Are You 'That Guy' - How Zeke Elliot Followed Witten's Lead His Rookie Year

I stumbled across this article on the Dallas Morning News Website.  To summarize, former Cowboys running back DeMaro Murray sent a 3 word text to rookie running back Ezekiel Elliot as advice: Watch No. 82. 

Are you ‘That Person?’  Are you someone that others can look to as a model for how to approach work, school, athletics, life, etc?  If not, what can you change RIGHT NOW to become so?  As my favorite quotes states:

'The time is always right to do what’s right.'
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The full article is below.  I have highlighted some of the key points that I took.  You can find the original article here.

Travis Mays Changing SMU Women's Basketball

The article below is from the Dallas Morning News.  It talks about how new head coach Travis Mays has began the process of turning around the SMU Women's basketball program in his first year.  I have put in red some the takeaways that I have found as a coach also in his first year leading a new program.  You can find the original article here.

UNIVERSITY PARK -- It took all of one practice, and countless eye rolls, for the SMU women's basketball team to realize how different things would be under new coach Travis Mays.

The Importance of Attention to Details
The Mustangs did the three-man weave. Then they did it again, and again, and ...

"The whole 45-minute workout we did the same drill until we got it perfect," junior guard McKenzie Adams said. "We were like, 'What the heck? Forty-five minutes of the same drill?' But those 45 minutes paid off. We're seeing how important it is to pay attention to the details."

The changes have not been limited to drills. At 11-8, Mustangs enter Wednesday's game against No. 23 South Florida just two wins shy of last season's total.

Mays took over for school legend Rhonda Rompola, who retired after her 25th season on the Hilltop.

As a player, Mays helped Texas advance to the Elite Eight in 1990. The first player to earn back-to-back Southwest Conference Player of the Year honors, he ranks second on UT's all-time scoring list.

The 14th overall pick in the 1990 draft, Mays spent four seasons in the NBA and eight in Europe, retiring in 2002. He began coaching as soon as his playing career ended. He served as an assistant coach at Texas from 2004-07, then spent four years at LSU and one at Georgia before returning to UT (2012-16).

For Mays, the Hilltop seemed the perfect place for him to make his head coaching debut.

"Having the chance to come to SMU, my eyes lit up," he said. "It was a great opportunity for me. There are a lot of people in the state of Texas and in Dallas that I had built relationships with as opposed to going someplace where nobody knew me or my name wasn't recognized."

Mays is only the fourth coach SMU has had. It makes sense that he would follow Rompola, considering he has worked for three Hall of Famers as a collegiate assistant.

He knows how the elite programs are run, having been a part of eight NCAA tournaments, including the Final Four with LSU in 2008.

To hone his coaching skills, Mays went straight to the top. He called Connecticut's Geno Auriemma to ask if he could attend a practice.

‘WHO’ You Are And What Kind Of PERSON You Are Matters!
Auriemma, who has won 11 national titles, was impressed. When the SMU job opened, he called athletic director Rick Hart to recommend Mays.

"I was recommending him as a person more than a coach," Auriemma said. "In the end, you're hiring that person. And he's a good person.

"He's a hard-working guy, he cares about his players and he has great reputation in the state of Texas. He doesn't want to get a job based on his name."

The Mustangs seemed ready for a change after going 7-23 and 13-18 the previous two seasons.

Change The Culture
Mays wanted to change the culture at SMU, using UConn as his model. He has stressed accountability -- on and off the court -- and the importance of high expectations, individually and collectively.

"It's totally different, everything," junior Alicia Froling said. "Everyone's attitude has changed. We have a new perspective, but then he's done a really good job of just understanding individuals and how we can mesh collectively. We were a close team the past two years, but we still had issues. I just think this group has been an awesome group to be a part of. He's done an awesome job of pulling us together."

Inconsistency Is Part Of The NEW Job
The Mustangs have been inconsistent. They followed a loss at New Mexico with a victory over No. 19 Texas A&M, the program's first win over a ranked team since 2008.

They won four straight by at least 19 points, then suffered a one-point lost to East Carolina. A four-game losing streak included a loss to Cincinnati, followed by a 66-45 victory over Houston.

Mays has tried to spark belief in his team through competition. Scrimmages are not uncommon, with rewards for wins and consequences (running) for losses.

"I think coaches can only do so much," Mays said. "Coaches can put you in sets to help you be successful, but it's going to boil down either to a one-on-one or two-on-two situation. That's when the confidence from competition comes in and the coaching stops and the player has to take over. Once they own it in the locker room, that's when they'll reach their full potential."

Step Through In The Post

Efficient footwork in the post and around the basket, whether for guards or bigs, are important skills to work on with your team.  Good footwork can increase your scoring by giving you a stronger base and better balance, and cut down on turnovers by pivoting out of bad situations.

The video below is a short, simple video from up and coming NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.  The footwork alone is simple and seemingly unimpressive, especially next to the resulting dunk, but being able to have the patience to step across in the paint to improve your base and balance to create a better opportunity for you is a very important skill I have been working on with my girls.  See the video below:

What Do You 'Say' About Your Program?

The following notes were taken from an article in the San DiegoTribune about a couple of San Diego area coaches approaching milestones.  I took out some notes on some of the things that I want my program to be about.  You can read the article in its entirety here.

-  “It’s insane how this has worked out,” Cassaw said. “We’ve had some huge years (winning 29 games in 2005-06 and 2010-11, 30 in 2011-12 and 28 in 2013-14), but you don’t win 400 games and CIF championships without good players, good assistants, a strong administration and having the support of your family.

-  “I love coaching, so I consider myself very lucky to do what I do.”

-  “I’ve been blessed with hardworking kids who put in the time to succeed,” Olive said. “The players take a lot of pride in being part of the program.

-  “There is a sense of family in the program and that family extends out. I love that our former players come home and help with our tournament.

 -  “I love the fact, our players call and email to check on us.-  “The program here is on solid ground.”

-  Olive, 61, who played at Villanova and in the NBA for the San Diego Clippers, said he had no idea he was approaching 400 wins.-  “I guarantee he’s telling the truth,” said Torrey Pines senior center Jake Gilliam. “The man has no ego.-  “He just loves coaching basketball.-  “But now that we know he’s so close to 400, we’ll have to think of something special when he gets it.”

Growing Your Athletes; An NBA Story

The article below are notes taken from an article I first found  through Ron Sen's blog here.  You can find the full article here or after the jump.  It talks about how Lakers assistant coach Brian Keefe is using the same growth and professional development the young trio of Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and D'Angelo Russell that he used in OKC with KD, Westbrook, and James Harden.

1 - Before each game Keefe and KD worked together on the court.  Keefe would give a schedule to create a routine so he could learn habits that would stay throughout his career.
“Taught me everything I know,” said Durant, a seven-time All-Star and league most valuable player in the 2013-14 season. “About work ethic, being a pro. He wouldn’t take any credit for it, but he taught me everything I know as far as how to approach shoot-arounds, practices, games, workout sessions.”

2 – Their extra work was scheduled and they got individual attention that expanded their games.
Durant was the first of three consecutive lottery picks selected by the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder organization, and all three — Durant (now with the Golden State Warriors), Russell Westbrook and James Harden (who’s now with the Houston Rockets) — became superstars. They made a Finals appearance together, three years after winning 43 games in two seasons. They succeeded in part because of their superlative talent, but also because they learned very early in their careers what kind of work and routine is required to get there. Their extra work was scheduled and they got individual attention that expanded their games.

3 - “Their philosophy was ‘Let’s spend as much time and effort as we can developing these players on and off the court.’ … [Keefe] has experience at how to do that. It was a big reason why, besides all his references that spoke so highly of him, that we wanted him here.”
“Trust me, we had very little to do with this,” Keefe said. “Once they learned to have their own habits, it just became part of who they were. And then when all these other guys came into the organization they saw it. So it became the whole, kind of, culture of the place. …   You’ve probably heard that a million times from coach here. It’s really all the same.”

4 - But they had to start somewhere, and the staff offered a road map.
Each player, was put on a schedule for extra work with assistant coaches — even the veterans. In their time slots they’d work with parts of their game, be that shooting, ball-handling, defensive concepts or whatever else needed work.  The structure extended to routines with the strength and conditioning staff and medical staff. Off the court, they had activities designed to develop them as people.

5 - “The biggest thing was just trying to make all the young guys become pros,” said Nick Collison, a 2003 first-round pick, who has spent his entire career with the Thunder and Sonics.
He often wonders how his career trajectory might have been different if he had the structure that came later. He saw the way work with coaches, especially Keefe, added dimensions to each player’s games.  “Like when Kevin started, he had all this talent and ability and trying to figure out how it works in an NBA game,” Collison said. “The way he can handle the ball and play in pick-and-roll and come off screens. He’s almost 7 feet tall. He wasn’t able to do that when he first got in the league.”  He saw Westbrook’s pace improve, and his ability to see passes develop.

The fruits of the extra labor became obvious to everyone. As they did, that extra work just became part of the organization’s culture. Success became a strong motivator. Westbrook, whose face brightened at the mention of Keefe’s name, still goes in early to shoot, just as he used to under his schedule as a young player.

“That’s a part of what we stand for here,” Westbrook said. “That’s a part of Oklahoma City. To be able to come in and compete at a high level, you gotta work for everything.”