COACH CORNER

GOOD PEOPLE

One of the keys, to success in all things, is surrounding yourself with good people. I think we try to do that here in recruiting, finding good players who are also good people. On the staffing side though, I am particularly fortunate.

The first thing someone might think of, in terms of a head coach surrounding himself with good people, would be assistant coaches. I have been blessed to have a number of outstanding assistant coaches: Joe McDowell, Renny Taylor, former players Cornell Davis, Josh Walker, and Dan Dalton, Courtney Alston, and Josh Turnpaugh. My top assistant now is David Doino. He is going to make a fine head coach one day and I am fortunate to have him here. He brings great enthusiasm, a relentless work ethic, and total loyalty. David is always striving to find ways to help improve our program.

Another key support person comes in the way of administrative help. I am blessed to have Martha Proctor assisting me. She keeps things straight in planning and organization, while taking many distractions off my desk and handling them. Martha is eternally positive and energetic and she too is helpful in finding ways we can improve.

An area some might not think of right away is sports information. Well, let me say this is an area that should be considered near the top. Rikki Rich is our Sports Information Director and when we hired her, it was a slam dunk. From statistical help to positive publicity for the program and way beyond, Rikki is a big plus to Wesleyan and our basketball program. She has helped improve things we do in a number of areas.

Having these people around can only make me a better coach and in turn our program a better on, as well. We talk with our players consistently about getting better everyday. By the same token, with each of these people on my staff and myself trying to find ways to improve, it forces us to raise the bar. When you surround yourself with good people, people with goals, expectations, ethics, and dreams similar to yours or greater, it forces you to challenge yourself. I appreciate the people I have around me, both our players and my staff. We do this all together.
 

A MUST-READ

There is a new book on the market that I must recommend. Tim O'Toole, former Head Basketball Coach at Fairfield University (and, I am honored to say, a longtime friend of mine), has produced "ALLIED EFFORT."

Coach O'Toole takes all of his experience as an assistant and head college basketball coach (at places like Fairfield, Iona, West Point, Duke and Syracuse) and has created a framework for goal setting, planning and quantifying work. He has studied outstanding people in and out of sport and includes quotes and philosophies that dovetail with the organization of ones plan.

Likewise, Coach O'Toole gives guidance not only on the physical goals, plans, and work, but on the mental and spiritual aspects of ones life, as well. My team was fortunate enough to have O'Toole speak to them and show them first hand what the book is all about. I highly recommend "ALLIED EFFORT" not because Tim is a friend but because I think it is a great tool for individual and team improvement and success.

You may contact Coach O'Toole at Alliedeffort@verizon.net or at Timot@optonline.net.

THE COMMUNITY

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with one of our local Kiwanis Clubs. These are always great situations for me because I get a delicious lunch out of it…More importantly, though, is I have a chance to promote our program and build the connection between our basketball program and the community.

After having lunch with former Wesleyan professor a month or so ago, I developed the premise of yesterday’s talk. Dr. David Jones, whom I respect greatly, and I have lunch twice or three times a year. He is an avid basketball fan and so knowledgeable…about everything. I always feel a little bit smarter after I have lunch with him. During the course of our lunch, which ended up being a couple of hours, the subject of teams performance and their practice preparation came up. At one point Dave asked, “Well, what are the three or four core things you try to teach?” I believe he expected shooting, defense and rebounding to be in there somewhere. Ultimately, my answer became yesterday’s Kiwanis Club talk.

The 4 C’s…Commitment was number one. Our players must be committed to what they and we as a team are doing. Communication was next. The better job we do of communicating, player to coach, coach to player, and player to player, the better team we will be. The third C is Correct Decision-Making. (We have always discussed decision-making, but added the “correct” because we want the right decisions, good decisions….and the 4 C’s sounded better than the 3C’s and 1D). Ones life is full of decisions. Do you get up when the alarm goes off, or do you roll over and sleep in? Do you shoot a pull-up jumpshot on a 3 on 2 fastbreak, or do you drive to the basket, or instead, pass to a wing? Hundreds of decisions to be made on a daily basis. We want correct decision making. Lastly, we want consistency. We want to know we can count on our players for consistent effort and performance, consistently good effort and performance.

When I finished, Dave said, “That’s what most employers want. That’s what most business’s want. That’s what most teachers want from their students. If you ever talk to a Kiwanis Club or something like that, you’ve got your speech right there.” So yesterday I tried it out and now I’ve given it to you. Hope it helps.


MUST READING

As most of you know I like books and I like to read. I like sports, so sports books always interest me. I also like books that somehow make me better, make me smarter. Two books that I have been reading concurrently are: How to be Like Mike (that would be Michael Jordan) and How to be Like Jackie Robinson.

These are not biographies and they really aren’t sports books, although they are dealing with sports figures. These books analyze and detail what made these two people great. The things that separate athletes like Jordan and Robinson can help anyone be successful in life.

Pat Williams, Senior Vice President of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, is the author of these two fine books. Through countless interviews with coaches, teammates, opponents and others, Mr. Williams gleans the information on what took these stars to unique levels of success on the court, the field, and in life. In no way are they depicted as perfect, but their special qualities are examined and offered as things to be incorporated into our lives as we pursue success.

There are three more books in this series that I have not read, however, based on “Mike” and “Jackie,” How to be Like Jesus, How to be Like Walt (Disney), and How to be Like Women of Influence are sure to be outstanding. (Another of his books that I would recommend is Go For The Magic. It is about dreaming and working, attitude and focus, goals and motivation. Check it out).


THE POINT GUARD MUST HAVES – A Baker’s Dozen

1) Knowledge – of the Game, of the Program, of his teammates, of his Coach

2) Leadership Skills

3) Communication Skills – Knowledge, Ability, Willingness, Projection

4) Vision

5) Ball Skills – Passing, Dribbling, Shooting (Scoring)

6) Defensive Pressure

7) Good Decision Making Ability

8) Defensive Breakdown Ability

9) Reasonable Quickness

10) Selflessness

11) Presence-Poise, Confidence

12) Toughness-Emotional, Mental, Physical

13) Positive relationship and bond with coach


PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Player development is something that is very important in every program and it is here, as well. We work very hard at trying to maximize a players potential. I try to talk with as many coaches and players as I can to get new ideas, new drills, maybe a different way to teach a certain technique. Sometimes these conversations (on occassion they become mini-clinics) cause me to pause and re-evaluate how I am doing something...sometimes they confirm what I already believe. I am convinced that you can always learn, and I try to do that.

I also watch a lot of tape. I watch anything and everything: our games, other college teams, NBA games, the USA National Team and instructional videos by any number of coaches. I want to see how we can do things better. We believe in our philosophy and aren't trying to reinvent the wheel; we are trying to make the wheel we have better...trying to make it the best it can be. I also think that when you can introduce new drills or variations of drills, it keeps the players fresh and interested.

Below is an example of a shooting drill that a player could do on his own (or with a teammate) between classes or whenever he has a small window of opportunity to get in the gym. We call this our "20 Minute Workout" and if a player is working hard, shooting at game speed, he can get up 150 shots in that time frame.

1. 30 Shots-10 in front/10 right side/10 left side (1'-2')
2. 20 Layups-10 right-handed/10 left-handed
3. 20 shots-10 outside right block/10 outside left block (get angle and bank)
4. 30 Shots-10 from FT line/10 right elbow/10 left elbow
5. 50 shots-10 each from right/left corners, right/left wings, and the top of the key (all 3's unless a players position or ability mandates otherwise).




...read more