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)

POST: THE DROP STEP

ARE YOU SCARED OF THE OPEN ROAD?

I was driving on a very dangerous two-lane highway in India. More than eight hours of death-defying horror... Our driver aggressively tailgated whatever car, truck or horse was in front of us, and then passed as soon as he was able (and sometimes when he wasn't). What amazed me, though, was what he did during those rare times when there wasn't a car in front of us, just open road.


He didn't speed up. In fact, it seemed as though he slowed down.  He was comfortable with the competitive nature of passing (I may not be fast, but I'm faster than you), and he was petrified of the open road and the act of choosing his own speed.


Are you doing the same things with your playing or coaching career? Most of us need competition to tell us how fast to go.

(Thanks Seth Godin)

FRIDAY QUOTES

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
- W.M. Lewis

“What actually matters most is getting started. You cannot achieve what you don't start.”
- Mark Fritz

“Don't stand there deciding and then shoot..Anytime you have stood there deciding, decide not to shoot.”
- Rick Allison

"Make sure your players understand the importance of shot selection. There is a BIG difference between a "missed" shot and a "bad" shot."
- Ty Farris

"Greatness is not born... it's grown”
- Daniel Coyle

“1 bad shot= 1 bad shot 2 bad shots = bad shooter 3 bad shots = bad coach”
- Coach Meyer

"Strength is the knowledge of your weaknesses."
- Tony Gaskins

“You should know the time AND THE SCORE at all times. Look up every time the clock stops and make sure it sinks in.”
- Rick Allison (via Dick Devenzio)

“All teams talk about "what it takes to win"; make sure they know "what it takes to lose" as well; know what gets you beat with your team!”
- Kevin Eastman

KING JAMES OR SPOILED JAMES?

Came across an interesting story (link) on the hidden side of LeBron that few of us get to see.  
This story reinforces my belief that coaches, especially lower level coaches, should hold their star athletes accountable to the "team first" concept, regardless of how talented they may be.
When coaches care more about their win-loss record than developing young impressionable minds into athletes of character, the athlete loses.

(Thanks Rick Allison Lone Star Basketball)

WHEN TALENTED ATHLETES "HIT THE WALL"

Have been reading some great stuff from Daniel Coyle (The Talent Code) lately and came across this little nugget that explains why so many young “hot-shots” seem to hit a wall and never get any better.

“A nice case study is found in the story of Debbie Phelps and her three kids – Michael (yes, that Michael Phelps) and his older sisters, Whitney and Hilary.

Growing up in suburban Baltimore, Whitney and Hilary were prodigial swimmers. Whitney was a national champion at 14. According to one of their coaches, Whitney and Hilary possessed more talent than Michael ever had. Debbie was the very image of an involved sports mom – celebrating each of Whitney and Hilary’s successes with great enthusiasm.

Then, as happens with so many, Whitney and Hilary hit the Prodigy Wall. They got really good, but couldn’t get any better. They couldn’t crack through.

Michael comes along. He’s really good — nearly as talented as his sisters. And when Michael was 15, he set a new American record at an out-of-town meet. As Michael traveled back to Baltimore, Mother Debbie did the instinctive thing – she festooned the house with balloons, streamers, and yard signs commemorating his remarkable feat.

But then something unusual happened. A few hours before Michael arrived, Michael’s coach, Bob Bowman, came to the house and removed all the streamers. He popped the balloons. He pulled down the signs. And he threw it all into the trash.

When Debbie Phelps saw what Bowman had done, she was understandably upset – why was he doing this? Didn’t he understand that this was a big moment, a time to celebrate?

Bowman let her protest. Then he told her, “This is a journey of a thousand steps. If we celebrate now, like this, that leaves us nowhere to go.”

(Thanks Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code)

BAD HABIT #1: IGNORE YOUR MISTAKES

Many top performers are obsessive about critically reviewing their performances – either on videotape or with a coach or teacher.
A good example of this is Bill Robertie, who’s a world-class poker player, world champ in backgammon, and a grand master in chess. Robertie reviews every game obsessively—even the ones he wins—searching for tiny mistakes, critiquing his decisions, breaking it down. The same is true of many top athletes, musicians, comedians, etc.

In the book The Mundanity of Excellence (by Daniel Chambliss), Chambliss makes a powerful case that top performers aren’t great because of any overarching superiority, but rather because they do a lot of ordinary things very well. They pay attention to detail. They make each repetition count. They seek small, incremental improvements one at a time, every single day. And these little habits, over time, add up to great performance.

(Thanks Daniel Coyle, Author of The Talent Code)

IT ONLY WORKS IF YOU USE IT

Players rarely use a weapon that works just about every time in a game... the fake.  Thought I'd drop this short video clip on Kobe's signature fake.

SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE

"I've said it pretty often over the years: As far as head coaches go, I have the easiest job in the league, because of [Duncan]," Popovich said.  "I mentioned how coachable he is and how he accepts what we do.  His ability to welcome other people into the program, to keep the standard where it's at, to set the example, and to do it, basically in an unobtrusive way."  

Duncan has helped Popovich win 751 games and four championships.  The reason their partnership has worked so well is because Popovich can coach Duncan... in other words, Duncam allows himself to be coached.

(Thanks J.A. Adande, ESPN.com)