Coach Wooden's "People Blocks"

Between Coach Wooden's two "Cornerstone" blocks in his "Pyramid", he included his "People Blocks." Coach Wooden said that it is easier to reach our potential when we learn the value of including others in our quest. His three "People Blocks" are "Friendship," "Loyalty," and "Cooperation."

FRIENDSHIP
"Friendship comes from mutual esteem and devotion. God created us to be interdependent. We were not designed to go through life alone."

LOYALTY
"Loyalty is the foundational quality that gets us through hard times. Will we compromise our integrity when temptation is great? Or will we remain loyal to our beliefs and core values?"

"Loyalty is the force that forges individuals into a team. It's the component that moves teams toward great achievements."

COOPERATION
"Cooperation in working with others for the benefit of all."

When Coach Wooden was a young boy, he learned two important lessons by watching his father talk calmly to a team of horses trying to pull a load up a steep hill:
1) Gentleness is a better method of getting cooperation than harshness is, and,
2) A team can accomplish more when it works together than individuals can when they work alone.

Coach Wooden on Industriousness

Coach Wooden defined his first Building Block of his "Pyramid of Success," Industriousness (or Hard Work), as having two components - work and planning.

"There is no substitute for hard work. If we only put out a minimum effort we might get by in some situations, but in the long run we won't fully develop the talents that lie within us."

"During my tenure in Westwood, I never took an extended break after the season was over...I would begin research on some aspect of the sport. I would talk with other coaches, read books and examine every angle...My research would last for the entire off-season."

This passion that Coach Wooden had is one that I have truly learned to value. I love the preparation of a season and talking with other coaches and learning from them. Not enough value is placed on learning new aspects of the game, particularly by younger coaches. Everyone should be willing to share their knowledge for the betterment of the game and for kids!

"Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty (Proverbs 21:5).

The passing of the Great John Wooden last week made me, like so many others, reflect on his teachings about basketball and life. One of my first memories of Coach Wooden's impact on the game came as a young child visiting the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Indiana. There is, and may still be, an exhibit with an electronic image of Coach Wooden teaching his team his definition of success. I still have, to this day, a copy of the "Pyramid of Success" that I picked up on one of those early visits to the HOF.

In honor of Coach Wooden, I am going to run a series of blogs on some great things that I have picked up from Coach Wooden, mostly from "Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks For a Better Life," a great book about the "Pyramid" by Coach Wooden and his writing partner Jay Carty.

Coach Wooden defined success based on a teaching from his Father and from a poem. Here they are:

What He Learned from His Father...
1. Don't try to be better than anyone else.
2. Always try to be the best you can be.

The Poem...
At God's footstool to confess,
A poor soul knelt and bowed his head.
"I failed," he cried. The Master said,
"Thou didst thy best, that is success."

These wise words were the premise for Coach Wooden's famous definition of success, which he first wrote in 1934...
"Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Xavier Women's Basketball Shooting System

These are thoughts from Xavier Women's Assistant Mike Neighbors on the shooting system they use in their program...

- They always want game shots from game spots at game speeds. In any drill, they will emphasize at least one of these.

- They use a specific emphasis on each shooting drill - i.e. good footwork, good positioning, making the shot.

- They use simulation in their shooting drills - simulating a defense, a screen, setting a screen, etc.

- Chart and record. Makes it competitive and kids like personal records.

- Variation of skills and drills - This keeps intensity levels high. "Repetition without being repetitious"

Characteristics of an Effective Coach

Tom Crean and Ralph Pim co-authored a book titled "Coaching Team Basketball: Developing Players With a Team-First Attitude." Most know Tom Crean as my alma mater's, Indiana University's head coach, and Dwayne Wade's college coach at Marquette. Ralph Pim was also an extremely successful coach in his time at Barberton (OH) High School, Alma (MI) College, William & Mary, NW Louisiana, Central Michigan, and Limestone College. I have become a big fan of Coach Pim's writing, particularly he and Jerry Krause's "Lessons from the Legends", and have enjoyed hearing he and Coach Krause speak annually at the NABC Convention. Coach Pim gave Coach Crean his first college coaching job at Alma in 1986 and they partnered together again to write this great book, published in 2007.

One of the things they discussed in their book was "Characteristics of an Effective Coach". This is a great list for a coach at any level to remind themselves of on a regular basis...

- Be trustworthy.
- Be passionate.
- Be knowledgeable and competent.
- Be a team builder.
- Demonstrate personal courage and mental toughness. - "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - MLK, Jr.
- Be a communicator. (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) - "Most players only hear. The key is listening to what you're being told, what's being said, what is expected of you in your role as part of a team." - Bob Knight
- Be a teacher and motivator.
- Be compassionate.
- Be competitive.
- Focus on the important tasks. - "In the Army, this principle is accomplished by completing a Mission Essential Task List. This list identifies tasks that are the most important in accomplishing the mission. It helps team members prioritize their work since there is only so much time in every day. Army Field Manual 25-101 clearly states, "Do essential things first...Nonessentials should not take up time required for essentials."
- Be a Guardian of the Game.
- Know yourself and seek self-improvement.
- Learn from the legends.

Setting Goals from Lou Holtz

One of my favorite motivational speakers, Lou Holtz, had these things to say on choosing a profession and his categories of goals from his autobiography "Wins, Losses, and Lessons"...

What's Important in Choosing a Profession:
1) You have to do something you love
2) You have to find something you do well
3) You have to find somebody who will pay you

5 Categories of Goals to Obtain in Life:
1) Things I want to do as a husband and a father
2) Things I want to do religiously
3) Things I want to accomplish professionally
4) Things I want to do financially
5) Things I want to do for excitement (personally)

Clinic Notes from Ben Jacobson

Coming off the biggest upset in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and a new contract extension, Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson shared some offensive insights in Las Vegas on April 30th which I will share with you...

3 Things to Start With
1) A solid foundation
2) Belief in what you're doing
3) Work hard!

3 Things they talk about offensively at Northern Iowa -
It doesn't matter what offense you run, you need these:
1) Spacing
2) Pace - Best definition of "pace" is watching Michigan St. run their stuff
3) Screening

Offensively, try to force help. What can you do to force help?
1) Post up
2) Ball screen

Jacobson also talked about how all of their secondary options and sets are called ahead of time (out of time outs). They will run these until the next media time out.

Coach Knight Clinic Thoughts

Be sure this won't be the last posting I have of Bob Knight "stuff". I often get a hard time of being too big of a Coach Knight fan. What can I say? I grew up in Indiana in the 1980s. I have a lot of things to share from when I took Coach Knight's class at IU but I will give you some things he touched upon at the Nike Clinic last week in Vegas...

Coach Knight had two rules for his players on practicing on their own:
1) Never have a girlfriend that won't rebound for you.
2) Always have a manager or another player shoot with you ("No free shooting").

Drills
1) Individual drills no longer than 5 minutes
2) Team drills no longer than 10 minutes

Coach Knight emphasized that the third phase of basketball, conversion, is just as important as offense and defense.

Free throws are the most underappreciated weapon in the game.
- Make it to the bonus(es) before your opponent does.
- Make more free throws than your opponent attempts.

"Anything you can do to make your kids think is of prime importance."

"You must pass, cut, and screen every day in practice if you're going to play against man-to-man defense."

When screening, hold your wrist with your opposite hand. This prevents your elbows from extending out and creating a foul.

Good Stuff from Nike Clinic Las Vegas

I attended the Nike Clinic in Las Vegas over this past weekend. Known as the top clinic in the country each year, it did not disappoint. I will make a couple posts over the next week with some notes from the clinic.

I was one of the rare ones to be in attendance on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. to hear National Junior College Coaches' Association President John Spezia speak. And I was not disappointed. Here are some thoughts he had to share...

Assistant Coaches
- Should have "big eyes, big ears, little mouths"
- Need to be loyal to their head coach
- The difference between the head coach and an assistant coach is a grand canyon (speaking in terms of responsibility levels)

Reasons why fundamentals aren't as good anymore
- Kids play too many games in the summer
- The practice season starts later (He pointed out that it used to start October 1 for him. I remember my high school practices starting October 15. Our practices have started the first or second week in November in recent years.)

Coach Spezia said that he doesn't think times have changed with kids. He thinks adults (parents and coaches) have changed. Our expectations and discipline of kids have decreased.

Coach Spezia made the point that if a coach is willing to overlook enforcement of rules, such as showing up late for practice or ignoring team rules, that will be remembered by the kid 5-10 years down the road and won't be respected. (Aren't we in the business of preparing our players for the future? If we're not, we should.)

He makes all of his three-point shooters make 100 in ten minutes before they are allowed to shoot 3's in a game. (Makes a kid work on his shot.)

Having a Positive Influence

One of my favorite coaches, Tony Dungy, in his book "Uncommon" with some questions to ask yourself if you want to have a positive influence on someone's life...

1. When was the last time you went to visit someone who needed a visit?
2. When was the last time you made a call - or wrote a letter - to someone who could use a lift in his or her life?
3. When was the last time you had a date with your spouse or a "date night" with your little girl, who adores you?
4. When was the last time you sent flowers to someone for no particular reason?
5. When was the last time you did something that will forever be a positive memory in someone's life?
6. When was the last time you were an encourager for someone else?