Feel Sorry for Winners
When the scoreboard says 91-9 or something similar, I feel sorry for the winners, not the losers.
Coaching Youth Basketball
Coaching youth basketball is many times a volunteer service. Coaches don’t get paid or at least not enough to make it their full-time job. Teams might practice one or two days a week for an hour. Games are every Saturday for a couple of months. It’s not that serious, right? Let’s even say middle school […]
How Much Do We Love?
Donald Miller gives a great perspective on love. I don’t know if he knows anything about basketball or coaching, but he gives us something to think about. “But love doesn’t control, and I suppose that’s why it’s the ultimate risk. In the end, we have to hope the person we’re giving our heart to won’t […]
The Process: Conclusion Part 6
The process is so important in the development of our players and our team. We talk about the process with our players. We want them to practice hard. We want them to get better with every repetition. We want them to focus on the task at hand no matter what it is. Do we live […]
The Process: The Bridge Part 5
This topic of knowledge vs. action is extremely interesting to me. The most interesting part is that little “vs.” that’s in the middle. It’s that bridge. It’s that link between the two that is actually not so little at all. In fact, it’s quite a gap that most people ever truly fill. It’s that process […]
The Process: The Engineer Part 4
As a coach, I am an engineer. I’m not designing buildings or aircraft carriers. I’m engineering people. When it comes to sports specifically, I’m trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between a player’s knowledge and their ability to execute what they know in any situation. Speaking of bridges, ridges are engineering phenomenons. […]
The Process: The Ingredients Part 3
The process of turning knowledge into action is like a recipe. Turning information into action requires certain ingredients and certain instructions. The instructions may be different for each individual person, but the ingredients are the same in every situation. This list of ingredients is by no means comprehensive, but I think these are as essential […]
The Process: Knowledge vs Action Part 2
To know or to act. To be or to seem. This topic seems to be at the heart of success, on and off the court. We all know what we should do, yet many times we do not. Sometimes it’s because we cannot. Sometimes it’s because we try and fail. Sometimes we just don’t do […]
The Process: Knowledge vs. Action Part 1
The Obvious Most of us know what to do. Do we put that into action? So many coaches and players like talking about “The Process.” This is not a commentary on Joel Embid. This is literally about the process of becoming great, whether in playing basketball, coaching basketball or any area of life. I would […]
You’re the President
You’re the President, like it or not. A coaching colleague introduced me to The West Wing. At that time, it was only on DVD. Now, it’s on Netflix. It’s a fictional series about life in the White House. I have watched all 7 seasons and I’m going back through it again. It’s that good. I […]