Monthly Archives: September 2011

Taken from “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School” by Mark McCormack.

·      It’s our job, it’s their game. Even the most dedicated players will never   take it as seriously as coaches do.

·      It’s not what you teach it is what you emphasize that they will remember.

·      Players want discipline, direction, and purpose.

·      Repetition with variety leads to proper habits.  Re-teach if necessary.

·      There will always be problems—it is our number one job as coaches to solve them and to manage each crisis.

·      Wins and losses do not determine success.

·      Are you spending your basketball practice time and individual development workout time on the things that make the biggest difference in games?

·      Your team will play their games almost exactly like the basketball practices you run.

·      Good teams and players give first and second efforts, great teams and players give third and fourth efforts.

·      Coach K builds a culture at Duke rather than a team.

·      Becoming fundamentally sound will make you a consistent player.

·      THE EDGE IS IN THE MIND is directed to players, but is applicable to us coaches as well.

Although written in the masculine gender. Certainly, this applies to both men and women who coach…

He’s called a coach and it’s a different job.  There is no clear way to succeed.  One cannot copy another who’s a winner, for there seems to be some subtle secret chemistry of personality that enables a person to lead successfully and no one really knows what it is.  Those who have succeeded and those who have failed represent all kinds. 

They are young, old, experienced, they are soft, tough, good natured, foul tempered, proud and profane.  They are articulate and even inarticulate.  Some are dedicated and some casual.  Some are even more dedicated than others.  Intelligence is not enough, and dedication is not enough. 

They all want to win, but some want to win more than others and just wanting to win is not enough.  Losers almost always get fired, but winners get fired also.  He is out in the open being judged publicly for six or seven months out of the year by those who may or may not be qualified to judge him.  Every victory and every defeat is recorded constantly in print.  The coach, this strange breed has no place to hide.  He cannot just let the job go for a while or do a bad job and hope no one will notice as most of us can.  He cannot satisfy everyone, seldom can he even satisfy very many, and rarely does he even satisfy himself.  If he wins once, he must win the next time also. 

They plot victories-, they suffer defeats; they endure criticism from within and without; they neglect their families, they travel endlessly and they live alone in the spotlight surrounded by others.  Theirs may be the worst profession in the world.  It’s unreasonably demanding, poor pay, insecure, full of unrelenting pressures and I ask myself: Why do coaches put up with it?  Why do they do it? I’ve seen them fired with pat phrases such as, “Fool”, “Incompetent”, or “He couldn’t get the job done”. 

I’ve wondered about that, having seen them exalted by victory, and depressed by defeat.  I’ve sympathized with them having seen some broken by the job and others die from it.  One is moved to admire them and to hope that someday the world will understand them; this strange breed they call coach.

In Remembrance of all the families, victims, heroes, and anybody affected by the 9/11 calamity! 

By: Alan Stein

Edited By: Coach Barber

I know the old saying goes: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But I actually believe when “it ain’t broke” you still have to evaluate it! I don’t think it’s best to just remain status quo because something is working well. It may be able to work better.

I’m not saying to change for change’s sake. I am saying that we need to constantly evaluate what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. This is especially important in coaching, basketball, or any other sport or field you may be in.

So I would suggest you change that long standing quote to, “It may not be broken, but it does have to be continually evaluated!”