I love what San Francisco did at the end of the first half in this game against Pacific. Pacific’s point guard is a 36% free throw shooter, so they fouled him on purpose to get the ball back. It’s all about calculating expected points per possession, and then trusting the percentages. We’ve done this before, […]
Jim Clifton – CEO of Gallup
3 things he would tell managers to maximize the potential of their teams: Understand that your team members have more differences than they do things in common. Do not lead them like troops. Know them by their strengths, not their weaknesses. Make sure they know their personal development is important to you. When you ask […]
Declarative Statements
Whoever asks the most questions wins. It’s a great strategy for conversation. It’s a great strategy for an interview. It’s a great strategy for leadership. And it’s a great strategy for coaches as well. Whoever asks the most questions is going to learn the most. In any interaction, when you ask questions you’ll get information. […]
Bilas on Officiating
Jay Bilas with an interesting take on officiating – not officials – and how it is having a negative impact on the quality of play in college basketball. I will say his point about freedom of movement is one I agree with. It doesn’t seem like it is being enforced as much as it has […]
Chaos At Notre Dame
Interesting article from a year ago about how Brian Kelly created chaos at Notre Dame practices after a bad loss to Miami. I’ve always wondered why we spend so much time controlling the environment in practice when we play in completely uncontrolled environments. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24477148/brian-kelly-testing-notre-dame-team-chaos-2018-season
Losing – Take Your Cue From The Players
Losing is hard, and dealing with losing is a big part of team sports. Dealing with failure is essential in any leadership position, but is made harder by the dynamics of teams sports. There is a scoreboard in public, there is a record in the paper, so most everyone will judge you on wins and […]
“Execute The Order We Should Have Given You”
Listened recently to an excellent podcast, The Learning Leader Podcast with Ryan Hawk, who had 4-Star General Stanley McChrystal @StanMcChrystal on as his guest to discuss his approach to leadership. The link to the podcast is here. There are so many great leadership gems in there (it’s well worth an hour when you are on […]
Myles Powell
I was lucky enough to coach Myles Powell for a few weeks this summer with the Pan Am Games team. Terrific player, great kid with the right approach. Interesting to read about what he’s gone through to get to this point. https://www.nj.com/sports/2019/12/while-chasing-his-dream-seton-halls-myles-powell-wont-run-from-a-brother-charged-with-murder.html
The Texas Game
It’s definitely the loudest I’ve ever heard the Dunk. January 5th, 2004. Texas. at Providence. It was one of those special nights in the old Providence Civic Center, where the energy in the building was something you could really feel. I remember the hazy in the building, coming from the restaurant up top, creating a […]