A Coach's Diary

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma once said, “People that are mentally sharp are never tired.” He also said, “The big difference between a really good player and a great player is great players don’t get tired.” Hard separates the bad from the good and the good from the great. When it gets hard, you get to see what people are made of. Some embrace the hard, lean into it, match it, and go harder, but most either can’t, won’t, or just don’t. Most people shy away or run away from hard. They don’t respond well to adversity, or getting tired, or a difficult opponent. If you can learn how to handle hard better, you can pass a lot of people, and this requires no talent or skill - just a tough, gritty mindset that doesn’t stop. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example. Everything he tried to do was h...

You Can’t Just Sit Back And Wait For It To Come.  Organize Your Life So That You Can Go Out And Get What You Want.   Go Get What You Deserve.  Go Get What You WORK FOR.  I was watching the Grizzlies battle the Spurs in game 4 of their first round battle.  At half time, they had a clip of Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale talking to his team about the importance of ‘Dominating the Line of Scrimmage.’  “Dominate the line of scrimmage.  Be the most physical, toughest team.  Initiate the contact and take the action to THEM.” Play with a tough mindset and a sense of urgency.  Go get what you want from the beginning and do it the entire game.  You can’t sit back and wait for the game to come to you.  You will look up and realize that its 2 minutes left go in the 4 th quarter of a big game and it might be too late.  You can’t wait for life to just come to you.  You will look back and minutes, hours, days, and ...