Duke's Talk System

Here are some portions in an article from ESPN The Magazine about the communication system that Duke has out on the floor & the importance of talking in their program:

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Eye contact -- they're big on that. Coach K does it too, from the first time he meets a recruit. Squaring up, he promises always to tell the kid the way it is, about his game, about his life, no matter what. And he demands that every one of his players at Duke do the same: Find the eyes; tell the truth.

It's disorienting and, frankly, a bit weird. But if Mike Krzyzewski says the point is to promote an open dialogue, you can't really argue, even if it can freak out a newbie. Let's be honest: If anyone outside of the team's practice facility were to address a player with such unflinching eye-to-eye contact, he'd likely be asking, "Do you know how fast you were going?"

But disconcerting or not, that's how Blue Devils interact off the court. On it, though, blinded by screens, pivots and defenders' waving hands, they can't rely on eye contact. So they resort to a mode of communication that is equally unrelenting: a steady stream of old-school chatter.

In games, practices and open gyms, the Dukies' yelping -- "Ball, ball!," "You're good there," "I got it," "Shoot it" -- is no different from what spews from your standard-issue pickup hooper. It's just way more intense. It draws attention to oncoming screens, but also affirms every pass and shot, encourages every defensive gamble. It announces their solidarity. "When you talk all the time, you will recognize a voice in a chaotic situation," Krzyzewski says. "It builds strength."

To a Devil, hostile invective, intrusive whistles and sneaker squeaks are white noise; teammates' chirps are the real sound track of the game. To opponents, that sound track is like a death knell. "The chatter empowers them," says Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg. "Combine it with their talent, and it's pretty imposing."

Krzyzewski calls this grating-to-others blah-blah-blahing the lifeblood of his program, one of its building blocks: offense, defense, talk. And of his four title teams, 2010's may have been the one most dependent on it. "Last year they talked better than anyone we played," says North Carolina's Roy Williams. "They also talked more consistently than any Duke team in the seven years I've been back in the ACC." All that verbosity was evidence of a veteran squad finally buying Krzyzewski's well-worn creed; "The beauty in our sport comes when five are playing as one, and five can't play as one unless they're talking to one another"

"You're teaching them a language," Krzyzewski says. "You just can't say, 'All you guys need to talk.' You have to teach them how."

"The coaches' thing is, if you're not talking, you're into yourself," Smith says. "Talking gets you thinking about the game." Problem is, extroversion isn't generally an instinctive response to screwing up. "Guys aren't good talkers inherently," Krzyzewski says. "By talking, you open up your inside to the team." Few All-Americas want to draw attention to an ego-shredding error, but Coach K will tell you that's when teammates need to hear you the most. "What talk does is return you to the moment," he says. "It clears your head."

Putting in the Extra Time

From the KC Star:

Larry Fitzgerald is convinced that he would be a better-than-average NFL receiver had his path never crossed that of Todd Haley.

He is equally as certain he wouldn’t be a four-time Pro Bowler and one of the NFL’s premier players if not for their two seasons together with the Cardinals with Haley as offensive coordinator.

“I was a good player when he got here, but I was far from a complete player. I never watched film, I didn’t study my opponent. We started at 8 o’clock. I was getting in the building at 7:55. We were done at 3 o’clock, and I was out of the building at 3:05. I came to work and did my job, but that’s about it.

“Todd made me understand that to be … a great player, you have to do more. You have to do extra. I’ve taken that to heart even since he’s left. I continue to do things he taught me: run routes after practice, catch extra balls.”

Matt Cassel showing leadership during tough times

Last Sunday wasn’t the best example of reality, at least after Denver zipped to a huge lead up (35-0 at half and up 49-17 late in the game), but that didn’t mean the Chiefs stopped paying attention to how some players reacted.

Coach Todd Haley said this week that his starters were given the option late in the game of calling it a night. That game was finished, and perhaps it was best to bid Denver adieu.

Not everyone saw it that way.

“We have to continue to fight,” quarterback Matt Cassel said this week. “You’re paid to play for 60 minutes.”

But in that game and in these early seasons of the team’s transition, Haley said the Chiefs need players who don’t quit, even when there’s every reason to.

“You just see who your leaders are,” Haley said. “He wanted to continue to lead the team.

“The leader’s got to go down with the ship occasionally.

“He felt like he was part of it from the start and didn’t want to not be part of it in the end,” Haley said. “It just reconfirms my belief and knowledge that Matt is a truly competitive, competitive guy who wants to be a real good quarterback in the league and wants to be the leader of a team that wins a bunch of games.

“He shows that every day out here (at practice), and he shows it in games like that.

“It just shows your teammates that you care and that it’s important to you. And you care about your team, in good times and in bad,” Haley said. “Sometimes it’s even better tested in bad times.”

Kevin Love on Rebounding

"For me, rebounding is all a mindset. My dad told me back in the day that there is no such thing as a selfish rebound because it's a team stat. If you have to fight one of your own teammates for a rebound, do it -- as long as you get it. Also, I studied the greats. Dennis Rodman had it figured out: he knew that most shots are going to come to the other side of the rim. So that's how I position myself. And Bill Russell always used to say that 80 percent of rebounds are below the rim. I'm not the kind of guy who's going to jump and touch the top of the square every time. I use my body for positioning, and I work relentlessly underneath the rim.

You don't have to be the most athletic guy in the world to get a bunch of rebounds, so I just try and take what my dad said to heart, what Rodman said to heart, and most importantly what Bill Russell said to heart. He's got 11 championship rings so I think he knows what he's talking about."

Boys or Men?

From http://www.cnnsi.com/

When Illinois players walk into their locker room, a simple question greets them on the greaseboard: Boys or men? The words were put there by Illini coach Bruce Weber last spring after his team's season ended ignominiously with a quarterfinal loss in the NIT. Weber recognized that his players had talent. What they lacked was toughness, physical and especially mental. That's why they folded down the stretch, dropping five of their last seven games to miss out on the NCAA tournament.

"Talent doesn't mean anything," Weber said. "When we played good teams last year, especially on the road, we just couldn't defend well enough to win. Part of defense is toughness and pride and just wanting to fight. We didn't always have that."

"We know we can score with anybody in the country," 6-foot-3 senior guard Demetri McCamey said. "Now we need to show we have that mental toughness where if times go bad, you don't put your head down and start thinking the game is over."

Singler leads through his play

Ny Times article on Duke preseason All-American forward Kyle Singler.

“I’m not really that cocky a basketball player, but I am very confident,” he said. “I just kind of feel like people get in trouble when they’re not themselves and they don’t act like who they really are as people and even as a basketball player.

“I’m not going to change as a basketball player,” he continued. “I’m going to act the same way I always acted, and I think people do respect that. I guess that might be a reason why I’m not that hated as a basketball player.”

Apparently, Singler does not talk trash or swagger, either. He reserves his commentary for teammates, and indeed he has had to work at becoming more vocal as a leader this season.

“He’ll definitely be more of a target this year,” Smith continued. “People are saying he’s going to be the player of the year, and he obviously has that capability, so guys are going to go at him a lot harder, and nothing’s going to change with him. He’s going to stay who he is, stay quiet and just continue to kill people.”

Putting the D back in Dallas

Good article on 'ESPN.com Dallas' about the Mavericks defense leading to a victory over the previously undefeated New Orleans Hornets.

DALLAS -- Is it possible that the Dallas Mavericks actually enjoy playing defense, and even find themselves challenging one another to rise up when games get down and dirty in crunch time?

"I think it would be better to ask the players that question because we identify defense as the No. 1 variable to us being a true contending team," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "If the answer is yes, then we're making some real progress. If the answer is something else, then we've got to take a hard look at where we're at."

"But," Carlisle continued, "I think our guys realize that hard, consistent defense and staying with a system is the most important part of our success and it's the most important part of continuing the success that we're having."

Monday night was another example that the answer just might be a resounding, "Yes." The Mavs trailed the previously unbeaten New Orleans Hornets by 10 points with 7:44 left in the game. From that point, Dallas' defense, which entered the game ranked third in the league in points per possession, allowed eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and turned stops into a 3-point barrage at the other end to pull out a dramatic 98-95 victory.

The fourth quarter was reminiscent of one week ago against Boston. The Celtics seized momentum, led 80-74 with 7:25 to go and then scored seven points the rest of the way.

These aren't Don Nelson's Mavericks.

"Yeah, well, we understand what it takes," point guard Jason Kidd said. 'We've seen, come June, the team that holds that trophy is one of the best defensive teams, so at some point you've got to believe that playing defense will win you a championship. I think everybody's in agreement that we have to play defense. Again, six minutes left in the game, you've got to find a way to get stops."

Against New Orleans, Dallas found a way with a mix of tough man-to-man defense and zone to combat point guard Chris Paul, who was hounded by J.J. Barea and held without a point and just three assists in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs didn't force a turnover in the final quarter, but they frustrated the Hornets into 7-of-23 shooting (30.4 percent), and Dallas commanded the boards 15-7. It led to a free-flow offense and a treasure chest of open 3-pointers that, after a long night of firing long-range blanks, finally produced rainbows.

New Orleans (8-1) scored 19 points in the final 12 minutes, which is nothing unusual for Dallas opponents in the first nine games. The Mavericks (7-2) are stingiest in the fourth quarter, allowing on average of 19.7 points a game. They haven't surrendered more than 24 points in a fourth quarter and Monday notched their fifth sub-20-point final period.

"I love it," Barea said. "And with a guy like Tyson [Chandler], you get a stop and he starts screaming and going wild. It's awesome. And then we know when we get stops, hey, we're going to score on the other end fast. That's what we've got to do. If we get stops, we're going to be a great team."

But, that's the same line as every player used almost daily last year: Get stops and we win. Carlisle came to Dallas three years ago preaching defensive demeanor. It didn't stick. The Mavs opened last season 19-7 and talked of yet another recommitment to defense. After a 131-96 beatdown in Los Angeles by the Lakers on Jan. 3, the Mavs' defense might as well have been in Maui.

"I think we're starting to take pride in [defense] because that's the next step to being a championship-level team," said 7-foot tag-team center Brendan Haywood, who was acquired in a February trade. "Look at the teams that have won championships in the last couple of years. They've all been teams that at some point could play very good defense. Look at Boston, the Spurs, Detroit. That's not by accident. That's what has to happen. You have to be a good defensive team to win. That's something coach has stressed from the preseason until now and we're going to keep getting better defensively."

When Trevor Ariza knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it at 95-95 with 40.8 seconds left, Carlisle called timeout.

"We just said we've got to stop these guys," Terry said. "The team with the most stops was going to prevail in this game. New Orleans is the second-best defensive team in the league right now and we're No 3. So, defense definitely wins games."

Terry came out of the timeout and buried an 18-foot jumper for a 97-95 lead with 34.9 to go. Then a scrambling, trapping Mavs defense took over on a wild second-to-last possession for the Hornets. David West missed from short range and off the rebound Ariza missed two 3-pointers.

Dirk Nowitzki gave New Orleans one last chance after he missed the second free throw to make it a 98-95 lead with 0.7 seconds left. Emeka Okafor wound up with the ball and didn't come close with a last-gasp 3-pointer.

And through nine games, the Dallas Mavericks are buying into the concept of team defense.

"Haywood and Tyson help with that. Dirk is believing in it. Jet. J.J. Whoever is out on the floor," Kidd said. "We always feel we might not be quick or we might not be able to jump high, but just playing team defense is a big thing in this league and again, you look at San Antonio or Boston or L.A., they play great team defense.

"I think we're believing in that."

Mark Sanchez's cool demeanor

From Last Week's New York Daily News :

You don’t have to be a body language expert to notice that Mark Sanchez has kept his emotions in check the past few weeks. He was the sketch of cool after his 74-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards last week. Moments after firing a 52-yard completion to Santonio Holmes in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal, Sanchez simply clapped. He credited his calm demeanor to the new Bad Body Language fine system put in place by the rest of the quarterbacks.

“It’s a fun thing, but also a good coaching point from (Mark) Brunell,” Sanchez told me. “So I jumped on board right away. It’s really showed up and it’s kept us in some of these games.”

“Sometimes the hardest thing is to fight your emotions and deal with the rollercoaster of the game,” he added. “If you can show that even keel demeanor to the team, that stuff is contagious. When our team can see that from me, it resonates. They know, ‘Hey man, don’t mess with this guy in a tough situation. He’s ready.’”

Sanchez has done a good job of "staying in the middle," with his emotions the past couple weeks

“That’s the kind of demeanor that you want to have and the message you want to send to those guys,” Sanchez said. “Because you’re going to need it late in the game. You don’t want to get too excited off a 21-point lead, because it’s never enough. If you throw three picks in the first quarter, you can’t tank. You still have three more quarters to play. Who knows? These are long games. Crazier things have happened. So it’s just about staying in the middle. That’s the biggest coaching point.”

Seymour is changing the culture

Good article on cnnsi.com about Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour and the influence he has had on a Raiders organization that has not seen its share of successes in the past several years. This year the Raiders have gotten off to a 5-4 start with Seymour helping lead the way through his words and actions:

Greatness. It's a term that's easily understood but difficult to quantify in athletics. Is it measured by championships? Personal accolades? Individual statistics? Or is it something with broader context, like being able to improve the performance of those around you?

In the case of Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour, the answer is "all of the above." He won three Super Bowls in four appearances during his eight seasons with the Patriots; was voted to five Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams during that time; and recorded 39 sacks with the team, tying for sixth most in franchise history by a defensive linemen.

Still, his greatest achievement may be the impact he has had on teammates since joining the Raiders before the start of the 2009 season.

"I can speak personally about it," says Pro Bowler Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the game's top shutdown cornerbacks. "Once he came in I felt like I had to step my game up. Before, it was like -- you never get complacent, you never get content -- but you get, I don't know, kind of comfortable when you're 'the guy' year after year after year.

"But when someone else comes in that's the guy, that has won championships, you're like, 'OK, I've got to step my game up even more.' It wasn't a thing of competition. It was: I have to do better than I was doing for him to trust me and respect me. I have to do more because of whom I'm surrounded by, a guy who is studying, a guy who really wants to be the best. Richard did that for me and didn't even know he was doing it. Anytime you're around greatness, you just want to be greater."

There are similar tales from the Raiders locker room, where Seymour, 31, has come to be viewed as a mentor, friend and standard-setter. During fellow defensive tackle Tommy Kelly's first six seasons, he was known as a player with great potential but limited discipline. For every sack or quarterback pressure, there were two offsides or a mental lapse.

Yet Kelly has been a consistent force this season. In Sunday's 23-20 overtime win over the Chiefs, he had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry, and a forced fumble. The week before against the Seahawks, he had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry. Slowly, he is shedding the underachiever label that has dogged him for much of his career.

"Big Rich brings the example," says Kelly. "He don't talk it; the résumé talks it. You already know what he means because of the Super Bowls and Pro Bowls. He commands respects, and he gives you respect. So it's easy to follow the example of somebody like that."

For the first time since 2002, the Raiders are playoff relevant in November in part because their effort and work habits are starting to match their talent level. At 5-4 they are above .500 this late in a season for the first time since going to the Super Bowl eight years ago, and many of the players point to the 6-foot-6, 310-pound man with the slow words and Southern drawl as a big reason.

During Game 1 of the World Series on Oct. 27, Seymour and Asomugha sat behind the Rangers dugout and spoke about nothing but football for almost 30 minutes. Even when third base Juan Uribe launched a fifth-inning three-run homer to push the Giants' lead to 8-2, setting off fog horns, water cannons and mass delirium in AT&T Park, the two never flinched. Their conversation was too deep and meaningful.

"Everyone is standing up going crazy, and we're just sitting there talking Raiders football," says Asomugha. "We're talking about our futures, our careers, where we've come from in the league, and how we've met on this middle ground. We're talking about him not having five, six, seven years left and wanting to get back to the Super Bowl before he retires, and me wanting to win now, me needing to win now, after some of the most difficult years of my career."

The conversation seemed unthinkable at the start of last season. After being traded to the Raiders on the Sunday before the season opener, he failed to immediately report. There was speculation that he wanted no part of the losing and dysfunction that had taken place in Oakland the previous six years, during which the organization employed five head coaches, signed free agents to megadeals only to cut them after one season -- or sometimes, in the case of cornerback DeAngelo Hall, after only eight games.

After a few days the Raiders sent a letter to Seymour threatening to place on a reserve list that would prohibit him from playing at all in 2009 if he did not report within five days. The truth, says Seymour, was that he was caught off guard by the deal and needed time to prepare his family for the change. Some of his kids had just started a new school and decisions had to be made about whether he and wife Tanya would uproot the family for what might be one year in Oakland, where Seymour would be in the final year of his contract.

"There was never a point that I wasn't going to play football," Seymour says. "But there was a lot going on. My family comes first. I may be a football player, but that does not define me. Once I got to Oakland, I saw that the Lord was really leading me out here for a reason. He was taking me out of one place and putting me in another where I could really have an impact on a lot of young guys. That's something that I've always wanted to do my whole career, what I believe my calling was. I feel like I'm at a place where I was designed to be, so this is fulfilling. I feel like I'm at that place right where I need to be.

"From the outside, people can look at it and say he's going from a team that's won the most games this decade to one of the teams that has lost the most. But I think it takes a special person that can move from that environment and still have a positive effect on others without being discouraged himself. Now I'm not saying they've all been great days. We've had our share of road bumps and issues throughout the way, but that's a part of growing.I'm a firm believer that people can say things to you or do things to you and think that they're putting you in a position to fail, but at the end of the day that situation can be a blessing. And this has been that for me."

It's also been a Godsend for coach Tom Cable, who has a respected, proven winner to carry his message into the locker room. It's interesting now to hear Oakland defenders not only talk about the importance of the little things -- like practicing with tempo, being in the right gaps, playing with effort on every snap -- but actually do those things.

When the Raiders trailed the AFC West-leading Chiefs 10-0 late in the second quarter and appeared to be on the verge of surrendering a back-breaking touchdown just before the half, Seymour gathered the players and told them they would be defined by the moment. In the past it was just the type of situation where the Raiders might have buckled. After all, losing has a way of becoming habitual when it's all you've known during your time in the league. But Seymour looked guys in the eyes and told them that if he were a general manager, this was the type of situation that would tell him about players. Would they fight when times were hard, or would they quit.

The Raiders forced an interception.

"He always says to just make sure you're always playing hard, no matter what the situation is," says rookie defensive end Lamarr Houston. "Don't ever get comfortable or complacent."

"From the first time he got here, he brought an air of, I've been through a lot of battles and I know how to prepare and I know what it takes to be successful," says Cable. "His role is constantly teaching in that locker room what it takes to be successful -- not cutting corners, staying through the course. It's a lot of hard work; there are a lot of setbacks that you go through. But you keep plugging until you get it right. I think he's brought that mentality that you just go to work."

CP3's Leadership

New Orleans Hornets General Manager Dell Demps on the leadership of Hornets PG Chris Paul:

"I was amazed how he works with the young guys," Demps said. "He's a natural leader. And the guys, they believe in him. He's not only helping guys out; he's also asking questions. I see him asking Trevor and David where they want him, what they see out there. He's one of those leaders that listens to input. But he also motivates guys. Guys see that he's playing at a high level."

Leadership

Warriors coach Keith Smart on newly acquired all-star forward David Lee:



“A leader leads by doing things when no one pays attention. David does that."

The Harbaugh Brothers

Good story in Sports Illustrated on the Harbaugh Family Coaching Tree. John Harbaugh (pictured above) is the current head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. Jim Harbaugh is the head coach of Stanford University while their father Jack coached for numerous colleges throughout the country.

The article takes about the competitve environment that the Harbaugh brothers grew up in along with their passion and work ethic to be the best they can be. Here is a good excerpt:

It is a ruthless world, and the Harbaughs love it that way: There is no faking success, none of what their mother called "mediocrity—let's not let anybody be better than anybody else." John, whose Ravens are 5--2 and leading the AFC North, keeps a plastic armadillo in his office because he thinks people need thick skin, and he often asks his players, "You got your baby-deerskin on today? Or do you have your armadillo skin?"

Full Article on Harbaugh Brothers