Ten Keys To Winning State Championship

Many teams are preparing for District, Conference and Regional Championships. Below are 10 key thoughts:

10 Keys for Winning the State Championship

1. GET THERE
Gear for it. Everything is pointing to getting there!
"Practice to beat the best" - Dick Bennett
Must have a system to accomplish that, Chuck Daly had that system with the Pistons and stick to it. Princeton plays to beat the best


2. WHEN YOUR TEAM GETS THERE--IT'S NO BIG DEAL
Don´t make it a big deal. A big deal is winning the championship. Our Attitude: We are going there to win!!


3. DO WHAT YOU DID TO GET THERE
Freak out with changes vs. Faith in the system.
Ordinary players making ordinary plays everytime = extraordinary players
On good team, two players will do the dirty jobs (take charges, get on the floor, etc). On GREAT teams, all the players and coaches do the dirty jobs.


4. BE AGGRESSIVE
Look for ways to win.
Play to win, don´t play not to lose.
Pete Newell liked to press on the first possession and he wasn´t a press coach. He just wanted to come out and be aggressive early in the game.
Avoid Super Bowl Stupor.


5. REST
Mentally and physically; short, intense practices.
Duke goes dummy in tournament practice. No real contact.
more gold medals are lost by overtraining than undertraining.


6. GIVE UP NO EASY BASKETS
No lay ups - no uncontested shots - block out - no putbacks.


7. GET EASY BASKETS 
a. Run - Must run but don´t have to shoot.
b. Offensive rebounding
c. Get fouled - neutralize athleticism (make more free throws than apponents attempt).
d. Take the ball at their best player or any player prone to foul.


8. MAKE FT'S
Big part of our skill development workouts.
Free throw swish...swish = +1, rim make = 0, miss = -1...play to +2 or -2


9. MAKE LAY-UPS
Emphasis: perfect lay-ups in practice - no rim touches, net only.
Pressure lay-ups in practice with a defender.
You can also use reduced rims.
In all drills, if not using reduced rims stress the clean lay-up.


10. GIVE YOUR TEAM A REASON TO WIN
"Deserving victory" - Pitino.
Those who work hardest are the last to surrender.
Fight the feeling of championship games against team that are inferior to a team you have already defeated.
In a championship tournament you will likely have a bad night. You must play hard enough to win when the ball doesn´t bounce right.

What Is Hustle?

Contrary to what you may have been told, hustle does not, nor cannot make up for lack of talent. Hustle is an essential ingredient of talent, a good deal more than frantic energy of a banty rooster. Hustle is the controlled perpetual motion of the precision athlete.

The Gift of Love

Coach Summitt carried this passage in her planner.  It's a great summary of our responsibility as leaders and teachers and parents.

You can love me,

but only I can make me happy.

You can teach me,

but only I can do the learning.

You can lead me,

but only I can walk the path.

You can promote me,

but I have to succeed.

You can coach me,

but I have to win the game.

You can even pity me,

but I have to bear the sorrow.

For the Gift of Love

is not a food that feeds me.

It is the sunshine

that nourished that which I must finally harvest for myself.

So if you love me

don't just sing me your song.

Teach me to sing,

for when I am alone,

I will need the melody.

--Dan Baker

Thoughts on the passage above:

"The worst thing you can do to someone you love is to do something for them that they can and should do for themselves."--Abraham Lincoln

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.  Teach a man how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

Harvey Mackay's Tip For Efficiency

If you want to increase your reading efficiency, Mackay prescribes the following formula, called "SHARK". It stands for Skim, Highlight, Assess, Reread, Keep.

Here's how it works: Go through your business reading pile at a quick, even pace. Skim for what you can take in quickly, what you don't need to know and what you need to read in more detail. Assess what you just read. (Do you need to reread it? To save it? To route it?)

Reread in greater detail the items that are truly worth your attention. Keep and label just the clippings you want filed.

If sharks could read, they would read just like they eat: tear into the food, then circle the feeding area looking for the morsels they missed that are worth going back for.

Team Attitude--Unity Among The Parts

Process Thinking--Baby Steps & What About Bob

One of our constant messages with our team is "Trusting The Process".. We want a process oriented approach in all that we do versus a result oriented approach.  Coach Meyer always speaks about the movie, saying it should be required viewing for all coaches and players-- "What About Bob"..The following clip illustrates the simple process--of one small action compounded will ultimately lead to the desired vision.

January 15-22 UCF Basketball Diary

Update #17--Saturday 1/21/12--Prep--Practice--Travel
Today was exciting because we are seeing some growth in our team.  Their growth is showing through consistency in their attitude, effort and practices.  I'm always asked regarding a game, "were you surprised?"  The answer is almost always, "No, we see it everday in practice." 

The Aristotle quote is true.  "We are what we repeatedly do."

We had very specific things we wanted to cover today in practice.  And we did just that.  Now the next step of growth is to carry the execution from practice to the games and build from there.
Update #16--Post Game Note Sheets--1/20/12

We use the following sheets to organize our game and post game notes.  It's a simple way to organize the information, notes and comments we made about the game while everything is fresh on our minds.  Then, it gives us the opportunity to easily retrieve when preparing for the opponent later in the season, tournament prep, etc.

Update #15-Friday 1/20/12 6:00am-Defensive Evaluation Questions
Listed below are the questions we use when putting together our Defensive Breakdown, Teaching Points and Adjustments for our team today.

We will use the answers to these questions to build our practice plan and the answers will influence our next game plan.

We also, take our scouting report and evaluate our execution of the emphasis that we discussed and make notes for the next time we will play the opponent.

Evaluation Questions:
Who, What, How, & Why are we being hurt?

1. Is it 3's? Penetration? 2nd Shots? Transition?
2. Pressure without penetration or fouling? Do we need to adjust?  Skills to work?
3. Penetration--Did we control the funnel? Do we need to adjust gaps? Steer?  How was our help and recovery?  Did we give up elbow drives/ Did we coverdown on baseline?
4. Post defense--Front? Behind? Positioning. Rebounding
5. Three point defense--closeouts, contesting shots..Where did 3's come from?
6. Fouling--reaching, stance, gap, late...
7. Matchups--what are our best matchups?

What do we need change? Improve? Emphasize?
What can we do to help them?
Update #14 Thursday--Home Game Day Routine
This is my routine when it's not my scout. Simple and I'm sure very similar to other coaches.
8:15--Take Cole to school
8:45--Office--Use this as catch-up time.  Emails, correspondence, phone calls & scheduling
10:00--Next game scout completed.
11:30--Staff Meeting--specifics to emphasize in film and shootaround...
                                 --Starters, subs, rotations
                                 --Specifics to watch for during the game
                                 --Review how we're defending specific situations
                                 --Review offensive emphasis
                                 --Potential adjustment
                                 --Gives the staff a good picture of how Coach Williams is looking at the
                                    game and to share any ideas we may have.
1:00--Team Film--this is just a review of some clips from our Scout tape..and a couple of
                             clips to emphasize our game keys
                           --Great opportunity to see the team and prepare them mentally before going
                              to shootaround
2:00--Shootaround--much more like a practice than a walk-thru..
                              --Post/ Perimeter breakdown
                              --Offense/ Defense Breakdown--Coach Starkey will review offensive
                                 emphasis, are adjustments...I will take the other half of team and work
                                 closeouts, any specific screening actions to review, go through a period
                                 of blocking out for technique/
                              --We then switch groups
                              --Coach Williams works both ends reviewing specific keys for the game
                                 during this period.
3:00--Pre-Game--we are fortunate that our meal is catered and we eat on the third floor our
                             our offices.  Relaxed time and good food.
3:30--Prepare my game sheet for the game, review a few clips, look at stats, etc.
5:30--Downstairs to the arena.




Update #13 Wednesday 1/18/12 1:45pm--Practice Thoughts
One aspect of practice that makes me think and has always caused me concern is the layout of practice.  First, we have to decide what to emphasize, then how much time to allot to each period of practice.  Those items are hard enough to plan.  It's the flow of practice that often causes me concern.  It's different every season. Different for every team.  Different based on the time of the season.

When looking at what we are planning for practice, I think about contingencies.  For example, if we have allotted 6 or 8 minutes to a period and it seems that we are very sharp in execution, and are hitting the emphasis after 4 or 5 minutes--do we stay and finish the allotted time or move on to the next segment? Or if after the designated time we are not executing to we extend the segment?  Do we move on and come back to it later in practice? Or do we just move on?

Other questions that come to mind:  What is our balance in "Part" teaching vs "Whole" teaching? Are we getting enough shooting in?  Are we putting too much/ not enough emphasis on a skill or action?  How many reps does each player need? 

We constantly tell our players that we will play as we practice...It's a huge responsibility to plan the practice to give them the best opportunity to practice and execute well.

Coach Meyer's formula is certainly the best to follow--"Simplify, Simplify, Teach, Simplify"--though incredibly tough to follow.

Update #12 Wednesday 1/18/12 6:30am--Team Handout--Compete
We talk daily to our team about Competing and Preparation.  I've come to the conclusion that there are few players that truly understand what it means to compete and what it means to be a competitor.  The ones that understand what it means, are special players.

It then becomes our job as coaches to not only define but teach them how to compete.  Here's our handout for today: (click on the picture to make larger)

Update #11 Tuesday 1/17/12 3:45pm--Thoughts From Practice
I take notes on our practice plan and use my dictaphone to track teaching points we are making, especially things that we are having to repeat.  Then, look at the tape to see why were were having to repeat, etc.

I also make note of items for future reference, especially when we play an opponent for the second time.  It helps me remember what our mindset as coaches was in the practice and preparation:

1. The best opportunity to drive baseline is on reversal.
2. Get the defender right in the chestplae when you screen.
3. Focus and Concentration
4. Everyone can't wait for someone else to do it.
5. Missing too many open cutters.
6. Impressive when teams get to the FT line
7. There are areas of the game that require skill vs areas of the game that simply require heart and effort
8. It's everyone's responsibility

I always think back and laugh when I first thought about being a college coach and how great it would be to "just" coach basketball. Well, I was wrong.  My in-laws always ask, "so what do you do all day after practice."  Makes me laugh. Practice was over at about 12:30 and the next three hours were a series of meetings that weren't actually meetings.

Meeting 1--was with our Director of Operations about a coulple of budget items.  Then she was fortunate enough to attend that meeting.

Meeting 2--with our Facilities director to confirm our arena and practice gym times and dates, conflicts, etc.

Meeting 3--back with our Director of Operations about our practice and travel schedule..For thoughts and ideas to confirm with Coach Williams.

Then, throw a few phone calls in and the next thing I know it's 3:30



Update #9 Tuesday 1/17/12 8:15am--Practice Plan


Our goal is to be Sound, Solid and Simple. Below is a plan from last week.

Update #8 Tuesday 1/17/12 6:00am--Post Players Daily Emphasis:
We have 8 Daily Emphasis for our post players.  We do not treat them equal on a daily basis.  Taking a look at what we need to emphasize based on Sunday's game and in preparation for Thursday's game.
1.  Improve Rebounding
2.  Sealing & Maintaining Seal & Re-Sealing
3.  Four Second Transition
4.  Make Scoring Simple
5.  Defensive Positioning
6.  FT's
7.  Fifteen Footers
8.  Make Shots Clean In Practice


Update #7--The Balancing Act of Preparation
Left the office for a Cub Scout meeting at our house.  Wild night of 10 eight year olds running thru the house and yard and an 18 month old chasing all of them.  Anyway, after that finished the Marshall's second conference game.

Have seen enough to plan what we need to emphasize during the week.  This is where the balance of game to game preparation and individual skill and team development comes to play.

It's a matter of prioritizing what we MUST emphasize and improve over the next two days for Rice and and the two days after for Marshall.  Plus continuing to build a skill base to carry us into our Conference Tournament.

Talked with Coach Starkey (Rice is his scout) about Rice and what we will see from Marshall.  We first discussed what things will be emphasized for both games..Then discussed specific things we saw on tape from our Southern Miss games.

Next we put together for Coach Williams what we both think we will need to do for both games.  Then, we'll meet in the morning after watching some specific clips to build the practice plan outline for the week and break it down to our daily plans and emhasis.

After that meeting, we'll put together a few minutes of clips for the team to watch before practice.  Give them a point of reference for each emphasis in practice.

Our chief message to the team is that we are more concerned about ourselves and the things we can control than who our opponent is and what they do (the things that we can't control)...

Will finish up a couple of things for tomorrow's meeting and the catch two episodes of Seinfeld at 11:00.


Update #6--Defining Your Own "A" Game
Took a break from the Marshall preparation to meet a friend for lunch.  He's a minister and national leadership consultant and fortunate to have him as a friend.  I call it my "Lunch and Learn" opportunity.  As we were discussing several things, Dan mentioned having a personal "A Game" sheet.  He mentioned almost in passing, but it stuck with me as I made a note about it, we then spent the next 30 minutes discussing it.

He said the we need a personal sheet, that's not for others to figure out.  But it defines who I am.  What do I bring to the table?  What's my personality?  What things do I need up front?  What do I need from my job?  What do I need from my job for my family?  What do I need from my work to put our family in the best situation--spiritually, socially, financially, etc.  Define the things that we have choices about...

As Coach Meyer often says, "What's Us, What's Not Us?"
Update #5--Monday 8:30am--Our "Off Day"
We always laugh about our "off" day.  While our players are "off", it's another day of preparation for coaches.  My routine does change a little on "off" days.  I try to take Cole to school on those days.  The great thing about living in Florida is that we can ride our bikes or he'll ride his and I'll run with him and then run back home.  Then, head into the office.  With today being a holiday, no school.  So, the boys made homemade waffles (or at least our version).  On our "off" I try, to help Teresa a little with the boys before going to the office.  It's tough being the spouse of a coach, and it's a small way to try and help...

We also use our "off" day for meetings.  I try to have lunch with someone in the community on these days.  I'll be meeting today with a couple of leadership and communication consultants who are basketball fans and see what  we can bring back to our team.

Update #4--Sunday 11:00pm--Weekly Planning
Weekly planning is a tool that Coach Meyer and Coach Summitt passed on to us.  I use the Planner Pad and a Vision board (it's not pretty, but it's functional).  Try to plan our week on Sunday.  Find out what is going on at home with Teresa and the boys and put them in, then our games, recruiting, etc.  The Planner Pad allows you to see your week, tasks and appointments all at one time. Then the Vision board is just another way to keep the HVA (Highest Value Actions) each day in front of me.  Coach Meyer always said to get a system, any system and make it work for you.  It's a work in progress, but works best for where I am now.

Update #3 Sunday 10:30pm--Paint Possession Chart
We believe that a good defensive possession--keeps the ball out of the paint, contests the shot and blocks out.  As Coach Starkey noted earlier in his blog--it's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize and we believe that stats help us to only identify but emphasize these priorities.

I use a Paint Possession Chart, that we used as Lipscomb with Coach Meyer.  We break paint touches down to Transition (T), Post Feed (P), Drives (D), Cuts (C) and Rebounds (R).  Each possession where there is a paint touch we mark and note what player and the result and what defense we were in.  We also note any uncontested shots on that possession.  The chart paints a great picture of our defense.

Update #2 Sunday 1/15/12 8:30pm--Removing Space
Evaluating our defensive possessions.  Here are the elements we use to break down our defensive possessions.  Our #1 defensive emphasis is Blocking Out (we call it Removing Space).  Our goal is both individually and collectively attempt to "Remove Space" 90%.  We take each shot and freeze the play to see if each player is simply attempting to remove space.  They do not actually have to get to the offensive player, simply make the effort...We look at each player and simply use tally marks...One column of Attempts and one column of Completes...Then divide for their individual and team percentages...I encourage you to take a look at this.  It is often shocking...We like this stat for the reason that Attempting is within our control..and we focus on all of the things we can control...

Update#1  Sunday 1/15/12 4:15pm

Bill Parcells always said he takes the time to enjoy a victory all the way to the tunnel when leaving the field.  I'm not sure Coach Starkey and I were able to do that.  Though we were proud of our team for the win over Southern Miss in front of 2,200 fans;  our next thoughts move to our next practice in preparation for Rice at Home on Thursday.

We were talking on the way up to the office about the clips we would need to show the team and the emphasis for the week.  Generally, we each break the game down.  I'll focus on our Defense and Post players while Coach Starkey will evaluate our Offense and Perimeters.

We'll pay careful attention to how Southern Miss exploited the mistakes we made and begin to draft our practice plans for the week.

I do my post game breakdown at home.  Usually, eat dinner and play with my 18 month and 8 year old.  Then, start the breakdowns after we put the boys to bed.

Intro: Basketball Diary Project

Sunday 1/15/12
Intro:
I’m excited about working with Coach Starkey on our project this week that he titled, “Basketball Diaries.” One of the lessons that Coach Meyer passed on to us at Lipscomb was keeping a journal. A journal of what you learned, not just a recap of your calendar.

Last week, I met with a couple of local high school coaches and we were discussing our daily, weekly routines; our processes, practices, etc. Afterwards, Coach Starkey and thought it would be interesting to share with each other not only what we did during a typical week but what we learned.
I look forward to sharing and learning this week. If you have any questions/ comments, I would love to hear from you.  Feel free to email me gbrown@athletics.ucf.edu.

Thoughts On The Team From Championship Coaches & Players

THE TEAM

All championship teams always posess the most important factor of success and that is great team unity. Listed below are a few comments from championship coaches and players on why their team won championships.

Red Auerbach – former coach of the Boston Celtics – won 8 straight national titles.
“Some say you have to use your five best players, but I found out you win with the five that fit together best as a team.”

Bill Sharman – coached ABA and NBA teams to championships.
“The only way to win is to sacrifice for the good of the team.”

Vince Lombardi – legendary professional football coach.
“The Packers won the Super Bowl primarily because the team had a lot of love for each other and this unity helped us to hold up under pressure.”John Wooden – greatest coach in the history of our game.

“Our titles would not have been possible without the unselfishness displayed by all our teams, the team wins, not the individuals.”Wilt Chamberlain – greatest offensive player in the history of basketball and member of two NBA championship teams. Holds NBA record for most points in a game, 100, and most rebounds, 55. “This is a team game and one man doesn’t win and one man doesn’t lose. In the end the best team usually wins.”

Jon Havlicek – former MVP of NBA and member of the World Champions, the Boston Celtics.
 “We win because we play together as a team"

Bill Walton – considered to be the greatest college player of all time.
“It hurts when people talk as if I’m the only player on the team. This is a team game, and I’m just one of the guys on the team. One-on-one is the most overrated part of this game. Five people playing together as a team decides the game.”

It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit, and when an individual loses himself in something he thinks is better than he, the team, you become a winner.

5 Teachable Moments With Coach Meyer

We had another great opportunity to spend a couple of days with Coach Meyer on his trip to Orlando.
It's always fun as he comes to Orlando and stays at our house.  Coach Starkey blogged earlier about his message to our team.

I wanted to share a few teaching points that he made throughout the day.  They were "teachable moments." Below are 5 of the first teaching points...I want to blog over the next few days about these "teachable moments."

TP 1--"The teacher appears when the pupil is ready".
This applied to all of us--team and staff.  Coach Starkey and I were loaded with notepads and hard sheets at lunch and I made sure I kept my notepad close as we sat in our living room and he played with my 18 month old and 8 year old.

TP 2--"Adapt vs Adopt"
One of Coach's greatest gifts is his ability to  take all the things he sees, reads, hears, etc--Simplify them--repackage them and make them his own.  Then he has the gift to apply to multiple situations.  Whether it's talking about the St. Louis Cardinals, to Doug Moe and Snow Valley camps, there are so many stories and applications to adopt and apply.

TP 3--"The Innocence of a child"
As he played catch with my two boys in the living room he talked about how he marveled at the innocence and attitudes of children.  That is the spirit and quality we should strive for in our own lives. Which lead to the 4th teaching point.

TP 4--"As parents and coaches, our examples aren't the main things in influence, it's the only thing."

TP 5--"It's all about relationships"
We left the house and went to the UCF vs Tulane Men's basketball game.  It was fun to catch up with our good friends from Tulane (Head Coach Ed Conroy and Assistant Doug Novak) before the game.  After the game the stories, ideas and thoughts carried on to my house.  Coach Meyer, Ed, Doug and myself laughed and told Academy, Camp and other stories until after midnight.  Here are two coaches that just played a game, a coach who has a 5:00am flight to Los Angeles together laugh late into the night. That's the magic of Coach Meyer.  We all talk about the number of nights spent at his house during camps and the summers of Academies.

25 Questions To Answer & Think About

The "Why" question = Reasons
1.Why not?
2.Why not see all you can see?
3.Why not learn all you can learn?
4.Why not do all you can do?
5.Why not me?
6.If they can do it, can't I do it?
7.Why settle for less?
8.Who am I spending my time with?
9.Why not say please and thank you?
10.Where is my passion?
11.What is my motivation?
12.Where am I heading?
13.What's my dominant aspiration?
14.What are my strengths?
15.What are my weaknesses?
16.Is my greatest strength, my greatest weakness?
17.Who are my mentors?
18.What do I need to add to my life?
19.What do I need to take away?
20.Who are my greatest influences?
21.What are my greatest distractions?
22.Where does my greatest satisfaction come from?
23.Do I have a book list?
24.Do I have written goals?
25.What's my next best action?

No "I" in Team, But There Is In "Change"

The old saying is, "there is no I in team".  In our team meeting today, we discussed the fact that the key to change for our team is an "I" mentality.  We stress Us, Ours and We.  However, for real change to occur within a team, it must start individually.  I must be the change I want to see in the team.  So, there's no I in Team, but there is in "Change".