A Coach's Diary

Have you ever been on a team where one athlete's bad attitude affected everyone in the group? There is a saying that, "One bad apple spoils the bunch." The phrase is used to describe a situation in which one person's negative attitude can negatively affect the entire group, causing them to have a similar negative attitude. I'm not sure how or where this phrase began, but it does have some basis in science. When apples begin to decay, they emit gasses. If the rotting apple is mixed in with other apples, the good apples can absorb the gasses and begin to rot as well. It is important to keep good apples away from bad apples. I've had similar experiences on teams. I have had teams become torn apart because the negative attitudes and behaviors of one teammate went unchecked. I have also had similar experiences with individual athletes. They allow one bad apple, one negative influence, or one correctable character flaw to negatively affect who they are, and it kills...

Michael Jordan wanted to be the best. He competed to win, and he hated to lose. Because he wanted to be the best, he was the hardest worker in the gym. By his 5th year in the NBA, he had become the Rookie of the Year, regular-season MVP, All-Star game MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year. MJ was leading the NBA in scoring every year, and he was on his way to becoming the best individual player in the game. But Jordan wasn't having team success. He was criticized because he wasn't winning at the level of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas. The Chicago Bulls hired Phil Jackson as the coach, and Phil's goal was to emphasize team play and to take the pressure off of Michael by teaching him how to get his teammates more involved. Michael Jordan said that he wasn't always a fan of Phil Jackson. He said, "[Phil] was coming in to take the ball out of my hands. Doug put the ball in my hands." Phil had a philosophy to get them away from 1-on-1 basketball and m...

We build great teams and experiences so that our athletes never forget that they are capable of greatness. Coach James was taking over for the basketball program at New Hope High School, but the first time he visited the gym he realized that the team and program needed a lot of new hope because there wasn't a lot of hope there. He saw an old, unkept gym and a team full of players who looked uninspired and discouraged. As he watched his team scrimmage, he saw athletes not competing, pointing fingers and giving excuses, blaming others, and dragging their feet with their heads down after each mistake. Coach James thought to himself, "Why do they think it is okay to not compete, not to play through mistakes, and not be great teammates?" Coach James realized that the athletes were just living up to the expectations set by the adults who were in charge before he got there.  New Hope was far from a basketball powerhouse, and most coaches ended up leaving the school after a year ...