DON'T ALLOW YOUR OFF-SEASON GOALS TO FAIL

Why do so many people fail at their new year’s resolution?  Research shows 78% fail at achieving their January goals by February, but why and what does this have to do with basketball?

Here are the results on why they failed: No structured plan, lack of motivation or discipline, not fully committed to the cause and tried to make too big of strides instead of small successful steps.

The same thinking goes for your off-season resolutions, so many players have big plans to really improve this off season, but in the past so many don’t make the strides they envisioned, why?

They don’t have a structured plan of attack.  Break your goals into simple tasks and step by step achieve those, reward yourself and never lose sight of that goal.

Here’s a concrete example:

For instance, if your goal one day is to make 50 out of 100 FT's (in a row), and you have never hit over 20 in a row, then first strive for 21. Once you hit 21, reward yourself and the next day strive for 25 and so on until you hit 50.

This type of mentality and thoughtful process is what it takes to make the personal skill development improvements you want to. Take it slow, work hard and have a plan.

(Thanks Danny of iAthletes)

STAY IN THE MIDDLE

You feel pretty good after a huge scoring outburst, right?  It's always nice to score 30 points, everything went your way and things just seemed to flow so naturally for you, you were "in the zone"...does this sound familiar?
Pretty awesome feeling right?
On the other hand, you feel awful after a terrible game in which you scored 2 points, your team lost and your shot wasn't falling at all...this should bring back a terrible feeling you once had?
Has this dynamic ever happened to you?
A huge lesson I had to learn was that I was never as good as my 35 point games and I was never as bad as my 2 point games...I was somewhere in the middle and that was something I had to understand. The true lesson to learn here is that consistency reigns in basketball and the more consistent you are the better off you will be. The faster you find "your middle" the more comfortable and confident your game will be.
Never get to high on yourself and never get to down on yourself, strive for excellence and your"somewhere in the middle" will be just fine!

(Thanks Danny from iAthletes)

WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOUR BRAND?

What are your favorite brands? 
Nike? Apple? Facebook? BMW? Vitamin Water? 

What traits come to mind when you think about your favorite brands? 
Elite? Durable? Stylish? Performance? Quality?

Do you consider people to be brands?  Well they are!  The most obvious is Michael Jordan (heck, his company is called the Jordan Brand).  What about Donald Trump, Jay-Z, and LeBron James?  Do you consider them brands?  I certainly do.  Why?  Because the characteristics that come to mind when you think of them as individuals are automatically associated with the product they endorse. Make sense?  You won’t see Donald Trump endorsing Wrangler Jeans.

If you want to be successful, both on and off the court, you need to start viewing yourself as a brand as well.  Think of it as “brand you.”  Everything you do affects your brand in some way (either positively or negatively).  The way you dress, the way you act, and even the way you play.


You need to take your brand very seriously if you want to make it to the top.  And just to clarify, I believe in being authentic.  I am not telling you to act like someone else or to try to please others just for the sake of it.  You need to be real.  You need to be genuine.  You need to believe in your own brand, and equally important, set the standards of your brand.  You need to decide what characteristics you find most important and then live up to them every day of your life.

Is your goal to play college basketball?  Then carry yourself as if you already do!  Hold yourself to the same standard of excellence as an elite college basketball player would… now… don’t wait.  Carry yourself with the same honor, character, humbleness and work ethic as college superstars Evan Turner (Ohio State) or Wesley Johnson (Syracuse).  Those two represent everything that is right with college basketball.  Evan and Wesley know the importance of their brand. And now both are surefire lottery picks. 


(Thanks Alan Stein)

ARE YOU DONE GROWING AS A PLAYER?

"We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." 

- Max DePree

HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU?

"Success is fully available to anyone who decides to make the effort and the commitment." 


- Pat Chovan

DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL

You can't force someone to be an effective leader or to make the right choices. A coach sees potential and then works to develop it. Patience is an important part of the process.


4:13

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK

A great story about the importance of being a part of a team from Coach Jim Tressel's "The Winners Manual."


A man became lost whole driving through the country. As he tried to read a map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn’t injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. Seeing a farmhouse just down the road, the man walked over to ask for help.


“Warwick can get you out of the ditch,” the farmer said, pointing to an old mule standing in a field.


The man looked at the haggard mule, and then looked back at the farmer, who just stood there nodding.


“Yep, old Warwick can do the job.”


The man figured he had nothing to lose, so the two men and Warwick made their way back to the ditch.


After the farmer hitched the old mule to the car, he snapped the reins and shouted, “Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull Warwick!”


With very little effort, the lone mule pulled the car from the ditch. The man was amazed.


He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, “Why did you call out all those other names before you called Warwick?”


The farmer grinned and said, “Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he’s part of a team, he doesn’t mind pulling.”


(Thanks Coach Starkey)

DON'T SPREAD THE EMBARRASSMENT

“Players always want to blame someone else or circumstances out of their control for their problems. It’s an embarrassing state. Many of today’s players don’t want to be embarrassed, so they spread the embarrassment. The coach didn’t play him enough or he didn’t get enough shots or he has a banged up finger. You find a way not to accept the blame. The better players learn to say, ‘I played bad, but tomorrow I’ll play better.’ A lot of younger players are afraid to admit they have bad nights, but everybody has bad nights and it’s how you rebound from those bad nights that dictates what kind of player you are going to be.”

- Michael Jordan, USA Today Interview
(Thanks Coach Starkey)

MAY 1st RETRO RELEASE

Two days from now, the release of the “Silver Anniversary” Air Jordan 11 Retro will hit retailers.  This is one of the most popular Jordan's ever released and this is one great balling shoe.

LIKE WATCHING A TRAIN WRECK IN ACTION

I've been around the game for a long time and have seen my fair share of great players, but watching Manu Ginobili (Spurs) play is like watching a train wreck about to happen... you can't take your eyes off of it because you know something spectacular is about to happen.

The guy is the epitome of a warrior.  He never takes a second off and he plays every play as if that one play will decide the game.


In last night's Spurs 4-point win over the Mavs, Ginobili took a crushing elbow to the nose early in the 4th quarter.  Not only did it break his nose, it was cut deeply.  The trainers took him to locker room to get the bleeding to stop, and a mere four minutes later, Ginobili ran back out onto the court and scored 11 of his 14 points and made an amazing wrap around pass to Hill to help drive the nail in the Dallas coffin.

If high school players want a true role model to base their game on, there's none better than Ginobili.

4:13

ARE YOU A MOMENTUM MAKER... OR BREAKER?

A train travelling 55 mph on a railroad track can crash through a 5-foot thick steel-reinforced concrete wall without stopping.  That same train, starting from a stationary position, won't be able to go through an inch-thick block of concrete placed in front of the engine.

It is never the size of your problem that is the problem.  It's a lack of momentum.  Without momentum, even a tiny obstacle can prevent you from moving forward.  With momentum, you'll navigate through problems and barely even notice them.

Every member of the team has a responsibility to understand momentum, and understand how their words and actions affect the momentum of the team.  Your goal should be to keep the train at 55 and sustain the momentum!

4:13

(Thanks John Maxwell & Coach Starkey)  

TO FOUL OR NOT TO FOUL, THAT IS THE QUESTION

According to an analysis provided by Synergy Sports Technology, the situation of whether to foul with a 3-point lead with less than 10 seconds on the clock, presented itself 165 times in the last two NBA seasons.  The conclusion?

Although coaches debate the strategy of fouling intentionally, most rarely do.  Teams deliberately fouled in only 19 of those instances. (One team tried to foul but was unable to because of ball movement.)  No team fouled with a second or less remaining.  Teams that deliberately fouled won 17 of the 19 games in regulation and lost once.  Teams won all 14 of the games in which they purposefully fouled with five seconds or less to play.  One game went to overtime, and the team that fouled when leading in regulation won.

So, when to foul?  With less than 15 seconds?  Less than 10?  Less than five?  Always, sometimes, never?  For coaches, it is a puzzle with no correct answer, only opportunities for regret."

(Thanks Jonathan Abrams and Howard Beck of The New York Times)

SWAG OVERLOAD

“Talent is God given.  Be humble.  Fame is man-given.  Be grateful.  Conceit is self-given.  Be careful.”

- John Wooden

HAVE YOU ASKED YOURSELF?

Many players will fail to reach their full potential because they are afraid to ask themselves the tough questions. Tough questions usually have tough answers that we really don’t like to hear.

Are you reaching your full potential as a player?
If not… why?

4:13

SUCCESS REQUIRES INVESTMENT

We hear a lot of teams talk about teamwork and about comaraderie and togetherness, and how important it is to achieving success, but few teams truly understand what it takes to come together as a group with one shared vision and actually achieve that success.

The key to success is for every member of the team, from the best player all the way down to the team manager, to have a “shared ownership” in the pursuit of the goal.  Shared ownership means that you can’t have “renters” on your team (players with only part-time comittment).

Shared ownership means every member of the team, from top to bottom, must take a shared responsibility for the ultimate success or failure of the team.

Success requires investment.

4:13

J SIGNATURE SHOES TO NikelD?

Just recently NikeiD celebrated a decade of providing consumers the ability to have a one of a kind footwear experience.  Since it’s inception there have been many anxiously waiting for the Air Jordan series to make it’s way to the service.

While Steve Jobs was showing off the new iPhone 4.0 OS experience including mobile ads, several new apps were on display including what appears to be Jordan Brand’s latest move in technology.  Besides the History of Flight story being told through the app, it appears that the Air Jordan 2010 will be available to multitask with the NikeiD application.

Nothing at this point has been confirmed by Jordan Brand publicly about the Air Jordan 2010 making its way to NikeiD, but will this be the catalyst to gain more acceptance for the new silhouette?  This would in fact be the first model from the flagship to make its way to NikeiD.

(Thanks Gizmodo)

HEART IS WHAT SEPARATES GOOD FROM GREAT

Some people want everything to be perfect before they’re willing to commit themselves to anything.  But commitment always precedes achievement.

I am told that in the Kentucky Derby, the winning horse effectively runs out of oxygen after the first half mile, and he goes the rest of the way on heart.  That’s why all great athletes recognize its importance.  NBA Legend Michael Jordan explains that “heart is what separates the good from the great.”  If you want to make a difference in other people’s lives as a leader, look into your heart to see if you’re really committed.

-John Maxwell
From, "The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader"
(Thanks Coach Starkey)

GREAT QUOTES

"These are my shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make handsome like me.  They'll only make you have shoes like me."
- Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns


"When Michael Jordan scored 69 points, I knew I would always remember it as the night Michael and I combined for 70 points."
- Stacey King, Chicago Bulls


"Fans never fall asleep at our games, because they're afraid they'll get hit with a pass."
- George Raveling, Former College Coach

MICHAEL JORDAN ON TEAMWORK

“I have no individual goals,” said Jordan. “We play for one reason and that’s to win the title. Practice is more important than the games, and I will practice when I’m hurt, when 95 percent of the players in this league would sit out. I expect all of you to do the same thing. You will follow my lead.”

“I didn’t want to give up, no matter how sick I was, or how tired I was, or how low on energy I was,” Jordan said. “I felt an obligation to my team, to the city of Chicago, to go out and five that extra effort.”

“Accept a loss as a learning experience,” said Jordan, “and never point fingers at your teammates.”

“There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and will never win titles,” explained Jordan. Most times, these players aren’t willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve.”


(Thanks Coach Starkey)

TO IMPROVE - YOU HAVE TO GET UNCOMFORTABLE

There is a very simple way to make your self significantly better immediately.  Play more like Steve Nash.

Simple. Do it!

I do not mean you should instantly acquire his shooting prowess, ball handling, vision, intelligence, leadership, etc.  What you should do is… Get uncomfortable.

Steve Nash is singular in his ability to play just on the edge of control.  If Steve Nash were to play just a bit faster, try anything more advanced, fake any more violently or search any more intently with his eyes, he would be overwhelmed and begin making so many mistakes he would be ineffective.  In every practice, drill and competition Steve Nash knows that if he is playing in a way that is comfortable, he is not improving and he is not doing the little things that set him apart from most athletes.

Allow me to give you a very simple example.  Play lower.  If most athletes were asked if it were beneficial to play lower at all times, they would generally answer yes.  Yet, as I observe athletes who claim to be serious about their improvement, I am - time and again - surprised at how poor most of them are at self analysis.  Most athletes respond to coaching observations by nodding, and then doing the thing they just did in exactly the same way.  I urge athletes to be lower on the catch, lower on the stop, lower on the dribble move, lower on defense, lower on the drive and lower on the rebound.  They agree, and then play like a gymnast posing after a beautiful dismount.

Why does this happen?  It is obviously difficult - a little uncomfortable - to play in a coiled, dynamic, and powerful stance.  The average athlete will forget, or lack the discipline it requires, to force themselves into this constant state of uncomfortable excellence.

Improvement requires constant evaluation by the stretch theory.  Stretch theory is this: stretch yourself as if you were a rubber band.  When you train, always be at the point of breaking, for at that moment you are at your most powerful.  When you are stretched to the point of snapping, that is when you have the most potential for great performance.

(Thanks Tyler Coston)

"A smart person knows that you learn first and decide next."

- Disney CEO Bob Iger

YOU CAN IF YOU WANT TO

The April 5th edition of ESPN the Magazine features an article by Ric Bucher about Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook titled “Early Riser/Late Bloomer.”

His high school coach, Reggie Morris, described the 9th-grade Westbrook as “deathly slow.” Most deathly slow 9th graders give up on any professional basketball aspirations and attribute their slowness to their genes, which they cannot change.

As the article explains, Westbrook never accepted his slowness and constantly worked to improve his speed and explosiveness. He did toe raises any time that he was in the shower or talking to a friend and performed hundreds of lunges in a sandbox. Even though he did not dunk until he was a senior in high school, Westbrook worked relentlessly, and now many view him as one of the NBA’s most athletic players.

Too many players give up on their athletic goals because they see a superstar and fail to see the same qualities and characteristics in themselves. However, comparing oneself to a professional athlete is unproductive. Rather than comparing, one should use the professional as a model to learn the qualities and skills that he needs to improve. If a player is skilled, but lacks athleticism, he needs to incorporate athletic training to reach his potential. Blaming fate or his genes for a lack of athletic gifts is an excuse, and once people have an excuse for why they cannot achieve a goal, they typically do not reach it.

Rather than make excuses, invest in yourself with time, energy and concentration and transfer the model from your mind to the court.

(Thanks Brian McCormick)

YOU HAVE THE POWER WITHIN YOU

You have no idea how strangely magical you are.

Most of us could never imagine the fire and promise we hold. We live in a culture that tells us to be “realistic.” That means dampen our enthusiasms and compromise our vision. We are encouraged to bow to the known world, and shun our unknown powers. But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to listen to our inspired hearts, spread our full feathers, and awaken the invincible power inside us. We’re here to discover, express, and unleash our true capacity.

Let nothing stop you.

(Thanks Tama J. Kieves)

HOW HIGH DO YOU WANT TO GO?

With spring and summer upon us, it's sometimes easy to want to “unplug” and just take a break for a while... problem is, the average athlete doesn't get plugged back-in until the team starts their preseason workouts. By then it's too late to accomplish any of the goals the athlete hoped to accomplish in the off-season.

Be Clear.
Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances.

The Three Keys to High Achievement
You could even say that the three keys to high achievement are, "Clarity, Clarity, Clarity," with regard to your goals. Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

Write and Rewrite Your Goals
The more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don't help to get the things you really want.

The Seven Step Process for Achieving Goals
Here, once more, is the simple, seven-step process that you can use to achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.

First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!

Second, write it down, clearly and in detail

Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;

Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;

Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;

Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!

Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

(Thanks Brian Tracy)

ALWAYS READY

“Bring it!” A statement we've all heard in sports, but too often, players today will talk a better game than they play. Only the best can even think about saying something like “BRING IT!” and still be able to back it up.

The best in the game have put in the time, energy, effort, thought, studying, and learning that allow them to be confident enough that they can back up their talk.

Read a quote from Michael Jordan when he was talking to the 1995 McDonalds High School All Stars. He said, “I hope all of you reach your NBA goals someday. I’ll be waiting and I’ll be ready!” Enough said.

For players, the lesson is to look deeper into what he said. He simply said that he has put in the hours, the sweat, the aches and pains to be prepared to take on all comers. He knows he’ll be ready because he understands what “ready” means!

With our most ambitious schedule yet for the 2010-11 season, will you be ready?

(Thanks Kevin Eastman)