We have already lined up a great staff and will have more information on that soon. The quality and amount of content you will get by attending this year’s CU Live will be off the charts! We pride ourselves on being the best when it comes to the speakers we get and their willingness to share EVERYTHING on their topic. Check back again that first week of February! Click for more about previous Coaching U LIVE events.

That means some will get better and some won’t. Whether a team improves will depend how players approach the “process.” Improvement is a process; success is a process; becoming the best is a process.

The outcome is based on the mindset the players have as they approach the process. Some will give in to fatigue and boredom through the course of a long season. Others will believe in the power of the process and almost have a team mantra that they will “never get bored with the process.” These are the teams that will put themselves in a position to be successful.

Three things about success: (1) it does not exist in a vacuum…championship teams believe in teamwork (2) it takes time and (3) it’s hard!

Play “as” a team and “through” the team.
Be mentally prepared to grind your success out.
Get past hard.

Let the process begin!

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!

For example, when teaching screening I use three key bullets:

• take your screen to the cutter’s defender
• can’t get low enough or wide enough
• put your back to the area of attack

For shooting, I use:

• be ready on the catch
• 10 toes to the rim
• perfect follow through – up and over front of rim

There are so many ways to teach this game, but I have found the best way to get points across to players today is to be simple and direct. Of course, within each of these “bullet points” are explanations that need to be made to the player. Once these are made and understood, I have a quick and easy vocabulary to use when working with the player or team.

I encourage you to put some thought to this as you have time during your day. It’s a great exercise, and not quite as easy as you would think. I know this: players like things simple!

…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.

The Pain of Discipline
Being disciplined is a great characteristic to have, but a difficult one to maintain over time. It’s not easy to work out day after day after day. It’s not easy to get in the weight room day after day after day. It’s not easy to do go to work and grind it out day after day after day. There is a pain factor involved — physical pain, mental fatigue (brought on by boredom of doing the same hard things over and over again), emotional pain from sometimes working your tail off every day and not being successful. The types and intensity of the pains will vary, but the constant is that they will be there!

In our careers it’s not easy to keep reading and studying the books, articles and reports or to continue to figure out how to become a better coach, salesperson, manager, CEO. Success is a disciplined process, not an overnight miracle.

Speaking from personal experience with our team, I think one of the reasons for our success is that we are willing to recognize and deal with that pain, to work through that pain, to invest in and commit to the grinding process that you have to go through to become successful in any meaningful challenge. For every NBA team, that challenge is to become the World Champions!

The Pain of Regret
Simply put, when all is said and done, if you haven’t invested in the discipline needed to be successful, you will look back and regret not having done everything within your control to make the outcome a successful one. This is the ultimate pain of regret. We know lots of people who do this — the ones are constantly saying things like, ”I wish I had” rather than ”I’m glad I did…”

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.

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.