Playing to someone else's level

I talk alot about at least matching the intensity of the opposing team. Match it or step aside basically. Of course, I always want to be above the intensity/energy that the opposing team is displaying throughout a game. You always hear about teams rising to the occasion and beating a more talented team. This usually involves a great TEAM effort from everyone.

Now let's look at the flip side of this.
A definitely more talented team is playing or practicing, think Varsity against JV team, against a team who is of lesser talent who is just going through the motions and not playing hard. Why is it that sometimes I see the weaker team basically dictating how the other better team is playing? It's almost as if the better team is playing down to their level because they are not getting pushed hard, so they end up walking doing things that wouldn't fly against an aggressive team. Things like jogging back on defense, weak closeouts, not having crisp, sharp passes are things that come to mind.

What are some ways to combat this "attitude."

• Having great leaders speak up and say something
• Having continuous effort at all times and not taking things easy. Working hard
  
• If it's a JV/Varsity practice, how about the JV guys saying "Hey, you guys better pick it up a little because you're better than us and your effort is terrible." I could see a JV player not having the guts to say something like this, but at the same time in a practice it doesn't do anyone any good to not do things that are positively making the team better.
  
• Knowing that if you know you're not going hard then you are not being successful and that you are letting the TEAM down. This is also a reflection of your character.

Expectations - what do you have?

On a different note - I am really liking the saying that is posted in Mackey Arena, home of the Purdue Boilermakers, that says "Defense Lives Here." What an amazing sign. It kind of reminds me of like a cave in the mountains and you walk up and here's this sign that says "Defense Lives Here." As in you they are telling you what's going to happen to you. I think that can really set the tone.

Medora Basketball

Here's an article in the NY Times featuring a very small high school in Indiana called Medora and their coach, Marty Young and basketball team. Sometimes as coaches we have to deal with things that are out of our control. We have to be the positive light that players and students come to. Yes, it might not be welcomed by some, but we are here to make a difference in the lives of whoever we come in contact with as teachers and coaches. Coach Young and his squad didn't win a game last year, he's committed to the program and to making a difference. He's having to deal with issues of poverty and drugs in the small community. When some of the factories left town and the feed mills closed in the late '80s and '90s the town went down hill.

“If they’re in the gym these two hours, then I know they’re not in trouble,”
Young said.

Young and other coaches provide for the students meals and clothing when needed.

When asked about why the players keep playing if all they ever do is lose and this is the reply from one of the players.

“I have friends who say, ‘Why do this? They keep losing,’ ” said the
sophomore Glen England, excused from one practice last season to feed his
chickens. “I say I grew up playing basketball, all the way from kindergarten to
high school. I’m going to finish it out.”

Finding positives in the daily lives of people is an ongoing thing. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough, and then I read articles on what Coach Marty Young is doing and then I know the answer.

You are ____?

It's definitely been a while since I've posted anything here. But I'd like to get back in the swing of things. I know that every team has a little different approach to the game of basketball. Some may be more intense than others, some may pride themselves on the defensive end, some may put all their effort into offensive concepts. But more importantly, I think teams/coaches in general have a way that they want to be perceived. You can't be perceived as 45 things. You just can't, it's way too much to focus on. But you can be known as maybe 5 things. How about we call them cornerstones of what you want your team to be perceived as. When a coach comes up to you after a game and you shake hands, win or lose, you want the opposing coach to say that you do your cornerstones well. The opposing coach probably has no idea what your cornerstones are. But if one of your cornerstones is playing tough, hard-nosed defense continuously, and when you shake hands with the opposing coach and they say, "Your guys really got after us tonight." I think that might be the best compliment a coach could give an opposing coach; that his players executed the cornerstones of what the coach/team has laid out for this particular season.
If I could pick 5 cornerstones to be "known" as my 5 would be...
1. Ball pressure defense, disrupting the flow of the offense, making the offense a protector
2. Unselfishness both offensively and defensively and between teammates
3. Lasting energy / High enthusiasm / Great effort
4. Willingness to do more than your share
5. Being a family and extending it to others

If a team can do all 5 of these cornerstones, day in and day out, then they will definitely be successful. What do you want to be known as?

Quote of today -
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." Winston Churchill

While I think in the game of basketball you do need strength and intelligence, it is ultimately wasted without continuous effort to reaching your potential.

share Mission G

Another coaching move perhaps?

Rumors are surrounding Phoenix Suns' coach Terry Porter that he might be relieved of his coaching duties. I really don't watch much, hardly any NBA ball. In this article by ESPN's Marc Stein they interviewed Shaquille O'Neal and I thought his take was very interesting on the whole coach-being-fired thing which seems to be an always talked about issue.

"It's kind of unfair for Terry. He came in with his system, and a lot of guys here are not really used to the system. But I like Terry. He's a knowledgeable guy. He played the game. It's always the players' job to go out and get it done."

It always seems that when things start going downhill, (oh, by the way the Suns are 28-23, so I'm not sure how that is grounds for dismissal) the coach is always looked at first as the problem. I think it's odd that two players have already wanted to leave and got traded. Maybe the fault, if there is one, may lay on someone besides the one coaching. Especially in the NBA where players are paid to play, why not just play. It is your job. I mean, I probably wouldn't argue with someone of Shaq's stature.
Anyone have something to add?

Chuck Noll

There is an article on ESPN today, written by Elizabeth Merrill about legendary Steelers coach, Chuck Noll, that is a unique glimpse into the life of the coach who has won 4, count 'em, 4, Super Bowls.

My favorite quote from the article is by Andy Russell, a 7-time Pro Bowl selection, who had two stints with the Steelers. Inbetween those two stints, he served two years in the Army.

"In his first year, we won our first game and lost 13 in a row. But he never lost us because he never said things that didn't make any sense. He'd say, 'We will get worse before we get better. Because I'm going to force you to play the right way."

This truly shows how you can get better, doing it the right way, no shortcuts.

I knew that Coach Noll shaped Coach Tony Dungy I looked in his book, Quiet Strength, this morning to see what Coach Dungy had to say about Coach Noll and I found this quote from Noll.

"Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else."

Alonzo Mourning Retires

I always remember 'Zo being an amazing competitor. I used to have a poster of him on my wall while growing up.

I was listening the Tirico and Van Pelt show on ESPNRadio today and Mike Wilbon was a guest and this is what he said about 'Zo. I completely agree with these and I don't think there could be any greater compliments.

"Zo played like he was a scrub trying to make the starting lineup."

He was a starter and still played this way. Truly amazing that he understood that the day you stop working hard is the day you stop living.

"The man off the court was even better."

What are you teaching?

I'm in my last semester of getting my degree in elementary education and every day I see the similarities between being in a classroom and being on a basketball court. I have to ask you, what are you teaching? Are you teaching the fundamentals of the game? Or are you teaching kids to run a play. Can your kids make plays out of plays? I heard Seth Greenberg, coach of VA Tech, who just upset Wake Forest last night, say that in a DVD. I want to teach kids how to be successful when things are not going as perfect as they should. I want them to be prepared with the fundamentals to play the game of basketball for the rest of their life.
One last question.
When your time is up with your current players, will they be able to play a pick-up game in a park somewhere 200 miles away and be able to be successful? I don't mean successful as in win. But in a way that others can tell that they fully understand the game of basketball inside and out.

Here's a clip from Bob Knight that might help.