What a great time of year! College practices have started, with the high Schools soon to follow. Everyone is excited to be in the gym sweating, learning, and getting better. But no matter what the level, practices can seem to go on forever before that first game rolls around. So what makes some teams able to get more out of their pre-season practices than others? I’ve thought about this one a lot.

Doc has a great statement about the pre-season that is so simple, yet it hits home with our staff and our team. He says, “Guys, this time of year is about getting it right.” It’s about coming in everyday and working to make things better, make things right, make things even more right.

We want our players to “get from” practice not just “get through” practice. Losing teams come in with no energy, no enthusiasm, and no commitment to improve. They just want to come in and get the practice over with. We want no part of that!

We want them to learn what we need to do. That’s our responsibility as coaches. Then we want them to “get it right,” which is their responsibility. They need to listen to what we want done and how we want it done. Then they need to have a commitment to executing this to perfection in each and every practice session we have. That’s how they “get from” practice.

The key piece to the puzzle is that they collectively understand this and hold each other accountable for doing it. That’s what separates the great teams from the rest. They understand the importance of practice and the importance of repetition and how it relates to success. They make sure they attack each day with tremendous focus so they know that each day they’ve made an investment in their future success. They got something “from” the practice!

Coaching U Live is the brainchild of NBA assistant coaches Kevin Eastman and Brendan Suhr, two of the best teachers in basketball. The clinic was two days, and the quality content of teaching techniques, strategies and concepts was staggering. Speakers included Eastman and Suhr, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, former college head coach George Raveling, St. John’s assistant coach Mike Dunlap, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra….

…sitting in the stands at Coaching U Live taking notes and sharing information were current and former NBA head coaches, NBA assistant coaches, college coaches, high school coaches, NBA front office personnel, NBA scouts and college and pro administrators. NBA head coaches were taking notes when college coaches spoke, and when NBA assistants spoke. The voice and opinion of a high school coach was valued as much as any coach in attendance. The clinic wasn’t about levels; it was about knowledge and substance.
Click here to read the entire blog.

I’ve read and heard a lot throughout the year about coaches at all levels who were having rough years. There are many consistent quotes and thoughts in these articles. The main theme is that we are just going to “work harder; and if that doesn’t work, then we will work even harder than that!”

While this sounds good, I have come to realize over the years that working harder isn’t a “cure–all” for changing things. I could even argue that that’s actually a great way to ensure that you will kill your season.

Understanding that each team is different, I still believe that “killing your players” covers your ass and kills their legs. Not only does it kill your players’ legs, but in many cases, it kills their spirits. The lack of encouragement and confidence that often accompanies these situations takes away the last possible advantage you may have.

So the question becomes, do I cover my ass and make it look good publicly, that is, like I’m doing my job? Or do I actually do my job and make sure I’m giving my team every possible chance to win the game — which means I don’t kill their legs with all the work and don’t kill the spirit with all the negativity.

As I’ve said before, make sure you, as the coach, are not the reason you are where you are. Harshly evaluate yourself before you kill the group that loves to play the game!

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t hold your team accountable for their part in the rough year. But there are ways to hold people accountable and not strip them of their spirit, their confidence, and their legs.

All of us know that competition is often a very emotional experience. We experienced a very positive one when our team was able to raise the championship banner in the 2008 NBA World Championship ceremony. Those are the emotions that we all dream about and work for. But we also know that we have to deal with the other end of the emotional spectrum with our players and ourselves — the negative emotions.

Every team will go through some tough times this year. What will separate those that get over it is the attitude the team brings to the court every day. I can tell you first hand that championship teams are often stocked with extremely motivated, passionate, and emotional players and coaches. Part of the DNA of a championship team and player is the passion and emotion they bring to the floor every practice and every game.

There will be times when your players get angry at themselves, their teammates, or even their coaches. It happens to all of us, but a championship team must make sure to this anger, this disappointment, this embarrassment can never, ever have an adverse effect on the team.

Championship players may be down but they understand they can’t bring their teammates or coaches down with them. Championship players will get angry for something but they understand that they have to deal with it and can’t bring others into it. Championship players simply understand that there has to be personal accountability.

We have all seen a player get taken out of a game and then leave the floor and cross in front of the bench with anger in his body language and words he shouldn’t be saying. Typically another player or coach then has to divert his focus and emotion by going over and calming that player down. To us this is a just like a turnover except that it can be more costly. It can rob a teammate out of some precious gas in his emotional tank.

This is a case of “emotional highjacking” and our team will tell you that this simply can’t be tolerated under any circumstance! Championship teams know they can’t rob themselves of their biggest resources. They can’t highjack the very strength they have because a teammate has put himself and his issue ahead of the team. They simply must hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability than what other teams may hold themselves to.

Ray Allen had a night to remember when he broke the NBA Career 3-Point Field Goal record formerly held by Reggie Miller. As I said to Ray when he got to the bench, “all those hours of work do pay off!” His just reward is to go down in NBA history.

Many have already asked me about Ray and his famous shooting workouts, but this is not the message that should be gleaned from his accomplishment. The most important message, and the lesson I got from the night, was how Ray puts “Excellence over Ego.” He is simply more about perfecting his role and his craft so that he can help the team win Championships than he is about satisfying a personal ego.

Does he have an ego? Yes! All greats in any line of work have egos, but Ray knows how to discipline his ego. He has the quiet confidence of knowing he has put the time in the gym preparing his game, the time in the weight room preparing his body, the time on the track preparing his cardio, and finally the discipline to fuel his body the proper way. This is what has allowed him to build up his shooting stamina to be able to shoot big shots in big late-game situations. His ego is more about a strong confidence that he is ready, rather than a false bravado hoping that the opponent is afraid of him!

What I have learned from Ray Allen is that you can be a star and still carry yourself with class. You can be one of the best ever and still not have to “talk a good game.” You can have an ego and still not be cocky. And you can strive for excellence every day knowing that it will lead you to great heights…but do it in a professional manner!

You can’t get much higher than being the All Time Leader in a league full of the best in the world!
Excellence over ego……..a lesson we all should learn. Thanks, Ray!

We’re all looking for ways to “GET” our teams to understand and appreciate defense and how important it is to winning. So often we talk to our team about having to GET things done in order to be a good defensive team. Our “GET” game is the following:

1. GET a good shot – harder for opponent to run after a made basket

2. GET back – it’s a sprint to the other end; we want more defenders back before they get more offensive players back

3. GET set – being back is one thing; being set and ready to defend is the key thing

4. GET through screens and over pick/rolls – do not melt on either

5. GET matched up as best we can– we are guarding their team; not necessarily our match up when in transition defense

6. GET into bodies – we cannot allow free cuts, free passes, free shots; make them feel us each possession

7. GET the rebound – the start of our defense is a good shot and GETTING back; the end of our defense is a contested shot and GETTING the rebound

8. GET ready to start this process all over again on the next possession

Many things can go wrong on the defensive end, and we can find players to blame at every turn. But one thing we have to address is when a player makes a decision that is not within the framework of our defensive philosophy. The most common one to us is when a player switches.

He may know he’s doing it, but the other four players may not, and that’s where the real breakdown occurs. We have even told our guys on occasion that the thought was a good one but the timing was bad. We weren’t all on the same page, so therefore a good thought turned into a bad play because only one of four players knew.

That is what we try to get across to our guys: a decision out of the norm is only good if all of us know it. Then we can be prepared for and execute it properly.
You can take this same concept to many other aspects of your total system, but also to how your staff operates on a daily basis with the decisions each member makes. If it is out of the norm and everyone doesn’t know, it could turn out to be a great idea that caused major problems.