A Coach's Diary

Where you are and where you are going are based mostly off of the choices that you make. The rest is based off how you react to those choices. Every choice that you make matters: Do I get to the gym early, or do I rest? Do I put up extra shots, or do I hang out with my teammates? Do I read this extra chapter today? Do I stay late in the office tonight? Do I spend extra time with my family this weekend? Everyday we are faced with hundreds of choices that we can make. Each choice has its consequence. Be intentional in how you make the choices that you make.

If you want to make it - become the best you can be, get a scholarship, play professionally, become a doctor, own your own business, become a millionaire - you must do these three things: 1 - Work Hard 2 - Work Smart 3 - Work consistently Some of us do one of these things, and fewer do two of these things, but very few do all three of these things.   Working hard means taking yourself out of your comfort zone.  If you want to be your best, you have to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.  Working hard is a choice.  Make the choice to go to the gym.  When you get their, you have the choice to either work hard or to not work hard.  It's easy to make excuses to not go to the gym, or to study, but if you want to be great, you have to make a conscious decision that you are going to work, that you are going to work hard, that you are going to work smart, and they you are going to do it consistently.

The habit of TRYING is the first step to success.  Try.  You will be amazed at what you can accomplish if you just try. Use ‘try’ as a mini-challenge that keeps you growing and progressing into becoming the person that you want to become.  Accomplishing anything requires a start, and starting requires a willingness to try.  Try to do better, try to do the right thing, try to give your best as consistently as possible, and try to get out of your comfort zone. To do so, your try must be great.  -         -  Your try must be greater than your fear. -           -   Your try must be greater than your doubt. -            -   Your try must be greater than any embarrassment that you may suffer from failing or from not accomplishing what you set out to do. Success does not come from being a spectator.  Success comes from jumping in and being partici...

Success is smart – it will test you at many turns.  Its biggest test is failure.  Success wants to know if you will quit.  Remember that failure is a part of all successful team and individual journeys.   Don’t fear failure because it happens to the best of the best.  If you fear the consequence of failure, put equal fear to the consequence of never trying.  What would happen if you tried and it actually worked out?  At some point, it will!  Imagine if you knew you would succeed but you didn’t try.  How would you feel then? Try, and don’t quit.  Act, and don’t quit. Don’t define success by wins and losses.  Define success by starting, trying, acting and giving your best effort.  If you do those and ‘win,’ then great.  If you do those and ‘lose,’ its still great as long as you learned from your mistakes, got better, and didn’t quit.  Eventually you will win, and with the right attitude, you will proba...

We as coaches have to teach skills.  We have to teach how to shoot, pass, dribble and proper footwork, among other things. One of the most important things that we must teach is decision making.  Basketball is a reactionary sport.  We have to teach them how to read, react, and make great decisions.  You have to be able to play and make choices – all of the time. 17:00 – We run plays to create even a small advantage – a late closeout, and out of position defender, an opening on a back cut or back screen, the defense in a scramble rotation.  What we have to practice every day is how to take advantage of that small advantage and score.  We have to teach them to play in those situations, what to do and how to attack.  How can we turn our small advantage into a big advantage?

A Humble Mind You cannot grow without a humble mind.  You can’t receive advice or constructive criticism or instruction (that can really help you) from your coaches, teachers and parents if you don’t approach it with a humble mind.  You have to approach every class and practice like, ‘Man, I could really use this this. I NEED this.’  A humble mind is a mind that knows that it can learn from anybody at any time.  A humble mind knows that it needs to be a lifelong learner if it wants to be the best that it can be.  A humble mind knows that it has to keep working hard, consistently and every day, to become the best that they can be. If you think that you already know everything a coach or teacher is trying to teach you, or that you don’t need to hear this lesson because you already know it, or you think this drill is for somebody else because you can already do it, then you will miss out on something that could have really helped you; as a student, a...

Character drives The Process which drives The Result Results > What you want to accomplish The Process > The work you put in, over time, for the results you want Character > Who you are as a person Focusing on building character will help your athletes embrace the process more which will lead to better results. Who you are as a person will tell how hard you are willing to work (the process) for the results that you want.  Build, grow, and developing character will help you work harder, better and smarter through the process of achieving the results that you want. Of course every team wants to go undefeated and win their championship, but above that, every team should want to strive to maximize their ability.  Everyone will experience loss, and while nobody wants to lose, losing isn’t the worst thing in the world.  Worse than losing is wasted talent. John Wooden once defined success as, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct re...