The Teacher-Coach

Below is a favorite poem of the legendary John Wooden, who coined the term "Teacher-Coach" and personally demonstrated the virtues and benefits of developing the whole player.

No spoken word, no written plea

Can teach your youthwhat they should be.

Nor all the books on all the shelves.

It's what the teachers are themselves.

A Teacher-Coach is someone who:
Understands that he or she leaves a lasting impact on the lives of athletes.
Sees sports as an opportunity to teach life lessons.
Refuses to sacrifice his or her honor, or an athlete's, for the sake of victory.
Cares about how athletes behave both on and off the court.
Teaches athletes how to be good basketball players and good people.

Kevin Eastman Shooting Drills

Below are a few of the Boston Celtic's favorite shooting drills, compliments of Kevin Eastman:

IN A ROWS: We do this drill from inside the 3 and outside the 3; we shoot from 7 spots on the perimeter. Usually we do this drill with 2-3 players to make it even more competitive: player A shoots first and continues to shoot from the same spot until he misses a shot; at that point player B quickly takes his place and shoots until he misses. Then player A comes back on as each player gets 2 sets from each of the 7 spots. We shoot from 7 spots inside the 3 and then shoot from 7 spots outside the 3. Our best was 53 in a row from the left wing spot (that was from the NBA 3!)

CELTIC 40: We can do this drill inside the 3 and/or outside the 3. We shoot from four spots: left corner, left wing, right wing, right corner. Player shoots until he makes 10 shots from the left corner; coach keeps track of how many shots it takes to make the 10 baskets (example: it took player A 15 shots to make his 10). Execute the same from each of the four spots. Let’s say it took the player 15 shot attempts to make his 10 baskets; you add up the total number of shots attempted to make 10 in each spot and that gives the player a score. In this example, it took him 15 shots at each spot so the score is 60; in other words it took him 60 shots to make his 40 mandatory shots. Our best from inside the 3 is 47; from the NBA 3 it is 56.

3 and DONE: The drill stops when a player misses 3 in a row. Player starts in one of the corners. Coach passes him the ball and player shoots After shot he gradually keeps moving around the arc and shooting until he misses 3 in a row; coach keeps track of the makes. Our best is 93 NBA 3’s made before that player missed 3 in a row. Keep in mind that a player can miss 2 in a row and hit the next – he keeps going. Player keeps moving around the arc until 3 shots in a row are missed.

35 in 3: Player starts anywhere along the 3 point line with 3 minutes on the clock. Clock starts on the first made shot. There are 2 coaches rebounding and 2 balls. Player is only allowed 2 shots in a row from the same spot. He continues to move around the arc shooting the 3. Count total number of made 3’s in 3 minutes. Our best is 39 from the NBA 3. This drill can be done from any distance on the court.

Blogging the Journey: Against All Odds

I loved our teams approach to our game on Saturday at Hilbert. While the game was won on Saturday, 100-95, we actually won the game in the two days of practice leading up to Saturday's game. We practiced with passion, we prepared and we disciplined ourselves to doing the little things that we needed to do to win the game. Despite being against all odds of winning that game...down two starters, long road trip, hot shooting opponent and foul trouble throughout...we continued to fight, stay poised and determined and found a way to win.

Give Hilbert credit for playing hard, too. We knew we were in for a battle when they came out and shot 6 of 6 from three point range to start the game. Luckily our own Joey Stevenson found himself hitting his first 3-point attempts and we managed to find ourselves with a 7 point lead mid-way through the first half. However, that did not last as we had a few untimely, but unforced turnovers against a good full-court press by Hilbert. We got great contributions from our bench and were able to stay close at half-time. In the second half, Hilbert continued to put on a three point shooting clinic, the finsished the game with 16 total. They were able to extend their lead to 11 at one point in the second half. We lost our leading scorer late in the game due to fouls. But we were determined to not let this game slip away. We have lost four games by six points or less this year so far due to untimely turnovers or lack of execution. But you had a sense that this was a different day. This day was going to be a turning point in our season. This day we were executing, we were getting stops, we were converting our turnovers, we were making the extra pass and we were stepping up at key moments. On this day, we were playing with toughness!

As all odds were against us and all indications leading to another "L" in the column, we did what tough teams do...we found a way to win!

Blogging the Journey: Greatness and Potential

Greatness is more than Potential. It is the execution of that potential, beyond the raw talent. You need the appropriate discipline. You need passion. You need hunger. You need the drive!