IT'S NOT WHAT YOU WANT - IT'S WHAT YOU EARN

In sports, it's simple... you don't get what you want or deserve... you get what you earn. You have to relate all the good and bad things that happen to you to some type of cause and effect.

We play a competitive game and in that game there is adversity and failure. Once we understand the relationship of cause and effect, we can move forward and try to overcome that adversity and handle that failure in a productive way.

But an important part of understanding cause and effect is having to endure suffering. If every time something gets hard, someone fixes it for you, you never truly understand the consequences of your decisions.

It starts with self-discipline.

Discipline is doing what you are supposed to do, when you're supposed to do it, and the way it is supposed to be done. Discipline is not punishment. Discipline is changing your behavior.

As a coach, it is my responsibility to get players to do the right thing, not enable them to do the wrong thing.

We have principles and values in our program. Each player has to know and understand what is important within our program. Our principles start with helping each individual become successful as a person. We want the player to be more successful for having been in our program than she would have been if she were not here.

We are not just a collection of individuals... we are a team.

4:13

(thanks Nick Saban)

WHAT GETS TEAMS BEAT?

What's the #1 thing that gets teams beat?

Poor Shot Selection and Offensive Execution:

The best teams consistently work for and take high-percentage shots and are committed to passing up early, contested shots to find a teammate with an open one.

The best teams are committed to working together and are not hung up on "my" shot, understanding that every shot is "our" shot.

The best teams understand roles and have all five players on the court working hard to get open and be threats to score. The best teams understand that working hard to get a good open shot and taking it is not selfish. Taking bad shots, such as contested shots, off-balance shots or shots outside of your range, is selfish.

We want the “best” shot, not the first shot.

(Thanks Coach Cooley)

WHAT GETS TEAMS BEAT?

Whats the 2nd most important thing that usually gets teams beat?

Defensive Breakdowns:

Teams with defensive breakdowns lose. The best defenses are difficult to score upon and do not allow open uncontested shots. The best defenses are "help defenses" that require little help because they guard the ball well by closing out under control to take away the open shot and because they take away the middle drive.

The best defenses sustain a physical and intense defensive effort, play the ball and communicate at a high level, and they do it consistently throughout the game.

If the defender containing the ball gets beat, she must have swift and decisive help, and the helper must be helped with a similar sense of urgency. The best defenses are committed to taking away any open shots and forcing a quick and contested shot, with five defenders committed to getting the ball before converting to offense.

(thanks Coach Cooley)

GRACE TALKED IT - WE WALKED IT

Tonights 51-37 win locked-up the #1 Seed for the Lady Lions in the East Region tournament, as well as earned the LL's the Regular Season title.

The game actually started the night before with a lot of Facebook trash-talking... but I think we had the last word with solid effort and disciplined play.

D and Liv had 5 assists each. We shot 65.3% from inside the arc, 30.7% from outside and 71.4% from the FT line. Had 16 assists.

“Rules without Relationship Leads to Rebellion”

A great quote from Andy Stanley that is full of truth, but what happens if you have a difficult player that the coaches and team have established a relationship with and the player continues to rebel?

Teams in every sport occasionally end up with a player on the roster that is full of tremendous potential, but ends up caring more about themselves than they do about their team or their teammates. Those type of players seem to take great pride in having a reputation as a rebel.

Most pro teams will pass on disruptive players… most college teams will pass as well, but those type of players are more prevalent at the high school level. Good teams will recognize this type of player early-on and make a concerted effort to help the new player transition into the team culture and helping the player understand what is to be expected of them.

In most cases, with sincere help from coaches and teammates, the transition into the team culture is not a difficult thing.

However, when a player chooses to rebel and avoid integrating into the team culture… coaches and teammates are left with two options. The first is to accept the behavior and associated problems that the player brings to the team environment… or second, make a difficult decision and let the player go for the overall benefit of the team as a whole.

Where the bus is going doesn’t really matter… The key to a successful journey [season] is getting the right people on the bus and getting the wrong people off the bus…

4:13

(thanks Jon Gordon)

SEEKING TO BE THE BEST

With only five games remaining before our Regional Tournament begins, it 's finally dawning on me that the 2009-10 season is almost over.

Although we've had some slow starts, this team is statistically ahead of our teams over the past two seasons, and I think that is due, in-part, to a couple of players on our team that have really stepped up and taken their game to the next level.

It reminded me a an article I recently read about the traits of players that are the best:

THE BEST KNOW WHAT THEY WANT

I think a lot of people spend their life being average or good at something, but they don’t strive to be great. The best of the best not only know what they want, but they want it more.

THE BEST ARE MENTALLY STRONGER

Being mentally strong means you stay positive through adversity. It means you are resilient when facing pressure, challenges and change.

Weed and feed: Each day you need to weed out negativity and feed it positivity. You need to weed out the self-doubt and negative talk and feed it positive thoughts, memories and visuals.

THE BEST OVERCOME THEIR FEARS

Those that succeed, those that reach the pinnacle of greatness, are able to face this battle (overcoming fear) and win.

THE BEST SEIZE THE MOMENT

When the best are in the midst of their performance they are not thinking ‘What if I win?’ or ‘What if I lose?’ They are not interested in what the moment produces, but they are only concerned with what THEY produce in the moment. Rather than hiding from pressure, they rise to the occasion. As a result, the best define the moment rather than letting the moment define them.

THE BEST MAKE EVERYONE AROUND THEM BETTER

The point is to strive to be your best and inspire others to be their best, because it’s in the striving where you find greatness, not in the outcome.

(thanks Jon Gordon)

GET OUTSIDE OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Over time, we all gather a set of constricting habits around us - ones that trap us in a zone of supposed comfort, well below what our potential would allow us to attain.

Pretty soon, such habits slip below the level of our consciousness, but they still determine what we think that we can and cannot do - and what we cannot even bring ourselves to try.

To stay in your comfort zone through mere habit, or - worse still - to stay there because of irrational fears of what may lie outside, will condemn you to a life of frustration and regret.

(thanks Adrian Savage)

WHEN THE CARROT DOESN'T WORK

In most coach’s bag of motivational tricks, the sticks far outnumber the carrots. Do it right or run a lap. Do it right or get demoted. Do it right or watch from the bench… or worse yet, watch from the stands.

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe spent some of the early season at third string on the depth chart after a slow start to training camp. It appeared new Coach Todd Haley was near the end of his patience with Bowe, a No. 1 draft pick in 2007 whose promising rookie season gave way to a sorry sophomore campaign in which he seemed to be the only one unconcerned with the key balls he dropped. It wasn’t inconceivable that Haley would make the ultimate disciplinary statement — cutting his most talented receiver... or would he?

When coaches make these moves, we reflexively applaud, partly because we are grouchy when millionaires squander their athletic gifts, and partly because almost all of us can remember a time when a kick in the pants sent us down a better path.

Can we be scared straight?

STANDING AT THE FOOT OF A GIANT

Came across a great read recently that I wanted to share. It's lengthy, but for those that choose to read it... I feel it will help remind you to slow down and think a little more about what we do each day and the people we share that day with.

From Tom Ziglar:

I will warn you upfront that this is a very difficult post for me to write. My good friend Amy Jones is at the end of her fight against cancer. Sunday night we went to say goodbye. Life is hard.

Sitting in the waiting room, talking to Amy’s friends and family, brought back so many memories. Just about eight years ago Amy showed up at our company. All 108 petite pounds of Amy filled the room as her smile and laugh lifted everyone around her. She led us in a devotional meeting and shared how she was overcoming several tragedies in her life through God’s grace and love. We all fell in love with Amy that day.

As usual, Dad was sitting in the devotions room on the first row, taking notes. When Amy was done he hugged her and said she needed to be a speaker, and then he called Peter Lowe and got her on the Get Motivated Seminar! Amy’s first speech was on the big stage in front of thousands. We always teased Amy that she was given 22 minutes to talk about time management, and she took 38 minutes to give the talk!

Amy and Zig
Soon Amy became a fixture around our company. Christmas time with Amy is special. She starts shopping the day after Christmas for the next one, and if you are on her list it’s likely you will get not 1, not 2, not 3, but multiple gifts that are perfect for you. Best of all, each gift is a reflection of how much and how often Amy is thinking of you because they are seldom bought at the same time. That’s just Amy. Another thing that is just Amy is that somehow she finds all of the perfect gifts for less money than any single gift you find for her!

As Amy’s speaking career was growing she came on board full time at Ziglar to spearhead a new program called Ziglar VIP. Amy led this charge and overcame many challenges to make Ziglar VIP one of our most successful programs ever. Without Amy this program would not exist, and our company would look much different today. Amy was our secret weapon – “Send Amy,” we would say – you fall in love with Amy when you meet her, and through that love you have a chance to work through the objections and the needs of the client. For Amy life is about relationships, so talking to people about what you believe in is really just about loving them and understanding their needs. Amy keeps things Pure and Simple – I love that about Amy

A couple of years ago we started to reorganize the company and I created for Amy what I thought was the perfect role for her. She would continue to lead the Ziglar VIP charge, but she would be more commission-based. I was excited about my plan – I just knew Amy was about to get rich! When we met with Amy, everybody was excited about the plan – but Amy! With grace and love and after a great deal of prayer, Amy came back to me and said this was not the plan for her. Instead, she moved back into an Independent Contractor role as a speaker for us. And she started her ministry.

Amy and a couple of her friends started a ministry called the Journey of Sisters. The Sisters are a group of women who have overcome incredible tragedies of all types in their lives. Amy became the leader, organizing events at homeless shelters and battered women’s’ shelters. More importantly, Amy became the mentor and coach for the other Sisters. Now there are 14 women in the Journey of Sisters, every one of them touched by Amy.

Last year we were doing a book with Mac Anderson, the founder of Simple Truths and Successories. I mentioned to Mac that I knew this lady named Amy Jones, and she would be perfect to do a book on time management. I set up the call for Amy and Mac, smiling to myself that it was a “done deal,” because when you meet Amy you fall in love with her. That book, titled How to Do Twice as Much in Half the Time, came out six weeks ago. Little did we know how prophetic that title would be.
In March this year Amy was speaking at a Get Motivated Seminar in Lubbock, Texas. She was accidentally knocked down on stage. Several days later, her side hurting and with a fever, she went to the doctor. What she thought was a bad bruise from the fall ended up being a tumor the size of a grapefruit. Ten years to the day that her dad died from kidney cancer, Amy was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive Stage 4 kidney cancer.

As I sat in the waiting room Sunday night reflecting on all of this, Amy continued to fill the room with her love and grace. The doctors had given her an incredible amount of pain killers and stimulants so that she would be able to say goodbye. For well over an hour, Amy spoke God’s love into the lives of the 14 Sisters as they gathered around her bed. She told each one of them the strengths that they possessed and she gave each one of them a charge that was unique to them to carry forward the ministry.

Then it was our turn to see Amy. She told us how much she loved us, and she told Dad what an impact he had on her. We held hands and talked. I teased her, as is my custom, and said “Amy, 12 disciples was good enough for Jesus, but you needed 14!” She smiled. Somehow, on this incredibly hard day, on this incredibly tough journey, Amy filled everyone with hope and love. Nothing about the goodbye was about Amy, Amy made it about everyone else. Her peace was perfect and her words were pure.

One of the most difficult things for me these last few months has been how “unfair” this has been. Amy is good, pure, sweet, even fragile in all of the right ways. She is someone you want to protect, someone you want to take the place for. She reminds you of Christ, who paid the ultimate price for all of us — pure, innocent, and loving. On the way out of her room her mother told me, “After everyone leaves tonight they are going to increase her pain medication so that she will no longer suffer. This will allow her to sleep, and when she wakes up, she will be with Jesus.”

I realized then that I had not been standing at the bedside of a fragile girl; I had been standing at the foot of a giant.

5 KEYS TO BUILDING GREAT TEAMS

One of the biggest challenges teams face is building trust and managing conflict. While you want differing opinions, it’s important that conflict stay focused on content and not become personal. How do you encourage healthy debate? Here are five team attitudes and perspectives that can help you build trust and keep conflict productive in your work group.

1. Team members must develop a learning attitude. Everything that happens in the team is “grist for the mill.” There are no failures–only learning opportunities.

2. The team must build a trust-based environment. Trust is built by sharing information, ideas, and skills. Building trust requires that team members cooperate rather than compete, judge, or blame. Trust is also built when team members follow through on their commitments. It is critical that team members communicate openly and honestly and demonstrate respect for others.

3. The team must value differences. Team members should encourage and honor differences. Different viewpoints are the heart of creativity.

4. People must view the team as a whole. By seeing the team as a living system rather than a collection of individuals, team members begin to think in terms of “we” rather than “you” and “me.”

5. Team members must become participant observers. To work well in a team environment, members should develop the skill of participating and, at the same time, observing. This practice, akin to being in a movie at the same time you are watching the movie, can give team members valuable perspective.

How’s your team doing in these areas? Knowing the characteristics and needs of a high performing work group is critical. It gives people a target to shoot for as they progress from a collection of individuals to a smoothly functioning, high performing team.

(thanks Joey Burton)

WHY NOT YOUR BEST?

Former President Jimmy Carter wrote a book inspired by a job interview Carter had with Admiral Rickover.

Carter had applied for the nuclear submarine program, and Admiral Rickover was interviewing him for the job.

The interview consisted of Carter discussing any topic he chose. Carter said he chose topics he was most comfortable with - current events, tactics, etc. The interview continued for two hours while Rickover would ask him questions, increasing in difficulty. Carter soon figured out he did not know as much as he thought he did and the Admiral knew much more than Carter had imagined.

From President Carter - ”Finally he asked me a question and I thought I could redeem myself. He said, ‘How did you stand in your class at the Naval Academy?’ ...I swelled my chest with pride and answered, “Sir, I stood 59th in a class of 820!” I sat back to wait for the congratulations - which never came.

Instead the question: “Did you do your best?”

I started to say, “Yes, sir,” but I remembered who this was and the classes, tactics, seamanship, etc and I could have done better...I finally gulped and said, No sir, I didn’t always do my best.” He looked at me for a long time, and then turned his chair around to end the interview.

He asked me one final question, which I have never be able to forget - or to answer. He said, “Why not?”

(thanks Coach Brown)

IT'S THE EXTRA MILE THAT COUNTS

"The big rewards come to those who travel the second, undemanded mile."

- Bruce Barton

DEFENSE FIRST = 58 STRAIGHT

"I don't know whether it's just bad teams, bad players, bad offenses or we're just that good defensively."

- Geno Auriemma

UConn's 74-35 win over Villanova on Saturday made it 58 straight wins for the Huskies, which is 12 wins shy of the NCAA record.

UConn takes great pride in their defense which has helped position them at 19-0 for the third straight season and and ranked No. 1 for a record-tying 36th straight week.

Offense wins games... Defense wins championships.

4:13

WHEN PLAYERS DEMAND FROM THEMSELVES

“Your team is most productive when your players are demanding mental and physical toughness themselves.”

- Mike Dunlap

FOCUS

"Our thoughts create our reality -- where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go.”

- Peter McWilliams

KOBE V

I usually wait until the Summer to drool over the latest kicks, but the new Kobe V's make it hard NOT to want to test drive a pair now.

THERE IS NO ME... ONLY WE

We have 5 people to get us off to a great start, but we have 10

people who can make us a championship team.

4:13

CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

If you are going to be a championship team, you have to be a championship team in every drill and in every situation. Not just during a championship game.

Great players accept criticism about their weaknesses and they crave instruction to correct it. Great players care about the team far more than they care about what others think of them or their game.

Great players are what championship teams are made of.

4:13

STRIVE TO BE "UNCOMMON"

Tony Dungy on "Being Uncommon"

"Some players are UNCOMMON because of their God-given natural abilities, like being blessed with the height of Yao Ming or the vertical jump of Michael Jordan. Others have to work to become UNCOMMON.

Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls shot five hundred free throws a day to make himself UNCOMMON. The truth is most people have a better chance to be UNCOMMON by effort than by natural gifts. Anyone could give that effort in his or her chosen endeavor, but the typical person doesn't, by choosing to do only enough to get by."

4:13

HOW ARE YOU JUDGED?

"Everybody judges players differently. I judge a player by what he does for his team and not what he does for himself. The name of the game is self-sacrifice.”

- Billy Martin, New York Yankees

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES ARE COSTLY

Every close game is ultimately decided by a couple of key possessions (on both sides of the ball).

In last night's 3-point loss, we made some pretty boned-headed mistakes that cost us the game.

Offensively, we had eight bad (forced) passes that resulted in turnovers, we had six dribble related turnovers and three traveling calls (middle school mistakes). We missed 14 FT's (we shot 33.3% at the line compared with their 63.1%).

Defensively, we allowed two uncontested 3's from #24 after we had talked about how we were NOT going to allow her a good look at the basket.

Yet with all those mistakes, with the horrible calls that were made (a technical foul called for throwing a punch that connected and no ejection!!!), with the dirty play from a few of their players which resulted in a broken nose for Hannah and a bloody nose for Olivia... and on their home court... we lose by only 3-points.

I'm proud of the way we played with poise and not allowing their aggressiveness to bait us into playing the same way.

4:13

THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY

"I always say to my guys, 'The most important day of your life is TODAY. This VERY MINUTE is the most important of your life. You must win this minute. You must win this day. And tomorrow will take care of itself.'"

- Coach John Chaney

PREPARING BEFORE IT'S NEEDED

"There are a lot of people that may not like UConn pressing when they're up 26 points, but Geno coaches for March not just tonight."

- Carolyn Peck, basketball analyst for ESPN

I BELIEVE IN US

Not a Miami fan, but this is a great commercial which echoes what every successful team believes. Is this your team?

REAL PLAYERS ARE EASY TO SPOT

"As I travel around the country and work out with the best of the best from the High School, College, and NBA levels, I am continually reminded of what these players have in common that makes them great:"

• they want to get better
• they want to know everything they can that will help them become a better basketball player
• they are committed to improvement of their bodies and their game
• they are very serious about the game every time they hit the floor
• they want to be coached

- Kevin Eastman (Asst. Coach Boston Celtics)

It's not hard to spot that kind of player... the game is a part of them.

4:13

ONE DOWN - ONE TO GO

I can't think of too many instances where a small school like ours (54 students) can take on a 5A school (1,700+ students) and come away with a 20-point win... especially when we are playing without two of our top six players.

We shot 55.2% from inside the arc tonight and 44.4% from outside.

We had 15 assists and 16 steals.

The last non-conference game on our schedule is Tuesday when we travel to Freeport.

ALMOST OVER THE HUMP

Tonight's 65-46 win started out as an exercise in patience for the coach, and fortunately ended with the players [hopefully] understanding that patience on offense leads to open looks (21 assists) and open looks usually lead to wins. We shot 38.1% from outside (8 of 21) and 50% inside the arc (18 of 36).

MEETING ADVERSITY HEAD-ON

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.”

- John Heywood

This week has been full of adversity and yet we met it head-on and without hesitation.

In addition to dropping a game to the #3 ranked team in Alabama Div 1A, we lost Lea to a sprained knee for at least a week. With Rutherford (5A) and Freeport (2A) both looking for some revenge this week, focus and determination will carry us through.

4:13

THE BIGGEST ROOM IN THE WORLD

The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.

Players are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.

(thanks James Allen)

REJOICE IN ADVERSITY

"Great men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war."

- Seneca

DON'T TRY TOO HARD

What do successful competitive runners all have in common? They forget they're in a race, they just love to run.

Are you trying too hard?

4:13

TEACHING DOES NOT EQUAL LEARNING

When does a student learn how to add? When the teacher explains that 2+2=4 or when she plays with some blocks and sees for herself that when she puts two red blocks and adds two blue blocks, she now has four blocks?

Or, does the learning occur when the student takes home an assignment and works through 50 problems on her own, making mistakes and trying to figure out the right answer?

Teaching does not equal learning.

The explanations and demonstrations are an important part of learning, but the learning occurs when the student makes sense of the explanation and demonstrations and works through the problem/skill through a trial-and-error process until she gets the hang of it. Once she gets the hang of it (learns), then she practices and practices until she masters the skill.

Basketball skills are no different.

Learning does not occur when the coach explains and demonstrates the skill. The learning occurs as the player practices the skill through the trial-and-error process. If I explain a skill – proper shooting technique – and give an explanation and demonstration, I cannot expect that players will have mastered the skill simply through my teaching. The players need time to practice the technique. They need to make mistakes and fix their errors.

There is a problem with this logic though, players often are afraid to change techniques during a season because during that process of change, there will be a period of difficulty where they are basically letting go of the old and embracing the new... in essence, they are starting over. And since they are competing for playing time, players are reluctant to even consider trying to get better through the process of change.

If I introduce the proper way to shoot the ball with consistency, as a coach, I cannot devote 30 minutes of practice to learning the proper footwork for a shot or the proper follow-through. So, I introduce the proper technique and quickly move to more pressing things. For the player to learn the proper technique, she must take the explanation and demonstration and practice on her own. But, with 2 hours of practice per day, plus homework, how many players have time to spend additional hours practicing on their own? If I do not give the players considerable time to practice their individual skills, when do they develop?

There's an old saying that comes from coaches pushing their players to spend time during the Summer working on their game so they'll be ready once the season starts:. “Players are made during the summer and teams are made in the winter.”

4:13

(thanks Brian McCormick)

PRESSURE vs. POISE

Every athlete eventually suffers through a performance slump. More often than not, the cause is usually a flaw in their mechanics or their technique that has crept in, and those can typically be identified by a coach and easily tweaked to get things back on track.

However, one of the dreaded side-effects of a performance slump that is far more difficult to remedy… is a loss of confidence.

Confidence is knowing you can… rather than hoping you can.

The heart and soul of mental toughness in sports is confidence. The ability to stay calm under pressure and maintain your focus and concentration when things aren’t going your way.

Every game will have a certain amount of pressure involved. The key factor in determining your success is whether or not you allow that pressure to outweigh your poise and confidence.

4:13

TWO SETS OF THREES

"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player."

- John Wooden

The "two sets of threes" are direct and simple rules aimed at how we should conduct ourselves in life. The first set is about honesty:

Never lie.

Never cheat.

Never steal.

It requires no explanation.

The second set of threes is about dealing with adversity:

Don't whine.

Don't complain.

Don't make excuses.

Some people may think these are naive or kind of dumb. But think about what they mean for a moment and who you become if you abide by them. That isn't naive. You don't become dumb.

(thanks Coach Wooden)

DON'T GIVE UP - LOOK FOR A BETTER WAY

"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."

- Thomas Edison

When you begin to feel like your game is in a funk and that everything you do is wrong... don't get frustrated and give up. Instead, ask yourself if there is a better way to get the results you want.

4:13

ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE

Saw some good stuff in last nights game between the only two undefeated teams remaining in the PCC East Region.

Although the first half felt somewhat nip & tuck with both teams trading baskets at will. Focus, patience and discipline is what fueled our 20-3 run to open up the second half and put the game out of reach.

Lea and Hannah's defense prevented Brock & Stephanie from ever being a factor in the game, holding both to a combined 12-points for the night.

WHAT SEPARATES GOOD FROM GREAT

The one thing that separates average players from great players is their ability to maintain their focus and concentration on the task at hand.

Every player wants to win, but great players refuse to lose.

4:13

UNDERSTANDING YOUR REAL OPPONENT

Coaches will often create an “enemy” of sorts out of your opponent in an attempt to give the team some additional motivation. The problem with this type of motivation is that it can often make players think that they are competing against their opponent… they are not!

Regardless of the sport, the real competition is always (and has always been) against yourself and no one else.

Regardless of the opponent... are you doing the very best that you are capable of doing according to your ability?

4:13