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Leadership mistakes

4/5/2015

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I talked to a former teammate last night. The conversation consisted of leadership, and the mistakes that leaders often make. After our conversation I decided to make a list of  leadership mistakes in coaching. However, these mistakes are often made in every profession. Here are my top 6:

1. Making emotional decisions
  • Responding to how you feel vs. what they need
  • Bad shot, bad pass, bad defensive positioning: Keep negative reactions to a minimum because they are watching you 
  • Reaction substitutions: it is okay to be mad at a player. Just don't make a emotional substitution that can cost you the game

2. Inconsistency
  • Saying one thing then doing another, or saying different things can damage a program
  • Develop a culture and standards, and live by them
  • Live up to clearly defined standards or don't define them
  • It's not bad to make mistakes just explain them

3. Lack of communication
  • Uncomfortable conversations are better than none
  • Let others know what you want
  • It's okay not to not always have all the answers.  Don't be afraid to say "I don't know" while you figure them out.
  • Must find a balance so everyone is on the page

4. Assuming  
  • Don't assume your staff knows what you want or need
  • Some things may be bit "elementary" and players should know certain things at a certain level. Don't assume your players know things you have not taught (think back to the bad coaches/managers you've had)
  • Don't assume, perform

5. Overlooking the good
  • More times than not the smart, tough and SIMPLE get overlooked.  When you expect you forget to appreciate.
  • When things are going bad the focus is usually on the bad.  Take a second everyday and look at the positives in your life and program.

6. Excuses for talent
  • If it's not okay for a manager it shouldn't be okay for the star
  • Does your 'best player' get the same consequences as the last guy on the bench
  • Talent shouldn't affect the the culture



"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John Maxwell

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Great Defenses

3/31/2015

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1.      Have a “your not going to score on us” mentality
2.      Determined to get stops
3.      Are locked and engaged
4.      Applies ball pressure
5.      Contains the ball
6.      Active hands, mirroring the ball
7.      Active in gaps
8.      Helps the helper (ready to help teammates)
9.      Closeout with high hands, under control
10.    Don’t lunge out of position
11.   Move on the flight of the ball
12.  Contest shots with fouling
13.  Finish possessions with a defensive rebound
14.  Communicate the entire possession

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Equange

3/29/2015

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Although it was almost six years ago, it seems like just yesterday when I met Jayare on the couch of our dorm common room at Trine University.  Our first conversation ever we discussed our goals and plans for the future.  I told him about how I wanted to be a basketball coach, and be a positive role model and influence on kids from my neighborhood.  He told me about his plans to start a clothing line with a goal to help people in need.  

I am happy to say not only are we both doing what we talked about over five years later we are also helping each other along the way.  I am the the assistant coach at Cincinnati Christian University, and founder of SHA, and he has given away over $25,000 through the sale of T-shirts, and is now re-branding and working to take the new line nationwide.  Thanks to cell phones and the internet, we are able to maintain our friendship.  We are still able to talk almost daily and are very much involved in each others projects.  

The mission of Equange is to make people AWARE of the fixable problems in this world, INSPIRE them to change those problems for the better, and to HELP those who are less fortunate than most.  The vision is to CHANGE the world or AWARE + INSPIRE + HELP = CHANGE.  This is called the "equation for change."    

From the sale of clothing and accessories and promoting the core values of the business Jayare is raising money through Equange to put together kits for underprivileged and homeless Americans.  These kits can have anything from blankets and clothes, to toiletries and food.  The Equange website has been officially launched and products will be available soon.  Like, follow, and share Equange's website and social media for for information, updates and more!

Instagram/
Twitter: @Equation4Change
Facebook: Wuo Wear (the name will be changing to "Equange" April 7)
Website:
www.equange.com

2 Comments

Characteristics of a Good Drill

3/12/2015

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Tournament time! Now that it is tournament time high schools are looking to practice on college courts. As I sit here and watch one of the local high school teams practice on our court before their regional semifinal game, they have some really good practice drills. Each drill is ran effectively. They have all the making of a good drill. Practice drills can sometimes be overlooked. A drill is of no value in practice if it is not ran effectively. Here are my characteristics of a 'good drill.' 


  1. Score - winner and loser in every drill. "Losing is not acceptable"
  2. Time - not too much time for players to get bored but enough time to get good reps
  3. Rotation - guys know where and when to go
  4. Whistle - indicates tempo and "your out"
  5. Emphasis - the more emphasize the less you get 
  6. Teaching - correcting guys mistakes, do not allow guys to get away with bad habits
  7. Communication - Everyone on the court is talking
  8. Involvement - the guys not in the drill are still involved in the drill on the sideline, being another coach
  9. Purpose - every drill has a purpose to your team success (don't practice trapping if your not a trapping team, unless it's in the scouting report)

Whether it is a team drill or an individual player development drill, these are important aspects of a good drill. Good luck to all the teams playing in the post season!


"In the end, it's about the teaching, and what I always loved about coaching was the practices. Not the games, not the tournaments, not the alumni stuff. But teaching the players during practice was what coaching was all about to me."
-John Wooden

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Blueprint For A Successful Coaching Philosophy 

3/5/2015

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The following are notes from Jimmy Dykes at the Coaching U Live event in Indianapolis a couple years ago. Jimmy Dykes is the head women’s coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

1) Everyday guys will beat sometime guys every day.

-High talent guys that are sometime guys will be a year of frustration.

-Key areas of recruiting: evaluation of talent and evaluation of character.

-Everyday guys go every day, every possession.

-When evaluating a player, watch how they respond in a bad game

2) If you are not tough, you will not win.

-Do not flinch on a loose ball

-Blow up screens

-Do not let one mistake become two

-"Toughness is doing what is right when it is really really hard to do what is right"

3) If you cannot talk it, you cannot execute it

-Players must be able to talk the action

4) Practice for 5 - 10 minutes without talking

-Will drive home the importance of talking real quick

5) If you aren't talking loud enough in practice to be heard in a silent gym, you not be heard in the loudest arena  

6) Where are we scoring from? 3 key areas:

-The free throw line should be a number one priority in an offense

-Are you scoring off of rim shots?

-Clean 3's.

- The quality of shot of us vs. them will 90% of the time determine who wins the game

7) How hard are your cuts?

- Be in good enough shape to still be able to hard cut in the last 5

-6 minutes of the game, not just for a half

- Cut with purpose and passion

-Hard cuts wear people down

8) 24/24 last final four teams have shot 32% or higher from the 3pt line

-Who is shooting your 3's? Has a lot to do with what you shoot as a team selection of the 3: are you open? Are you balanced? Are you shooting a bad pass? Quit shooting bad passes and shot percent will rise as a team. Good 3pt shooting teams and good passing have direct correlation.

9) It is not the number of plays you have but the number of plays you can run with perfection.

10) You cannot be a great player if you avoid contact

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Keep A Losing Team Motivated

3/3/2015

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This topic is one I hope to never experience again (from losing). I have coached at a variety of levels from junior high, high school, college and aau. Last summer was probably the toughest team I've ever coached; a group of 8th grade girls that only had one player that ever played aau. It was a fun, but rough summer for me. I learned a lot from that group of girls and would not trade that experience is for anything. Winning teams usually have no problems with motivation but the old saying of… losing teams have team meetings. We stayed away from that philosophy because I felt it brought the wrong focus.



Players are aware of all the games they've won and lost, they don't need to be reminded. When motivating this group of young ladies I chose to focus on what motivates the individual to see the 'big picture' and why they were playing basketball.



One of the girls always stepped up and her words that day were " we are paying to play, let's not waste our parents money and get the most out of it."



When I heard this statement it made me think. Some of my thoughts included:

1. Attention to realistic events around us

2. Variety in all we do

3. Team chemistry on and off the court

4. Compete with a purpose

5. Positive attitudes are contagious

6. Enjoy each day and each member of the team



I can and will elaborate on each topic (later) as I am sure many people have the same issues. I can say that everyday was a good day after that despite losing 95% of our games that summer. As I stated earlier, it was huge learning experience for a young coach like myself.  Now that I look back on it, it was actually quite satisfying in a strange way.  If any of my aau parents from last season read this… thank you for your patience!

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Jon Gordon: 11 Thoughts About Teamwork

3/2/2015

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1. Teams rise and fall on culture, leadership, relationships, attitude and effort.

Great teams have a great culture driven by great leadership. Relationships are meaningful and teammates are connected. The collective attitude is very positive and everyone on the team works hard to accomplish their mission.

2. It’s all about teamwork. Sometimes you are the star and sometimes you help the star.

3. If want to be truly great you have to work as hard to be a great teammate as you do to be a great player.

I tell this to athletes all the time but the same is true for any profession. When we work hard to be a great team member we make everyone around us better.

4. Your team doesn’t care if you are a superstar. They care if you are a super team member.

5. Three things you control every day are your attitude, your effort and your actions to be a great teammate.

It doesn’t matter what is happening around you and who you think is being unfair. Every day you can focus on being positive, working hard and making others around you better. If you do that great things will happen.

6. One person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. Stay positive!

Make sure you don’t let energy vampires sabotage your team. Post a sign that says “No Energy Vampires” allowed and keep them off the bus. Most importantly, decide to stay positive.

7. Great team members hold each other accountable to the high standards and excellence their culture expects and demands.

8. Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team.

9. Great teams care more. They care more about their effort, their work and their team members.

10. We > me

Unity is the difference between a great team and an average team. United teams are connected and committed to each other. They are selfless instead of selfish. They put the team first and know together we accomplish more.

11. You and your team face a fork in the road each day. You can settle for average and choose the path of mediocrity or you can take the road less traveled and chase greatness.

It’s a choice you make each day. Which path will your team take?

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