The Bennett's- Foundation for Success

Tony Bennett is having great success at Virginia, he is using the same five concepts that his father used for the foundation of his program. When Virginia beat Syracuse during the regular season, after the game the reporter asked, "What is your team's greatest strength?" With a tear going down his cheek, Tony said, "Humility." It is no accident he chose humility, it is part of his and his father's basic philosophy!

“I concluded some time ago that a major part of success of a team, or of an individual, has a great deal to do with the intangible qualities possessed. The real key is in how a person see himself (humility), how he feels about what he does (passion), how he works with others (unity), how he makes others better (servanthood), and how he deals with frustration and success, truly learning from each situations (thankfulness). I believe those concepts are the essence of a good player, team, coach, or individual in any capacity in life.” Coach Dick Bennett

Don Meyers- Drive vs Dribble

Dribbling Ideas / Live Ball Moves / Penetration Ideas

from Don Meyer

• Dribble vs. Drive. We want our players to drive, but we don’t want them to dribble for no particular reason.
• We always ask our ball-handlers: “If the ball had eyes, would it be able to see when you had it?”
• On all dribbling drills (and as a general rule of thumb): Start slow, get a rhythm, go fast enough to make a mistake.
• Versus pressure in the full court, we teach our players to attack the defense at a 45 degree angle–very hard to guard.
• A good player needs no more than 1 or 2 dribbles to get from the wing to the rim. In all our breakdown drills, we don’t allow our players to use more than 2 dribbles to get to the rim, unless they are using a hesitation move, back dribble, etc. 

To Do List for Leaders

12 SIMPLE YET SIGNIFICANT DAILY TO DO’S FOR LEADERS

1. Be the hardest worker at practice today. Without fail, one of the quickest ways to impact a team is with your own work ethic. Choose to be one of the hardest workers on your team today. Not only does it set the tone for the work ethic of your program, it is also one of the best and quickest ways to enhance your leadership credibility with your teammates and coaches.

2. Be a spark of energy and enthusiasm today. Let your passion for the sport shine through today. Spread a contagious energy and enthusiasm amongst your teammates. Think about how lucky you are to be able to play and compete. Remember back to when you were a young child and reconnect with the joy you played with back then. Make your sport fun again for yourself and your teammates.

3. Model mental toughness today. Because your teammates will look to you under pressure, adversity, and stress, be sure to model mental toughness today. Bounce back quickly after errors to show your teammates how to respond to negative situations. Maintain your poise and optimism despite any mistakes you might make so that your teammates can trust and rely on you to get them through the tough times.

4. Connect with a teammate today. Leadership is all about relationships. Invest the time to build and strengthen the relationships you have with each of your teammates. Inquire about their day, challenges, and goals. Make a special and ongoing effort to get to know every athlete on your team, not just your friends and classmates. The relationship building you do each day will pay off immeasurably down the road.

Team Glue

Often in sports we get caught up looking at stats. Alan Stein in this essay looks at the "glue" of a team....

Glue Guy or Girl

by Alan Stein

Glue is an adhesive, and according to Webster’s Dictionary, the physics definition of adhesive is “a force that exists in the area of contact between unlike bodies and that acts to unite them.”

That’s a tad too scientific for me. Let’s just say that glue holds stuff together!

Who is the glue on your team? Who holds your team together? Who keeps your team focused? Who does all of the little things in practice and in games to make your team successful?

That person is a Glue Guy (or Glue Girl)!

How do you spot a Glue Guy? They are often seen:

• Taking charges
• Diving for loose balls
• Hitting crucial free throws
• Playing tough defense
• Setting solid screens
• Boxing out on every shot
• Cheering for their teammates

A Glue Guy doesn’t care about how many points they score or how many minutes they play. All they care about is theteam winning and knowing they did everything within their role to contribute to the team’s success (regardless of how large or small that role is).

Every team needs a Glue Guy. Every team needs a player who will make all of the sacrifices necessary to hold the teamtogether. Glue Guys are even more important during the playoffs.

If your Glue Guy is also your most talented player… I am willing to bet your team will maximize their potential.

If you want your team to make a serious run at a conference or league or state championship; I suggest you either say a sincere thank you to your team’s Glue Guy; or you become one yourself.

And for those of you who have already completed your season… Glue Guys are equally important in the off-season. After all, who else will hold your team together before the first practice of next season?

Play hard. Have fun. Enjoy the jouney.

Alan Stein
Hardwood Hustle Blog
http://www.About.me/AlanStein

Building Complete Player by Alan Stein

Great essay on building your game in off-season by Alan Stein...  

Must reading for players.

Building the Complete Player

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Alan Stein • 1 Comment

I realize that a small percentage of high school programs across the country are fortunate enough to still be playing… and in the hunt for a conference, district or state championship.  For those that are, I wish you a healthy and successful end to your season. I hope you can get that ring and hang that banner!

For those of you whose season has ended, it’s time for you to begin thinking about the spring and summer.

While most of you will scoff at the notion, I highly recommend you begin your ‘off-season’ by taking a full week or two off to rest, recover and recharge. Trust me, this recovery period is essential to your long-term success.

Once your battery is fully charged, it’s time for you to start re-building yourself as the complete basketball player.

And that starts by laying a solid foundation.

You see, your athleticism is the foundation of your entire game. That is why the best players in the world are in the best shape.

IBCA All-State

Congratulations to Sabrina Clay (Jr), and Shayli Florine (Soph) on receiving Special Mention All-State from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

Shayli averaged 8.2 rpg and 9.7ppg, while Sabrina averaged 8.1 rpg and 11.7ppg. It will be exciting to have both of them back next year.

"Got To Be Looking Forward"

The great thing about coaching high school is you always see young players coming up with potential. When you watch junior high players, they are always enthusiastic, play with passion, and have so much potential.

I always joke that whenever I go to a Churchill- Lombard game, somebody always says to me, "Coach, you have got to be excited about this group coming up." This year was no exception, I had three people say the exact version of this statement.

And I don't ever hesitate, "Yes, I am excited this group." That is why I am still coaching. It is easy to see the potential of the young players coming up.

Losing Human Interaction

The seeding for the Geneseo Regional were posted on the IHSA website yesterday. The results were:
1- Geneseo
2- Galesburg
3- Alleman
4- Dunlap
5- IVC

Before I begin to give my thoughts, let me make one thing clear-- based on IHSA seeding guidelines, Geneseo should have been the #1 seed, so that is not the issue of my thoughts.

Back in the old days, each coach attended the seeding meeting and you had to sit across a table and give your seeds. So if you were going to seed a team low, you had to say in front of that schools coach. In the years this method was used, there would be some times when one coach would raise a question about another coach's seeds. And then a coach had to defend their seeding. At one particular seeding meeting, a Peoria coach verbally attacked a coach from the Mid-Illini for the coach's seeding. It was heated and it had some profanity in it.

Jay Hatch- IBCA HOF

Congratulations to Coach Jay Hatch of Alleman on his selection to the IBCA Hall of Fame. Jay is most deserving of recognition. His teams have always been competitive. The highlight of his career was winning the Illinois State Title.

With 20+ years of service to Alleman, Jay is getting into the range of the Alleman legend, Don Morris who coached 30 years. Congratulations!!

Fulton High School

My brother sent this picture from the gym at Fulton High School, in Fulton Illinois. The banner at the ceiling is honoring my father's selection to the IBCA Basketball Hall of Fame. He coached in Fulton in the 1920's and '30's before moving to coach in Savanna in the '40's and '50's. It really appreciated that Fulton has chosen to recognize my father and to honor his memory!!

Mattoon- More Pictures

Three All-Tourney players.

Casey driving for big late basket vs. Salem.

First Year Coach

John Hanlon was captain of my first cross
country team in 1974. He was a ref at the
Mattoon Tourney this winter. 

My first coaching job at GHS was coaching boys cross country in the fall of 1974.

My understanding they had asked the last coach to leave over some conflicts. I was told one of three reasons was that he had chosen to purchase blue and gold sweats for the team, and blue and gold uniforms for the team. He was told if he wanted blue stuff to go coach at Quincy, Galesburg school colors were silver and gold with black.

You have to realize this was a different era, an era of great school pride, and of great dislike of Quincy. This was a time when we had pep rallies in the gym where the entire student body of 2200 kids jumped to their feet and started clapping when the band played Hi Yo Silver.

I was introduced to the returning runners one evening in late summer by the AD. It was nice of him to come and do this, but his intro was not what I had hoped for. He told the boys, "He has never run cross country, he doesn't know about it but he will work to learn." It was accurate but I wish it was not how I was introduced.

Mattoon Pictures

We had a good weekend on and off the court at Mattoon. It resulted in a championship after going 5-0. The following are some pictures- some from Mr. Henning and from Kathy Boydstun.

Haley, Shayli, & Sabrina receiving all-tourney awards- and Sabrina
with MVP award!

Bill Allen's Christmas Eve Letter

Christmas Card sent by William Allen
to his little brother Ben. 

The following is a letter written by Bill Allen to his Aunt Mabel on Christmas Eve, 1944. This would be Bill Allen's last Christmas, and it was to be spent in Germany away from his family. Bill Allen was my wife's uncle.     

                                                                                Germany           

                                                                                    Christmas Eve, 1944

Dear Mabel,

   I should be writing home tonight, but my mood is not conducive to uplifting homefront morale.  Maybe you’ll understand; so I’ll spend the evening answering the several letters which I’ve received from you lately.

  I’m thinking of all the Christmases of the past and what the day has always meant to our family.  Partly because I’m sentimental and it’s such a hard time of the year to be so far away from all those I love and the prospects of ever returning seem so remote and partly because I needed the emotional release after living under so much tension of late; I took advantage of the opportunity a while ago and sneaked off by myself and shed a great many tears.  I’m good for another year now and do realize that I’ve been one of God’s favored.  To be alive and whole is all one can ask for these days, and that is my blessing.

Championship Culture

The following is good article on the 6 Traits of a championship culture.

http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/janssen-blog/6-key-components-of-a-championship-culture/