LAWRENCE FRANK ON COMMUNICATING PLAYERS ROLES

"I think it’s important that guys don’t just know their role, they know each other’s role. I think you just address it. When you have a family, when you have a brotherhood, you handle things in the circle. I think it’s just being honest, good and bad, put yourself out there."

NICK SABAN ON PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PLAYERS

“The kind of personal development that you have really affects everything else that you do. Our mission statement here is, we want to help you be successful as a person, a student and as a player and be more successful in life for having been involved in the program. And if you don’t have the right kind of character and attitude, then probably none of that’s going to happen.”

THOUGHTS ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ELITE ATHLETE

In an excerpt from Rafael Nadal's book "Rafa" there is section that is about what it takes to be an elite athlete. Here it is:

The success for the elite sportsman rests on the capacity "to suffer," even to enjoy suffering. It means learning to accept that if you have to train two hours, you train two hours; if you have to train five, you train five; if you have to repeat an exercise fifty thousand times, you do it. That's what separates the champions from the merely talented. And it's all directly related to the winners' mentality; at the same time as you are demonstrating endurance, you head becomes stronger. The things you receive as gifts, unless they come with a special sentimental attachment, you don't value, whereas the things you achieve by your own efforts, you value a lot. The greater the effort the greater the value.

ETTORE MESSINA ON MAKING PLAYERS BETTER

"In my opinion, you're a good coach if you can improve your players. To improve a player you both need to understand and acknowledge his weaknesses and decide how to overcome them. This is a great motivation for me as a coach. Especially with young players, but also with experienced ones. Developing strengths and eliminating weaknesses are two sides of the medal. If you fix the weakness, you add up to your strengths. Suppose, I cannot shoot well. I keep on working on my shooting fundamentals. My shooting percentage goes up. Immediately, I get more versatility and technical strengths with the other elements in my arsenal as well.



"Many times I heard an opinion that if you're good with, let's say, your right hand, you should focus on developing it even more. It's a wrong concept. Let me explain why. If you develop your left hand a little bit, it gives you more versatility. In basketball, versatility is the first thing to surprise the opponent with. If you're limited to only a few things you can do well, you're in big trouble.Getting versatile has its chain effect. I still can use my right hand, but I can also use my left hand now. If I face an opponent, I can go right as well as left. I can surprise him. I have more freedom in choosing my next action.If all you can do is go right, you'll depend on your opponent. Once he blocks your movement to the right, you have to pass. This limits your freedom, your value for the team.



"The more fundamentals you have, the more confident and unpredictable you are on the court. You can do everything — go right, left, stop, shoot or pass. The eventual goal is to become a complete player.



"Many years ago, in 80s and early 90s, the NBA cultivated the idea of specialization. There was a theory that all players (except superstars) should become specialists in one field — either shooting, rebounding, defending or passing. That theory represented a big problem. If you have too many specialists, you become predictable. The higher number of complete players you have, the better the game is. That's why I have always liked to have three guards on the court. In Virtus and CSKA we usually played with 3 guards. With 3 guards you always have at least 3 players who can shoot, dribble, pass and play defense.



"One more thing is worth pointing out. I think the more talented the player is, the more he should work on his fundamentals to become a complete player."

STEVE NASH VIDEO EDIT

Here is a video breakdown that I did of Steve Nash:

MAGIC JOHNSON ON SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Every player has to ask, "What can I do to become a better player?" then he has to go for that extra skill even if the task is awkward, difficult, and frustrating at the beginning. A lot of players fall into the trap thinking, "This is the best that I can do." they think that just because they enjoyed one good performance, even one good season, they stop trying to improve, so they get lazy.

TOM BRADY'S COMMITMENT TO IMPROVEMENT

Bill Belichick on Tom Brady's commitment to improvement:

"I think Tom is the type of player that works to improve on everything every year, every week, every day. So over the course of time I think he’s improved in a lot of areas because he’s continued to work on them and work on all the little things. And that’s not saying they were deficient to begin with; Tom just strives for perfection. I think there is always a place for every player to improve and that’s what Tom does. He works hard to try to find that little area of improvement that could result in a better play somewhere down the line. I would include, really, all of his game in that."

PLAYER COACH RELATIONSHIP CODE

Joe Lapchick coached the Knicks while Phil Jackson was on the team. He also was the Head Coach at St. Johns. After reading his Player Relationship Code, I am able to see the lasting influence he had on Phil Jackson. This is once again from Ralph Pim and Jerry Krause's wonderful book Basketball Defense Sourcebook.

Undoubtedly, my personal experiences when breaking in with the Celtics had a great influence on my coaching. At any rate, I developed a sort of player relationship code down through the years. Some of the parts are listed below:

1. Make a strong effort to help players develop high ideals, a moral sense of correct behavior, and the power to govern emotional control as a basketball player and as a gentleman. With this as a starter, fair play, appreciation of the rights of others, and general sportsmanship follow in natural sequence. As a player, I became considered less effective if I became unreasonably angry with either my opponent or referee.

2. Take an active interest in the academic standing and progress of every player. the chief objective in the players' life is a good education. Show him that you are interest in his life objectives and his desire for an education.

3. Guard the health and physical welfare of the players. Devote personal attention to injuries and see that treatment is prompt and continued regularly. Make sure that good equipment is issued to every player and that he is given frequent medical check ups and attention.

4. Keep players at a distance without building a wall of reserve. Express warm concern in matters pertaining to their personal affairs where possible, but show no favoritism.

5. Study and know every player. Make him feel that he "belongs" and is important to the success of the team whether he is starting "star" or the last sub on the bench. Be reasonable and treat little incidents with a sense of humor, but by all means praise generously a job well done. Be a disciplinarian and a teacher, but keep in mind that every player is different. Some players resent strong criticism, while others expect it and will respond to it. In this connection, I ahve always made a practice of telling a player why I took him out of a game, unless it was merely for rest.

6. Be friendly and industrious, take pride in your work, and permit no disrespect. Be th boss, but work democratically with your players.

7. show that you expect players to take pride in their behavior and appearance by setting a personal example of cleanliness in speech, dress, and actions.

8. Develop a strong desire in your players to win, but be sure to stress that it is imprtant to win with controlled joy and degree of humility. Losing is never pleasant, but if something is learned, all is not lost. You can lose with dignity, despite internal pain, if you have played your best and acted like a gentleman.

9. Player discipline is a must, but it is far better to help a player overcome his faults than to make him turn in his uniform for an infraction. It is the coach's solemn duty to first try to save the boy, not because of his importance to the team , but for the good of the boy himself. However, this must never be done at the cost of loss of respect by the other members of the squad.

STAN VAN GUNDY ON PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

I. IMPORTANCE OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

1. Players win games its no secret and its true at every level

a) You can recruit them or sign them.
b) Once you have them the only thing you can do si make them the best that they can be

2. Coaches who learn to develop players are worth a fortune.

a) My staff are all great at developing players
b) Everything I'm going over is what I stole from Erik Spoelstra
c) Tim Grgurich has a reputation as a player developer and he is the highest paid asst.
d) Constantly changing what they do and they are looking for better ways.

3. It's about making players better

a) Individual approach rather than cookie cutter.
b) Must work within system, what does this player need to work on to help the team
c) Must be put in a role that utilizes his abilities while he develops other skills
d) It's about finding what works for the player (drills, words, demonstration, different techniques, etc.) not how the drill looks to other coaches or others who may be watching
e) The only way to evaluate a developmental program (or coach) is whether or not the player is getting better, NOTHING ELSE!!

II. WHAT ABILITIES ARE YOU ATTEMPTING TO DEVELOP?

1. Basic teaching principle, start with your objectives

2. Ballhandling

a) Handle pressure
b) Penetrate and get in the paint

3. Shooting for all players. No more important skill in the game.

4. Defense

a) Keep the ball in front of you
b) Pressure the ball

5. Pick and Roll Offense

a) Set man up/ get into the pick
b) Get in the paint (turn corner/split etc.)
c) Read defense
d) Make passes

6. Decision Making

7. Ability To Run Offense

8. Leadership

III. SOMETHINGS CANT BE DONE ON THE COURT IN A WORKOUT

1. Last 3 above

2. Have to spend time with your point guards

a) Have to have a relationship because you will talk to them more than anyone else.
b) They have to understand what you want and what you are thinking
c) Have to trust each other
d) Watch Film

4. They have to understand their role

a) Has to fit their abilites
b) Need to know what you want. Do you want them to score, set people up, when to look for own shot etc.