Kobe's Mentality

"I love competing, I love playing, I love working. I don't really need any outside motivation to get me going. I'm just wired that way. I'm here. I'm here to win, I'm here to focus and do my job. That's what I'm going to do."

-Kobe Bryant when asked if there would be a letdown after winning a championship.

Kevin Durant Video

Good video on the work ethic of OKC All Star Kevin Durant:

Durant Video

Billy Donovan "Coaching the Mindset"

Here are some notes from Billy Donovan about the mental part of athletics:

*A team can't play well if it is not in the right frame of mind.

*Examine body language as they come into practice.

*Live in the present: forget the past, play the next play to the best of your abilities.

*Never underestimate how important role players are.

*After 2006, wrote down all the things that could get in the way of the team being the best they could be- players being selfish, over-confident, not handling roles.

*Building chemistry isn't all on the coach, your best players have the best chance to improve chemistry.

*Leaders on the floor/ leaders in the locker room- often can be two different sets of people

*Approach/Avoidance goals:

- Approach goals: things the team wants to see accomplished
- Avoidance goals: things the team is hoping to avoid

*FOCUS ON APPROACH GOALS. Avoidance goals are too negative, makes teams play to not lose rather than to win.

*Watching film shouldn't be punishment. Be objective. You can be harder after a win, go easier after a loss.

Special Situations- Bob McKillop

Davidson's 7 Keys to the Game- used for everything they do:

1.) SEEING

-see the game

-makes you quicker

-see that you are denied and go back door

2.) TALKING

-families break down because they do not talk

-talk with your hands and your mouth

-ask for the ball with 10 fingers

3.) FLESH ON FLESH CONTACT

-set hard screens body to body

-box out physically

4.) BE DETAILED

-run to the ball as a teammate saves it

-do not dribble a loose ball. Pick it up and chin it

-sacrifice position for possession in the post

5.) ALWAYS BE BALANCED

-Defensively

-With the ball

6.) FINISH

-finish every play

-finish every shot you miss in practice

-the last part of the play needs to be the strongest

-finish your basket cut to the rim then space out to the 3 pt line

Mack Brown is a Winner

ESPN did a great all-access look into the Texas football team. There is lots of great stuff from Mack Brown and it is easy to root for a guy like him after reading this story:

All-Access Texas Football

More from Parcells

*You must be present in the training room to make sure it doesn't become a social club.

*It doesn't take athletic ability to hustle

*Parcells posted a memo in each player's locker saying "What will you do to help us win?"

*Each day in practice Parcells takes one game situation and teaches every player and coach who might be involved how to handle it.

*Losing may take a little from your credibility, but quitting will destroy it.

*On what sets disciplined people apart:
1. The capacity to get past distractions
2. The willingness to condition mind and body for the task at hand
3. The ability to keep your poise when those around you are losing theirs

"ERW Player" = a player who just eats, rides, and warms up (doesn't play)

*Excuses and alibis are the main enemies of accountability

*T-shirt slogans: "Who Says We Can't?" & "Take Another Step"

*A Parcells player says, "He gets everyone to think alike, from top to bottom. I think it's one of the biggest reasons we're winning. He gets everyone to come together for one common goal: to win."

*

Gill remains on even keel despite KU’s ups, downs

Good article in the Lincoln Journal Star about Kansas coach Turner Gill and his mindset of staying even keel. After losing to I-AA North Dakota State in game 1 and then beating #17 ranked Georgia Tech the following week, Gill is stressing that his players and coaches stay focused on what is ahead:

"We're trying to build over a whole football season. We're not letting one or two games, or three or four games, define who we are at this point in time. The main thing is we've got to get our guys to handle prosperity, and that's part of the process of the teaching of us as coaches to players, and players to players," Gill said.

One player who Gill stuck with was junior tight end Tim Biere. Against North Dakota State, the Omaha Westside graduate fumbled twice and dropped two passes. But Saturday, he made his first touchdown reception and played an important role in helping Sims hit the century mark.

"We just said one thing to him and then we moved on," Gill said in regard to Biere's opening-game performance. "We're trying to teach our staff and players that we're not going to spend a whole lot of time on negative things. We'll get it corrected and then we'll move on. That's what he did, and I'm proud of him."

Bill Parcells Motivational & Coaching Ideas

Here are some Bill Parcells notes that I recently went through:

Locker Room Signs

1. Individuals Win Games but Teams Win Titles

2. Blame Nobody. Expect Nothing. Do Something.

There are 3 fights that a team has to fight every day

1. Division from within (team chemistry, roles)

2. Competition (your opponents)

3. Outside influences (family, friends)

*Super Bowl XXV team's mantra: "Make the Other Team Quit"

*If they don't bite as pups they probably don't bite

*Losers assemble in small groups and complain abou the coaches and other players. Winners assemble as a TEAM and find ways to win.

*In a competitive atmosphere, to stay the same is to regress

*How to know when to back off conditioning in practice: pay attention to the two best conditioned athletes on the team. When they start showing fatigue, stop. If they're dragging, the rest of them are a lot worse.

*Because it's impossible to control every element of the locker room, he gets 5 or 6 players ("his guys") to speak his message for him and who are his eyes and ears and completely devoted to him.

All Access Villanova Wildcats (Low Video Quality But Good Stuff)

Staying Grounded

Michigan QB Denard Robinson is an early Heisman Trophy candidate due to has two outstanding performance early in the season. He is staying away from all the people that are hyping him up and trying to focus on how he can get better:

"Denard is probably the best person that can have all this," U-M center David Molk said. "He actually doesn't like it. He's not going to get taken (in.)"

NBA FIT: Chris Paul Workout

Sustained Success

"We have an opportunity to leave a legacy that's not just about one championship. It's how many can we win? Sustained success is the hardest thing in sports. It's human nature to relax and feel you've arrived. In reality, you have to sacrifice and dedicate yourself even more."

-Drew Brees

Communication on the Floor

Here is a piece on Team USA and their desire to communicate more on the floor. From NBA.com:

"In the last two ball games, you knew you were going to win and you wanted to really fast forward into the medal round," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after practice. "And what happens is you stop talking to one another on the court. And then you're not as animated. It's still a game of being connected, and you're connected primarily when you're talking to one another."

Communication on defense is always critical. But it takes on extra importance in international play, where the best teams run offenses with five players and the ball constantly in motion. A defense that does not talk will quickly be a defense that is lost.

"These teams are well-coached and they run all their sets all the way through," Kevin Durant said. "They have a lot of shooters that stretch the floor, so if you don't talk, you can get burned."

Defensive communication goes well beyond calling out screens. All five players must be talking and working together, so that the roll man is picked up quickly and the shooters aren't left alone. Rotations must be quick, and being a step slow will cost you two or three points.

Of course, the importance of communication is not limited to the defensive end of the floor. The U.S. offense has been stagnant at times, in part because they weren't talking as they brought the ball up the floor.

"We've been coming down, just dribbling the ball, and waiting to call a set instead of running some motion," Krzyzewski said, noting that early offense was another point of emphasis on Saturday.

Many of these American players aren't used to being vocal though. Along with a lack of international and big-game experience, that's one of the challenges of bringing a young team to the World Championship.

"It's different roles and situations that you're put in when you play USA Basketball," Tyson Chandler said. "So we've got to get guys out of their comfort zone."

"I know for myself, I was a little nervous when I first got here to talk it up," Durant admitted. "But as time goes on, these guys make it easier."

Krzyzewski puts a positive spin on the lack of communication, saying that it's also a result of players focused on doing the right thing individually.

"It's not meant like 'I don't want to talk,'" the coach said. "It's like 'I am talking, and I'm talking to myself. Here's what I'm supposed to be doing.' And we need to get them outside of themselves. And they will do that. They'll be a very enthusiastic, hungry group when we play Angola." (Who they beat by 56 points)

Being Open and Honest

Good article in the Lincoln Journal Star about the open communication between Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson and his quarterbacks. While the media and public did not know who was going to be the starting quarterback for the season opener last Saturday, all three QB's were well aware of where they stood in the pecking order:

Shawn Watson isn't big into secrets.

That might draw a sarcastic chuckle from any Nebraska fan who lost sleep over the past couple of weeks, wondering who'd be starting at quarterback. Secrecy practically drove an entire state nutty.

Of course, the answer is now clear. But before pointing to redshirted freshman Taylor Martinez early last week, Watson kept all three players involved in the race well-informed.

Openness, it seems, is one way to prevent disgruntled players.

"It'd be a lot worse if everything was secretive, and then all of the sudden, ‘Bam! Here's the starter.' But it wasn't like that," said sophomore Cody Green, the No. 2 quarterback.

"We knew (Martinez) was starting and the reasons why he was starting. It wasn't like, 'Oh, well, we're just going to pick Taylor.' We knew all the way through the things he did, the things we had done, the good and the bad. It wasn't such a big surprise to us."

Green admits, though, he wouldn't want Watson's job of keeping smiles on the faces of three
quarterbacks.

How does Watson hope to do it?

Good, old-fashioned honesty.

"I don't like closed-door meetings, because I think that fosters secrecy, and that's not the deal," Watson said. "We wanted these guys to know, because we knew from the onset we needed everybody. We needed all three to win. We wanted to create an environment where there was just up-front honesty."

That's why Watson never held individual meetings. If he was talking to one quarterback, he was talking to three quarterbacks. Everybody heard the same thing at the same time.

"We knew exactly where we stood, exactly what everybody else did," Green said. "He doesn't hold anything back in the meeting rooms. He'll tell us, 'Taylor, you did this; Cody, you did this; Zac (Lee), you did this.' We all knew where everybody stood, and that's all you can ask for."

That, and equal repetitions in practice. Everybody got those, too, Green said.

"You do with those chances as you want to do, and if you mess up, then heck, you mess up," Green said. "But you got a chance. That's all you can ask for as a competitor. Give us reps, give us chances to go out there and compete. And that's what he did."

That doesn't make everything easy, though. Especially not telling last year's starter of 12 games that he's now No. 3 on the depth chart.

How has Lee responded?

"I think he's answered like a champion. He's been awesome," Watson said. "Zac, he's been helpful, he's been a resource to the two younger guys. He's been a real champion with those guys. He's been great."

Two Thoughts From Indiana Coach Tom Crean

Players will always say they got "shots up" but we are curious to know that they put "shots in". It is important that quality exceeds

One thing to ask yourself after a workout. Did you put "work" into the workout or just work to get "out"? There is a big difference.

It's all in the Preparation

Here is an article from Sports Illustrated about Boise St. senior QB Kellen Moore. Moore threw for 39 TD's and only 3 INT's last year in leading Boise State to another BCS game. Moore is very well respected by his teammates for his work ethic and preparation. Here are some quotes and excerpts from the article (article from Nov 2009):

"The other day I asked Kellen how many touchdowns he had, and he had no idea," says junior tight end Tommy Gallarda, one of Moore's roommates. "He just goes about his business, and he couldn't care less if he gets any recognition."

"I've always known my limitations," says Moore, "but I've also known there are things you can take advantage of to be successful, and that's to be as prepared as possible."

When Petersen announced that he was tapping a redshirt freshman as his starting quarterback before the start of the 2008 season, the coach says he had a "gut feeling," one that came primarily from watching Moore's day-to-day preparation. "The first time I knew that Kellen was going to be something special was when we were preparing for our bowl game [against East Carolina in 2007]," says Petersen. "I'm looking in to a meeting with our coaches and our offensive players. There's Kellen, in Hawaii during his redshirt year. It's obvious there's no chance he's going to get in the game. Most guys would sit back, but he's hanging on every word from the coaches, taking down notes, absorbing everything. I'm thinking, This kid's an animal."

Lawrence Frank Defense Notes

*Always push and challenge players. They only get better by stretching them.

*From Jeff Van Gundy: Know what we are about, how we play, our core values, our culture.

*Last 10 years in NBA: Only 1 team did not make playoffs that were in top 5 % defense.

*13 of last 20 NBA Champions: Top 5 FG % Defense

*8 of last 9 champions: Top 10 both offense FG% and defensive FG%

*It's not what you do, but how you do it.

*Why no commitment to defense?
1. Offensive minded team
2. Lack size or basket protection
3. Lack of athleticism
4. Low IQ
5. No consequences for not playing defense

Non-Negotiable's on defense
1. Sprint back and get set on defense
2. Protect the paint
3. Closeout hard and contest shot
4. Play aggressive without fouling
5. All 5 block out and rebound

Defense is all about multiple efforts.

Singletary on Rules & Little Things

USA Today article on 49ers coach Mike Singletary and his thoughts on having rules:

"I'm not a big rules guy," he said, "but I believe in rules."

"It depends on what sector you're talking about," he replied. "If you're talking about our identity, there are five things that should describe a 49er: He's physical and tough. Disciplined. Relentless. Smart.

"The other thing involves character and behavior. Do we treat each other with respect? That's my No. 1 word. Don't do anything that you don't want anybody to do to you. That's why I don't believe in in-fighting, calling names and all that other stuff. If you've got an issue with a guy, go to him and say, 'We need to work this out.' "

The small things. Singletary loves harping on those.

"Our first goal is to execute perfectly," he says. "Every other goal comes after that."

Said quarterback Alex Smith, "I think coach Singletary has done a really good job of keeping us short-sighted. We've got to earn everything, prove ourselves even more. He's pushing us to do that."

And pulling, prodding, counseling, too.

"We've got to get everything out of this team," said Singletary. "That's what I stress to our coaches. I need everybody, every day, every play, to be on point."

Commitment to your Teammates

From Bill Bradley's book Values of the Game:

There is an extra dimension to the respect that exists among teammates-a respect beyond that accorded the rules, the coach, and the opponent. Teammates on a team that wins will never be strangers. Teammates on a team that wins the state tournament in high school, or the conference championship in college, will forever be bound by their mutual achievement. In the pros, from exhibitions to playoffs, a team plays more that a hundred games a season. Players often have four games in five nights in four different cities. By late February, fatigue is the common enemy. Often there's not enough time for sufficient rest even if a player manages his day wisely-yet each night he has to go out and push hard to win. Dave DeBusschere, his face drawn from the long season, and Willis Reed, with his brow furrowed and heating packs on each knee, used to look over at each other in the locker room of the fourth town in five days, and their glances alone seemed to say, "I'm tired to my bones-I don't want to go out there. But if you do it, I will too."

Out of this kind of team commitment comes a deep respect. After a game, each man knows that everyone has given his all. It's an honest and open relationship; there's no suppressed anger because someone didn't set a screen, or rebound, or hustle on defense, but instead the assured knowledge that on that night the team went as far as its collective abilities permitted. If the outcome is a loss, the attitude is that we lost because we were beaten, not because we didn't extend ourselves fully. The conviction that each man did his best is unshaken.