Choices

Tom Crean believes that it's the details, energy and passion that seperate the winners. Everyone wants to win, but not everybody is willing to do all the things that are necessary to win, not everybody is willing to do the little things time and time again, that's what is needed to reach excellence. It's the extra that seperates the ordinary from the extrordinary! Tony Dungy, the former coach of the Indianapolis Colts, believes that there are 4 traits of a winner and they are...
1.) Talent
2.) Intellegence
3.)Character and
4.) Toughness

What are your 4 traits of a winner?

My personal 4 traits of a winner are...
1. Energy: is how much passion and enthusiasm we commit towards something. Without energy, we cannot give our best because when you are energized you are engaged and it's essential to be engaged in order to compete at the highest level, which is excellence. Energy and enthusiasm then become contagious and can inspire others around you.

2. Effort: is simply hard work and "there is no substitute for hard work!"

3. Execution: is combining energy and effort to prepare to the best of your ability, which gives you discipline to execute at the highest level, which is excellence.

4. Toughness: is essential for a player or team to develop to reach potential. Toughness has nothing to do with size, strength or athleticism. Toughness is a choice that anybody can make. Toughness is a skill that anybody can develop and improve on. "Players play, but tough players win!"

Energy + Enthusiasm + Execution = Excellence

I refer to them as the 3 E's plus toughness. When equated together, the 3 E's always equals Excellence! You need toughness, however, to get you through the obstacles that all great teams are faced with overcoming. You need toughness to do the little things right and to do them consistently. The ultimate goal of a winner is to strive for excellence! When you combine passion (energy), hard work (effort) and preparation (execution), you give yourself an opportunity to achieve full potential, which is considered to be excellence!

Whatever your 4 traits may be, the most important thing is that it all comes down to one thing...choice! It comes down to you making the choice to believe in those things, stick to 'em and never waivering from them. Sometimes life deals us situations that are outside of our control, but our traits are always our choice. We can choose our attitude, we can choose our enthusiasm, we can choose what we are passionate about, we can choose how much energy we have, we can choose how much effort we put into something and we can certainly choose how much we prepare for something, we can also choose how tough we are or how tough we play. Everyday we make choices, some good, some bad, but it's our choices that determines our character, our attitude. It's our choices that determine how we handle adversity, how we overcome obstacles.

It's All About Character...

Watch your thoughts,

they become your words.

Watch your words,

they become your actions.

Watch your actions,

they become habits.

Watch your habits,

They become your character.

Watch your character,

it becomes your destiny.

Wooden on Leadership

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had a chance to do some reading. At the start of the season, I always like to pick up and read something from John Wooden, his coaching methods and beliefs always helps put coaching into perspective. I read some chapters from the book "Wooden on Leadership", here are some of the things that I picked up as I was reading...

Wood On...Character

Character Starts with Doing the Little Things:

1. Choosing the Right Attitude & Conduct

• Do nothing that will harm or will negatively impact you, your family, your friends, your school or your team.

2. Having Respect

• Respect yourself - have personal pride


• Respect others...opponents, coaches and officials


• Respect the game

3. Being a Good Student

• Be a good student in the classroom


• Be a student of the game


• Be a good citizen in the community

4. Fighting Spirit & Conditioning

• Have more energy than your opponent


• Be better conditioned - mentally & physically


• Respect your opponent, but believe that you are better in talent, knowledge, condition and fighting spirit

"It's the Little Things that Make the Big Things Happen"

• Think small. Work Hard. Get Better (good).


• High performance & production are achieved only through the identification and perfection of small details...little things done well!


• If you collect enought pennies, eventually you'll be rich. Each relevant & perfected detail was another penny in our bank...When you focus on doing the little things and work hard to make those a habit, you will get better. When those little things are done well on a consistent basis, you can consider it to be perfected!

"The difference in a championship team and a good team is often the perfection of minor details" - John Wooden

Wooden On: Coach and Player Relationships

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." - John Wooden

If you don't think your team as a family, why should the team think of you as head of the family. You must have love and respect for those you lead.

1. Be close, but keep their respect. Have a vested interest in them as a person and be easy to approach

2. Maintain discipline without being a dictator. Be fair and lead, don't drive.

3. Study & respect the individuality of each player, handle them accordingly. Follow the "Golden Rule"...and treat them as you would expect to be treated.

4. Try to develop the same sense of responsibility in all...no matter what their talent level, playing time may be.

5. Analyze yourself & your players to be coached accordingly; "The Man in the Glass" poem

6. Approval is a great motivator. Use positive reinforcement after severe criticism.

7. Teach loyalty, honesty and respect inorder to build proper team spirit.

8. The team always comes first, but don't sacrifice a player just to prove a point

Wooden On...Coaching Methods

"You must first be what you want your team to become" - John Wooden

1. Be a teacher. Use the laws of learning: explanation > demonstration > imitation > feedback > repetition until it becomes a habit

2. Use lectures, photos, videos or diagrams to supplement practices

3. Insist on undivided attention

4. Insist on punctuality and proper dress for practice

5. Practice is preparation

6. Show patience, poise and faith

7. Give new things early in practice period, then repeat daily until learned.

8. Avoid public criticism

9. Encourage teamwork and unselfishness

10. Individual development helps the team development

11. In practice, use small, carefully organized groups

12. Have a practice plan...and follow it.

Action speaks louder than words...

No written word nor spoken plea,

Can teach your team what they should be,

Nor all the books on the shelves,

It's what the leaders are themselves.

Wooden On...Leading

1. Control Emotion Or It Will Control You

• Uncontrolled emotion decreases a leaders stature, lessens respect and undermines a teams effort


• Intensity, when correctly applied, can produce improvement and positive results

2. Avoid Excess. Shoot for Moderation

• Moderation & balance are linked to long term success


• Excess can create ineffective and/or undisciplined performance

3. Install Emotional Discipline

4. The Star of the Team is the Team

• Your team first message must be delivered consistently and persistently

5. Insist Team Members "Share the Ball"

• Team members and coaches must communicate openly and consistently with each other and share information, ideas and feedback...have a 'best practice' mindset

6. Go Out of Your Way to Praise Quiet Team Members

• Praise those team members who make things happen, but don't always get noticed. Praise those who are behind the scenes working hard (i.e. assistants, janitors, statisticians, volunteers, students, parents...)

7. Desire Players Who Make Good Teammates

• You want players who will make good teammates, not good players.

Learning How to Win & Pioneer

This morning I listened to a radio show, hosted by Coach K called "Beyond Basketball". His guest for this particular show was Pat Summit, head women's coach at Tennessee University. During the conversation between Coach K and Pat Summit, many interesting topics were discussed, probably the most interesting topic in my opinion was when Coach Summit was explaining the difficulties she was having with her team 'learning how to win'.


As Coach Summit explained it, sometimes programs, such as Tennessee, who have long standing traditions of winning championships and excellence, the players sometimes beleive that all they have to do is 'put on the uniform' to win. However, recently that has not been the case with Tennessee, who has lost Candace Parker and a number of other key players to graduation. Coach K asked her what they do in the Tennessee program to teach young players how to win...


As Pat Summit explained it, in her program, it all starts with building a foundation. That foundation is made of up things that you have control over...

1. How hard you play...defense, rebounding, protecting the basketball


2. Your attitude


3. Competing everyday


4. Leaders taking ownership

The final segment of Coach K's radio show, "Beyond Basketball" always ends with a key word. The word for this segment that he spoke about was 'pioneer', which was very fitting considering his guest was Pat Summit. Coach Summit has been a 'pioneer' for womens basketball. She became the first and only head women's basketball coach at Tennessee University in 1974 at the young age of 22 (her first graduating seniors were 21 at the time). When she started, there were no chartered buses or planes to away games, no administrative assistants, no sponsorship deals, no top of the line basketball practice facilities or locker rooms. At the time when she started, she was the head coach, who also drove the team van to away games. When you look at where she started to where she is now and where women's college basketball is now, she is considered to be a 'pioneer'. Here are some of Coach K's highlights on what a pioneer is and what it takes to be a pioneer...

A pioneer is someone or some group who starts a movement through their hunger, vision and ability to drive success. Pioneers don't break molds, but are willing to go into unchartered waters to start a journey that defines the future for others who will follow, setting a precident. As Coach K explained, since pioneers don't have any traditions or past experiences to follow, they must have guts and courage. They must be committed to their vision and willing to take risks, without being afraid to fail. They must have passion and the confidence to follow their instincts. To be a pioneer, it takes a special person or a special group, willing to fight and sacrifice, willing to go above and beyond and willing to do the things that have never been done!

Other 'pioneers' for the game of basketball:

• John Wooden


• Will Robinson and John Chaney...pioneer for African-American coaches


• Don Haskins, Texas Western...1966 NCAA Champions; first coach to start five African-Americans


• Dr. James Naismith...invented the game of basketball


• Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker...pioneers for women's basketball

Thoughts on Beginning a New Season

The start of each season is so exciting, fresh start, new opportunities and new faces. As the beginning of the hoops season comes upon us, here are some quotes and thoughts to help get your team off to a great start!

• Play Hard, Play Smat, Play Together & Have Fun...with Enthusiasm, Energy and Execution for 40 minutes, with a Will to WIN!


• Don't count the time, make the time count for you. - Roy Williams


• Goals that are not written down are just wishes.


• The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.


• Never quit. It is often the last key on the ring that opens the door.


• Great people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about other people.


• Begin with the end in mind.


• It is useful to look back and to look forward as well. Always remember, though, that now is where you are, and now is when you can make a difference.


• There are people who make things happen.
  There are people who watch things happen.
  And there are people who wonder, "What happened?"
  To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen.
  - James A. Lowell, Astronaut

Becoming a Champion...on the court, in the classroom and in the community!Champions do not become champions on the court. They become recognized on the court. They become champions because of their daily routine and daily commitment to excellence. Players do not decide their future; they decide their habits and their habits decide their future!

All of this starts with how you think and what you think.
Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your character.
Your character becomes your destiny.

Therefore, being successful at anything is determined by your daily choices and habits.

A champion is someone who gets up when he can't. -Jack Dempsey

Sacrifice and Rise Above

"If you want something you've never had...you must be willing to do something you've never done."

Do the hard things...do the little things

It's about each one of us rising up above, rising our levels, where others say we are or where we don't belong. It's about us pushing ourselves and each other to rise above those levles. It's about us lifting the program above that...each taking accountability, step by step, inch by inch.

The Top Ten Tips to a Successful Basketball Season (from iHoops.com)

10. Be Eligible & Stay Eligible!
First and foremost, you have to take care of your academics. As we always say, “You can’t make the plays if you can’t make the grades! Student comes first in "Student-Athlete"!

9. Set a Realistic Goal for the Season!
Set a realistic goal and work towards it everyday; have it visible on your dresser, on your bathroom mirror or in your locker at school.

8. Eat Right & Sleep Tight!
Make sure you eat a balanced, healthy diet and you give your body the rest it needs! Read your summer conference notebook or some old First Team Newsletter stories for nutrition and health tips.

7. Execute Fundamentals, Fundamentals, and Fundamentals!
Be solid and be text book! Do what you know, know what you do. Now is not the time to experiment. Summer is when champions are made…Fall is when they perform!

6. Follow Team Rules!
Honor your team rules and be a part of the team. No one is bigger than the TEAM! Be a "Program Guy", not a player guy!

5. Be Coach-able & Accept Constructive Criticism!
Don't make the same mistake twice! Take criticism from coaches and upperclassman; know the coach’s philosophy and follow it. Know your role! Ask questions and observe.

4. How You Practice is How you Play!
If you loaf in practice, you’ll loaf in the game. When you practice hard every practice as if it were a real game, when game time comes, you will be able to play at a high level of intensity. Out hustle the next guy. Leave all of your effort out on the floor everyday. What are you saving yourself for? You might just find out how much more heart you have buried deep down inside! On days you don't feel like practicing, practice harder!

3. Play Hard, Play Smart, All the time!
Is there anything else to say? What ever you do, do it with the same enthusiasm, positive attitude and desire. Maximize your time at practice when it’s time to practice. No joking around. You have to do 10-wind sprints at practice, do 10, not 9½. The same for the books. When it’s time study, don’t cheat yourself, study. If your homework requires you to read 3 chapters, read 3, not 2½. Don't just play hard and play smart...Play hard, Play Smart, Play Together and Play with Pride!

2. Balance Your “ABS” (Academics, Basketball & Social Life)
You must find balance between ACADEMICS, BASKETBALL and SOCIAL LIFE. If one begins to dominate, then the others will begin to suffer. Each must be kept in proper perspective with attention dedicated equally to all three. Work those ABS!

1. Have Fun!
You’re still a young man or woman and remember you play this sport because you love it! You’re good at something you love and something you’re dedicated to, HOOPS! There’s no pressure on you? What’s pressure? Chuck Knoll, former head coach of the 6-time Super Bowl Champions Pittsburgh Steelers once said, “Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing! You know how to HOOP…So HOOP it up!

"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's a little boy who fell in love with the game and never looked back...PLAY FOR HIM!"

Motivating Todays Athlete

There are a variety of reasons why athletes participate in sports. Recognizing those reasons for each individual on your team will help you to motivate them. Below is an article from "Championship Coaches Network" on ways coaches can motivate their athletes. Visit them at the following adress, http://www.championshipcoachesnetwork.com

5 Keys to Motivating Your Athletes (Part I)
Greg Shelley, Janssen Sports Leadership Center

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

No doubt there are many ways to "motivate" and inspire others. In contrast, it may be argued that one person cannot motivate another, but only creates an environment that promotes one to motivate him/herself. In short, to motivate anyone can be difficult, dynamic, and frustrating. To be effective, motivating others takes insight (a plan) and patience (time).
There are generally three broad categories for which motivation strategies fall: fear, incentives, and/or purpose. Fear and incentives are often short-term "motivators", whereas providing purpose (or meaning) is more long-term.

1. Motivation Through Fear
First, instilling fear in others is simple (and it can quickly motivate some people) but over time, fear can easily breed resentment and disloyalty. The athlete who is motivated by fear is likely not so much trying to achieve something as they are trying to avoid something (e.g., losing a position or making a mistake). This athlete generally becomes focused on what not to do, rather than what to do. In time, this can become stressful and lead to a strong sense of resentment and/or disloyalty toward the one instilling the fear.

2. Motivation Through Incentives
Incentives too can be effective for the short-term. Dangling the "carrot" (e.g., playing time, money, trophies, etc.) is a strong motivator for many athletes but these extrinsic means generally last for only a short time before the "incentives" need increased or made more appealing. The less appealing the incentive, the less motivation one will generally show.

3. Motivation Through Purpose

Finally, developing a strong sense of purpose is most effective for promoting long-term motivation. Creating a sense of purpose and/or meaning is about changing the way athletes think about their roles, their reasons for coming to practice, their influence on teammates, their membership on the team, and their reasons for playing and competing. Providing purpose and meaning is about creating an environment that is conducive to personal growth and encouraging athletes to motivate themselves, as well as inspire their teammates. Developing purpose and meaning takes more time and energy (investment) but it can lead to that long-term motivation for which most coaches are striving.

Below are five important considerations as you go about developing a plan for motivating your athletes, your team, and your support staff.

1. Get input from your athletes (and most importantly your leaders) - check with your athletes to determine if what you are communicating to them is understood, what they need, and what they want. Encourage your leaders to make suggestions as to how things (e.g., practices, travel, game day preparations, etc.) might be improved. Remember, if you are asking for input... at least be willing to incorporate something (a suggestion) at some point.

2. Keep your athletes informed as to when, where, how, and why (and WHY is most important) - people are not generally motivated to start (or finish) a task that is not clear in terms of when, where, how, or why. Take away any questions or doubts that your athletes may have by clearly and consistently communicating your expectations and intentions. Be clear as to when, where, and how . . . but most important, be sure your athletes know "why" they are being asked to do something.

3. Create an environment that allows for challenge, recognition, appreciation, and quality - some of your athletes will be motivated by a challenge, some by recognition, some by appreciation, and some by quality of performance. It is important to know your athletes and what their primary motive might be. Challenge some (1 v 1 against a teammate), recognize others in front of their teammates (at the end of practice or in the locker room), appreciate others in private (in your office or the hallway), and provide others with a chance to show you a quality performance (quality over quantity of work). Remember, different athletes are motivated by different situations and feedback.

4. Give your athletes a reason to want to work hard - take the time to develop genuine, honest, caring, and trusting relationships with your players. Athletes will work harder (and longer) for someone they know genuinely believes in them, cares about them, and is committed to helping them achieve their potential. At the heart of player motivation . . . is the quality of the coach-athlete relationship.

5. Model what you want to see - be motivated yourself. If you want someone to work hard, you better be working hard. If you want someone to put in extra time, you better be putting in extra time. Athletes do what they see. This is why the motivation of the coaching staff is so important and why it is so important to have quality team leaders who can lead by example, hold accountable, and promote a climate of motivation and inspiration. Set a motivational "standard" by what you do, say, and expect. Say it, expect it, but also make sure you do it!

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." ~ John Quincy Adams

Trust Wins

As each season starts, one of the biggest challenges for coaches is trying to develop trust between their coaches and players. Being able to trust coaches and players is one of the most important factors that could have an impact on whether your season can be a successful one. You can have all the talent in the world, but if your players don't trust you, your staff or each other, then they are going to have a very difficult time performing and committing to philosophies, strategies and building relationships. Here is a great article from PositiveSports.net ,written by Steve Horan.

When trust abounds, teams play harder, smarter, quicker, tougher, and more together. That's how they win.

Athletes perform better in a culture of trust. When they trust themselves they are more confident. When they trust their teammates they are more collaborative. When they trust their coach they are more committed. When their coach trusts them they are more courageous.

Trust is not something to be taken for granted. It is a highly valuable asset which must be built up over time, but can be lost in a day. One of the most important jobs of a coach is to create a team culture in which trust can live and grow. Here are ten ways a coach can create a culture of trust on a team.

1. Think trust
Before we take a significant action, we can help ourselves by stopping to ask: 'How will what I am about to do affect trust for the team as a whole and this athlete in particular?' Asking this question keeps us from making rash decisions which can erode team trust.

2. Include everyone
Teams are more trusting when everyone feels included. No good coach wants to exclude any athlete from a feeling of belonging to the team. But we all are susceptible to focusing our energy on the athletes who play the most during the course of the season. We can build trust by making a conscious effort to include every athlete in our circle of attention, from the captains and stars to the last athlete off the bench.

3. Show you care
As the old saying goes, 'they don't care what you know until they know that you care.' If you have ever spent any time counseling athletes, you know that caring matters - a LOT. Showing that you care does not mean being a buddy to your athletes. It simply means getting to know your athletes and making it clear that you believe in them and want them to do well. A simple show of caring can dramatically elevate your trust account with an athlete.

4. Be clear and consistent
A wise sports parent once advised me that, 'If you don't give them a reason, they will make one up - and the one they make up will probably be wrong.' This taught me the importance of being clear and consistent. We need to be clear and consistent about our vision, values, and expectations for each athlete. We need to be equally clear and consistent about the reasons for our significant decisions affecting the team or individual athletes. The more our athletes understand our reasoning, the more they will trust our decisions. Note that explaining does not mean justifying. It is important that our athletes understand our decisions. They do not necessarily have to agree with our decisions.

5. Be firm and fair
A fifth way to create a culture of trust is to be firm and fair with all of our athletes. Our athletes watch closely when we make decisions about roles, positions, playing time, and discipline. When they perceive us behaving inconsistently or delivering preferential treatment, our trust account drops. When they see us being firm and fair, they accept our decisions more readily because they trust our motivations.

6. Define roles
Teams become restless and lose trust whenever there is a group of athletes with no clearly defined role on the team. It is a fact of life that not everyone can start and play the whole game. But this does not mean bench players cannot be given highly valuable roles on the team. When we take the time to define roles for all of our athletes, we send a strong message of respect and caring. The result is an increase in trust.

7. Seek understanding
Every athlete struggles at some point. Sometimes the athlete is simply underperforming. Other times the athlete is grappling with a real problem which is affecting their performance. It is hard to know if we don't talk to them about the situation. If we discipline an athlete or withdraw our confidence from an athlete before fully understanding their perspective, we may lose an opportunity to help that athlete grow as a person and a player. On the other hand, we can build tremendous trust with our athletes by taking time to understand their point of view when they are struggling.

8. Show loyalty
Athletes notice loyalty. In particular, they watch how we treat our veteran athletes (e.g. seniors), hard working role players, and injured players. If our athletes perceive that we are disrespecting or neglecting players in these three categories, they will begin to wonder whether their own investment of hard work will pay off. When this happens, our trust account drops. If our athletes see us supporting and respecting these same players, their trust (and commitment) will escalate.

9. Support leaders
Another way to create a culture of trust is to support team leaders, particularly team captains. Some coaches are quite good at delegating responsibility to their captains and then supporting those athletes as they execute their job. But it is not uncommon for coaches to punish captains for stepping up and asserting some leadership. The unfortunate message to the team is, 'Uh oh, leaders get shot down around here.' Captains need not be given an excess of special treatment. But they should be treated respectfully in front of the team. This will build your athletes' trust in you and the captains.

10. Reward effort
Coaches are sometimes susceptible to looking the other way when star athletes do not give 100 percent effort. We may be equally susceptible to not noticing when non-stars give 110 percent. Noticing effort, and rewarding that effort with playing time, sends a powerful message to the entire team. That message is, 'Effort really does matter here. If I work hard, I will be rewarded.' As a result, your athletes learn that they can trust you when you say that effort matters.