Habits

"You make the choice to make great habits. Are the habits that you have today on par with the dreams that you have for tomorrow?"  - Stephen Curry

Takes More Than Talent

Talent- “Talent gets you in the gym, attitude and effort decides where your seat is.”

This summer we played a league game in which Lexi Daniels made 5 or 6 threes in the game. After the game, an adult came up to me and said, “She is just a natural shooter.” I know what the adult meant, but I don’t think it is really an accurate statement.  Sometimes a player can make things look so easy, it is understandable when people look and think it is just “natural.”

When we say someone is a “natural,” the implication is that they were born this way. The reality is that in sports and in life very few people are naturals. They may be born with certain valuable characteristics, but they work and work to develop that ability.

I believe most successful people get there through hard work. From my experience, successful people possess five important qualities.

Passion-  “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

To become a great shooter, it requires so many repetitions. If a player doesn’t have a passion for basketball, it will be work and not be much fun. In any sport to do the required practice, you must have a love for the sport. Great artists love painting, great musicians love music. To become great at anything, you must have a passion for it.

Team Cultures

The following is from Jeff Janssen....

WHAT KIND OF CULTURE DO YOU HAVE? DISCOVER THE 8 KINDS OF CULTURES

IS YOUR TEAM’S CULTURE WHERE YOU WANT OR NEED IT TO BE?

Do you have a positive and productive culture firmly in place that helps you win on and off the playing fields?

Or are you frustrated because you seem to have a Country Club Culture where many of your athletes are too soft, lazy, and entitled?

Or worse yet, do you have a Corrosive Culture filled with conflicts, criticism, and cliques that distract, divide, and destroy your team from within?

Unfortunately, many coaches don’t realize the full impact of their culture - until it’s too late. For example, in the frustrating last days of his coaching career at Illinois, former men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber candidly lamented to the media, “You have got to develop a culture. I think the last three years all I worried about was winning rather than developing a culture. I am disappointed in myself for not developing a culture of toughness with our team.”

Your team’s culture has a powerful, persistent, and pervasive impact on everything you do in your program. It impacts recruiting, attitude, commitment, competitiveness, chemistry, etc. Because of this, you must invest the time to continually mold, monitor, measure, and maintain your culture throughout the course of a season.

To build a winning culture, you must first honestly and accurately assess your current culture.Being privileged to work closely with hundreds of programs each year through our Leadership Academies, here are the eight most common kinds of cultures I see when working with a variety of teams. I've categorized the eight cultures based on how much the particular culture values and emphasizes both relationships and results. See which of the eight best describes the current state of your program.

8 KINDS OF CULTURES™

1. CORROSIVE CULTURE

A Corrosive Culture is highly toxic and is characterized by a lot of conflict, negativity, frustration, cliques, gossiping, distrust, and selfishness. It is obviously not one that is fun to be around and the turmoil and tension off the field/court almost surely affects the team on it. From a relationship standpoint, cliques will often develop that divide, distract, and destroy the team. Rather than battling your opponents, your athletes spend more time battling each other and the coaching staff because no one is on the same page working toward the same goal.

From a results standpoint, people become apathetic or even resistant toward team goals because they lose respect for their coaches and/or teammates. In Corrosive Cultures there is a lot of selfishness because in such a negative and dysfunctional environment, members basically must look out for themselves because they don’t trust their teammates and coaches. As the name suggests, Corrosive Cultures eat away at people’s attitudes, commitment, and chemistry much like a caustic acid. Ultimately, people just seek to endure in this kind of culture or escape it whenever possible.

2. COUNTRY CLUB CULTURE

The Country Club Culture is one of entitlement, appearances, and leisure. The priority in this culture is to look good and to have a good time rather than to win championships. It is a superficial and soft culture where little accountability is expected from its members so people are allowed to coast. Playing time and leadership positions are often not based on merit but instead on politics, popularity, and brown-nosing. The currency in a Country Club culture of is much more about style than substance. Status in a Country Club Culture is accrued primarily by the kind of gear people wear. Results are clearly secondary and relationships are superficial at best.

Kobe Bryant's View of AAU Basketball

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant believes European basketball players are more skillful than American basketball players, and says it's a growing trend that can be blamed on the greed and coaching at the AAU level.

"I just think European players are just way more skillful," Bryant said Friday night after the Los Angeles Lakers' 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. "They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. ... They're more skillful. It's something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way."

Galesburg in 1960's

Author, Jim Wyman

Jim Wyman gave a tremendous introduction for Roger Coleman into the GHS Athletic Hall of Fame. I don't think I have heard a more impressive HOF speech than Jim's. The speech gives a great description of Roger but it is a sociology lesson on the role of radio, small towns and sports in the 1960's. It is MUST READING----

Roger Coleman Hall of Fame Speech

            It is an honor for me to represent the former employees of WGIL Radio who worked for Roger Coleman between 1954 and 1976 and to induct Roger Coleman into the Galesburg High School Hall of Fame as a “Friend GHS Athletics.”  This is a happy day for all of us who worked with Roger when he was general manager of WGIL.

Roger Coleman

            Roger Coleman is all Galesburg all the time.  He was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Galesburg on November 27^th, 1930.  His father, Haven Coleman, was the first basketball coach at Corpus Christi High School in Galesburg.  Haven Coleman was also an athletic director, who had worked at Wheaton College,Western Illinois University and at Hedding College in Abingdon until becoming sick with encepalitis and becoming an invalid.  Haven Coleman died in 1939.

            Roger loved two things in life:  sports and radio.  Although not a gifted athlete, he did run track for Galesburg High School and spent a lot of time watching the great football and basketball teams of C. C. Van Dyke and Gerald Phillips. 

Spurs Locker Room

ACL Prevention Exercises

The following jump program is based on the Cincinnati Jump Program that was initiated to reduce ACL risk.

Jump Training for ACL

Purpose:

Help athletes develop proper balance and landing techniques in an effort to reduce ACL injuries.

Emphasis:

1. Don’t emphasize speed and height at the expense of form and technique.

2. Emphaize soft landings with knees flexed and on their toes.

3. Landing in line, knees over toes.

4. Landing where you jump from.

Exercises:

1. Stationary Jumps- 30 seconds each

Two foot jump & two foot landing.

-       Stationary

-       Side to Side

-       Front to Back

2. 180 Degree Jumps- 30 seconds

Two footed jump

Rotate 180 degrees- land soft

Hold landing for 2 second

Reverse the direction

3.Long Jump- Go to half-court and back

2 Footed Long Jump

Length of jump is not the priority- land soft.

Land soft, stick landing, hold landing for 2 seconds

Jump Again

4- Hop, Hop, Land- Go to half-court and back

Two footed hopping.

Hop and do not stick it but immediately go into another hop, and

Stick the landing on the third hop

5- One Foot Hop- Go to half-court and back

Stick the third hop.

Use left foot coming back

Strength and Balance Exercises

The following are strength training exercises used to reduce ACL risk:

1- Squats- keep the knees in alignment with hips, don't allow them to bow inward. Eventually you can work on one leg squats with the other leg resting on bench behind you. 

2- Jump Squats- squat, jump, then land softly. Keep knees in alignment, don't allow them to bow inward.

3. Hip Bridges- keep knees aligned. Eventually you can do one leg hip bridges.

4- One Leg Balance- stand on one foot with knee flexed slightly, raise other knee up high in front of you, then move leg back as far behind you as you can. Repeat these- you are making the one leg have to work on balance.

5- Hamstring Curls- Kneel on all fours. Raise one leg back straight. Try to curl the leg to have your heel touch your butt. Then extend your leg again, touch your toe to the ground, then curl again. 

Most of the exercises are shown in these videos: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW8e1sPLwg8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=803MwCDtRTg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sBSRe3melM&feature=youtu.be&a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajsDsTrn0GI&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9wx2iktSs&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Y6KQ2ipbE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWBSf4BfKRk

Memorial Day

William Allen with younger brother, Ben.

On Memorial Day, we need to remember all of the soldiers gave up their dreams for us. William Allen was a Knox grad, Galesburg HS English teacher, and my wife, Amy's uncle. William Allen was killed in WW2. He wrote this in a letter to his family, after finding a friend killed in action in April of 1945:

“I shall never forget late one afternoon when I discovered dead near his gun position the man whom I respected above all others as a soldier. I calmly reported the fact and got a good night’s sleep. It was not until several days later that his body slouched in his hole began to haunt me and I realized that I had lost my friend. He was every muscle a hero, and he should have died a hero’s death as he stormed an enemy emplacement.”

“He had displayed his ability and his guts often enough before. But he was far behind the lines when the artillery shell with his number on it landed in his hole. That’s another shocking thing about this war- a hero, contrary to fiction and Hollywood, seldom dies a hero’s death. It’s just an unlucky hit which gets him when he doesn’t even have a chance to fight back.”

William Allen was killed a little over a month later when his jeep ran over an Allied land mine designed to protect U.S. troops. It was just weeks before the end of WWII.

Five Ways to Improve

This is from Mano Watsa from PGC Basketball...

Like most people, a lot of basketball players are looking for that one thing that will create an immediate impact for themselves and their team. Let’s take a look at five things any player can do to gain immediate improvement:

1. Take Higher Percentage Shots
All basketball coaches love having a good shooter on their team. The way to instantly improve your shooting percentage is to eliminate shots that are difficult to make. If that seems simple, it is. It’s amazing how an athlete can appear to be a good (or better) shooter when they stop taking shots they don’t make very often.
To evaluate your shot, ask yourself these three key questions:
1. Was your shot on balance?
2. Was your shot within range?
3. Was your shot in rhythm?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these questions, you have attempted a shot that will make you a less efficient shooter. In addition, the shots you are taking will cause your teammates and coach to lose confidence in you. Earn your coach and teammate’s trust through your shot selection.
It’s been said that it doesn’t matter how beautiful a swing a baseball player has. If he always swing at bad pitches, his batting average will be embarrassingly low. The same applies in basketball. It doesn’t matter how sweet your stroke looks if you constantly shoot poor shots. Eliminating poor shots during a game can increase your shooting percentage significantly. Good coaches love that.

Shooting Math

Luke Yaklich started out as a girls varsity basketball coach at LaSalle-Peru. Today he is an assistant men's basketball coach at Illinois State. 

Luke Yaklich, posted the following tweet--

Shooter's Math...
200 makes x 5 days per week x 4 weeks in month x next 7 months = 28,000 makes by November! 

Small improvements over time...


The good news for us is that we have 12 players coming back from last year's team. The great news is that many of them are very committed to working and improving. Coach Yaklich-- (1) challenges us to work even harder, (2) shows consistent work adds up to something impressive!

Just Keep Working

What do you do when it appears you are not going to reach your goals? Just keep working!!

Frank Kaminsky is the star of Wisconsin's Final Four team. It would be easy to look at him, and think he is good because he is 7'0".  But he is a great story about the value of perseverance

Frank entered Lisle Benet closer to six foot than seven foot. He started out playing some point guard. According to Bo Ryan, Frank had trouble even getting on the court for his AAU team between his sophomore and junior year. 

In this day of McDonald's All-Americans, ESPN Top 100 recruits, and Rivals,com evaluations. Frank did not show up on their lists after his junior year. He received offers from Bradley, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. He chose to sign with Wisconsin. (Note he was not offered by Illinois.)

Accountability

Often coaches walk a fine line between trying to make their players accountable for their actions and performance, and of making them "over-accountable" for their actions and performance.

Bob Knight always said the greatest motivator was the bench. And coaches often use the bench to get a point across to their players. When a player makes a mistake or error in a game, a coach can make a point by taking them out. Sometimes the player is brought over and is given a chance to "reflect" on their play. Other times, the coach may bring them out to give them quick instruction and send them back into the game.

Dick Bennett- Defensive Philosophy

Dick Bennett was next to Bob Knight, the most sought out teacher of man to man defense principles and techniques in the 1980's. Anyone who coached man to man defense used the Dick Bennett, "On the line, up the line," mantra if they taught man to man.

As a man to man coach, I was excited when he was hired at U of Wisconsin, and even more excited to go to a practice in his first fall in the early 1990's. I was shocked when he was not teaching his aggressive, denial man to man defense.

When an assistant was asked what was going on, he said that Bennett felt they did not have the athletes to do the aggressive man to man, and compete in the Big Ten. "We are just trying to keep the ball in front of us and make them shoot from outside.

That was combined with Bennett's "sureness" offensive drills where they worked 3 on 0, 5 on 0, 3 on 3 and 5 on 5 with the entire emphasis to not make any pass that was not a sure pass. It was clear Bennett's philosophy was to simply not make mistakes. Today you see this same philosophy in his son and in Bo Ryan.

Here is a description from Sports Illustrated about the change in Dick Bennett's philosophy...

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.