A Coach's Diary

Basketball, like all sports, is a game of mistakes and random events. Mistakes will happen; we just have to manage how we respond to them. Having a next play mentality is important. We have to be able to move on quickly from a mistake so that we are in the moment and prepared to make the next play. Have a plan for responding to future, inevitable mistakes. The best players and the best teams know how to respond to mistakes, they know how to move on, and they know how to stay focused and in the moment. One thing that could help is having 'Next Play Teammates.' A next play teammate is someone whose job is to recognize mistakes and to immediately cheer for their teammates, yell next play, and help them move on. Every great team has great teammates, and those teammates don't have to be on the court. They can be a teammate, manager, or trainer, who supports from the sideline. That teammate can be the person who rebounds for teammates, who make sure their teammates sta...

PLAYERS: How do you want your teammates to think and feel about you? TRY THIS: Write 1-3 sentences stating what you hope that your teammates would say about you in an interview, or on the ride home with their parents, or at the dinner table with their family. Then work, play, and live up to that statement. When I was playing, I would hope that my teammates would say that I want Reggie on my team. He makes me feel confident, and I believe in him. When I play with him, I feel like we have the best chance to win. He works really hard, and he makes me want to work harder. Russell Westbrook is a polarizing figure. Many people outside of his locker room think that he is too mean, too tough, and too out of control. But when you talk to guys inside the locker, most of his teammates LOVE him. One TV analyst had this to say about Russ: His energy is contagious. When you see a guy work like that on a nightly basis and love the game and love to compete, you are either going...

When you are really competing and adversity hits, you will see the true character of your teammates and the true culture of your team.  When things aren't going right, some of your teammates will start to complain and will start to whine. They will start making excuses.  Some teammates start blaming the referee or start blaming their teammates and coaches.  They start to cry, fight and shut down.   YOU can't do that.  You have to keep going, keep pushing and keep fighting.  YOU have to figure it out. The teammates with the right character and the teams with the right culture keep their heads up and don't make excuses.  They don't complain about the referees or about their coaches or about their teammates.  The teammates with the right character and the teams with the right culture encourage their teammates.  They bring positive energy through their actions and their words.  They keep everybody moving forw...

Every great team needs to have one or two athletes on the court that everybody can rally around.  They don't have to be the best on the team, but they are the athletes who keep everybody going through the ups and the downs of the season. Each season is a long marathon where you are constantly pushing and being pushed to be the best that you can be.  Somedays are great, some are hard, some are long.  You are doing the same drills over and over again in trying to perfect it.  Aside from talent, the biggest separators in teams are culture and who can last the longest. On those long, boring, tough days, the team has two options:  1)  Give in to your thoughts and slack off or  2)  Find the energy and enthusiasm to push through with your best effort.   Giving in will get you beat, and pushing through takes one or two teammates to bring it themselves and bring it out of everybody in the gym or on the field. Find ways to bring ene...