Teaching: Simplify and Clarity

4 Offensive Items To Simplify & Clarify:
     What passes we want
     What dribbling we want
     What specific screens we want
     What cuts we want

12 Quick Hit Thoughts From Rick Majerus

The following are just a few "quick hit" thoughts that I pulled from my Utah Camp notebook.  They make for great locker room signs:

1. Tough & Determined
2. Practice Hard & Precise
3. No such thing as a bad post feed
4. Journey is better than the destination
5. Challenge yourself
6. Don't make excuses
7. Everything is Attitude
8. Don't fear failure
9. Look for work
10. Respect teammates, coaches and teachers
11. Rise above circumstances
12. 21 Days to a habit

Lessons From A Pencil

There is a parable told about a pencil maker who took each pencil aside before putting it "finished" into a box.  He would tell the pencil, "There are five things you need to know before I send you out into the world to be the best you can be:

1. You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to work with others.
2. You will need to experience some sharpening from time to time, but it will make you better.
3. You can correct a mistake by changing it.
4. The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.
5. On every surface you cover, you must leave your mark."

The pencil understood, promised to remember and went into the box.

Concentration Is Imperative For Sucess

I've been enjoying Coach Dale Brown's new book, "Getting Over The Four Hurdles of Life".  The following advice is relative to each of us and especially as we move into the last few weeks of the regular season:

"Stay away from all distractions.

Because concentration is imperative for ultimate success."

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."