Happy Father's Day!

Check out the video below I posted from You Tube, where Hubie Brown talks about his greatest inspiration...his father. In the video he talks about how his father taught him everything, most importantly to never cheat yourself, never cheat your teammates and never cheat your coaches or employer! He taught him that everything in life must be earned. Our fathers should all be our inspirations!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IIRsGIn3Ko&feature=player_embedded

I can honestly say that my father was my inspiration. He was a small man physically, very kind hearted, very calm and soft spoken. But, in so many ways he was a giant. His lessons that were taught to me were the best. He was great father who taught me so many life lessons, mostly through sports. He was a great person who valued friendship, honesty, integrity and servicing his community. He was hardworking, dedicated and commited to giving his best to what ever he was doing. He was extremely proud of his family and where he came from and was willing to do anything for his family and friends. He was proud but humbled and constantly reminded me that no matter how hard I worked or how good I thought I was, there was always somebody out there somewhere working just as hard, if not harder than me. That drove me to work harder, thinking that there could be somebody else out-working me. I didn't want that, so I kept working and working to get better. Dad, thanks for being you. Thanks for always being there, coaching, supporting and loving us no matter what we did. We love you and miss you greatly!

The Power of Purpose

When you are inspired
by some great purpose,
some extraordinary project,
all your thoughts
break their bounds:
Your mind
transcends limitations,
your consciousness
expands in every direction,
and you find yourself
in a new, great,
and wonderful world.
Dormant forces,
faculties, and talents
become alive,
and you discover yourself
to be a greater person by far
than you ever dreamed
yourself to be.

- Patanjali (Second century B.C.) philosopher

"TOTD" for May 31, 2009

I thought that I would publish this "TOTD" as a post in honor of my father on his birthday... thans Dad for helping me to fall in love with sports as a kid and teaching me the lessons in life through sports!

Somewhere behind the athlete you've become, the hours of practice, the coaches who push you, the teammates who believe in you and the fans who cheer for you, there is the little boy who fell in love with the game and never looked back...PLAY FOR HIM!

Thanks Dad for helping me to fall in love with sports as a kid and teaching me the lessons of life through sports! I love you!

Positive Coaching Aliance (PCA) - The Double Goal Coach

Double-Goal Coach™: “Coaching for Winning and Life Lessons”
https://www.positivecoach.org

The workshop begins by defining the Double-Goal Coach™ as one who strives to win and works to prepare his/her team to play at its highest level, and, at the same time, teaches life lessons (teamwork, dedication, bouncing back from mistakes, etc.) to his/her players. We explain that these are not mutually exclusive goals.Various scenarios are presented. We ask coaches to pair up to discuss how they would handle this situation. This scenario leads us into the discussion of PCA’s themes.

Principle #1 - Honoring the Game
Honoring the Game goes to the ROOTS of the matter, where we all have to RESPECT the Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates and one’s Self. Coaches receive specific tools to help them introduce the concept of ROOTS to their players and parents.

Principle #2 - Redefining "Winner"
Here we talk about how the American culture is a Win-at-all-cost culture, and we have to work to shift our focus away from the scoreboard. What’s more important is a “Mastery” definition, where we care most about our players’ giving their maximum effort, continuing to learn and improve, and dealing well with mistakes when they happen. Again, we introduce specific tools (such as "flushing" mistakes, in which a coach makes the motion of flushing the toilet after a player makes a mistake, which symbolizes that the mistake is done and everybody’s moving on). Coaches can use these tools to Redefine Winner with their teams and parents.

Principle #3 - Filling the Emotional Tank
This theme talks about how players who have FULL emotional tanks will have more fun and perform better. The thought-provoking piece of this theme is that, according to research studies, coaches should achieve a 5:1 ratio of positives to negatives with their players to keep their tanks full! We talk about how coaches can use both verbal and non-verbal cues to attain this ratio in a meaningful way. We stress that coaches are still teaching when they are giving positive feedback, and we illustrate how they can effectively correct mistakes within the context of this 5:1 ratio.

Here is an article that was in the Washington Post that talks about the PCA and the positive impact it can have on players, coaches, parents and the relationships between each of them...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/23/AR2009052301852.html

Some key points in the article:

"Yes. It's about FUN. Right now, they're having fun. But come Saturday, we
kind of mess things up with the scoreboard, because we want our child to do
well."

"the philosophy is pretty simple: Children flourish with positive encouragement. Mistakes are okay. Doing one's best is more important than winning or losing."

"Most athletes perform better when they focus on their effort, when their coaches and parents praise them and when they all stop looking at the scoreboard."

"Kids' anxiety goes up when they focus on things they can't control, and self-confidence goes down," he said. "Focus on what you can improve. Ignore what you can't. You can't control calls. You can't control the scoreboard. But you can control effort."

"It's also a great way to learn, giving players an opportunity to experiment without fear of failure"

Here are a few ideas you can start implementing the "Double Goal" concept:

• "winner's circle"- following each game or practice, the coach leads an effort to promote positive reinforcement by each team member towards another team member by reflecting on something good that player did.
• "hard hat" award - given out by the coach to a team member at the end of each week/ game or practice to those who have demonstrated good effort, hard work and enthusiasm...
• "positive charting" - As coaches we tend to think that we add value by finding things that are done incorrectly and improving them. But it is equally important to find things that are being done correctly and to reinforce them. Positive Charting is a method for increasing the number of "right things" that your players do. It also creates a wonderful positive atmosphere in which players are more receptive to being corrected because they feel appreciated. Effective Positive Charting helps you reach the Magic 5:1 ratio, which best keeps players' Emotional Tanks full.

A few thoughts...

Rule #1: Think and act like a Champion in everything you do, on the court, off the court in the classroom and in the community.

Rule #2: Don't let your teammates or coaches down

Rule #3: Everybody cannot do everything, but everybody can do something. Find something that you are good at and do it to the best of your ability...everyday!

We cannot control a lot of things, including wins and losses. But, we can control our effort, out enthusiasm and our execution. When we focus on doing things the right way and striving for excellence in all that we do, the wins will fall in place.

Dancing with the Stars and The Boss

Last night I watched the finale of Dancing with the Stars and it was such a close race between 1st and 2nd place. Both finalists performed their best dances. But, it came down to Olympic Gold Medalist, Shawn Johnson, who received the most votes by the outside voters. It was fun to watch as her competitiveness and will to win as an athlete naturally took over...focus, preparation and determination result in success!

If you have never had the opportunity to watch The Boss, Bruce Springsteen perform live in concert, you don't know what you're missing. I had the chance to see him live for the second time, a few weeks ago in State College, PA. Whether you like his music or not, you have got to respect his passion for performing! I have never seen another performer play with so much passion, it's very inspiring! We should all strive to perform with as much passion as he does!

Tough vs. Dumb

Below is an article from Kevin Eastman, well known player development coach and an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. The recent series between the Chi-town Bull and the Celtics made a lot of headlines, and for the first time since Jordan, Magic and Bird competed against each other, engaged fans in the NBA playoffs like it was the late 80's and early 90's all over again...passion, determination, competetitiveness and will to win, that's what the NBA playoffs were all about "back in the day"!
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Tough vs. Dumb
Everyone seems to be riveted to the NBA playoffs this year, and for good reason. The games have been unbelievable — and extremely physical as well. And whenever you have a physical game, at any level, there comes a time when players have to make decisions on how physical; how tough do they want to play?
In the Chicago – Boston series, both teams have very competitive players, staffs, and organizations. Both teams want to win so badly. Both teams are pretty evenly matched. So, without a doubt, emotion enters the equation. But it is important that it be intelligent and positive emotion. It is positive emotion that helps your team get over the hump. It can’t be bravado emotion that only registers with those who don’t understand the game anyway.
Both teams have to make sure that they make tough plays and not dumb plays. Tough plays are plays that are made of hustle and grit; often times they don’t even require skill. But they are definitely within the rules. Dumb plays are those made doing something that looks tough but gets your team nowhere and often times hurts your team. Players need to understand this if they are going to be champions. Championship teams make sure they protect their turf but they do so in an intelligent, disciplined, and tough way!
Truth be told, players today have to understand that in a run for a championship, often times the tough play is the one where you don’t retaliate to something done by the other team. Instead, you beat them on the scoreboard.

The toughness comes in from the discipline that champions have to be
bigger and
smarter than the moment.

What I love about this series is that both the Celtics and the Bulls are
trying extremely hard to make the tough, intelligent plays without giving up any
edge or turf. And they are clearly doing so in a very emotional, hard-fought
series! I wish all of you had a chance to be down there on that floor
experiencing the effort, the determination, the sweat, the diving, the
physicality, and the will to succeed. I can’t even begin to describe it in
words. It’s why this is the greatest game there is!

8 Keys to Team Success

Below is an article that was found on Buzz Williams' new coaching site, MU Coach 2 Coach. This is an excellent site that talks about different areas behind the Marquette basketball program. Buzz Williams is one of the rising stars in the coaching profession, who has literally worked his way up through the ranks on hard work, committment, dedication and relationship building. The site can be found here...http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/coach-to-coach.html

The article below was posted in the "Leadership Thoughts" section of the site. It talks about the keys to team success. Coach Williams states at the end of the article that, "even when you've played the game of your life, it's the feeling of teamwork that you'll remember. You'll forget the plays, the shots, and the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates."
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The Eight Keys To Team Success

by John Maxwell

The Benefits of a Team
Throughout my leadership journey, teams have lifted me to heights I never could have climbed alone. Here's a few ways my teams bring me success:
My team makes me better than I am.
My team multiplies my value to others.
My team enables me to do what I do best.
My team allows me to help others do their best.
My team gives me more time.
My team provides me with companionship.
My team helps me fulfill the desires of my heart.
My team compounds my vision and effort.
Invariably, great teams are the main ingredients of a leader's biggest accomplishments. In this edition of Leadership Wired, I'd like to share eight keys to team success.

Eight Keys to Team Success
#1 - Vision determines the direction of the team.
Teamwork gives you the best opportunity to turn vision into reality. However, to earn the support of a team, a leader must cast vision. A compelling vision supplies the team with direction and confidence. Transmitting a vision requires an emotional and logical transference. Emotionally, a leader must gain credibility, demonstrate passion, establish relationships, and communicate a felt need. Logically, a leader must confront reality, formulate strategy, accept responsibility, celebrate victory, and learn from defeat. When lacking either the emotional or logical component, a leader's vision may fall flat.

#2 - Values determine the foundation of the team.
Values influence the team and drive its behavior. Shared values define the team, and they play the following roles:
Glue -- They hold the team together.
Foundation -- They provide stability for the team to grow upon.
Ruler -- The measure the team's performance.
Compass -- They give direction and guidance.
Magnet -- They attract like-minded people.

#3 - Work ethic determines the preparation of the team.
Outstanding teams are comprised of teammates who understand the Law of the Big Picture: the goal is more important than the role. Coming together is a beginning, and staying together is progress, but only when teams sweat together do they find success.

#4 - Personnel determines the potential of the team.
Oftentimes, winning teams rise above losing teams on account of where the players are placed. Take a look at what I mean:
The Wrong Person in the Wrong Place = Regression
The Wrong Person in the Right Place = Frustration
The Right Person in the Wrong Place = Confusion
The Right Person in the Right Place = Progression
The Right People in the Right Places = Multiplication
Successful teams adhere to The Law of the Niche: all players have a place where they add most value. These teams funnel their people into positions where they can leverage each member's strengths.

#5 - Structure determines the size of a team.
An organization's structure should encourage flexibility, change, and innovation. Structure does not cause growth, but it does control the rate and size of your growth. Beware of broken processes and ill-defined systems. They have a way of stunting growth and squandering efficiency.

#6 - Relationships determine the morale of the team.
Winning is often a battle, and there are times in the life of every team player when he or she needs to fight. But if you fight all the time, you can wear yourself out. That's why it's important to pick your battles.
To gain a better perspective of when to fight back and when to sacrifice your interests, practice the following disciplines:
Spend time with people who are different from you. This helps you appreciate and understand how others think and work. As a result, you will be less likely to judge or battle others.
Give in on matters of personal preference or taste. Keep the main things the main things. If you don't save yourself for what matters most, then you'll wear yourself out and wear out your welcome with others.
Don't take things too personally. Always remember, hurting people hurt people, and they are easily hurt by others.
Practice the 101% principle. Whenever possible, find the 1% you agree on in a difficult situation, and give it 100% of your effort.
Be a servant leader. If your mindset is to serve rather than to be served, you will encounter less conflict.

#7 - Training determines the excellence of the team.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argued for companies to spend much larger sums of money for worker training. In his words, "If employers fail to upgrade their workers then they're trying to be competitive only with their capital. Anybody can replicate physical capital, but the one resource nobody can replicate is the dedication, the teamwork, and the skills of a company's employees."

#8 - Leadership determines the success of the team.
As The Law of the Edge states, the difference between two equally talented teams is leadership. Talented performers flock to the best and brightest leaders. In turn, these leaders lift the lids off of their people and uncork the latent talent inside of them.

Final Team Thought:
In the end, a team fails or succeeds together. The best way to serve the individuals on the team is to see that the whole team wins. Do that, and dreams can come true for everyone. Even when you've played the game of your life, it's the feeling of teamwork that you'll remember. You'll forget the plays, the shots, and the scores, but you'll never forget your teammates.

"One Shining Moments": Final Four Scouting Reports

And then there were four! Final Four weekend is upon us. It should be a memorable one. Below is an article from SI.com, scouting the four teams playing in Detroit. The article indicates that the scouting report information came from opponent's assistant coaches This post particularly focuses on Michigan State and a favorite play they like to run that involves two screens by Goran Suton.

The entire article, by Luke Winn of SI can be found here...http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/tourney/posts/60421-final-four-xs-and-os-examining-the-stars

Goran Suton, PF/C, Michigan State (10.1 points, 8.1 rebounds)
Why He Matters: His shooting ability can pull Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket.Likely To Be Guarded By: UConn's Hasheem Thabeet or Stanley Robinson
Bread-and-Butter Play: "They'll use physical signs; this one was a downward thumb from Kalin Lucas. Lucas passes Travis Walton on the left wing, and then they have Suton set a back-screen for Lucas, who runs off of that and loops off a double-screen on the right block. At the same time, Suton moves out from the elbow to run a side pick-and-roll with Walton. They love to use these pick-and-rolls late in the shot clock; between this one and one they call by touching the forehead -- a simple one with Lucas and Suton at the top of the key -- they were successful something like 42 percent of the time with the clock winding down."

Scouting Points on Suton:
• "Suton is a face-up 4-5 man who presents a very difficult matchup for a lot of big guys, because they're not used to defending pick-and-pop stuff out to the three-point line. Michigan State uses Suton more like a three-man than they do a five, given how many screening actions involve him on the outside."
• "Suton isn't all that physical in the post; he's just smart. He'll pull the chair out from under you when he's guarding you, and try to get around and go for the steal on the post-entry pass. And he never leaves his feet, either, because he knows he's not a shot-blocker. He just forces you to catch the ball farther out than you're used to, and does things to get you off-balance."
• "He almost reminds me of a Bill Laimbeer, in that he's not the greatest athlete, or the best jumper, but just has a really high basketball IQ. He knows you're not comfortable guarding him outside, and he knows that he's more likely to stop you by pushing you out of the paint than letting you catch it in deep."
• "I wouldn't be surprised if UConn makes adjustments and puts Stanley Robinson on Suton instead of Thabeet, just to keep Suton from scoring on threes."

"Act As If..."

FIRST STEP IN BECOMING A WINNER:

ACT LIKE ONE

The New York Times By MELISSA JOHNSON
On March 14, 1998, I sat in a dark hotel room with both hands over my mouth to prevent my yelps from waking my teammate in the next bed.
A 6-foot-4 sophomore center at North Carolina, I was transfixed by the N.C.A.A. tournament game lighting up before me, a game that would persuade me to give up my full scholarship, million-dollar locker room, teammates who could dunk and fancy Nike luggage.
Sixteenth-seeded Harvard, a bunch of basketball nobodies, was battling top-ranked Stanford at raucous Maples Pavilion -- and winning.
A veritable banner-making machine, Stanford had produced more N.C.A.A. championships in women’s sports than any other college. It was a surreal and sanguine affair: the Crimson versus the Cardinal. David versus Goliath. Revenge of the Nerds.
No Ivy League women’s team had ever won a game in an N.C.A.A. tournament, and Stanford, though missing two key players to injury, was one of the strongest programs of the decade, having won the national title twice and owning a 59-game home winning streak dating to the 1993-94 season. In her spare time, Stanford’s coach, Tara VanDerveer, had led the 1996 United States team to an Olympic gold medal. She couldn’t have expected much competition from a college known for its SATs, not M.V.P.’s.
“Welcome to real basketball,” an event worker coolly offered the Cambridge women as they stepped onto the court after their cross-country flight. Meanwhile, the news media talked about them like smart little hors d’oeuvres: pigs in a blanket to the slaughter, brainiac bruschetta to whet Stanford’s appetite for the meal to come.
Yet, the Harvard women summoned the performance of their lives, including a 35-point exhibition by the all-American Allison Feaster. Miraculously leading by a point with 1 minute 32 seconds to play, they secured the win with a 3-pointer from a lanky, unassuming future E.R. physician named Suzie Miller, who wore her hair in double braids.
Stanford looked too shocked to be ashamed. With my television muted, the court erupted in silent pandemonium as I jumped up and down on the bed, waking my roommate after all.
The mastermind behind this astonishing victory -- the only time a No. 16 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed in the men’s or women’s N.C.A.A. tournament -- was a scrappy blue-collar Boston kid turned coaching icon named Kathy Delaney-Smith.
Wanting to learn from someone who could pull off this kind of magic, I transferred to play for her the next year, and she told me her secret.

Any decent athlete, salesman or Starbucks barista can put on a good
game face. But her philosophy, “act as if,” goes much deeper than mere swagger or theatrics. It’s a method -- a learned skill for convincing your mind that you already are what you want to become. The body follows where the mind leads. “Act as if you’re a great shooter,” she would instruct. “Act as if you love the drill. Act as if when you hit the deck it doesn’t hurt.” Negativity, even in the form of body language, was not tolerated.

What the overly analytical Harvard players might have lacked in comparative
speed or vertical jumping ability against Stanford, they made up with their
power of belief. In 1969 she picked up the whistle as a favor to a friend. A former synchronized swimmer who hadn’t had the opportunity to play competitive basketball, she was clueless but determined to do a good job faking it. She figured out drills as she ran them, read every sports psychology book available, and went undefeated in her first six years as a high school coach. “I started out fooling a lot of people,” she said. But the farce became the truth -- she won more games than any other women’s basketball coach in the Ivy League and emerged as one of the longest-tenured coaches in the country. Positive thinking is hardly a revolutionary notion in sports, but her brand has been so compelling because of the
authentic and irreverent way she lives it. My senior year didn’t go how either of us planned. Kathy was fighting breast cancer and I had blown out my knee. We both had surgery. Feeling like a failure, I captained the team from the bench, far from the star player I was supposed to have been. But I watched Kathy show up exhausted for practice every day, in pain and in a wig, bravely embodying her own mantra like never before. Pretending to be fearless. So I just tried to be like her. We didn’t win the league that year; there was no shot at the tournament. But we both got better.
Eleven years after Stanford, I asked Kathy what happened after the buzzer
sounded. She was approached for a postgame interview. Before the camera started rolling, she whispered to the commentator Ann Meyers and asked her not to let her
say anything stupid. “I’d never been on national TV,” she confided. “I was desperately acting as if.”

Melissa Johnson is an online director for BBC Worldwide America and an independent filmmaker. Her short documentary “Act as If” will be playing next month in the Boston International Film Festival.

One Shining Moments: Yelling or Trusting

Jay Wright is one of the most successful young coaches and with Villanova's recent appearance in the Final Four, he has solidified the Wildcat basketball program as one of the nation's elite basketball programs. This article talks about how the former Rolly Mossamino assistant understands the "modern athlete". The dictator type coaching style is long gone. The coaching profession has changed to fit the modernization of athletes and is now more about creating a culture of trust, leadership and a bigger focus on team unity. Coaches must now understand that they are not bigger than the program itself, it's not about them. It's about the players. The players make the program. It's about putting those players in a position to succeed...on the court and off the court. This article shows how 'Nova and Jay Wright have built that trust and how it can pay off when coaches and players respect and trust each other.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20090331DickJerardiVillanovasWrightmakesanidealboss.html

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Jay Wright on the last two plays for Villanova against Pitt...

When Reggie Redding threw that unsuccessful long pass against Pittsburgh, some coaches would have gone berserk. Instead, on the final play, after a timeout that came between Pitt foul shots (so Pittsburgh would not be able to set its defense as it would just after a timeout), Wright gave the ball to Redding again.
"It's very easy in the huddle to tell kids what to do, very difficult to be that guy out of bounds," Wright said after the game. "Reggie did the right thing. We've got to trust him."
The safe play would not have been that long pass. It was a risk. It failed.
Wright could have played it safe on the next play. Instead, he went over what he wanted in that huddle and trusted his players. Even when one of those players forgot where to go and Redding looked like he might be in trouble, the last option came open at the last second. Then, it was Redding to Dante Cunningham to Scottie Reynolds to Ford Field.

"We always tell them in those end of game situations, we have to trust your decisions," Wright said Saturday. "And that was the point I made to the team. If that [long pass] would have cost us the game, we would have applauded Reggie for the guts to make the play."

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A couple of great quotes came out of the article...

"Coaches with good ideas and good players can win games. Risk-takers win championships."

The modern big-time college basketball coach is part CEO, tactician and big brother. It is the coach who can excel at all three that has a chance to win big.

"If it's not broken, break it," - Rick Pitino, Louisville