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.