Blake Griffin

Stan Van Gundy – 4 Key Points in Coaching

Players are more valuable than coaches

·      Not to negate your value, but it’s true at any level at least in terms of winning and losing.

·      Must earn respect – not positional leadership where everyone falls in line because the coach speaks.

·      Must communicate and persuade them to follow you – makes you a much better coach (In your face youth coaches)

Be Objective When Evaluating and Talking to Players

·      We’re too often subjective. “He plays hard,” “He’s Lazy,” “He’s committed,” “He’s not focused enough.”

·      What do any of those things mean? Do players ever agree when you tell them that one of their teammates plays harder than they do?

·      Get specific – what does he not do that you want him to do? “You’re not rebounding” “You are missing help assignments defensively.”

·      If he’s not doing something just remember – he either cant or he won’t and it doesn’t matter which it is. Helps you avoid bias, treat people fairly and keep yourself focused to making your team better.

Don’t Get Fooled by “Talent”

·      When most people talk about “talent” they are simply talking about athleticism. (Speed, quickness, jumping, size, strength etc.)

·      This isn’t a track meet – other things matter

·      Skill level is a talent. Intelligence is a talent. Decision making is a talent.

·      Toughness (Mental and physical is a talent) (Energy and Intensity are talents)

·      Forget talent and focus on production and consistency

·      Have to be able to trust your players – its not one or two highlight plays that matter. “We are what we repeatedly do.”

Have to Have a Philosophy

·      What wins games? Do you know? Have you studied it?

·      Difference between philosophy and system

·      Philosophy rarely changes

·      System has to change to adapt to personnel

·      Does what you do fit your philosophy? If my defensive philosophy is to protect the paint, why am I extending my defense and denying passes on the perimeter?

·      Constantly have to talk about your philosophy. Players need to know what they are trying to accomplish even more than they know how (Protect the Paint).

Simply put, it is tremendous.

Coach Neighbors is truly committed to ‘growing the game’, sharing his experience and knowledge freely.

You can’t ask for more than that.

The latest installment contains several excellent features.

1)    Weight room piece.

2)   FOXHOLE TEST:  Mike had a coach requested this piece and he was not sure that he ever forwarded it to the Newsletter.  It’s a great exercise to do with any team or staff.

3)   A couple of transition Defense pieces…  Early in the year when you really aren’t good at anything yet… YOU BETTER be pretty good at transition defense!!

4)   Dallas Mavericks Playbook

You can sign up for the newsletter by following this LINK. It’s worth it.  I will also try to publish is as often as possible, so you will get it here.

I wanted to share the DALLAS MAVERICKS PLAYBOOK.  It, as well as all of Coach Neighbors other handouts are there and they will “catch you up” if you email in and request it.

Check in with Coach Neighbors and the UW Women’s Basketball Newsletter.

The New Orleans Hornets run some excellent ATO (After Time Out) action.

NEW ORLEANS ATO

This action was for Marco Belinelli.

Enjoy….

When the Heat went zone… it made me think of some good zone action:

“CLEAR”

The Philadelphia came back with a nice high post, rub action:

“POST RUB”

Enjoy the rest of the play-offs!

This story will revive your belief in people… not pro athletes, coaches or any other specific group.  Just in good people doing something good.  People doing what is right, because it is right.

The great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said…

“The time is always right… to do what is always right.”

From RacineSportsZone.com

Kim Hughes

Kim Hughes was in trouble, more trouble than he ever envisioned.
While working as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers seven years ago, Hughes was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
But Hughes was told not to worry. His doctor assured him the cancer was slow growing and felt Hughes could wait several months before undergoing surgery.
But Hughes had an issue with that. The Clippers were about to go to training camp and Hughes, a basketball junkie with a voracious work ethic, didn’t want to miss a day of work.

“My doctor told me he would do the surgery in a couple of months and then I’d be off my feet for a couple of months,” said Hughes, who played at the University of Wisconsin. “He said, ‘You know this is major surgery.’ ”
Hughes confided in Mike Dunleavy, then the Clippers head coach, about his dilemma. Dunleavy suggested Hughes consult with another doctor he knew and perhaps Hughes’ surgery could be sooner.
Dunleavy’s suggestion paid off. Hughes’ new doctor, Stuart Holden, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, was receptive to doing the surgery the following week.
But then Hughes encountered yet another major obstacle.
“I contacted the Clippers about medical coverage and they said the surgery wouldn’t be covered,” Hughes said. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And they said if they did it for one person, they’d have to do for everybody else.”
When Dunleavy learned the Clippers wouldn’t cover the cost of Hughes’ surgery, he mentioned it to his players.

Corey Maggette

Several of them, including now Milwaukee Bucks forward Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, Elton Brand and Marko Jaric, were taken aback by the news and decided to offer their assistance.
“Kim was one of our coaches and he’s a really good friend of mine, too,” Maggette said. “He was in a situation where the Clippers’ medical coverage wouldn’t cover his surgery. I thought it was a great opportunity to help someone in need, to do something that Christ would do.
“It shows your humanity, that you care for other people and not just yourself. Kim was in a life-and-death situation.”
It was indeed a dicey time for Hughes. After a biopsy was taken, he learned his prostate cancer was much worse than he believed.
The cancer had quickly spread and was on the brink of moving to other areas of his body.
If Hughes had delayed the surgery, and if Maggette and his teammates hadn’t provided the necessary financial assistance, Hughes doesn’t know what would have occurred.
Well, actually, he does.
“Those guys saved my life,” Hughes said. “They paid the whole medical bill. It was like $70,000 or more. It wasn’t cheap.
“It showed you what classy people they are. They didn’t want me talking about it; they didn’t want the recognition because they simply felt it was the right thing to do.”
Hughes said he will be forever grateful to Brand, Jaric, Kaman and Maggette. In fact, Hughes said every time he runs into any of them, he thanks them from the bottom of his heart.
Maggette said that was indeed the case, laughing how he has repeatedly told Hughes over the years it wasn’t necessary.
“Kim thanks me every time he sees me; he does that every single time,” Maggette said smiling. “I’ve said to him, ‘Kim, come on. You don’t have to do that. You’re good.’
“It just shows you what kind of person he is, to keep thanking me all the time for that. Like I said, it was just my time to serve another human being.
“I think if anyone on my team is in that kind of situation, I would try to help him out if I could. That’s just the person I am. I was raised that way.”
Hughes said Maggette’s concern and generosity illustrate how sometimes people erroneously perceive others.
“Corey is perceived by some people as not being a good person because he seems to be aloof and arrogant,” Hughes said. “But they don’t know him. He’s a good man; he’s a great man.
“You can have all the money, all the success, all that stuff, all those so-called important things in life, but in the end, you’re judged by what you did for your fellow man. Corey will always be an important part of my life. What he and those other guys did for me put things in perspective.”

Jeff Van Gundy quoting the legendary George Raveling
ESPN
Oklahoma City vs San Antonio

This clip was taken from Stan’s time with the Miami Heat.  There is an outstanding message here.  I believe the emphasis on skills should be taken on by every coach, regardless of level – but completely embraced at the youngest levels.

Do NOT sacrifice skill development for WINS!

I am currently helping coach my son’s 7 year old team and I can echo Stan’s sentiments more.

Also, I have been fortunate to become involved with the Virginia Basketball Academy here in Charlottesville.  VABA takes the high emphasis of skill development and teaching even a step further.  The Mission of VABA is teaching, real teaching with building character and shape lives through the game of basketball.

Character development.  Skill Development.  Core Values.

Don’t miss the opportunity to teach and impact the lives of young basketball players… it will be some of the most rewarding days of you life.

~Bill Russell

Good source for basketball quotes… HERE.

Today’s Basketball Plays is a brand new website.  It’s a phenomenal resource for coaches at any level.  Simple and precise… it’s a “Play a Day” from an incredibly knowledgeable and experienced basketball coach.  Bookmark it or come back and access it from my “A-List”.

Bill Pope

Bill Pope is an assistant coach/advance scout with the Detroit Pistons. In his current position, Pope assists the coaching staff during training camp and the playoffs, serves as advance scout and was an assistant coach for the Pistons’ 2010 summer league unit. Pope joined the Pistons as an assistant coach/video coordinator in 2004.  Bill sees over 100 live NBA games a year, watches countless hours of video and has been around the league for nearly a decade.

I had the good fortune to meet Bill in the early 90′s while at Jacksonville University through another member of our Jacksonville staff, Glynn Cyprien. Bill is very down to earth and great to talk basketball with.

Prior to joining the Pistons, Pope spent 15 seasons as a college coach. During the 2003-04 season he was an assistant coach at Youngstown State after serving six years as head basketball coach at NCAA Division II Lincoln University in Missouri. He was responsible for a dramatic turnaround at Lincoln as the school’s head coach. His 2000-01 squad shared the Heartland Conference Championship and Pope was named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year. Additionally, the program was named NCAA Division II’s Most Improved Team by virtue of winning 20 games following a two-win season as an independent.

Pope graduated from Kansas in 1988 with a Bachelor’s Degree in education, where he also served as a manager for the Jayhawks basketball team and head coach Larry Brown for five seasons. His time at Kansas included five NCAA Tournament berths, a Final Four appearance in 1986 and a National Championship in 1988. He joined Brown’s staff with the San Antonio Spurs in 1989.