Service, Sacrife, Buying In, Team

First things first. Every player on a team has a job to do. If it's scoring; score. If it's being a screener; screen. If it's being the most enthusiastic cheerleader; yell loudly. If it's something you don't like to do; do it anyway for the good of the group.

Everyone wants to score double digits. It's not going to happen. That's not how teams work. Teams start by thinking "We." Not me. As a coach, the only option is "We." How are we going to gameplan for this team? How are we going to score? How are we going to execute this specific thing? What type of defense are we going to be in during a certain situation? All of these decisions are always what is best for the team. I don't think there is a coach out there who wants to lose. Yes, losing is inevitable, even for the UCONN women's team. It will happen. But every coach prepares to win. Actually more accurate of my beliefs is that you do the things necessary to put you in a position to win. You can't just say, "Let's win." You have to do all things that are necessary of your specific team to put you into a position to win.

When I think of buying in the first thing I think of is serving others. If a player is out on the court looking to serve others by getting others involved, passing them the ball, cheering from the sideline, then good things are going to happen. Serving others can also be used when you are taken out of the game. The action that you should take should be one of a boost to the person coming into the game for you. You should be elated that someone else is going to get an opportunity to play in a game. During our last game, I was sitting on the bench and one of the players got an opportunity. He came in and played great. He executed what he was capable of doing. The guy that came out was so mad he got taken out he didn't care his teammate had just contributed greatly to the game in our favor. He was stuck on selfishness that he couldn't be playing right this very instant. (Side note - if you are a non-starter or a bench player, you always have to be prepared, because when your time comes you must be ready. If you're not, you might not get another chance.) Turning selfishness to service is the first step in playing together.

Another characteristic of buying in is sacrifice. Sacrifice is not doing the things that you would like to do. You want to start? You don't get to. You can sulk and feel sorry for yourself and inevitably hurt your team in the long run, or you can choose to come in and give your best effort when you get the opportunity. You can choose to make the best of the situation by cheering from the sideline important information to your team. There is some sort of moral discretion that must be made. Do you care about others on your team or are you a lonely island? This is an attitudinal (is that a word?) choice. There is always a choice to be made and in the end the choice you make, makes you. - Coach John Wooden, I believe.

There is a couple of quotes that I have come across that I believe speaks to sacrifice, serving, and buying into the system.

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” Edward Everett Hale

This is said by the Ohio State football team prior to taking the field on gameday. Each person has a responsibility. They can do it. It's up to them to do it. No one should ever just be sitting there on the sideline doing nothing, because there is something that you can always be doing.

"At least do your job."

This was in a locker room that we have been in this year while playing a road game. It's painted on the wall right next to the door which serves as a reminder. At least do your job. Do what you should be doing and if you do more, than that is great, but at least do your job and do it well.

I'm on Christmas break. It's been a while since I have last posted anything. It feels good to sit down and think about things and share with others. I would love to have some feedback on this.

Reflections

One of the most important things that you can do once you finish something, whether it be a game, practice, or just an event in your life, make sure you take the time to reflect on it. There are times when I know I could have done a better job at something. Reflections also let you decide if you took the best plan of action so that the next time this situation occurs you will be ready to access the best route to take to combat the problem. Reflecting also lets you take a minute and really feel the impact that might have been made. In the moment things might have been a little blurry, but when you take the time to take another look at what happened, you might see something that never happened before.

I took this off of Coach Bob Starkey's Blog and I think it's really good. This is a blog that should be read every day. Just think about it, if everyone was exactly like you were, what would everything be like?

"What kind of a world would this be if everyone in it was just like me?"
"What kind of a country would America be, if everyone in it was just like me?"
"What kind of a company would my company be if everyone in it was just like me?"
"What kind of family would my family be if everyone in it was just like me?"

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.