Become a Better Coach

I have been fortunate enough to be a part of many different programs at many different levels.  I believe that a lot of people make assumptions on different levels based off of rumors and guesses rather than complete knowledge of the subject.  I was lucky growing up with my father.  He was a high school basketball coach and then a college basketball coach and now back to high school.  I got to see a lot of different things at his meetings, practices, and games.

If you really want to get into coaching here are some tips to help.  Learn everything you can about your program.  That could be everything from parent meetings to how you reserve buses for road games.  Most people don't realize that coaches have to deal with all of that stuff on top of coaching the kids. As a head coach of a program, if more than 50% of your job is actually coaching your kids then you have GREAT support staff and assistants.

Become a sponge.  Talk to as many people you can about everything basketball.  Go to as many clinics and college practices you can.  Also, watch basketball on tv.  Just don't watch it either, analyze the game you are watching.  Don't be a ball watcher.

Write things down.  Have a notebook that you keep all your notes in.  I didn't do this until seven years and it's a great resource for me when I need something.  Looking back on words of wisdom, different sets, and different drills that I've picked up over the years.

The last thing I'll talk about is CONNECT, CONNECT, CONNECT.  Meet as many people as you can and try to stay in contact with them as well.  The more people you know the better it is for you down the road.  It isn't a bad idea to work for someone that you don't know very well in order to expand your own coaching tree.  Connecting with different people might not help you immediately but it will probably help you get a job sometime down the road.

Connect, connect, connect - the bigger your tree is, the better you are.

St. Thomas to D1....

Over the past six years all I have heard is that St. Thomas (MN) is looking and should make a move to Division I.  It would balance out the MIAC a little more because their enrollment is at least double of any other school in the conference.  And I will tell you why it doesn't make any sense for them to move from Division III.

They are dominant in the Midwest for D3 in almost all sports.  In the past seven years both their men's and women's programs have won the MIAC All-Sports Competition.  The men's program has doubled any other program in the MIAC in wins.  While the women have more than four times as many wins as any other school.

They perennial have made the NCAA Tournament in football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball, to go along with dominance in baseball and softball.  Their track and field teams are also really good.  Their men's indoor track and field team has won every conference championship the MIAC has offered.

Even with this type of dominance is makes zero sense for them to make the move to D1.  Why?  They have a GREAT niche here in the Twin Cities with scholarship level athletes.  They usually compete with the local D2 schools for their student athletes and that usually means success at the D3 level.  I was even told by a D2 head coach that as soon as St. Thomas got involved with a kid they were recruiting that they would back off.  That tells you a lot.

Being a Catholic school is also a big draw for many.  They basically have their own development programs with local Catholic high schools Cretin-Durham Hall, Hill-Murray, Academy of Holy Angels, St. Thomas Academy, Benilde-St. Margaret and DeLaSalle.  Their athletic rosters are littered with kids from those schools. They even will grab the occasional student athlete from Catholic schools in Nebraska, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Now, I don't this as fact but the fish is this big now is that St. Thomas really helps their student athletes when it comes to financial aid packages.  With a large enrollment like they have and a large endowment they are able to help most students a lot with the financial aid process.  Thus, making it within the rules to help their recruits.  I do know one person that was an athlete there that didn't have any loans after college with not a lot of help from his parents.  While in high school he was enrolled in a Catholic high school and that probably helped some as well.  They may give significant scholarships to students who went to Catholic schools while in high school.

On one side of things "when you are the best player on your block, find another block," but in this situation it doesn't make a ton of sense.  They don't really fit into the D2 demographic and moving to D1 doesn't make a ton of sense for them financially.  Would they get more donations? Yes and no.  A lot of alums really like what they are doing now and why change that.  Their teams would take some major lumps during the transition from D3 to D1.

Another thing to keep in mind that not many think about is how will all the scholarships be financed?  Will they need to cut sports? What D1 conference fits what they are looking for?  What facility upgrades need to happen?  If so, where do they go?  What level do they play at in football, FCS or FBS?  Will they have to make coaching changes?  How much more do they have to pay their coaches?  How many more people do they need to hire within the athletic department to make it work?

There are just too many questions to deal with.  I'm sure other schools in the MIAC would love they they were gone but staying at D3 makes the most sense for now and the future.

Playing Zone

Every year Syracuse does well, a bunch of coaches decide that they are going to play 2-3 zone exclusively for their high school or college program.  In theory, it's a great idea.  How many teams play nothing but zone for a whole game? How many teams work on nothing but playing against a zone all week in practice?  I would say very few and a few teams do because they want to be prepared but their whole practice isn't based on the zone.

Here are some things that I really like about playing zone.

It changes the pace of the game.  The offensive team is forced to slow down and actually look for a decent shot instead of immediately forcing the ball down the defenses throat.  Here in Minnesota, Shakopee HS plays nothing but 2-3 zone and it has forced other teams to slow down and be very deliberate, just the way Shakopee wants to play.  Win for the zone team.

Playing zone also makes the offense stagnant.  With the dribble drive (or offenses similar) becoming more and more popular among coaches, the defense wants to give the offense a change of pace.  The constant movement isn't there anymore.  There are generally two to three guys standing still and that's exactly what the zone is supposed to do.

The last thing a zone does is force certain players to make decisions and shots from areas they generally aren't comfortable at.  This is a huge positive for the defense because not all coaches want their bigs to be the focal part of their offense.

I really like zones and a bunch of different zones but a lot of it depends on personnel.  I think that too many coaches will get out of their zone because the offense scored on the first or second possession.  Just because a team scores doesn't necessarily mean that they have the zone figured out.  Stick with it for a little longer and if they continue to get great shots then it's time to get out of it, but not after one or two possessions.  Imagine if coaches got out of their man to man when scored on for two straight possessions.

National Team Selection

Here's my rundown of the US National Team.  This is what my team would look like without knowing anything as far as practice goes.  Remember that it's extremely tough to completely evaluate a team without seeing practice.  My analysis is completely based on what I've seen from each player for the respective college and NBA careers and how I see them fit into the international game.

IN

Derrick Rose - Even with his previous injury, he is a game changer and has shown that in previous international competitions.  Not sure he can play in all of the games and that's what makes other potential roster spots interesting.

Stephen Curry - Can play either guard position and is a lights out shooter.  Understands the international game and is a zone buster.  No brainer.

James Harden - Is apparently the best player in the NBA, or at least according to him. Has he watched film of his defense? He is another guy that can stretch the floor and will get to the line a ton.

Anthony Davis - Too much length, too much athleticism, too good.  He has gotten so much better and it looks like he is stretching his range out to 3 now.  He will play the 5 but he is moving closer to playing the 4 as well.

DeMarcus Cousins - He is obviously immature but he is a MONSTER.  He looks video game sized in the game vs. Dominican Republic.  He can handle international bigs and will be a major threat on the offensive end.

Klay Thompson - Knock down shooter and has capability to knock down mid-range shots as well.  Very good defender, can cover either guard position.

Kyle Korver - Knock down shooter and everyone knows it.  He will space the floor and give the US guards room to get in the paint.  Zone buster.

Kyrie Irving - He is extremely talented and a Coach K favorite.  He has to be an energy guy off the bench and will play big minutes if Rose can't.

Chandler Parsons - Natural 3 but in international play is a stretch 4.  He played internationally before the NBA lockout and has a good understanding of the international game.  He would be Rudy Gay's backup and I don't see him playing a ton of minutes.

Rudy Gay - They brought him back for a reason.  He, much like Parsons is a 3 but internationally is a 4.  He has a lot of international experience and is a lock for the team.

Andre Drummond - Another monster.  He is a huge presence inside and is a threat in transition, which the US thrives.  He can't play crunch time minutes because his foul shooting is so poor but is a good 3rd big and could play against Spain.

Demar Derozan - He has really surprised me during the first two exhibition games.  He is my last roster spot only because I think Rose plays significant minutes.  He is a NBA "2" and could play that or the 3 in international play.  He can space the floor and has the length to defend the wings.

OUT

Kenneth Faried - Love the way he plays and he looks like a lock to make the team at this point but I don't think he fits at all.  He can't make anything outside of 10 feet and can't defend the international four.

Damien Lillard - Really like his game and I personally feel he is better than Irving but Lillard didn't play at Duke.  If Rose can't go then Lillard is on the squad and I could see him playing significant minutes but I don't see it now.  Roster spot was down to him and Derozan.

Mason Plumlee - Another Dukie who had a great rookie year.  I like him for the future but he isn't ready yet.  I don't believe he has any experience internationally either.  He could have a spot over Drummond because Coach K is more comfortable with him.

Gordon Hayward - Basically the same player as Parsons but doesn't have as much international experience.  Already have Gay as well.  Just isn't enough room for him.  Another good player for the future.

Here is the roster I think Coach K goes with:
Rose
Curry
Harden
Faried
Davis
Irving
Thompson
Gay
Korver
Parsons
Cousins
Plumlee

Be Great

Every day you should make an effort to be great.  This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the best every day but be great for you.  There are times when your best still isn't good enough for everyone else but it shouldn't matter as long as you were great for you.

I'll take the comparison to sports.  There are times when coaches realize quickly that their teams are overmatched but they compete to their best of their abilities during a game.  You can't fault the effort but the other team is simply better.  Your team was great that day even though the team didn't win the game.  I know every one wants more but sometimes that isn't realistic.

There are times when a team seems overmatched athletically and talent wise yet, figures out a way.  A great example is when Villanova beat Georgetown in the 1985 National Championship Game.  Villanova was great that day and essentially forced a dominant Georgetown team.  Another example is Princeton upsetting defending National Champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  And we can't forget about Boise State beating heavily favored Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

There are also other times when your team is great yet the team falls just short.  Perfect examples of this are:

UCLA over Missouri.  Missouri played great that day but UCLA had an answer and here it is.



Florida's Mike Miller makes a tough buzzer beater to take down Butler.  This was our first true introduction to Butler



There are also times when a team is great for a half and then can't hang on during the second half.  A good example of that is West Virginia during their Elite 8 game vs. Louisville when it seemed like they couldn't miss in the first half. The below video is the whole game.  You don't have to watch the whole thing but it's interesting to see WVU be great in the first half and then Louisville be great in the second.



Whatever you do, be great for you.  Things tend to work out for people that try to be great every day.

Good vs. Great Shots

I am a huge preacher of getting GREAT shots every single possession.  I know it isn't always feasible but with the high school rules in Minnesota (no shot clock) why would ever not take a great shot. I am certainly not saying that players will make every single great shot but the percentages increase drastically when you go from good to great.

What is a great shot?

A great shot is a lay-up or a dunk.  It is also most inside-out 3's.  There are also great shots for certain individuals. The reason I say this is because certain guys have a knack for making certain shots that are difficult for most.

The main shot I am talking about in this situation is a pull-up jumper.  Now, according to the new analytic thinking, anything mid-range is considered a bad shot.  I disagree.  If one of your players has really worked on that shot, that shot can become a great weapon.  Again, it's not a shot for everyone.  If a player can make that shot 50%-60% of the time, it still is a great shot.  Only if a few things occur.  Those things are getting a few reversals on the offensive end to force the defense to shift.  The more times the defense is forced to closeout, then the chances of them increase of not being able to get a good contest on the shot.  And that's what you want, an uncontested look.

Last season, we tracked our shooting percentage for when we got a paint touch and when we didn't.  The stats are crazy.  We shot right around 63% with a paint touch and in the mid-30% when we didn't.  All that stat says that good things tend to happen when someone gets a touch in the paint.  That's why inside-out shots become great shots.

Take a Basketball Break

Throughout the course of the year, if a kid completely concentrates on basketball, he/she is bound to develop some type of injury.  There just isn't enough time for the their bodies to rest.  I believe there needs to be a change because they NEED a break.

Over the course of a year a good high school player will compete in roughly 25-30 high school games and 40-50 AAU games.  If you add in 40-50 high school practices (I think that's right, might be a little high) to go along with 20+ AAU practices.  I can't forget about potential summer or fall league with their high school team which gives them roughly 20 more games.  Think about all those numbers again.  Over the course of a year they are playing in roughly 100 games to go along with 60+ practices.  On top of that, many of their own skill trainers that they work with during the spring, summer, and fall.  That'a a ton of basketball for developing bodies.

My biggest concern is burnout.  I've seen several players that just get sick of playing when they get to college or during college because they are "forced" to play so much.  It just isn't fun anymore.

Another huge concern is overuse injuries.  You look at a lot of middle school or high school players and they are completely concentrating on basketball (or another sport) at a very young age.  That just isn't good for their bodies, especially when they are still growing physically.  That is also the reason why you are seeing more and more stress reactions/fractures, back injuries, and knee issues in younger athletes.  Their bodies can't take the same consistent pounding of one sport over and over.

They need other sports in order for their body to adjust and do different movements.  Even if the sports are similar there are slightly different movements that will help with development.  And college coaches also like to see athletes play multiple sports in high school. Why? They know that when the athletes actually concentrate on one sport they will develop even more once they get to college.

Even if you concentrate on one sport as a high school athlete you need to take several breaks throughout the year in order for your body to recover.  As my wonderful wife would say, take a "zero week" because your body needs a break.  It just isn't healthy going non-stop from November to July.

You can look at college basketball for a perfect example of concentrating too much on basketball.  That perfect example is Kevin Ware, formerly of Louisville, and his broken leg.  He landed on his foot like any player would throughout the course of a game, but his leg snapped.  He had a stress fracture in his lower leg that was ignored for months.  Legs don't break like that on a play like that if he didn't.

As far as I know, Ware was a prep basketball star that didn't play another sport in high school.  He was constantly on the go for his high school team and then AAU team.  He then went immediately to college and is consistently pounding on his legs for a few more years.  He didn't take much of a break or one at all.

If you look at the top high school players in the country and they go non-stop from November (or whenever their HS season starts) until the end of August.  There's the high school season, AAU from April to July, then the All-Star circuit in August, which players in Minnesota just got involved with.  Potentially, there is open gyms multiple times in a week during the fall and we go right back into the high school season.

Kids need a break and us, as coaches, need to enforce that.  And a break shouldn't consist of just a weekend.  They should take at least a week off multiple times a year in order to rest their bodies.

National Team

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of buzz in regards to playing for the National Team in basketball.  Paul George's compound fracture and then Kevin Durant dropping his name out of the competition has made the upcoming World Cup of Basketball a huge question mark for the US team.

It's an honor to be able to wear anything with a USA across your chest.  That should say it all but it certainly doesn't.  Up until recently stars were unlikely to ever wear USA on the chest.  They need a break, they have too much going on during the summer, they can't commit to that specific time frame, and/or they don't like the other guys that could potentially be their teammates.

In our country, the guys that play for the national team get paid big time money to compete for their respective NBA teams.  It's can be tough to justify risking a ton of money to play for the good ol' USA.  Even though their contracts are guaranteed, some players don't want to risk money in their next contract. It makes sense to an extent but the glory to wear the red, white, and blue should trump anything else.

When watching other countries play you will notice that ALL their top players play in all big competitions.  Why? Their passion for their country trumps dollar signs.  Even Manu Ginobili wanted to play for Argentina this summer even though he has a stress fracture in his leg.  It could've been his last international competition and he wanted to make sure he gave it all for country, stress fracture or not.  The Spurs quickly said no, because they were risking losing one of their best players for the upcoming season.

The US has done a very good job lately of structuring the National Team system at all levels.  They are getting the best players in the country to wear the USA jersey from the time they are 15 years old.   It'll be interesting to see how the best players react to the Paul George injury (or any injury for that matter) in the future.

I don't think it bodes well for the US now that Kevin Durant dropped out on top of Lebron, Carmelo, and Kevin Love not wearing the jersey this summer.  The World Cup of Basketball (formerly the World Championships) are a HUGE deal for the rest of the world.  It's the only competition that has all the teams in the world playing in it instead of the Olympics, which limits teams based of geography.  Passion and intensity will be at an all time high.  Will the US be able to match other teams? It'll be interesting to find out.

Last thing I'll talk about is the amount of games that NBA players could play during their season compared to other countries.  If you are on a good team in the NBA, you will play roughly 100 games during the season.  The good teams in Europe will play at the roughly 85 games (from the info I gathered, couldn't find any teams exact record).  The toll that amount of games takes on players' bodies is HUGE.  Their bodies need a break and the summer time is the ideal time to take that break, so it isn't always feasible to play in another 12-15 games.

In closing, I don't think I could pass up an opportunity to play for the US but I don't make $12 million a year.  Hopefully the US can continually pull in the best players in the NBA for the national team, if not, then we can talk about the Dream Team for the rest of our lives.

Actions Not Words

Over the past two years I've gone through a lot in regards to my professional career.  I was thinking about it this morning on my walk with my dog and how much the craziness of two winters ago completely changed my life.  I won't go into details but it seemed like national news and I was completely engulfed in it.  It was all a bad movie with me being a co-star.

I'm just going to go over all the things that I've learned over the course of the last two years.

Too many times in our lives we "talk the talk" but we rarely "walk the walk." What I mean by this is, most people preach about doing the right thing but rarely will they do the it especially in a group setting.  Rarely will others come before the individual when times get rough or a tough decision needs to made.  It's simply self-preservation.

Most people will never admit that they are looking out for themselves but that has become the norm.  You would hope that the "leader" in whatever organization you belong to looks out for everyone rather than themselves. If you find that out that "your leader" operates like this, it might be a good idea to try and find a good organization.

As a leader, it is your job to make tough decisions.  It's really hard to make the right decision when the decision process is rushed.  Leaders shouldn't be making decisions that are rushed because they can't properly gather all the facts.  I'm not saying that ever decision should take two weeks to resolve but all the facts need to be gathered to make an informative decision.

When dealing with bad decision making of high school or college students, the number one goal for administrators should be to educate.  I'm certainly not saying that there shouldn't be consequences (suspensions) for their actions but administrators need to make sure that something is learned even if it's not the person that made the wrong decision. Below is a statement made by Oklahoma State after the Marcus Smart and Texas Tech fan altercation this past basketball season:

Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford, whose voice cracked with emotion as he answered questions for some 20 minutes, called it a "serious mistake" but a learning experience for a 19-year-old.

"I know Marcus Smart. I know his family. I know what he stands for, and I know he made a mistake. But that doesn't keep me from loving Marcus Smart, supporting him, loving him. Part of our job is to help him learn from this so it doesn't happen again."

The above incident is a perfect example of how social media has created many firestorms over incidents like this.  Social media can be a great thing but with how quickly word travels now, incidents like this or the one that I was a part of, there tends to be an overreaction from people that aren't truly "in the know."  I'm not downplaying what happened or what happens in the future but opinions are thrown out there by the media and/or people that don't know or will never know the facts.

Last but certainly not least, this point hits home the most.  If you know someone that has gone through a tough situation, contact them. It means a lot.  Even if you don't know what to say, say something.  The people in the situation will appreciate it greatly.  Over time people that go through something life changing will learn who their friends truly are.  I can honestly say that I learned a lot about a lot of different people.  I also distanced myself from people after they distanced themselves from me.

I truly feel that I'm in a much better place now after what went down two winters ago.  I have a beautiful wife, a couple of great jobs, and a wonderful dog that greets me every time I get home.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Too many times I see things on social media regarding players' strengths and weaknesses. Here is some food for thought on that.

Lately, I've seen a ton of coaches writing on twitter about "What did you do to get better?" "Work now, playing time later." Etc. Now, I totally agree that the summer is a time that you NEED to work to become a better player, but here is a little different thinking on the subject.

Have you worked on your weaknesses this summer? I would hope that every player has worked on their weaknesses but sometimes they need to continue to work on their strengths and that may be more important for them to get playing time for their upcoming season.  Players who are great shooters should continue to work their tails off by shooting. They can't neglect working on their shooting or that could become like other parts of their game.

You look at a player like Nik Stauskas and see his development over the summer of his freshmen and sophomore seasons.  If you noticed, he worked on all types of shots and worked on taking more contested shots because he knew that he would have the ball in his hands at the end of the shot clock. He also worked on his handle but he knew that if he wanted to play at the next level he had to work on his shooting even more.  I feel from watching some of his high school games that he had a really good handle in high school as well but his role changed once he got to college and then it changed after his first year. Now, he's a lottery pick after being an afterthought by many after he signed with Michigan. His confidence increased, how do you work on that?

I'm going to drop some old school knowledge on people here. I remember when Chris Porter came to Auburn after a couple of years of JUCO. His hype was huge. He had a great junior year and was named SEC Player of the Year as well as All-American.  At 6'7", he was a power forward at Auburn.  He wanted to play in the NBA and not many 6'7" power forwards get there.  He needed to become a small forward and his game suffered his senior year because he tried to become a 3pt shooter.  He was drafted late in the second round and has bounced around the world since.  I'm not saying that he hasn't been successful but he tried to make himself into something that he is not.

And then there is...

Malik Rose

He was a also 6'7" power forward but he played at Drexel.  He was also an All-American.  He thought about entering the NBA Draft after his junior year but decided against it work on his game.  The difference is, he continued to work on his strengths which was low post play, rebounding, and defense rather than try to become a jump shooter. He ended up becoming a serviceable 15'-17' jump shooter after working on it but he knew his bread and butter was in the paint. He had a successful NBA career as a bruising power forward for 13 seasons.

The lesson of the these two stories is...be you.  Don't try to be something you aren't.  Does this mean don't work on other aspects of your game? No.  It means that you have to whatever you can to help your team.  If that means you are the guy that does the dirty work then be the very best at that. If that means you are a spot-up shooter, then be the best spot-up shooter you can be.  Love your role and force your coach to play you by dominating your role.

Las Vegas

Now that fall sports have started here in Minnesota, I'm going to go into why Las Vegas is a terrible place for AAU basketball and why teams shouldn't go there.

Vegas is an absolute disaster for college coaches

Depending on what colleges are looking for, it's the worst place to go watch games. Why?

1) There isn't a central location for games. Yes, all the tournaments have a headquarters but the chances of all a team's games to be at that spot are extremely slim.  Coaches are driving for up to an hour to get to a game and games are NEVER on time and that puts even more stress on coaches trying to see prospects.

There was one time a few years ago that a whole tournament was on UNLV's campus in their Rec Center.  It was perfect for coaches because all the coaches could sit tight for a majority of the day.  That next year, the NCAA decided that it wasn't a good idea to have D1 colleges to host AAU tournaments. Even though, they generally have the best facilities to host large tournaments.

2) Would you want your 14-17 year old walking around the Vegas Strip after 10pm unsupervised? I'm not a parent but I have to think most parents would say no, especially if a scholarship is potentially on the line.  I've even seen recruits out past midnight when they play at 8am the next morning. Not sure if I would want that kid on my team as a college coach.

3) There are a lot of gyms that will never see a college coach walk through the door.  Why? These tournaments want an entry fee from the team and will take ANY team in order to fill their tournament.  If a team goes there, with exception of the new Adidas Super 64, the chances of a team playing a team that is AWFUL is very high.  I spent many hours in a gym by myself with no other college coaches in sight.

4) Tournaments are diluted.  When a specific tournament crowns a total of 35 champions then there is an issue. I get that you want as many programs to be successful in order for them to come back next year but three divisions is enough for ANY tournament.  Like I talked about in AAU Economics, if you crown 35 champions, someone is making a TON of money and it's not any of the kids or parents there.

5) It costs way too much money for any family to send their child there.  You have to think about the flight out there, five days in a hotel, and potentially all the admission fees that the tournaments will charge throughout a weekend.  Imagine if a family of four goes out there for "vacation" to watch their son play. $2000 in flights, $600 in hotels, $200 in rental car, $150 on gas, and probably close to $200 in admission fees.  That's roughly $3000 (without food) for a trip. That's a little much if you ask me. Kansas City and/or Chicago would be MUCH cheaper.

6) It's way too hot there.  The air conditioners are on way too high in the gyms. Nothing like a 40 degree temperature change when going in and out of the gym.