A Coach's Diary

"If you really, truly want to be great at [anything], you have to be obsessed with wanting to get better every day. If you don’t think that way, if you don’t act that way, it’s just that simple—you’re not going to be great at it." - Kevin Durant Do you like it, love it, or are you obsessed with it? Do you build your daily schedule around it? In an interview with LeBron James and Steve Nash, Kevin Durant said, “If you really, truly want to be great at basketball, you have to be obsessed with wanting to get better every day. If you don’t think that way, if you don’t act that way, it’s just that simple—you’re not going to be great at it.” If you aren’t obsessed enough about it, you won’t be great at it. KD is so obsessed with the game that he said, “I’m not coming here to interview with y’all if I haven’t worked out today.” The greats don’t compromise. They all agreed that it starts with the love and passion you have for something. Nash then said there is a way or standard in ho...

Kevin Durant sends signals to everybody around him that the team is his number one priority.   Yet he still led the NBA in scoring multiple years. Be the kind of athlete that brings your teammates with you.

With the Warriors and Cavs facing off in the finals for the 3 rd straight year, it’s been fun being able to watch two completely different styles of basketball facing off against each other. On one hand, you have the ‘Flow’ of the Golden State Warriors motion offense where the set screens, get ball and player movement, and ball reversals in looking for great shots and scoring opportunities by taking advantage of defensive breakdowns.   On the other side, you have the Star Power of the Cleveland Cavs where every offensive decision is made by one of the stars.   They spread the court and breakdown the defense and create scoring opportunities by taking advantage of their 1 on 1 matchups and ball-screens.  

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. Dur...