Picking Your Team: You Don't Need the Best

Confession: I love candy. Who doesn't, right? My wife and I received a $20 gift certificate to a local candy shop and we finally cashed it in. You know the expression "like a kid in a candy store"? Yeah, that was me- the poster child. I went crazy. There were so many options- new candy, vintage candy, home made chocolates, on and on and on..

So what did I do? I grabbed my favorites- Runts, Sour

How to Rebuild a Program - Stephanie Norman, Louisville Basketball

Contribute or Contaminate

Easy enough: you're either contributing or your contaminating the practice court. Great video.

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

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

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

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

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

Making & Breaking Habits

 The hard must become habit.  The habit must become easy.  The easy must become beautiful.  ~Doug Henning
We are all creatures of habit; basketball players are no different.

Using the left hand on the left side of the backboard...applying ball pressure...sprinting the lanes...boxing out. All of these are habits that can be established or demolished.

Coaches get frustrated when players

A Rebounder's Mentality

"It's not what you teach that's important; it's what you emphasize that counts".

That phrase rings true for me in many situations.

In the game of basketball, there is a ton of focus (and rightly so) on technique. We want our players to execute skills in the most efficient manner possible. Is there a point when this emphasis on technique becomes overbearing and the ?

I love this one simple rule

Rebounding & Defensive Balance

While on offense, your players know what to do- they have plays to execute and patterns to run. When a shot is rebounded by the opposing team, your players know what to do- they sprint back in transition, protect the hoop and match up defensively. But what do your players do when your team takes a shot and the ball is in the air? 


I'm a huge proponent that rebounding balance leads to defensive

"They'll Walk If You Let 'Em"

Thanks to Bob Walsh for the assist on this post:

I was recently reminded of an article about the San Diego Chargers from a few years back.  This is the first paragraph:

Philip Rivers drives a Ford pickup truck with a custom-made bumper sticker on the back window that reads, THEY'LL WALK IF YOU LET 'EM. It was a message that former Chargers linebacker Carlos Polk used to shout at the end of long

How to Develop Mental Toughness

How to Develop Mental Toughness on the Court By Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS, StrongerTeam.com A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to meet Graham Betchart, a brilliant performance coach who specializes in mental skills training for athletes.

After numerous phone conversations and email exchanges we finally connected in person at a Big East college basketball game.

I

Tex Winter: Essentials of Coaching

 Read this post on another great blogger's website. Enjoy!





What makes Tex Winter so great is that his principles regarding the game of basketball remain true no matter what era. Because of his principles, he was able to remain influential as a coach his entire career which was over 50 years. Here are Tex Winters Essentials of Coaching:




A. The answer to success in coaching does not

Get in the "Zone" Part IV