Quote of the Day:

"Few people take objectives really seriously. They put average effort into too many things, rather than superior thought and effort into a few important things. People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined." — Richard Koch

Moneyball in Basketball

Here at Rhode Island, in light of our tough record, Coach Inglese is always asking "what can we do that other programs are not?". That's a great question.

I watched the movie "Moneyball" last night...GREAT film! I highly recommend it. Without giving away much of the movie, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) realizes that his team's salary cap ($39 million) cannot compete against his opponents (Yankees:

Focus on the 2x4

Bob Walsh (BLOG.COACHBOBWALSH.COM), Head Coach at Rhode Island College, posted this great excerpt from NFL coach Jimmy Johnson talking about how he prepared his team for the Super Bowl in 1993:

"I told them: if I laid a two-by-four across the room, everybody there could walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be that we were going to walk that two-by-four.  But if I put that same

Quote of the Day:

In honor of Mozart's birthday:
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A great tip when preparing for opponents

I heard this from Nikki Caldwell (LSU):

During practice when you are running your opponent's offense and reviewing individual players' tendencies, keep it simple...

Green Jersey = shooter
Red Jersey = driver
White Jersey = all-around

This is a simple trick that can have a great effect. It can be a challenge to explain to your team that Susie is your opponent's #23 and she is a left handed kid

Quote of the Day:

"Sports is human life in microcosm."  -Howard Cosell

Don't Be Beaten

Great read making the rounds lately:

He got up early. You slept in. He trained with purpose. You did a few push-ups. He made 500 shots a day. You played H-O-R-S-E. He watched his diet. You went to Burger King. He worked on his weaknesses. You ignored yours. He studied film. You watched Family Guy. He went to bed early. You stayed up all night. He took notes. You just doodled. He worked on

Is your coaching style adaptable to the new generation?

Here's a simple fact with huge effects: you cannot coach today's kids the same way you coached a team 10 years ago. Are you making the adjustment?

Below are 5 characterizations from the article The Most Technologically Advanced Yet by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin that pinpoints how today's "Generation Z", "Generation @" or "iGeneration" cohorts (generally born between 1991-2001) experience the world

Quote of the Day:

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. " -Steve Jobs

Quote of the Day:

"Enough shovels of earth- a mountain. Enough pails of water- a river." -Chinese Proverb

Quote of the Day:

"All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose." -Brian Tracy

Talent is Overrated (VIDEO)

Talent is Overrated ... The secret to success? FOLLOW UP

How do world class performers get so good? The common perception is that they are born to do what they do (talent), or they have worked extremely hard to get where they are (work ethic). Research has shown that it has little to do wither either talent or hard work.

Most people will argue that Tiger Woods was BORN to be one of the world's best golfers. There's no doubt that he is very talented

Quote of the Day:

"The difference between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain". -Geoff Colvin (author of "Talent is Overrated").

Quote of the Day:

"The exception becomes the expected".
Particularly true when you are turning around a program like we are at URI!

Vic Shaefer's talk at the Final Four

Below are some notes I took when Texas A&M Assistant Coach Vic Schaefer spoke at the WBCA Convention at the Final Four last year (the day his Aggies won the National Championship!).

-Assistants and Head Coaches can agree to disagree...but, when you disagree, it should be about what we think is best for the program or team.

-The Head Coach should talk to parents about intangibles, but let the

Quote of the Day:

”Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit…. KEEP GOING!!”

Talent is Overrated ... The secret to success?

Perfect practice makes perfect. 

I'm in the middle of reading the outstanding book by Geoff Colvin called "Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else".

Brief summary: "Why are certain people incredibly great at what they do? Most of us think we know the answer- but we're almost always wrong. That's important, because if we're wrong on this

Quote of the Day:

After a short hiatus, the blog is back up and running!
"Two kinds of ballplayers aren't worth a darn: One that never does what he's told, and one who does nothin' except what he's told. " -Bum Phillips