In the summer, coaches hope the players and the team will build championship habits.
Summer basketball is not about winning games and winning championships. It is about building good habits and breaking bad habits so that championships can be won in the winter.
Good habits are not built by talking about them, they are built by repetition, repetition, and more repetition. It means executing drills correctly. It means being focused in summer games on proper execution.
As tough as it is to build good habits, it probably requires even more focus and more discipline to break bad habits. For players it is too easy to say, “That’s what I have always done.”
The bottom line is that building good habits and breaking bad habits require players to be committed to the process, and be disciplined and focused. It also requires coaches to be committed to the process, and be disciplined and focused. Coaches must be willing to hold players and the team accountable and provide the needed feedback. If the habits you are trying to change are important- they coach must identify bad habits everytime they show up.
There are many habits a coach and players may feel should be focused on during the summer. I feel strongly there is one bad habit that every coach and every player should be focused on.
As I have watched the NBA play-offs and the WNBA season over the past couple weeks, there are too many players who lose focus when they become frustrated with calls. And it is not just in the pros, it happens in high school and college too.
A positive example in the NBA is SGA. I realize he seems obsessed with trying to draw fouls, so he sometimes appears to flop and then has to sprint to catch up getting back on defense. But as far as actual calls, he would appear to NEVER change emotion or try to argue with a ref about a call made on him or a no-call on him. He is locked in- and he is the NBA MVP.
I am a big Caitlin Clark fan, she is an outstanding player. She has the negative habit of reacting to ref calls. If she thinks she has been fouled, she is apt to turn to the ref and plead her case instead of getting back on defense. When she is called for a foul, she often wants to protest the call.
When a player is protesting a call, the problem is what the player is NOT doing. They are not hustling to the next play. If it is during a deadball, the player is not listening to instructions from the coach, nor interacting with their teammates. Or sometimes, teammates have to invest time and energy to help the emotional player gain control.
It is VERY difficult to be a leader when you are ranting about a ref’s calls. When your teammates need you, you are preoccupied. The player who is disputing calls, often comes across as being both selfish and emotionally unstable.
My point is that high school summer basketball games are a great time to work on the bad habit of whining about calls. The following are all true in the summer:
1- While you want to compete and you want to win, the priority is on player/team development. As a result, it is much easier to take a player out when they exhibit the bad behavior, and literally use it as a coaching/counseling time.
2- In summer basketball games, you can be assured there will some bad refs and many bad calls. Your players will be tested to remain focused and not get frustrated. There will be plenty of opportunities to build a positive habit of staying focused.
3- It is really tough for players to stay composed when the crowd lacks composure. In summer games, the crowds will be smaller so players will actually be able to hear the words and the voice of people yelling about refs. It will be a great situation to help players learn to tune out the outside noise and be locked into what the team is trying to do. Stay focused!
In changing a negative behavior, it is not just about stopping the negative behavior. Coaches and players should find positive behaviors to substitute for the negative habit. Build the positive behaviors to become a habit.
1- Instead of talking to refs, or turning to their parents to plead for help with the bad ref- go to the next play. Turn your frustration of a no-call into a sprint back on defense.
2- In a deadball after a bad call, be the player who calls the players together to address the next play. Instead of interacting with the refs, interact with players.
If the bad habit of whining about ref’s calls is a habit that a coach wants to change, the coach needs to spell this goal or priority out to the players at the beginning of the summer. And the coach needs to develop a plan for “giving reminders” to players when they exhibit the bad habit.
It could initially be a verbal reminder then a subbing the player out. If sub the player out, identify the bad behavior, have them acknowledge it and go back into the game. If the coach does not feel the player is progressing, it may require subbing them out and having them sit for an extended time- but make sure to tell the player what you are doing.
If both the players and the coaches work together, whining can be eliminated. If whining is eliminated, the team will become stronger and the team will become less selfish.
And just maybe next winter when your team goes on the road and plays a tough team, your team will stay focused and handle adversity.
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