A Coach's Diary

The following article is from the first video of a 3 part series presented by Tim Elmore where he tackles the missing piece to career readiness among our  Generation iY population.   Generation iY is the second half of the millenials, and are those born after 1990. In this first video, he talks about the state of students today and why they are unready. You can see the video in its entirety here . Students have shown that they can master the classroom, but still aren't prepared for the work-room. They often come out of school with a high IQ but a low EQ, and they are often not prepraed for the level of responsibility or the workload. Artificial Maturity A big reason for students lack of success after school is due to what Tim calls 'artificial maturity.'  The students grow up, make it successfully through school, and think that they are prepared for the work-world when they really aren't. Students are savy enough to make it through school, but aren...

via For The Win Loving the Spurs has become a cyclical thing for NBA fans. You love them for a while, but then you forget about them, because they don’t have a huge marketable star and they play in San Antonio and they’ve never really gone after media coverage. Then the playoffs come around again and you remember everything you loved about them. The Spurs are awesome. This video, which is basically the YouTube equivalent of a giant ice cream sundae for NBA fans, shows highlights from the past few seasons of the Spurs. You get ball movement, you get extra passes, you get interior passes, you get cuts to the hoop, you get more passing. You get so much passing! The music is epic and the voiceovers, from Magic Johnson and Gregg Popovich among others, is perfect. The moment where Tony Parker gets instructions from Pop, then runs over to the bench as the team huddles around him, gave me goosebumps.

via For The Win Colin Stanton has edited NBA videos before — his six-minute tribute to the San Antonio Spurs  is a must-watch for fans of the NBA. Stanton’s newest video follows a similar formula. It has stirring classical music and edited footage of basketball stars playing the game beautifully. This time his focus on the 1986 Boston Celtics, one of the greatest NBA teams ever assembled. Larry Bird was in his prime, as were Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale, and the Celtics that year also added Bill Walton, one of the better passing big men who have ever played the game. The highlights are magical, and you get a glimpse of just how good a passing team those Celtics were. The Larry Bird segment especially. Good lord.

The following post comes from Bob Starkey at hoopthoughts.blogspot.com .   He is an assistant coach at Texas A&M University. Aggie Defense Part 1 Over the next few weeks, we will take a look at some the thoughts, principles, and guidelines for our defense.  We'll start with some basic concepts (our why ) that guide what and how we do what we do: WE WANT TO TAKE AWAY THE PAINT AT ALL TIMES When the ball gets to the paint it creates easy shot opportunities in the paint When the ball gets to the paint it creates easy perimeter shots When the ball gets to the paint it creates help and recover situations When the ball gets to the paint it creates closeout situations When the ball gets to the paint it creates fouling situations ...taking away the paint starts with transition defense ... stance, head, eyes and footwork are critically important … team defense — having the ability to help early — is a necessity WE WANT A HAND ON THE BALL...

The following interview was conducted by ESPN's Scott Van Pelt.  Van Pelt met with pro golfer Jordan Spieth as he tries to become only the 3rd golfer to win 3 majors in one year.  They touch on playing under pressure and staying calm. SVP: You seem to have your very best when your very best is required. What exactly do you attribute that to? JS: It seems like whenever the moment gets bigger and my heart is beating faster, I go away from mechanics and I turn to, "How do I calm my heart rate down?" And the way that I do that is by trying to zero in on a target -- to aim small, miss small. For me, that actually helps my swing. It helps my putting stroke. It helps everything in my game. It's easier for me to think less about mechanics and more about the mental side, controlling my emotions and really picking a specific target instead of worrying about how my swing looks. SVP: You talk very much in "we" terms -- with your caddie, Michael Greller, be...

Below are a couple of quotes about Coach K and Steve Lavin before their teams, Duke and UCLA, faced off in 1997: "I'd see those Duke teams play and I think we were both--and especially Steve--enamored of just the quality of his team's execution, how his teams played so hard, and how positive he was toward his players," said UCLA assistant Jim Saia, a close friend of Lavin's from college. "He could not have done too much of a better job in transition," Krzyzewski said. "It appears that his team has adapted well to him. They're as talented a team as we can play, and I think they're playing so well together and they seem to be enjoying it. And to me, that's good coaching if you can do that." Full article here:  http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stjo/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/misc_non_event/newscliparchive.pdf

The exerpt below is from an article at Bruin Report Online where UCLA coach at the time, Steve Lavin, talks about his plan for his team in the upcoming season.  What I really wanted to archive for my notes is the following passage where he talks about the importance of the face break in the mid-90's. Lavin:  "And the fast break is such a key weapon, it has to be a key part of your game if you want to win the National Championship. Look at Duke and Arizona, look at Kentucky, look at our '95 team. We broke down that team and figured that 1/3 of our offense came off the break, whether you are counting on baskets generated by defensive rebounds or by the defense off of turnovers. The last 3 years, with Baron and Earl, we are talking at maybe 10-15% of our offense off of breaks." You can read the article in its entirety here:  http://www.scout.com/college/ucla/story/31671-interview-with-steve-lavin-part-1