President Obama's management/leadership style

1. No drama. "No backstabbing, damaging media leaks, or anything that would detract from the campaign. You do your job, get it done, and keep you head down."

2. Praise those who don't expect it. Recognize those who do the heavy lifting.

3. Make every person in a meeting participate. "Like a tough law professor, Obama will call on staffers who haven't spoken up. He assumes if you haven't said anything, you might disagree."

4. Establish a plan and stick to it. "He has a core belief in the strategy and he keeps everybody on board."

5. Give feedback that's clear, direct, and immediate. "If he's happy, you know it. If he prefers to do something different you know it. He's not shy about being clear."

6. Allow new ideas to come from the bottom up. As a leader, some of the best ideas you'll hear are from some of your more junior assistantst.

7. Genuinely listen to those who disagree with you. "He really questions advisors aggressively. He wants to see disagreements aired in front of him."

Mangini's blueprint

As he takes charge, Mangini is following a specific blueprint for success, starting with players who fit the mold of what he believes makes a successful football player.

"The words that I told you would go up in the draft room are up: smart, hardworking, competitive and selfless, and it's guys that football is really important to," Mangini said before the draft. "That, to me, is what defines anybody who you bring in.

"I don't want to watch the player on tape until I know about the player as a person. What is he going to be like in the locker room? ... How important is it in the locker room when things are going well and when things are going poorly? Those things win games."

Commitment to Defense

"Defense is not something you work on; it's something you commit to mentally. If you want to be the best player you can be, you have to be mentally crazy about basketball."

-Michael Pietrus, Orlando forward

Linebacker looks to regain starting role with Titans

Ryan Fowler wants his starting job back. He admits it's his fault for losing it.

Sure, he spent the final weeks of the 2007 season and another three months of that offseason recovering from two shoulder surgeries. Six hours a day of a slower-than-expected rehabilitation was enough to cause him to lose some of his zest for training. A report linking him to a steroids probe (he was never suspended) bothered him as well.

Still, last week Fowler said there was "plenty of time" to recover from last year's minicamps and training camp, where Stephen Tulloch moved ahead of him on the depth chart at middle linebacker and stayed there for all of the season.

"More than anything, I got a little too complacent," said Fowler, a sixth-year pro who started all 14 games he appeared in during the 2007 season, his first with the Titans.

"I thought that I could sort of coast through the offseason. Not to say I didn't train, but I probably didn't train with the same kind of passion that I had in the past."

Now, however, the passion is back.

"That's the kind of effort we want from all our players," Coach Jeff Fisher said.

Tulloch will make Fowler's task difficult. He did, after all, take advantage of his chance to start, finishing second only to outside linebacker Keith Bulluck in tackles for the Titans last season.

Fowler has regained much of the mass he lost last offseason and said he feels like he's in the best shape of his career. He said he's moving better this spring than he did in 2007, when he compiled 73 tackles as a starter.

"He's getting stronger, getting faster, getting more mobile," Titans strength and conditioning coach Steve Watterson said.

Fowler finished last season with 27 tackles, but linebackers coach Dave McGinnis said he was impressed at how Fowler handled his demotion.

"He still maintained a completely professional attitude," McGinnis said. "Worked extremely hard, anything he could do to help — he was on special teams, on extra linebacker packages, was very deep into the meetings. That to me is the sign of a consummate professional."

But training camp performances go a long way toward determining the lineup, of course. Fowler said he understands that this time he must be ready if he is to change the minds of the coaches.

"This year I will be," he said. "I won't make the same mistake again."

From the Tennessean

Setting a theme for the season

Article from last year on how Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh is preparing the mindset of his team.

Coach Harbaugh passed out blue gas station-style work shirts to every member of the Stanford football team, complete with an embroidered name plate on the front-left chest. It's a fun way to engage his guys and get them focused on the season.

Here's what a couple of his players said about this season's theme:

"We're going to be more blue-collar. We want to keep coming into camp with a working mentality. We had a little success last year, but it wasn't what we wanted. We want to get to a bowl game."

"Coach Harbaugh gave us a long speech last night. He used a metaphor. He told us we're the outsiders, a little lower than USC, Oregon, and ASU. He said they're like the white-collar programs and we'll be like the blue-collar program. We're going to work hard and get mean."

Coach Harbaugh also talked to his guys about "building a wall."

"We need to go out there each day and feel like the wall we are building is getting built. It's like in olden times, in kingdoms, people lived in towns and they brought everybody inside their cities. They brought them from the farms and put them inside the city and built a wall around the city and that wasll has got to be high and it's go to be strong and can't there can't be any weak rocks. When people come to attack you, they are looking for the weaknesses, so we've got to go out every day in our technique and our alignment, everything we do, and put a few of those rocks in every single day in the right spot."

Lon Kruger's coaching philosophy

On his coaching style: "In college, I played for a coach who absolutely motivated out of fear. No one enjoyed going to practice. No one looked forward to it. Everyone was scared. He was a great coach. He got great results. I had a great relationship with him and learned a great deal from him, but that wasn't me. We're kind of the other extreme."

On positive coaching: Kruger has a 80-20 rule, about the ratio of positive reinforcement to constructive criticism, that he instructs his coaches to use. "Is that how I would like to be treated? What is it that I would want from my leader, my boss, my coach? It's not so much about what I say but what they hear. Sometimes we get confused. Motivate them in their best interest and they'll run through a wall for you."

Notes from Rick Majerus

Philosophy: "Be straightforward and honest with players"

*Does your best player get the most shots?

(Shot distribution/shot allocation)

*You must get to the free throw line more than your opponent. (And you must take advantage of it)

*To shoot better free throws: 1.) Only shoot two at a time (four max) Two sprints each miss. 2.) No talking, no drinks

*Free throw shooting is difficult because it requires relaxation and concentration at the same time. The only way to achieve this is through practice.

*Offense- spacing, spacing, and more spacing. Spacing is offense and offense is spacing.

*At St. Louis they work on 3 things daily:

1.) Conversion Defense

2.) Skill Development

3.) Shoot Free Throws

"Those to whom defense is not important will have the best seat in the game"

Cuts

1.) Make every cut to the basket hard

2.) Slow down in the target area, give a hand target

3.) Post up in paint if you're a post

4.) Cross screen to bring a big in

5.) Outlet to the three fast

6.) Economy of motion, don't waste movement that is unnecessary

Four things Majerus told his players to do during the summer:

1.) Deny so hard that you get backdoored every time.

2.) Pressure the ball so hard that the player has to dribble to dribble to his shot every time (then level off the dribble)

3.) Get a hand up on every shot.

4.) Blockout

South Carolina's Defensive Notes

Some notes from head caoch Darrin Horn of South Carolina:

*Two Defensive Keys:

1. What is our identity?

-It doesn't matter what it is necessarily, it just matters that you have one that you and your players firmly believe in. "What do we want to be about?" You have to ask yourself and it needs to be something that you and your players say "This is who we are. This is what we hang our hats on."

2. What are we willing to live with?

-Every defense has a fallback. We want to pressure you the length of the court and because of this, we will give up some easy layups. So, you must ask yourself "What are you willing to give up?"

*Two non-negotiables we have in our program:

1. Don't give up middle

2.Pressure (length and versatility are a must for us)

-At South Carolina they aren't very technical, it's more of a matter of "just get it done". Because

of this, as much of their drills is about creating a mentality than anything else.

-What we believe: play hard and play with trust that your teammate will be there to help you.

-The method we take in instilling our defensive philosophy is whole-part-whole. We'll show them everything, break it down and then build it back up.

-Every drill, everything we do defensively has to be loud. There needs to be a talking aspect to everything we do.

-The most important steps in conversion defense are the first 3. You must sprint these out.

Work ethic has LeBron shooting for an NBA title

From a couple of weeks ago about LeBron's work ethic

Arriving at the gym some mornings to see the lights already on and hear a bouncing basketball doesn’t surprise Mike Brown.

The Cavs head coach doesn’t bother peeking outside his office. He knows LeBron James is working up a sweat already at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

“He puts more time in than most anybody in the league, in my opinion,” Brown said. “That right there is a guy that understands if I’m going to be the greatest ever, I can’t take a day off, a play off.”

“He’s really increased his workload,” Cavs assistant coach Chris Jent said. “It was not every day in the summer and also during the course of the year. This year, it has been every day. Each and every time he walks into the gym, he puts forth a great effort.”

Most of James’ trips to the gym include Jent. The two have spent countless hours together honing James’ game, in particular his shooting.

Jent, a former standout shooter at Ohio State, is in his third season with the Cavs and has been impressed with the development of James’ work ethic. A hard worker to begin with, James has become “a workaholic” in the words of Brown.Jent credits James’ maturity and experience with USA Basketball the past three summers.

“(He was) seeing how everybody else was doing things, I think especially Kobe who always had the reputation of being a hard worker,” Jent said. “I think all of that stuff is contagious. ... He put that work in and he saw a result, and I think that made him even hungrier to work even harder.”

Brown said less than a week after last season’s disappointing Game 7 loss at Boston, James was back at Cleveland Clinic Courts working on his game. When Brown brought his son to the office one morning after that series loss, his son was stunned to see James in there just after the season ended.Brown remembers his son saying: “He’s not supposed to be here.”

That’s when Brown let his son in on a secret.

“Buddy, LeBron doesn’t just show up at the games with a Superman outfit on. He’s a great player. But he puts the time in.”

Some were surprised last Sunday to see James on the floor at The Palace of Auburn Hills in game mode two hours before tipoff. He went through an aggressive half-hour shooting session with Jent, even acting as if imaginary defenders were harassing him.

“When you see things like that, that’s LeBron,” Brown said. “That’s what he does.”

Later that afternoon, James returned to the floor to finish off the Pistons and complete a series in which he averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists.

“LeBron is so focused right now and obviously so focused for that game that I think it’s easy for him to get into that mode,” Jent said.

Watching James go that hard in a pregame workout gives Jent a satisfying feeling.

“I just appreciate the fact that he’s doing it,” Jent said. “That was a big thing for us a couple years ago. You got to do it. You got to do it every day. So just to see him being in that routine and to see that focus, the way he’s locked in, yeah, it’s a pleasure to watch.

James’ hard work doesn’t just benefit his own game. It trickles down to the rest of the team.

Brown constantly talks about how James makes his job as head coach so much easier.

“He’s our biggest influence,” Jent said. “He allows us to coach the other guys because of his willingness to let us coach him. The way he brings it every day in practice and every day to the gym really raises the level. Whether it be in the weight room or on the floor or in the locker room, he’s been a great leader.”

If you want to be successful, you've got to do something else besides what you do best

Here is more about the Nuggets change to a defensive minded team, this time from the NY Times:

DENVER (AP) — When Anthony Carter first heard that Nuggets Coach George Karl was talking about a defense-first philosophy after two seasons of running up scores, he was a bit skeptical.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t think we would really do it because he’s said that before and then when we needed some scoring, the defensive guys went back to the bench,” Carter said, chuckling. “But I’m glad we stuck with it this year.”

The Denver Nuggets are in the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1985. They will play the Los Angeles Lakers, who defeated the Houston Rockets on Sunday, 89-70, in Game 7 of their second-round series. Game 1 is Tuesday in Los Angeles.

The change in Karl’s thinking took place during a tumultuous off-season that started with the Nuggets’ fifth straight first-round playoff exit and continued with the departures of the defensive stalwarts Marcus Camby and Eduardo Najera and the assistant coaches Doug Moe and Mike Dunlap.

Before Camby and Najera were out the door, Karl’s right-hand man, Tim Grgurich, convinced him that he had to return to his roots.

Mark Warkentien, who was named the league’s executive of the year, did his part by signing two big bargains in Chris Andersen and Dahntay Jones. Then came the trade of Allen Iverson to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, who has helped transform the Nuggets into contenders.

Kenyon Martin said he bought into Karl’s approach immediately.

“Just look at it, if you want to be successful in any sport, no matter if it’s individual or a team sport, you’ve got to do something else besides what you do best,” Martin said Saturday. “We always knew we could score. Shoot, we’re top three in the league in scoring for the last five years.

“But we’ve been in the bottom in defense all those years as well. So, you’ve got to fix it. How do you fix it? You get in the gym and work at it. And that’s what we did every day in training camp, and we got good at it.”

So, in the Nuggets’ summer league, “the whole game was defense,” Karl said.

“Everything went back to the old-school drills, the shell drills, all the rotation drills, all the old-school stuff we had done in Seattle,” Karl said. “We talked to everybody about it.

He rolled up his sleeves and went to work

Trainer Alan Stein on Villanova forward Dwayne Anderson:

“He worked brutally hard every off season and exercised great communication with the Nova coaching staff on not only his desire to earn playing time, but exactly what he needed to do to earn it. He basically worked as hard as he could to fix the areas he (and the Nova staff) found weak in his yearly evaluation. In other words, he didn’t make excuses or point the finger and he didn’t feel entitled to more playing time… he rolled up his sleeves each and every off season and put in serious work. He was focused and determined.”

Don Meyer on Toughness/Team Building

*Playing hard makes up for a multitude of mistakes

*The only thing you can guarantee in basketball is that you play hard.

*Do we play harder than everyone else?

*You don't play hard for 2 reasons- lazy(mentally), play too many minutes.

*Play to win- effort isn't enough, we need intensity and technique.

*Work fast enough to make a mistake, if you don't make a mistake you're not working fast enough.

*Get into the now- not last play or the next play- this play.

*Discipline- doing things right every time- seperates average and great players.

*A great team doens't have to have the coach telling them to talk.

*Winning or losing shouldn't make a team listen better or worse.

*Alabama Football Locker- Don't come back until you improved

*Breakout years often start with conditioning.

*Continue to overcome Human Nature- Human Nature says to do what is best for me rather than what is best for the team.

TOUGHNESS:

*Toughness- responding appropriately to the task at hand, it is being focused on the direct correlation between defense and toughness. You can't have a tough team without defense.

*Accepting a coach's criticism is toughness.

*Toughness- you have to be mentally tough to be physically tough and vice versa.

*Everyone is going to make loads of mistakes- fight through them.

*You need a blue collar team to win it- toughness, mental, and physical.

*A tough team talks loudly.

*Have you ever seen a great program that doesn't have great communication?

*Good teams have 1 or 2 guys that do the dirty jobs. Great teams have all of their guys do the dirty work.

*Scared teams and don't talk.

Tough vs. Dumb

From Coach Kevin Eastman:

In the Chicago – Boston series, both teams have very competitive players, staffs, and organizations. Both teams want to win so badly. Both teams are pretty evenly matched. So, without a doubt, emotion enters the equation. But it is important that it be intelligent and positive emotion. It is positive emotion that helps your team get over the hump. It can’t be bravado emotion that only registers with those who don’t understand the game anyway.

Both teams have to make sure that they make tough plays and not dumb plays. Tough plays are plays that are made of hustle and grit; often times they don’t even require skill. But they are definitely within the rules. Dumb plays are those made doing something that looks tough but gets your team nowhere and often times hurts your team. Players need to understand this if they are going to be champions. Championship teams make sure they protect their turf but they do so in an intelligent, disciplined, and tough way!

Truth be told, players today have to understand that in a run for a championship, often times the tough play is the one where you don’t retaliate to something done by the other team. Instead, you beat them on the scoreboard. The toughness comes in from the discipline that champions have to be bigger and smarter than the moment.

Closing out a series/game

Chauncey Billups and George Karl on closing out a series, which they were able to do last night in a 124-110 victory over Dallas to advance to the Western Conference Finals:

Asked if a team needs the mentality of a baseball closer, Billups said: "Yeah, you do. You've got to go out there and think like that. The guys on the court have got to say — all right, that play's not going to work on us. You've got to do whatever you can to stop whatever play they have rolling or whatever player they have going."

With his team up 3-1 against Dallas in this emotional series, Nuggets coach George Karl spoke Tuesday about the science of closing, as well as the art of closing. Karl said a good closer and a good "closing" team must have the professionalism to learn from "game-to-game situations and circumstances and using your advantage," which he felt his team stepped away from in Game 4. In other words, the Nuggets must win by shutting down Dallas defensively, not by outshooting the opponent.

"But it's also a professional toughness — a mental toughness — respecting as the series goes on, it becomes more difficult to beat a team. We're in a great place. I think most people thought Dallas was going to handle us, and I don't think that's happening right now. In most games we've played, we've been the team ahead of the curve. I like where we stand and I like our mental toughness — and our opportunity."

Great shooters forget

Ray Allen hit the go-ahead shot last night despite being in a slump throughout the series. Says Doc Rivers:

"Great players have the ability to forget. All of us average guys and average players can't forget that stuff. But great shooters, great players, they keep thinking that next shot will go in, and that's Ray. That was Ray tonight."

Cetlics assistant coach Kevin Eastman

Six musts to create "buy-ins"

1. Thoroughly study the game, let them know that you know the game.

2. Thoroughly study your system. Show players that they can get better in your system.

3. Catch your players donig something right- helps in understanding and belief in .

4. All players have labels- do you believe in them? Disspell the labels, improve them.

5. It is not what you know- it is what you bring- develop their heads.

6. Tell them the truth.

The Ultimate Teammate

This is a little bit from an article a couple of years ago in Sports Illustrated about Tom Brady and his leadership qualities.

"I love seeing us get better," Brady says, "and I don't think you get better in games. The improvements come in practice."

His high school teammates recall a practice dropback drill called the Five Dots, wherein a quarterback matches his steps precisely to marks on the ground. Brady marked out a Five Dots course in his backyard and worked on it every day before school. Even then he knew that preparation and rehearsal, the grinding work of constructing football excellence, pays off in the public performance.

Talking about being with his teammates:

"All I wanted was the camaraderie, to share some memories with so many other guys. I mean, if you choose to alienate yourself or put yourself apart, you know, play tennis. Play golf."

Speaking of the perfect game:

"The perfect game's got to be for the highest stakes, and it's got to come down to the end. You don't remember the ones you win 35-12. You remember the ones you win 38-35, the dogfights. Those are the ones that are memorable. Who wants everything to come easily?"

Says former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson:

"Brady doesn't feel he has to tell people he's smarter or better. He just shows it. And the thing about him I like most: He still takes coaching. He's still learning."

'Every time I step on the field, I give it everything. No matter what.'

Article on Carolina Panther Everette Brown, who was a first round pick this year due to his combination speed and work ethic:

The soccer games were finished that Saturday for Everette Brown and his younger brother Tobias. Now it was time for their weekly treat: lunch at McDonald's on the way home.

But as their father, Odell, started the car for the short drive from Wilson to Stantonsburg in Eastern North Carolina, he turned to the boys. He was angry about what he thought was a poor effort given by Everette and Tobias – both still in elementary school – in their games that morning.

“If you can't go out there and push yourselves on the soccer field, you don't deserve McDonald's today,” he said. “If you're going to lay back like that, you can spend your Saturdays at home cutting the grass and working in the yard.”
I
nstead, Odell took the boys to a field next to their grandmother's house.

“Y'all ain't tired,” he said. “So get out there and run!”

Since that punishing afternoon, going all-out was never again an issue with Everette Brown. In fact, his full-force effort on every play as a defensive end at Florida State was a trait much-admired by the Carolina Panthers, who made him their top choice in April's NFL draft (in the second round, the 43rd player chosen overall).

And if hearing his named called by his home-state team two weeks ago culminated one big day in
Brown's life, it had no more influence on him than that Saturday years ago.

“Oh, man, I remember it like it was yesterday,” Brown said. “My brother and I were walking around the soccer field like we didn't want to be there. It showed. My dad didn't let it go unknown that he wasn't happy.

“That's carried over for me. Every time I step on the field, I give it everything.

“No matter what.”

The preparation into making a game winning pass and shot

"You have to be focused, you have to understand the moment, the clock, and basically think without thinking and just shoot it," Davis said. "Every time I shoot, I see myself making game-winning shots. If you see it, you believe it. You shoot millions of shots like that, and every time you shoot it, you believe you're going to make it. And when I shot it, I didn't even hesitate. It was just a feel."

Here is an article about Davis getting extra reps in during the optional morning shootaround.


I like this quote from Doc:

“You know, the pass was just as good as the shot for me,” coach Doc Rivers said after his team’s 95-94 victory. “We have a saying: Trust the pass. Trust the pass. Our best player trusted the pass. He may have made a shot, but Dwight Howard was in his face. Baby was open. He trusted the pass and Baby knocked down the shot.”

49ers set the model for Pelini

Article in the World Herald on Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini's time with the San Francisco 49ers and the high standards that were developed:

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini learned during his first professional coaching job that a championship-caliber team couldn't afford to waste its opportunities to improve, the reason why he fills every NU practice with unyielding pleas of perfection.He spent three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, where every day was valued and every little detail emphasized.That's where he crafted his definition of hard work.

"I learned about what it was to watch a team give it up in practice every day and practice with the tremendous speed and commitment that was really second to none."

During Pelini's stint with San Francisco, from 1994 to 1996, the 49ers reached a double-digit win total each year. They won the Super Bowl in 1995. But the 49ers, as talented as they were, had a set of expectations to reach each year, Pelini said. It was an environment that demanded relentless effort and created pressure on each member of the organization to perform.

He's hoping to create a similar environment at Nebraska.Pelini said his players are finally beginning to understand what it takes to meet the lofty expectations he and the staff have in place. The players just have to make the conscious decision to fully commit themselves each day.

"Every day counts," Pelini said. "Ultimately, you have to wake up every day and look in the mirror and make a decision to compete every day. It can't be a some-of-the-time thing. You have to make that decision every single day."

Changing the Culture

A look into the turnaround of the Nuggets. I blogged last month on this issue with the Nuggets but have come across another good article which is similar from the Denver Post:

This is the peek behind the curtain, the fly on the wall moment.

Nuggets coach George Karl is leaning back on a stool a few feet away from the court in the team’s Pepsi Center practice facility. He is spilling the beans on how an offseason of purging took the Nuggets from run-down to a team now three wins away from the Western Conference Finals. All of the essential moves and conversations that happened before the regular season arrival of guard Chauncey Billups took a decent Nuggets team and pushed it to among the NBA’s best.

Karl starts with an admission that the run-at-all-costs offensive philosophy he preached two years prior to this season – though it resulted in a combined 95 wins (50 last season) – was the wrong way to go.

“I may have taken too much of a risk,” Karl says.

And that’s just an appetizer.

We’ll start last spring, after the Nuggets were swept out of the playoffs by the L.A. Lakers. Assistant coach Tim Grgurich, Karl’s longtime right hand man, wanted the coach to wipe his hands of emphasizing offensive basketball. Grgurich wanted to turn back the clock to the defense-first system that was a success when the two were winning games by the boatload in Seattle.

“We can’t do this anymore,” Grgurich said to Karl. “We can’t coach like this anymore. It just doesn’t work.”

Karl paused.

“He was saying it for himself, but he was also saying it for me,” Karl recalled. “And I just looked at him and said ‘Grg, you know something, you’re right.’”

But Karl also said he had some early opposition from another assistant, Adrian Dantley, who wondered why he would scrap the system that had the Nuggets ranked among the NBA’s best on the offensive end.

“Dantley said, ‘Why in the (heck) are you changing? You score in the top five, why are you changing your philosophy?’” Karl recalled.

But his mind was made up. Karl rose through the ranks as a defensive-minded coach with offensive flair. In Seattle, his teams got after the opposition with relentless effort, turning Gary Payton pressure-induced stops into Shawn Kemp show time dunks.

More importantly, there was a hands-on approach to how the coaching staff handled the players. In the summers coaches stayed close to the athletes. There were talks and visits and one-on-one practice sessions. That extra personal attention was non-existent in Denver.

Grgurich wanted to get back to that. Karl agreed. They divided up the roster. They were the point men, but all of the assistants were responsible for keeping track of two or more players.

“He had Kenyon, I had Nene,” Karl said. “A.I. (Allen Iverson) is impossible to touch in the summer time, but we at least got in some phone conversations with him. Melo was in China (for the Olympics), so we were ok there. All the other guys were fairly easy.”

Karl, who had past run-ins with Martin, thought he’d be the toughest to get on board with the changing philosophy he wanted to implement – more discipline, improved professionalism, better leadership, and a focus on defense on the court.

He was wrong.

“The guy that jumped in really quick, was Kenyon,” Karl said. “We thought Nene and Kenyon were the hardest guys. Kenyon basically said this is the only way we can survive. And as soon as he got back (for training camp) we met and he said ‘You’re not going to have any problem with me. I’m going to be your leader.’ He jumped in and basically called himself out.

“We had our first (team) meeting of the season and he said ‘I’ve been a problem for coach, but it’s not going to happen anymore, and I’m going to be the policeman.’ Our off the court activity was part of it, too.”

Martin admitted he had a bad attitude much of his time with Karl, and that a lot of it was due to frustration with having to deal with two microfracture knee surgeries that limited his ability to play at the level he was accustomed. His knees hurt. His pride hurt. He took it out on Karl and others in the organization on a near daily basis.

Martin knew he had to change.

“I had to get out of my own way,” he said.

As for Nene, who had been branded as a player who was not living up to his six-year, $60 million contract, he and Karl vented over dinner at the ritzy Capital Grille restaurant downtown.

“We yelled and screamed a little bit,” Karl said. “He didn’t say all nice things. I didn’t say all nice things. My line to him at that time was ‘Nene, you’ve gone from an overpaid bench player to an underpaid starter, in one trade (the Marcus Camby trade). If you’re as good as I think you’re going to be, at the end of this year, they are going to call you an underpaid star. Right now, they are calling you an overpaid bench guy.’ I said, ‘What a great opportunity. What a great challenge to show people that they don’t know what the (heck) they are talking about.’”

Karl demanded harder work from Nene, who took it easy during the summers only to report to camp out of shape and thus, more susceptible to injury.

“I said ‘You’re not going to be able to do it with your habits,’” Karl said. “He would be complaining about this guy and (that guy’s) professionalism. I said ‘If you want that to change, you’ve got to help me. The first way you help me is get in the gym.’ And on August 15, he was in the gym probably four or five days every week from that point. He had never done that before.”

That all set the stage for the Billups trade, sending Iverson to Detroit, which occurred on Nov. 3.

“The culture was changing before Chauncey came,” Karl said. “And then Chauncey comes and here’s the spokesperson for everything I was basically saying. So I’m not fighting and ego managing and molding.”

Bluejays win more as coach barks less

Article in the Omaha World Herald a couple of days ago about Creighton baseball coach Ed Servais. Servais has raised the accountability factor with his players by staying quiet but supporting them when needed:

Servais told his players about three weeks ago that he would no longer attempt to inspire them with impassioned postgame speeches. No more barking at them, no more challenges.

"I told them, 'It's your team, if you want to go win a championship, go win it. If you want to finish fourth or fifth, do that.'" Servais said. "I told them, 'It's up to you because I've done all that I can do.'"I've pulled out all my stories from 27 years of coaching. I didn't have any more."

The players' reaction?

"They kind of looked at each other and probably thought, 'Oh, he'll never be able to do that,'" Servais said, laughing. "I've tried this before, but it's never lasted more that three or four days. But I haven't raised my voice now for three weeks.

"Outside of family and outside of faith, baseball is more than just a game to us," outfielder T.J. Roemmich said. "It's important that everyone in that dugout and everyone in that locker room knows that. We all have the same goals, of finishing the season out strong and getting in a good position for the Valley tournament."We needed to take ownership of this. Coach can only yell and say so much. It's our responsibility to do the things he asks. I think early in the season we were just reluctant to play the style of baseball that Creighton is accustomed to and that wins games. When we started accepting the system, things started turning around to us."

"If guys held themselves accountable all the time, there would be no need for coaches to yell at them or get on their cases," Roemmich said. "Unfortunately, that hasn't happened throughout the whole season, but now that guys are putting more effort into that, the results are showing on the field."

Bennett out to debunk stereotypes

Article on espn.com about new Virginia coach Tony Bennett, who has a misconception about the way his teams play. Most people believe that Bennett wants to slow it down and play a half court type of offense. Not true according to Bennett's former point guard at WSU, Taylor Rochestie:

"Bennett tells you to push it, but to get good shots, and on defense to make the offense take tough shots. Each game can call for a different situation."

Through a few weeks in individual workouts, Virginia's ACC Freshman of the Year guard Sylven Landesberg already saw the importance of defense.

"We've been playing fast, but we've been really working on fundamentals," Landesberg said. "He just wants your dribbling and your jump shot to be efficient. I've already seen how big he is on defense and playing one-on-one. He's big on getting that stop on the defensive end. I've learned so much already."

Rochestie said Bennett's door was literally always open. Not being too far removed from playing in the NBA helped, too. Bennett played three seasons for the Charlotte Hornets after being drafted in the second round in 1992.

"He really made us believe in him, made us believe in something bigger than ourselves," Rochestie said. "He's the type of coach where you can walk into his office and say 'This isn't working.' But he's willing to change. In the ACC, it may call for more running. But he always focuses on defense."

Bennett can be the heavy. But he still knows how to get the players to trust him and consider that he has their best interests in mind.

"That allows you to push them out of their comfort zone and toughen them up," said the 39-year-old Bennett. "I don't know any other way. I build a relationship and I challenge."

Send him to the help

Rockets coach Rick Adelman on how forward Shane Battier tries to defend Kobe Bryant, who even Battier acknowledges can't be stopped:

"One thing about Shane I really appreciate is that ... he has a really good understanding that he's not going to shut Kobe down," Adelman said. "He's going to send him to the right spot where he knows he's going to have help, and that's crucial."

LeBron makes 1st team All NBA Defense

“It was a big goal of mine to become a better defensive player,” James said. “I decided to take a little more onus on that end of the floor. It’s humbling and a great feat for myself because I really enjoy that side of the floor. I thank the coaches for seeing that I picked up my game on that end. It’s humbling.

“It’s all about pride. I just take pride on that end of the court. I’m just as locked in on that end as I am on the offensive end.”

Getting Better Every Year

"As a first-year coach you're going to take hits," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "That's part of the deal. You can't take this job and think you're going to come into a market like Chicago with the reputation and tradition of the Bulls and not get second-guessed."People aren't very patient. But I have the pulse of the team because I live it and breathe it 24/7. There was some tough love early. But I knew once I got some structure and foundation and guys knew how I was going to work, we started playing better."

How would Del Negro describe his season?

"A learning experience," he said. "I have to improve. Whether it's my first year or fifth year or 10th, you always want to be better. There are so many quick decisions to be made on the sidelines. You're not always going to make the perfect one. That goes with learning on the job. I told the team: Hopefully, we'll all do a better job."

He's the head coach alot

Another good article on the leadership qualities of Chauncey Billups, who has led Denver to a 2-0 lead over Dallas in the Western Conference quarterfinals. This is from the Denver Post:

Chauncey Billups sauntered to the scorer's table with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter and shouted instructions — and no doubt encouragement — to the players who were on the court.

It just another small detail in Mr. Big Shot's leadership drive. There is almost never a stone left unturned.

But for Billups so far in this series, the small things have been his biggest contribution. Scoring has eluded the all-star guard, but he has made up for it in assists, steals, and keeping the Nuggets' offense on schedule.

"Chauncey didn't have a good offensive game from the standpoint of scoring points, but you don't understand how good he is running the team; you don't understand how good he is cerebrally making sure things are going the right way," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "Our interaction during the game . . . He's the head coach a lot."

In the locker room, Billups' leadership has been a key to the Nuggets' success. He and Karl collaborate on what they think will work for the Nuggets going into each game. Billups has helped Karl get their game plans executed while still challenging the coach to put the players in the best positions possible.

"He overrides me a lot," Karl said. "But in the same sense, we whisper to each other a great deal during the game, during timeouts."

Said Billups: "George trusts me out there. I think it's important for the point guard and the head coach to have that kind of relationship."

To be champs, you have to fight through adversity

“To be champions, you’ve got to have the resolve to be able to fight through a little adversity and respond,” Kobe Bryant said Tuesday after a two-and-a-half-hour practice designed to get the Lakers’ attention if the previous night’s loss had not.

“I think it’s a good test. I’m, for one, anxious to see how we respond. Last year we kind of had a cakewalk to the N.B.A. finals, really. It feels good to be tested a little bit. If you want to be a champion, you’ve got to be tested. You’ve got to answer those bells, you’ve got to answer the call. I’m anxious to see how we do.”

Learning from other teams on how to work together

Interesting article on how Cleveland Browns Pro-Bowl kick returner Josh Cribbs has been attending Cavs games recently. He is looking to find the intangibles on what it takes for a team to be successful and have a tight bond.

"I went to grab that atmosphere, to see what it took and to see how I can implement it with our team," Cribbs said.

"It's something I appreciate so much that I'm going not only to enjoy the game and support them but I'm going to grasp the atmosphere, to actually see how they mesh together as a team, how they're getting through it when bad times during the games occur, how they talk as a team and communicate," Cribbs said. "Do they get on each other when something bad happens? Do they argue, fuss and fight? There's something that's happening to them. They must have what it takes -- and it shows.

Cribbs imagines himself passing on the lessons he has learned watching the Cavs.

"I can explain what it takes from looking at them -- what to do and not do, how they prepare to play the game and then go out and have fun," he said. "They have a focus about them. They're focused, but they're having fun. They're not uptight about it. It's like, 'OK, we have a job to do and we're going to do it and occasionally we're going to have fun because it's a game.' It's evident every time they're doing well, they're able to have more and more fun.

"So what I can explain to my team is you prepare for the game, you practice and then you take it to the court. Then you'll be so focused and so full of your job that you'll feel like it's coming easy to you. It seems like it's coming so easy to them. They're working as a team. It's not just one person. They're allowing everyone to work for the team. They're getting the ball to their assets, and they're all working toward one goal -- to win. Everybody is doing their little parts to have a big outcome, which is winning. They know their jobs. They don't have too many distractions. No one's acting up on the team. They're meshing."

From his perspective, the Cavs are a championship team this season.

"They have 'it' this year," said Cribbs, who credits Cleveland fans for helping his team as well as the Cavs. "The only thing that would stand in their way is if they lose that focus, or another team comes in and you have an off game. Other than that, there's no reason they shouldn't go all the way."

Improving leadership through hard work

One common theme for young players is that when they find success, whether it is winning an award or just being a starter, they tend to believe they have 'arrived'. That is not the case with Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, who was Rookie of the Year. Rose wants to be a better leader, despite only being 19 years old. Here is an except from the Chicago Tribune:

"I need to work on my jump shot, my defense and becoming a leader. I've got to lead the team better. I've got to control the game a little more as a point guard. I'm still a point guard. I can't come down and shoot seven shots in a row. I still have to look for people and get them open."

"I can be great next season. I think leading will be much easier because I learned so much this season. I put myself in a good position. I came in, played my role as a rookie, listened to my veterans and led by my work ethic. There's always room for improvement. I plan to work so hard, you'll be able to tell I got better."

Being ready to play at any time

“I know what people are saying about me having to play more because of our injuries and the matchups, but I prepare the same way every day if I’m playing or not. I prepare like anything can happen - because it can. I learned that my third or fourth years in the league. It became clear to me that being professional was what would keep me in the league.”

-Brian Scalabrine

Celtics forward

The Rockets have Chemistry

Nice win for the Rockets last night over the Lakers in Game 1. Here are some quotes from the game.

Said Yao Ming:

"Besides Tracy McGrady on this team, we don't have a guy you can call a 'talent player,' like a Kobe, McGrady, LeBron, that type. We have to trust everybody, play together, play tough and unite together."

Coach Rick Adelman:

"We found out we had a group that played their tails off every day. They came together as a group. We had a regular rotation we didn't have before and we had young guys step up."

And it's not just Adelman, a veteran coach of 18 seasons, that sees something special in this team.

Ron Artest:

"It's weird because every other team I've played for in the Playoffs, players or coaches or whatever change their whole attitude or maybe become even more focused or more edgy. But this team, we played hard during the regular season and we want to play the same during the Playoffs."

Shane Battier:

"Honestly, the first thing we said when we came into the locker room was OK, good job guys. Now, let’s get a good Game 2, too."

Also, I found that Battier had this to say before the season:

Well, it starts with the coach and we have an outstanding coach. If there's one strong suit of coach Adelman, it's developing chemistry. We had amazing chemistry last year that was evidenced in the 22-game winning streak. And we have good guys who want to win. And as long as you have those things, the chemistry will come. Now if you win a few games, chemistry seems to come a bit easier. So it's on us to win a few games and find our identity as a team. But I'm confident that we have the coaching staff in place that will develop us and bring us closer together as a team.

More Hubie Brown Notes

More notes from Hubie Brown during his days as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies:

*Give a guy a chance to grow by asking what is wrong if he is "dogging" it. Let him know you are aware that he is not playing hard. Ask him what is up and if he continues after you give him a chance then put someone else in.

*The team must adjust to us as coaches. It is the coaches way and they must do what we say. Play the guys good/bad tha do what you ask.

*When a coach syas 1 hour for practice then practice is 1 hour. It just ticks people off (coaches and players) when you say one thing and do another. If things aren't working that day then come back for another try tomorrow.

*X & O not worth a darn w/out team. If your team isn't with you it doesn't matter what you draw up. The team must respect what the coach is asking them to do.

*Personal congrats after a win. Hubie goes to each individual after the game and looks him in the eye (sometimes grabs their head) and says something positive after a win. THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE- TO WIN.

*Nobody is bigger than team!!! Jason Williams didn't want the personal thanks after a win because he was benched and Hubie wanted to suspend him. He made sure that he fined him the max and Jason apologized to the team for thinking of himself. Turning point in their season.

*Circles around jump circle every day before practice so he can walk around middle and see who is ready for the day

*If something works for another school use it. Don't act like you are too good to use other ideas.

Adjusting to your Personnel

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is known for slowing his teams down and running many set plays. He used this style and was successful with Detroit and Indiana early in his career. With the athleticism that Dallas has now, along with a point guard in Jason Kidd that can dictate tempo, Carlisle has loosened the reins a bit:

Carlisle, now coaching Dallas, folded up his trusty blue card filled with set plays, tucked it inside his tailored suit and put his confidence in the hands of his point guard.

Carlisle quit micromanaging. He let go. Jason Kidd, a future Hall of Famer, now runs the show.

Kidd, Carlisle and the Mavericks ran all the way to a 50-32 record and first-round blitz of third-seeded San Antonio in the playoffs.

"Night and day," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an e-mail about the effect Carlisle's tactical change had on the team's performance. "It showed the team that Rick trusted them, which in turn picked up the energy and cohesiveness of the team."

Several Mavericks told the Dallas Morning News earlier this season that Carlisle called plays 70 percent to 80 percent of the time during the first three months of season, but just 20 percent to 30 percent of the time after turning it over to Kidd.

"That was real pivotal in us gaining momentum in the second half of the season," Carlisle said in a phone interview earlier this week. "He's such a good player and has such a good pulse on our players that the more he could facilitate off the fly during games was helping our team."

Darrell Armstrong played for Carlisle with the Pacers. They have reunited in Dallas, with Armstrong serving as a "development assistant coach."

He sees the change in Carlisle.

"He's done a great job with the players," Armstrong said. "He tries to communicate with them more and get their thoughts. At the same time, he gets his thoughts across, too. It's also helped Jason out. I haven't seen him talk this much before and I played with him for a year (in New Jersey)."

Carlisle's former point guard in Detroit, Chauncey Billups, also agrees:

“The thing about a good coach is you adjust your schemes to your personnel,” Billups said. “We didn’t run nearly as much as the Mavericks do now with Jason Kidd and the players and athletes they have. They are a fast-breaking kind of team. We ran more halfcourt sets, more bump-and-grind, a more defensive team than the Mavericks are.”

Bill Self Thoughts on Team Building

Motivation:

*Competition is great motivation, be afraid of failure. Competition should be day after day after day. Ask the player, "if you keep losing, what are you giong to do to win?"

*Running suicides in 30 sec- run them w/partners. Teach the first guy that he should have the mindset that if he can run it in 28 sec, then he is giving his partner 32 sec to finish.

Confidence:

*Confidence is most important in leadership

*Late in games Coach Self asks his team "What do you guys want to run?" Gives them ownership & the mindset that they will get it done

Players Playing their Roles:

*"Coach, I don't know my role? What does the team need? DO IT!

*Team gave guys a role "nickname" that pertains to them & their role- buy into role.

*Daily affirmations to team as they leave practice, have them sleep on the idea

*Circle up before and after

-What do we want to get done? Did we do it?

-Give them a couple of things to concentrate on

Instilling Confidence

From espn.com's Chris Sheridan:

Confidence is one of the things that define a champion.

And Rivers didn't just get his team to keep its poise when it needed some calming; he also provided the Celtics with some confidence afterward that they never saw coming.

Gathering the Celtics in the victorious locker room, he told them to take the day off and study their scouting books on Orlando.

The players were perplexed: "Scouting books? What scouting books?"

"The ones in your cars," Rivers replied.

Turns out Rivers had sent a team employee to each of the players' cars during the game to drop off a scouting book in each vehicle.

That is the bold kind of stuff that champions do, and the Celtics lived up to their pedigree in ending one of the most memorable playoff series we've seen in any round in NBA history.

Defense leads to Offense

Doc Rivers on the Celtics huge 2nd quarter where they outscored Chicago 29-11 to help them capture Game 7:

“We turned into the Celtics again,” Rivers said. “We started playing defense. We were getting stops. Paul knows, because we talked about it before the game. Multiple stops equal multiple scores.

“We did it for stretches during the series, but never a full game except for Game 3. And when we got the stops, we could run. The one thing we thought we could do was that we could run, and that’s what we talked about. Getting easy baskets. We really felt that if we could get stops and rebounds that we could be a transition team tonight. And I thought we were.”