A Coach's Diary

The following quote is from Michael Jordan's NBA TV One-on-One at 50 interview.  "The greatest thing about the game of basketball, to me, is the passion, the love that I have for it. Because when you have live for anything, you'll go to the extreme to maintain that love. That's what love does; love drives you to do everything you need to do to maintain that connection. If I didn't have that love for the game of basketball, all of the things that have panned out in my career would have never been achievable. It was truly my love for the game that kept me pushing to be the best basketball player that I can be. To be the best, at anything, you gotta have a certain love for that to overcome all of the obstacles that's going to be thrown in your way. That's what the game of basketball has been for me."

This post was taken from one of my favorite sights, HoopThoughts.BlogSpot.Com Another great newsletter from the Texas A&M men's basketball staff and Coach Mitch Cole.  If you have already, you need to sign up for it -- each edition is outstanding. Simply email Coach Cole at Mitch Cole  mcole@athletics.tamu.edu  and ask him to put you on the list.  Here are the Aggie thoughts on peak performance as we head down This time of year, everyone is searching for the best ways to get their teams to play at  peak performance in February/March . Every staff asks the questions: What is the best way to prepare our players for a late season run? What is our strategy if our team is favored and playing well?…Or what if our team is the overwhelming underdog? What approach is best when our team is inconsistent, good one game and poor the next?  The following are a few concepts that are some helpful reminders to stress to our players in February, regardless...

The Win Forever philosophy is not just about maximizing the potential of our players.  It is about maximizing the potential of everyone in a program or organization.  All the principles we use with your players apply to our coaches and other staff members as well.  Right down to the core of your being, be believe that our success depends on ensuring that everyone is completely engaged, committed, and in a relentless pursuit of a competitive edge.  A big part of my job is creating an environment where this will happen. Ultimately, the most critical point in coaching our coaches is to understand that we don’t want every coach to have the same style.  What we need on our staff are unique competitors who can each find a way to deliver the same message with one heartbeat.  The coaches need to internalize the message and then convey it in their own voice.  When each person does that, we get a diversity of styles ...

In this excerpt from the book Red and Me, by former basketball great Bill Russell, Bill talks about the psychology that legendary coach Red Auerbach used to get the best out of his players for the betterment of the team. Red would talk to a guy by mainly listening.  That was how he got more information about his players and their agendas.  I saw him do that so often that when he was talking to me, I always knew what he was doing.  He wasn't assessing my needs - they didn't come into play.  He wasn't asking himself, "What's this person all about?"  He was asking, "How can I help his guy contribute to the team?"  I picked this up very early.  What he was doing was listening, motivating, and enabling us to play our best, which ultimately enhanced our careers. Every player in an organization, whether its a team, a school, or a business, has their own agenda for being part of the organization.  A leader, instead of throwing his/her weight around ...

In this excerpt from the book, Red and Me , by Bill Russell, Bill talks writes about how Red Auerbach approached each player as individuals. Red respected every player as he was, and listened to each individually.  But he did not, strictly speaking, treat everyone equally.  He recognized that everyone was different - we all had different contracts, different physical and mental abilities, different mindsets and habits and methods of preparation.  He also had to consider all of our different agendas.  WIth professional basketball players, there are never enough minutes and never enough shots to satisfy everyone in every game.  We didn't start out as equal ballplayers, so that kind "equal" is not helpful in a team circumstance.  Red knew this. Every player is his own man with his own abilities and his own agenda for playing the game.  You have to respect that about them and appreciate their uniqueness and what they bring to the team in order to ge...