BOB KNIGHT MINI-CLINIC

Coach talks through a 4 on 4 scrimmage and why it is better than 3 on 3

(Thanks iHoops)

WHERE WILL YOU BE TOMORROW?

Our thoughts and our actions determine our destiny, and our destiny determines our legacy. You are today... where your thoughts have brought you, and you will be tomorrow, where your thoughts and actions take you.

(Thanks John Maxwell)

THOUGHTS FROM THE BENCH

“It’s better to be prepared for an opportunity that never presents itself, than to be unprepared for one that does.”
- Alan Stien 

“Adversity is part of life's curriculum. How you bounce back from it determines your grade.”
- Coach Bru

“Saying you want to get better is too vague. Unless you are clear on what "better" is, you will never achieve it. Define it to achieve it.”
- Mark Fritz

4:13

WHY ARE YOU PLAYING?

There is nothing special about wanting to win, every single team (and every player) wants to win. But very-very few of those teams (or players) have figured out the secret to winning.

Championships aren't won by accident. Championship teams win because they focus on the important stuff. They understand that when they walk into the gym, it is all about business. They take the floor with an intense focus on improvement. There is no time for goofing around, save that for your driveway. The best teams practice with purpose. They have a plan and work on those specific things that they will likely encounter during a game. They practice game-like skills at game-like speed.

Are you playing to win... or are you just playing?

(Thanks Matt Grahn)

DON'T CHOKE UNDER PRESSURE

Are you suffocating your talent?  Do you get so stressed that it makes you tighten up before big games?  Can't play loose or with a lot of confidence?

What's wrong?

If this is happening to you, just remember this: "keep it simple" - This game is simple, shooting and passing is simple, having this state of mind lets you play free and with balance.

When you're in a slump everything seems so complicated, but in reality it's really not.  Consistently remind yourself of just how simple this game really is and focus on the small things you can do to help your team win.  Things like boxing out, playing solid defense and diving on loose balls.  If you focus on the small things, the bigger things will come.

(Thanks iAthletes)

HABITS

“I believe you can never change a habit, or create one, with a word or piece of chalk.  You can talk all day, put all sorts of diagrams on the board, but a habit is not going to change.  It’s a conditioned reflex, created by a repetitive act.  Coaches say, “Stay down low, you gotta get low, but that doesn’t mean a thing if the hid hasn’t physically practiced how to stay low.  Habits are created through physical acts.”


From "A Good Man: The Pete Newell Story" by Bruce Jenkins

(Thanks Coach Starkey)

TURN YOUR "I WISH" INTO YOUR "I WILL"

Far too often, players waste time daydreaming about the type of player they want to become.  And that's usually as far as it gets, just daydreaming.

If players spent the same amount of time per day practicing to be the player they want to become... as they spend daydreaming of being that player, the court would be full of great ballers.

The first step to actually becoming a great player is to turn your "I wish" into your "I WILL."

No more blaming your circumstances.  No more blaming your coach.  No more blaming others.  No more blaming your schedule.  No more excuses - period!  Not today - not ever again!  From this point point forward, decide that whenever you are challenged you will respond with "what am I going to do about it?" and follow that up with "I WILL."

Success is the byproduct of determined & focused effort.  If it were really that easy... you would already be great.  Use this moment, right now, as your starting point!

4:13

SEEK CONTACT... DON'T AVOID IT

Although basketball is more of a finesse sport than football, basketball is still a contact sport.  Unlike football, there are no blitzing linebackers looking to separate your head from your body, but you, as an offensive player should have the attacking mentality.  Rather than working to avoid contact – you should actively seek to make contact with the defensive player guarding you.

As an offensive player with the basketball, you want to have an attack mindset and operate in straight lines, not loops and arcs.  Too often, players allow defensive contact to force their penetration off their line of attack.  This happens because the skill is not consolidated by athletes.  Basketball players aren't used to constant contact, nor having to play through the contact an entire game.

(Thanks Lyndsey Fennelly)

DO YOU HAVE IT?

It is leased by many, owned by none, and understood by few.  It is nearly invisible at its strongest, but obvious to all when absent.  Everybody has a little, but few have enough.  It is developed rather than learned.  It is not a physical skill, but rather is a state of mind.  

What is it?  Poise.

Poise is an emotional peace which is seemingly inconsistent with the challenge at hand.

Poise provides us with the ability to remain focused on our objective rather than aimlessly gazing at distractions.  As our temptation to become distracted intensifies, our needed amount of poise increases.  It is impossible to have too much poise.

Poise lessens the impact of pressure.  Poise is the buffer which prevents pressure from damaging our performance.  There is little, if any, correlation between talent and poise.  We all can develop poise if it is perceived as important and worthwhile to do so.

Poise provides us with the opportunity to do our best.  Without poise, distractions will serve to detract from our performance.  You and your teammates must develop poise in order to make any sincere effort toward achieving meaningful objectives.  Anything other than our best is not acceptable.  Poise is a necessary component to any pursuit within a competitive environment.

(Thanks Coaching Toolbox)

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

One of the main keys to success is to know and understand your strengths and weaknesses, and to play within the framework of what you do well.  Came across a short article by Kevin Eastman that echoes this thought.

Whatever you are, that’s how your team has to play night in and night out in order to win games.  Every team has an identity that has been established based on that group of players that year.  If you have an established program, you may be fortunate to be that team every year.

With the Celtics, we are a defensive team.  Most of the time we’re a team that will win because of defense.  If our defense is what it should be and what we work on every day, then we will always be in the game regardless of how our offense is that night.  But we have found that if our defense is below our standards, we will often find ourselves in a game that’s tough for us to win.  Calling on our offense to bail us out is not something we want to rely on.

(Thanks Kevin Eastman)

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

"Competitive excellence requires 100% all of the time. Ever tracked the consequences of "almost but not quite?"
- Charles Swindoll

"Be Confident, not cocky. It's a thin line, but the origin and destination of the two are very different."

- Tony Gaskins

"Good competitors make mistakes. Bad competitors repeat them."

- Coach DeForest

"Appreciate the value of a worthy opponent! 'He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves & sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.' - Burke

- Tony Robbins

ARE YOU A MASTER CHEF?

A good training program [or building a successful team] is a lot like a cooking a stew.  Everyone puts in the same basic ingredients, and adds their special herbs and spices.  The great chefs [coaches] get the proportions right, and stir and simmer until the stew reaches perfection. …

Amateurs chefs [weak or self-serving coaches] buy the same stuff at the supermarket, but they produce slop, not stew.  What’s the difference?  They toss the right ingredients into the pot, but they haven't yet mastered the proportions, spices, and cooking time…

(Thanks Rick Allison of Lone Star Basketball & Peak Performance's Amby Burfoot)

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

The Motivation of Wanting to Prove Someone Wrong
My stepfather often told me I wasn’t going to amount to anything but he wasn’t the only one.  Two of my UCLA teammates tried to discourage me.  After being selected to try out for the 1972 Olympic team, one teammate told me he felt sorry for me because I was going to get my butt kicked. 

One week before leaving for Virginia, where I was about to begin my rookie year as a professional, I was playing pick-up basketball in the old gym at UCLA.  I got in an argument with a player who had graduated two years before and was already an NBA star.  We exchanged words.  He threw down the trump card when he said, “I don’t care who the current center is on the Virginia Squires. You’ll never beat him out. And you’ll never lead that league in rebounding.”  That year, I was Rookie of the Year and the next year I led the ABA in rebounding.  I would like to say, “Thank You,” to both of my fellow Bruins.

Those players who end up being really successful, don't just play the game.  They are motivated.  Are you just playing... or do you have something to prove?

(Thanks Swen Nater)

HOW TO HANDLE A PROBLEM PLAYER

Before the draft, most agreed that DeMarcus Cousins was the most gifted player in the draft. The hang up? His head. Scouts and general managers all over wondered if he was simply immature or if he had the potential to be one of the league's newest head cases.

So far, it's looking like the latter.

Against the Warriors Tuesday night with the Kings (who are 5-21, mind you) holding a five-point lead with about 20 seconds left, Golden State's Reggie Williams missed a free throw. Cousins walked off his low block position, put his hand to his throat and made a pretty clear choking gesture directed at Williams. What happened next is what made this kind of a big deal. The Kings ended up the chokers, blowing the lead capped by a Vladamir Radmanovic 3-pointer to send the game to overtime where naturally, Sacramento lost.

Long story-short... Kings coach Paul Westphal said Cousins has been fined and benched until he grows up and acts more "professional." "It’s unprofessional, childish, embarrassing and it won’t be tolerated," Westphal told reporters.

Cousins, on the gesture: "It was immature. I was caught up in the game and let my emotions get the best of me and shouldn’t have done it. But if I would have did it and we won it probably wouldn’t have had the same consequences afterward."

Cousins obviously has some stuff to learn. He's been criticized a bit this season already for being lazy and has been kicked out of a few practices for different issues.

(Thanks Royce Young, CBS Sports)

---------------------------------------

Some say Westphal is overreacting with his punishment (benching & fine). But having had one of these "problem players" in the past, I know all too well the distractions and negative chemistry a player like that can bring to a team, and I applaud Westphal for trying to nip this one in the bud immediately... which is what I wish I would have done as well.

4:13

HOW WELL DO YOUR PLAYERS LISTEN?

"Down 17 fairly late in game. Called timeout and said that Kenyon Martin had to touch the ball on every possession. If anyone shoots before Kenyon touches it, he won’t play again. Started rallying, getting stops, scoring. Cut the lead way down. Trimmed the lead to just 2 points. Get a steal with time running out and pass it down the court to Dermar Johnson. Johnson stops at the free throw line and holds the ball. Everyone is screaming for him to lay it up. Then Huggins realizes that Johnson must think that they are ahead. Finally, he goes ahead and makes the layup to tie the game and send it to overtime. They go ahead and win in OT. As Huggins and Johnson walk down the tunnel to do media, Huggins asks Johnson why he waited so long before he shot the layup. Johnson said, “I couldn’t remember if Kenyon had touched the ball yet, and I want to play!!”

(Thanks Coaching Clinic)

A MESSY GYM IS A SIGN OF A MESSY COACH

After a UCLA practice, we turned our basketball shoes into the equipment manager so they could place them on a rack to dry. In exchange for the shoes, each of us received a small plastic bottle of orange juice. Coach Wooden believed in a little Vitamin C after a workout. Then we headed to training table which was a five-minute walk to a room next to the cafeteria.

On one occasion, I was following Coach. Just ahead of him was an empty orange juice bottle lying on the ground next to a trash can. One of the players had been a little careless. Coach picked it up and put it into the receptacle.

At training table, Coach addressed the team. “Now all of you know that I’m sixty years old. My back isn’t what it used to be. On the way down here, one of you players - obviously not a good shooter - missed the trash can with an orange juice bottle. I want to save my back so, if I find one more like that, we’re not going to have orange juice the rest of the season.”

I loved that O.J. so, from that moment on, I made it a point to leave for training table before Coach did and look for orange juice containers that didn’t make it in the receptacle. I didn’t find any bottles, but I did find myself picking up a piece of trash or two and putting them in their proper place.

(Thanks Swen Nater, UCLA)

WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED ON?

I get a variety of newsletters and emails from various coaches and programs each week, and the one I look forward to the most is from Dr. Kevin Elko.  Dr. Elko is one of the most requested motivational and success speakers in the country and has worked with numerous sports programs including the Miami Dolphins and the Alabama and Florida State football programs.


His latest newsletter does a great job of pointing out the importance of focusing on the spiritual side of sports, not just the physical.


The book of Exodus has the story of Moses going to the warrior Joshua to tell him to fight the Amalekites with the sword in the valley while he goes up on the mountain to raise his hands to the sky.  As the fight is being carried out, Joshua is winning by the sword until Moses tires and drops his hands.  Then Aaron and Hur hurry up the mountain to help Moses raise his hands.  Joshua eventually wins by the sword.  With this story one can see that to win, there are two fronts: the physical, or the fighting with the sword; and spiritual, or the raising of the hands.  Without both you will not win.


I have been around a lot of college and pro football teams that will tell you, when the players do not trust the coach, or the coach does not trust the players, it does not matter how hard the team practices or plays, they will get beat.  That lack of trust poisons the team and ends up pulling down the raised hands toward the heavens.

You can work hard and do all the right things, but if your focus, motivation and spirit are not right, you’re just going through the motions.  You are cheating yourself and your team.

There is more to winning than what you see: believing good things will happen, believing in people around you, although not perfect, and seeing good and knowing that there is a plan that will work.  This raising of the hands matters every bit as much as the physical part.

(Thanks Dr. Kevin Elko)

WHY IS IT THAT....

Watched a great high school tourney game last night and noticed a handful of teaching moments...

Why is it that most inbounding teams, especially if being pressed, will waste a lot of energy (and show their hand) jockeying for position back and forth with their opponent...BEFORE the ref ever hands the ball to the inbounder?

Why is it that players always try and save the ball as it's going out of bounds... under their OPPONENT'S basket?

Why is it that players want to dribble out of a trap situation (double or triple team) instead of passing out of the trap where their team will have an obvious numbers advantage?

Why is it that so few players truly understand the proper use of speed?  Playing at one speed makes you easy to guard.

Why is it that when a defender turns their head (eyes) away from their man, their man doesn't take advantage of that and move to get open, but instead just stands there?

4:13

DEFINE "BAD SHOOTER"

A "Bad Shooter" is a player who takes ill-advised shots at ill-advised times... shots that are usually off-balance, rushed or out of range. Bad shots usually turn into defensive rebounds.

4:13

DOING THE "LITTLE THINGS" TO HELP YOUR TEAM WIN

I have ALWAYS been a huge fan of Manu Ginobili because of the little things he does to help his team win and a great example was at the end of last night's game against the Nuggets.

WHAT NOT TO DO IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CALL

In a game between Florida high school teams Arcadia DeSoto and Port Charlotte, DeSoto's Mason Holland shoved a Port Charlotte player, and then, after a technical foul was called on him, went ballistic and threw the referee to the floor.  Holland was kicked off the team the following day.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

I thought that I had seen it all until I watched this earlier this morning...



This 6-foot-3 freak of nature from Arkansas is only 11 and he's already making it thunderclap middle school gymnasium rims. His name is Adrian Moore and he's already considered the top college prospect for the class of 2016. As if we need to remind you, that's nearly half a decade away.   

REDUCING ACL INJURIES

A new study from UC Davis shows that changes in training can reduce shear forces on knee joints and could help cut the risk of developing ACL tears.

"We focused on an easy intervention, and we were amazed that we could reduce shear load in 100 percent of the volunteers," said David Hawkins, professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior at UC Davis. Hawkins conducted the study at the UC Davis Human Performance Laboratory with graduate student Casey Myers.

Hawkins and Myers worked with 14 female basketball players from UC Davis and local high schools. They fitted them with instruments and used digital cameras to measure their movements and muscle activity, and calculated the forces acting on their knee joints as they practiced a jump-stop movement, similar to a basketball drill.

First, they recorded the athletes making their normal movement. Then they instructed them in a modified technique: Jumping higher to land more steeply; landing on their toes; and bending their knees more deeply before taking off again.

After learning the new technique, all 14 volunteers were able to reduce the force passed up to the knee joint through the leg bone (the tibial shear force) by an average of 56 percent. At the same time, the athletes in the study actually jumped an inch higher than before, without losing speed.

Hawkins recommends warm-ups that exercise the knee and focusing on landing on the toes and balls of the feet. The study does not definitively prove that these techniques will reduce ACL injuries, Hawkins said: that would require a full clinical trial and follow-up. But the anecdotal evidence suggests that high tibial shear forces are associated with blown knees.

(Thanks Dan Peterson, University of California Davis – Health System)

DON'T HIDE FROM THE BALL

AVAILABILITY:  One of the chief assets of a good player is the ability to play the game constantly available to the ball.  A player who is constantly available defuses a lot of potentially troublesome situations, and prevents a lot of teammates' turnovers.

Good players ask themselves constantly, "Can the ball be thrown to me now WITH NO PROBLEM?"  Many players have a tendency to "hide" or not come hard to the ball, thereby making passes to them difficult to throw.  Or players have a tendency to wait until a teammate is double-teamed and in real trouble before it ever occurs to them to try to help out by running for the ball.  A good player will sense the trouble BEFORE it happens.

Good players always expect to facilitate things by being available for a pass-- an easy pass, not a great, needle-threading pass.

Don't wait for the ball to come to you.  Always be in a position where the ball can be thrown to you easily.  Never stand forty feet from the ball and watch the action.  Even when you are cleared out on the weakside, you should still be just a step or two away from the lane, about to break in anytime an opening or opportunity presents itself.

(Thanks Rick Allison, excerpt from Dick DeVenzio’s book “STUFF Good Players Should Know”)

RELAX... IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY

One thing in basketball (and in life) that we can always count on is that there will occasionally be difficult periods we have to go through.  Whether it’s a shooting slump, a game with an unusually high amount of turnovers, or maybe it’s reduced playing time, etc.  These things happen during a season and we should not only expect it, but we should also be mentally prepared for it when it happens.

Rather than getting frustrated with the situation and allowing it to turn into negative energy… we need to realize two things…

First, the difficulty you are experiencing is probably temporary and very correctable.  Don’t allow temporary circumstances to impact your teammates in a negative way through your attitude.  It’s not uncommon to watch a player struggling with their shot to show signs of frustration and mentally take themselves out of the game (which hurts their team).  The most common way they do so is by allowing that frustration to get them into foul trouble.  Instead, players should focus their energy on helping in other ways.  Better defensive effort, setting screens, winning the hustle plays, etc.

Second, you must try and be mentally tough until you navigate a way out of the difficult period.  Don’t over-analyze every single little detail until you’re not really sure what the problem is.  Instead, tell your coach what you are struggling with and ask for some advice… and be willing to following the advice.

(Thanks Dick DeVenzio)