relationships (THE GLUE)

3. Commitment: leader must be most committed. Demonstrate the

service/sacrifice.

4. Care: great leaders care more. Every leader has a unique care trademark.

If there is a void in communication, negativity will fill it.

• Relationships have to be first.

Share the 3 H’s: A hero, a hardship faced, and a highlight.

• 2 destructive things to communication

       busyness

       stress

Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team.

Meraki (Greek Word): the soul, creativity, or love put into something, the essence of yourself that is put into your work. Leave a piece of yourself in your work.

Success breeds fear sometimes because now you have something to lose.

Doc Rivers: "I communicate to my team collectively and 1-on-1."

You can always communicate more.

4 stages of PURPOSE

1. Preparation- prepare to be great

2. Planting- plant yourself where you are- serve great.

3. Growth- where most people give up

4. Harvest- won’t get here if you don’t deal with your constraints