A Coach's Diary

Geno Auriemma has a video where he says, 'Great players don't get tired.  When the good players get tired, the great players kick their a**.' Cole Anthony is one of the best players in college basketball.  When asked if he gets tired, he says, 'I do get tired, I just do a great job of faking it.' Everybody gets tired; the best just keep going. Bill Belichick once said, "The great equalizer is your mind.  It's not that you can't do it, it's will you do it." The best don't let being tired become an excuse.  They work hard to make sure that they are in the best shape possible and they keep pushing you. On Get Up on ESPN , analyst Louis Riddick said, "The difference between a back-up and a starter is not always that the starter is better, its that the starter can do it more consistently.   It's a mindset.   It's a mentality. Mental toughness. Resilience. Grit. It's whatever you want to call it...

"A lot of teams focus on strategy and ignore culture, yet culture trumps strategy every time." - Jon Gordon Culture is a big buzz word in sports and business, and rightfully so.  Teams and organizations whose players and employees are actively engaged tend to be more successful . We praise sports programs like the Duke basketball, Clemson and Alabama Football, and Belichick and his Patriots for their ability to sustain winnings on such high levels, and there are books and articles and studies based on their leadership and their programs' cultures. According to Jon Gordon in his book, Soup , culture is a direct reflection of the leader and of the people and their values, character, and habits. Culture and character drives behavior, and behavior drives habits.  Your culture and the character of your team influences what they do, how they do it, and when they do it.   Having a strong culture is reflected in teams in so many ways.  Having a strong cult...

Athletes just don't seem to have the same TENACITY that they once had.  Life has become so automated.  In some ways, life is harder than it used to be, but in many ways, life is so much easier. We all like things easy, but when things are too easy, it ends up not being good for us.  There are always going to be times in your life and in your career when things get tough, and you are either going to have to give up or you are going to have to do a little pressing. Pressing means to press against the pressure.  It means that adversity is coming against you, and instead of you just letting it defeat you, you say, 'No way, I know what God's word says, and whatever he told me that I can have, I will have it.  I will not quit and I will not give up.' As long as you are believing, God is working.  Just because you don't see or feel anything, that does not mean that God is not doing anything.   Don't get discouraged and ...

Load management is important so that we don't wear our kids' bodies down before high school. Mind Management is important so that we don't wear our kids down mentally before they are in high school. About 70% of kids quit playing sports by the time they get in high school, and a lot of it has to do with the wear and tear that we put on our kids' minds and bodies before they are even teenagers.  Another major part of why so many kids are quitting is because they just aren't having fun anymore. Select sports and the time and pressure that it puts on kids can wear them down and out before it even starts to matter.  Very rarely will a kid get a scholarship for what they do as a pre-teen .  It doesn't really matter how good you are at 14; it matters how good you are at 16,17 and 18. Us parents have to be mindful of this. We have to manage how many hours of work they are putting in each week. We also have to be mindful of how hard we push them me...

The Difference Makers Are Creators For Themselves and Others To create, you have to get more touches.  Try to get your foot on more balls.  Just try to redirect it.  When you get more touches, you create more opportunities.  You might make more mistakes, but you get more chances too, and that's what being a difference maker does; they create for themselves and their teammates. The next step is pushing through your mistakes without getting too fustrated.  The best don't worry to much about their mistakes and they don't let mistakes stop them.  The best just keep going.  Greatness starts with talent but it's really about who can handle the most adversity.  Who can mess up the most and keep learning and getting better without getting too fustrated, without shutting down, and without quitting. Kobe Bryant said that he wasn't worried about missing shots.  He said if he missed several shots in a row, he would shoot ...

Don't let the mountain of SELF-PITY destroy your career or destroy your life. You can be PITIFUL or you can be POWERFUL, but you can't be both. Cut pity out of your life.  Don't waste your time feeling sorry for yourself and making excuses.  Don't let self-pity destroy you. Don't let it keep you down.  Don't sit around and feel sorry for yourself any more. If things aren't going right for you on the field, on the court, and in life, it is your responsibility to fix it. Change your behaviors, change your habits, chsnge yout mindset, chsnge yout work ethic, and then your results will change. .... Don't let the mountain of blame destroy your life. Take accountability for your actions.  Tell yourself "I know what I did was wrong, and there is no excuse and I am not going to blame it on anybody else because I am responsible for my behavior." If things aren't going right for you on the field, on the court, and...

Tyrese Maxey was an all-EVERYTHING guard in high school.  He came off the bench in his first college game for Kentucky to score 26 points and hit big shots for the Wildcats in their win. Dick Vitale said during the game, “Make a coach play you.  Produce.  In practice, in limited minutes, every opportunity you get - PRODUCE. I don’t know a single coach who doesn’t want a guy who produces.” Maxey came in a PERFORMED, and he stayed on the court because of it.  He didn't pout on the bench.  He was up cheering for his teammates.   When he got his chance, he PRODUCED.  This is a great lesson for all players: - Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. - Perform when your name is called. - Players say "play me and I'll show you", coaches say "show me and I'll play you". - Parents say "coach plays favorites" or "my kids the best," but that is another post for another day!