At a used book store recently, I purchased a copy of a book titled, "Gene Bess: College Basketball's Winningest Coach". I couldn't tell much about the book as it was still in shrink wrap, but since it was basketball-related and I like to read ... well, now I have it. As I started reading the book, there is a spot in the first chapter where the author shares Coach Bess' precepts for coaching. I want to share these with you because I think they are important rules and reminders for … [Read more...]
The Best Things I Have Done as a Basketball Coach
I recently wrote an article about the 5 biggest mistakes that I have made as a coach. To be fair to myself, I figured I should share the best 5 things that I have done. However, I must admit my best is either from previous failures or stolen from more successful coaches. Established a style of play. Every game, every practice my kids know what we are going to do on offense, defense, and from out of bounds. We have developed a system as a coaching staff and we have asked our players to … [Read more...]
5 Mistakes of a Beginning Basketball Coach
Recently I have been watching film of my first few years coaching. As I reflected back on the past, I came to the realization that I was not a very good coach. I have grown so much in my craft over the past several years, and I continue to grow. Here are my five biggest blunders. I tried to be somebody else. Coach Knight, Coach K, Coach Wooden, and my father are all coaches that I idolize, and want to be like. My first few years as a head coach I tried to be all of the great coaches in … [Read more...]
Practice Planning to Coach Different Talent Levels
In my current coaching situation, I have players with varied levels of talent. I have one or two kids who, no doubt, will play at the college level, another couple of kids who, with the right mind set and development, could play college ball, a couple of great athletes who just play basketball to kill time between football and spring football, and a few kids who are just getting their feet wet. To add to this predicament I only have one assistant. As a coach, if I want to be fair to all … [Read more...]
Frank McGuire’s Basketball Coaching Code
The 15 ideals below make up the coaching code of the late Frank McGuire. Coach McGuire is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history as he led successful programs from 1947 through 1980. He was the first coach to take two different teams to the NCAA finals (St. John's and North Carolina) and the 2nd to take 3 teams to the NCAA tournament (South Carolina). He also led UNC to the 1957 NCAA title in the great triple-overtime win versus the Wilt Chamberlain-led Kansas Jayhawks. General … [Read more...]
2 Types of Mentors Every Basketball Coach Should Have
As coaches we are always looking for ways to improve our craft. We continue to search for insight on several basketball topics. We may be experts in X's and O's, but struggle with skill development. We may know all the in and outs of the Flex Offense, but may not be as strong in coming up with defensive schemes. In this article I am going to discuss two mentors every coach should have. I truly believe having a mentor can hold you accountable, challenge you, and most importantly make you a … [Read more...]
12 Basketball Team Covenants
Use this list of 12 team covenants with your basketball team to help instill values such as togetherness, selflessness, hard work, and more that will lead to a winning team. We will accomplish what we do TOGETHER. We share our success and we never let any one of us fail alone. We are fully grown adults. We will act as such and expect the same from the people around us. We will not keep secrets. Information that affects us all will be shared by all of us and we will quickly and openly work to … [Read more...]
Defining Hard Work
When I interviewed for my current position of assistant men's basketball coach at Houghton College, one of the questions I was asked was: “What is your definition of hard work?” I will admit that, this caught me completely off guard. I felt I was fairly well prepared for any questions about basketball, and the inevitable questions about how my relationships with our players would change (I was a student at Houghton for the previous four years and had lived with one of our players the year … [Read more...]
5 Principles for Basketball Success
There are many paths you can take to achieve success as either a basketball coach or player. No one path is necessarily the best as there are many twists and turns along the journey to success. The following 5 principles, however, can guide you to greater success on the basketball court. If these 5 principles are a part of your foundation, you will be able to withstand the bumps along the way. These 5 principles will give you the best opportunity to succeed; not only in winning games, but in … [Read more...]
Player Notebooks
There is always some debate on whether or not to give your team a 'players notebook'. Some coaches feel it is a waste of time and money because the athletes will never look at them or use them anyhow. Other coaches believe they are very important because they give the players - on paper - everything they 'need' to know. I have seen some coaches make it a requirement that all players bring their notebooks to practice, some that hand out notebooks and then never utilize them, and others that … [Read more...]