Competition and game time can do certain things to us that sometimes we’re not even aware of. So often I see coaches (especially assistant coaches) who are so emotionally explosive during games that I often wonder if they have time to actually see what is going on on the floor. They are so wrapped up [...]
Coaching Philosophy and Career Enhancement
Simple
So often I hear about how intricate a system is and I always want to ask a few questions: Do the players fully understand all parts of the system? Is the team great at any part of the system or average at a number of parts? Does having all of these “things” bring comfort to [...]
Seizing or Waiting
Just read something that really got me thinking about how some people seem to have opportunities and others do not. The article was about achievement and overcoming obstacles that always seem to be in our way. In the article, Les Brown, a motivational speaker, made the point that we should not be waiting for opportunities [...]
Seek Wisdom
We all want to get better at what we do. I just finished putting on a very informative coaching clinic here in Las Vegas where we presented so much basketball information it caused one young coach to tell me that he “had not even taken that many notes in college!” My point is not to [...]
Meet With Coaches
This is a great time of the year to get a group of 5 to 10 coaches from your area (or anywhere) to come together and exchange ideas. It’s a basketball summit, and it not only gives you new ideas but it reinforces some that you already have. May even give you confidence knowing that [...]
Roles and Your Job
I was talking with a coach the other day and he asked me about our staff. Just like I am, he was curious as to the make up of our staff and what everyone’s role is. My reply about the roles of our assistant coaches is always the same: “our roles are different but our [...]
Late Game – Tight Game
I don’t know how many text messages and voicemails I’ve gotten about what a great series the Boston/Chicago one has been. Before I go further, I want to say how well-prepared the Bulls were; they were very well coached and mentally focused for the series. The games were chess matches each time out…a great series [...]
Never Too Good to Learn
As the NBA regular season draws to a close, a number of teams will soon start their off-season programs. A major part of the off season is obviously skill development. In some cases, it may even be tweaking (I never use the word change with players, as it seems to imply something negative to them) [...]
Get Over Yourself
I often read about and hear that players today are too self-absorbed. They think about themselves more than they do the team. Or they have a sphere of influence around them made up of people in it for their own interests or for the player’s selfish interests. If this is true, then we all know [...]
How Big is Basketball?
I got an e-mail from the mother of a young friend of mine who lives out in Northern California. His name is Garrett. I met Garrett through a friend in Phoenix who was putting together a program to help Garrett out. You see, Garrett faces a very difficult battle every day of his life. My [...]
Locker Room Voices
We all have signs in our locker rooms that send an everyday message to our teams. I like to say that we want to make our locker room “talk.” But I want to make sure that when the locker room talks, it’s not just the players’ voices talking. Signs are a good way to get [...]
Big Eyes, Big Ears, Small Mouth
Most of us would agree that we are constantly on a quest to improve. We are trying to make things better in our jobs, our health, our families, and our futures. But what I have seen so often in coaches and other accomplished and driven professionals is that they are so busy trying to get [...]
Get Through or Get From?
Jay Bilas (ESPN College Basketball) made a statement to the players we were working with at one of our summer workouts. That statement has stuck with me, and I use it often with our players to this day. He told the guys, “Don’t just try to get through the workout; try to get from the [...]
Assistant: Game Day Role
for more on assistant’s role during game, see Ask Coach E #3 Many coaches I have come across since I’ve been in the NBA have asked me about the role of the Assistant Coach at this level. I will cover this topic throughout the year; today’s post focuses on game day/game time roles. First and [...]
Battling the Dog Days
Many of us across the country are into the “dog days” of our seasons. Not only are our coaches logging unbelievable hours but our players are experiencing that “lull” that seems to occur no matter what we do to try to get them out of it. In looking at this “dog days” concept and relating [...]
