Twitter Quotes

I don't currently have a Twitter account, but it's a great place to go for powerful quotes that are short and to the point. Here are a few that I came across lately that I thought were interesting...

• You haven't EARNED the right to shoot until you have LEARNED what a good shot is.


• from Ed Schilling:"Guard your yard"-prevent your man from dribble penetrating 1 yard on either side of you


• Your program must have an overriding purpose which is clearly visible and which teaches lessons beyond winning. -- Don Meyer


• "Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."


• Defensively think about this: wins occur by what you do on the other side of the floor; not always what you do on the ball side of floor


• execution requires timing, spacing, pace, vision, and concentration; the great teams understand this and work on these things each day!


• "Habit passes" are what our defenders have to ready for; all players seem to have them; if defense is ready for them you can get a few


• A hesitant athlete is a non athlete


• Little hinges swing big doors. Little things do make a big difference!


• Take pride in overcoming difficulties. The greater the difficulty, the greater the pride


• "Treat people as they are, and they will remain that way. Treat them as what they can be, and you help them become..." - Goethe


• The 4 Cancerous Behaviors of Athletes: Criticizing, Complaining, Comparing & Condemning.


• Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.

Notes From the LeBron James Academy

LeBron James Academy Recap

by Alan Stein 9. July 2009 08:23

The mission of the LeBron James Nike Skills Academy was the same as the position academies; “positively impact the lives of elite players by providing superior instruction, personal mentorship, and a once in a lifetime experience.” The goal of the Lebron Academy was to build on the previous academies and teach players how to incorporate the skills they learned specifically for their position in to a team philosophy. Did they accomplish their goal? As George Bush said, “mission accomplished.” Although this time it is true!

Nike set the standard for youth basketball development and the LeBron James Skills Academy and accompanying King City Classic have been heralded as the premiere events of the summer. What made it such an incredible event was the fact that King James himself was so actively involved. The reigning NBA MVP made a commitment to be an integral part of this event and he came through in a big way. It is universally accepted that LeBron has an undeniable work ethic, solid fundamentals, and an obvious passion and true love for the game. He epitomizes everything positive about the greatest game on earth. And despite his astounding fame, fortune, and world renowned notoriety, he still made the time to give back and to help those aspiring to follow in his foot steps. I saw first hand, for three and half days, that LeBron is a class act and deserves every bit of the success he has achieved.

In addition to LeBron’s participation, Nike assembled an elite staff of coaches and skill instructors; including many of the games best teachers. The theme at the initial staff meeting was succinct:

Have energy and enthusiasm at every workout; sweat with the players.
Teach
to your personality; don’t try to be someone you’re not. Be authentic.
Keep the drills moving! Less talk, more action!
It’s not how much you
know; it’s how much you bring that counts! Bring your best every workout.
Improvement is a constant, repetitive process. Do the little things to
keep things fun!

The official banquet was held on Monday and was absolutely spectacular. The food, décor, and atmosphere were first class. There was a professional DJ spinning records the entire time and they showed numerous LeBron highlight clips and commercials (many of which haven’t been released yet). The highlight of the night was a live Q & A with King James and ESPN’s Jay Bilas. Jay asked numerous questions as well as asked LeBron to say the first thing that popped into his mind when historic pictures of his career were put on the big screen; first Sports Illustrated cover (“I was just a kid”), shaking David Stern’s hand on draft night (“a dream come true”), holding up the 2009 MVP trophy (“hard work paid off”), and hearing the National Anthem upon receiving the Gold Medal in the 2009 Olympics in Beijing (“biggest accomplishment of my career”). LeBron was funny, entertaining, but very truthful. Again, a total class act. Nike kept highlighting the fact that LeBron is extremely loyal. For example he still resides in Akron, where he grew up, and insisted the academy was held in his hometown. He even chose to have his MVP press conference at his old high school to show the world he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Nike presented him with a pair of one of kind LeBron 2009 MVP Air Force 1’s. In closing, LeBron told the players, “I am here for you guys, the players. You are the games’ future, so take that seriously. Represent yourselves to the fullest and honor the game. Heck, one of you might host a camp that my kid goes to one day!”

While this was my third time meeting and seeing LeBron up close; I forgot how physically imposing he is. He is an absolute specimen. He has the perfect basketball physique. I closely followed his every move as I am always trying to learn from the great ones. He had a very standard pre-workout routine (which I wrote down in my notes) he followed meticulously before every workout session. It included getting his ankles taped and having his trainer (Mike Mancias of the Cleveland Cavaliers) stretch him out thoroughly. Once he hit the court he was all business. Intently watching him in the drills, I noticed that everything he did was crisp and sharp. He did everything at game speed; never just went through the motions. Every pass, every shot, and even his footwork were perfect. LeBron has great work habits. He had tremendous focus and an unbelievable level of concentration during each workout. He was also a great communicator. Despite balls bouncing, shoes squeaking, and players competing in drills on two courts – you could always hear his voice. He was a presence. Mark my words; LeBron James is not a great player by accident. He was worked for it. He has earned it.

Speaking of communication; midway through the first workout, he pulled the high schoolers aside to offer this bit of wisdom, “As the best player on your team, your presence alone should create opportunities for your teammates. You should demand double and triple teams every time you touch the ball which means your teammates are open. It’s your responsibility to get them the ball and to help them be successful. Great players make those around them better.” Amen.

Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to interview LeBron one on one about his training. So I did the next best thing; I spoke with his trainer! Mike Mancias, an assistant athletic trainer and strength & conditioning coach for the Cavs, was gracious enough to rap with me for a few minutes and give me some insight to LeBron’s regiment. While working for the Cavs full time, Coach Mancias is primarily responsible for LeBron. He goes with LeBron everywhere; even went with him to China for the Olympics. Since LeBron is such a workout machine, Coach Mancias admitted he is on call and keeps his Blackberry glued to his hip! He said LeBron does something workout wise almost every day; shooting work with private coach, hits the weights, takes yoga, or does some pool work. He aims to do 3 or 4 structured strength workouts a week focusing on full body movements, core strength, and improving joint mobility and integrity (ankles, hips, etc.). He also incorporates some cardio intervals in the mix. I watched one of LeBron’s strength workouts which included a combination of upper body movements, core exercises, and short intervals on the versa-climber. I always feel good knowing the stuff I do with my players is the same stuff guys like King James does! I also saw part of one of LeBron’s shooting workouts; very intense.

Jay Bilas, whom I have always very much respected and admired, brought up a great point about Mike’s talk. Inevitably, when you ask a group of elite level players “who wants to play in the NBA?” every hand in the room goes up. Then you ask, “Who truly believes they will play in the NBA?” not a single hand budges – they all stay up. Then you ask, “How many of you have made basketball your #1 priority; have made it 100% your main focus in life?” Again, no hands waver. Every player in the room swears they have made basketball their life and truly believes they are doing everything they can to make it to the league.

Yet when you ask them if they spend an hour a day working on their weak hand, or if they make (not take) 400-500 shots a day from game spots at game speed, or if they have read any books by Dean Smith, John Wooden, or Pete Newell, or if they are on a structured, year round strength & conditioning program, if they eat breakfast every day… 99.99% of the time you only get excuses. A lot of players say they will do anything to make it the NBA, but only a select few actually do.

The 4 P's for Success

The 4 P's for Success...

Proper Preparation Produces Positive Results!

Random Thoughts

I usually post a "Thought of the Day", but I have recently come across a few thoughts and quotes that I really liked...

"He works great with players," Hewitt said. "I think the way he connects with players is what separates him from everyone else. He knows the game really well, too. He studies it and always does a great job scouting. He's going to get the kids to buy in, and he'll keep them motivated and they'll play really, really hard for him."

- Paul Hewitt, Head Coach at Georgia Tech on newly hired coach at Georgia Southern, Charlton Young.

"It’s the way you handle the kids and it’s morale and that’s a big thing here. When you break morale, kids aren’t going to play for you; they don’t want to play for you. The kids have to like you to a certain extent and have to respect you. But you have to respect them, too, and treat them fairly.”

- Former Marine Corps Lt. and newly hired Shade HS Head Varsity Footbal Coach, Gene Boley

- Pete Newell, the legendary coach and teacher, has often said that basketball is "over-coached and under-taught".

- Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe: "We're not looking for the best players we can find. We're looking for the best kids we can find."

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"!
*****************
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!