Motivation

How do I motivate a group of freshmen boys? I have no idea how to successfully motivate a group of 14 or 15 year olds. It sounds super weird to say that but it's true. Being a coach of kids that age creates just a teensy problem. You might be thinking, "Is your team any good if you can't motivate them?" Actually yes, they are very good. They work their tails off. They are willing to put in the effort each and every time I ask something of them.

So what's my problem? I want them to start the game the way they finish games, by dominating and imposing their will on another team. My mentor and old coach told me that I can't coach other kids as if they were me. I know what he said is true. I agree with him so much that I try to reach the kids at their level. Even though I know what my mentor said is true, it's so hard to put that into practice once the frustration settles in.

Today for example, we were playing a team and our defense looked great. But we couldn't put the biscuit in the basket. I felt like I should just call a player over and tell them they needed to step up and make a play. If any of my coaches told me to step up when I was playing, I would have done whatever I needed to do to make a play. But I didn't say, "You need to make a play." Instead I called the point guard over and told him, "No matter what, run the offense and pound the ball inside."

The big guy ended up getting the ball, he got fouled, and scored easily. That play turned into 3 points. We got a stop on defense but the next trip down the court on offense, it was like we (I say we but I mean the 5 guys on the court) didn't know that the same big guy who scored so easily was still on the court.

I've played for a couple of coaches that micromanage the game. That ends up being a waste of time and it's not fun. Usually when those coaches were players, they needed someone to tell them what to do. My strength as a player was using the offense as a tool to showcase my talent. If we ran a play I knew how to score or how to set someone else up. I knew what my teammates strengths were and I looked to exploit the defense on every possession. I want my players to do the same.

You see? It is so tough not to coach players like they are yourself. To me is seems so easy:

• look 
• watch the game 
• read your teammates 
• read the opposition  

• make a good basketball decision.

I hope to show them the light. So I say to the boys, "Here is an offense that you can use to showcase your talent as a team. Look for opportunities to impose your will against whoever you play. Oh yeah, have fun, too!"Shouldn't that be enough to get a good freshmen team ready to dominate from the tip off?
I know that if a coach asked me to do something, I would probably shut my mouth and just do it. There were even times I gave a coach some lip but I still put my head down and did it. Today, my boys were getting after it with their effort and energy. We need to dominate on more than just effort; we need to score some points.

I gave them a few choice words in the middle of the third quarter and the boys decided to shut me up. With a new unit out on the court the boys began to make plays. They got steals, rebounds and they made layups. Once their playing time began to look in jeopardy they all began to make the best of every possession.

Thinking back to the game, it is hard for me to see what made the difference. Was it the way I talked to them? When I called a timeout just so I could yell at the ref, did that fire the boys up? Is it when I called another time out in the midst of a 4 on 1 (with my boys having the numbers in their favor) to chew them out? Do they need to hear me screaming, "I am tired of this game! Put them away now!"? Do I need to blow a gasket?

I think need to show some other than my RBF. Maybe the players think I am not happy and they are too focused on trying to please me. I'll have to be clear and let them know what makes me happy is when they play basketball effectively. That doesn't sound like a lot. But how do I get them to make that wish of mine a reality?

Maybe it's me who needs a better perspective. After all, we gave up 17 points at half time. That is pretty good. As a team we gave up only 24 total points in the game. Most people would be pleased and I am pleased about that. All but one player scored in the game. We did lots of other things well.

But I come back to my original question no matter how I look at it. How can I motivate the team to start games the way end games?

Hold Your Tounge

Am I bitter?

Can I let go?

Am I turning into one of those old fogies who always says, "The kids now a days have it so easy," or "When I was younger..."? I just can't help it. Whenever I talk to my students in school they all tell me that I sound just like their parents. So I guess I've answered my own question.

In order to break myself of that habit I have come to a major life decision. If I decide to watch my children do athletics, I won't coach from the sidelines. I know, I know, I know how crazy it sounds but I am going to pledge now that I will try my best not to coach from the sideline. Even if I am in the stands muttering like a mad man who talks to himself, I am going to keep my thoughts to myself.

I bring this up because I had the fortune of scouting a varsity basketball game tonight. It was at the local high school down the street from my house. When my son, Jack, and future unborn child grow up, that is where they will go. I couldn't help but think my son will play basketball there even though most kids, including myself, want nothing to do with the sports their parents want them to play. I saw Jack running up and down moving the way I moved and responding to things the way I would have. Obviously I was dreaming. It's nice to have dreams even though we live in the real world.

Anyways, I sat in the crowd scouting the away team. It was so hard to watch the home team basically give the game away. Observing the home team continually play bad basketball was torture. I know they were capable of playing better because I watched them play better against the varsity program that I am apart of.

The coach did a number of things well:

• The coach of the home team kept saying all the right things to motivate his players (which worked until the players got tired).
• The coach called out the mismatches (which the players did not take advantage of).
• The coach made great adjustments at halftime (which worked until a starter got into foul trouble and the bench screwed it up worse than Tony Allen playing through the whistle).

That's when I heard some of the parents who moved me to my opinions on coaching from the sidelines. Most of the moms yelled things to their children like, "Go Johnny, just shoot it!" And Johnny would shoot a shot that did not coincide with the coach's game plan. That lead the other team  down the court and to an easy basket. Or another dad would yell something like, "What are you thinking? You can play better than that Johnny." And guess what Johnny would do, Johnny would do something out of character that he has no business doing and screw up worse than Julian Wright.

I just sat there and shook my head at the awful basketball being played. I couldn't do anything to change the game. First of all, none of the kids playing were my related to me so they wouldn't have listened to me anyways. Secondly, if they were capable of making a change they probably would have done it. Finally, voices from both sidelines could be a wee bit distracting. After all, when I was coaching I yelled at parents who were sitting behind the bench that took it upon themselves to assist me in coaching just their child. And yes, I did it more than once, and I'd probably do it again if I needed to.

So, I guess I'll just have to either be bitter or let it go because lots of things are out of my control. I've had my time in the spotlight and there are to be no more curtain calls. So, I just need to sit back, enjoy the show and be supportive (by muttering to myself if need be).

Go Hard for As Long as You Can

After procrastinating, putting the workout off until I got back from coaching and doing chores around the house I finally completed my second day of Insanity. Shaun T. killed me but at least I finished. For some reason, I feel like when they film the workout, they aren't being honest. There are way too many of them who look like they are going through the motions. Here I am sweating like crazy and jumping all over my living room and they look like they are going for a Sunday stroll through the park. I'd like to see them jump just a little bit higher, after all, they are in way better shape than I am.

With all that being said, I know they are really working hard. In fact, we are probably working at our "Just Right" ability. I haven't really worked out in 5 months so when I stop to contemplate hitting the pause button or to get another drink of water, the people in the video are still getting after it.

When I felt like giving up it wasn't Shaun T. yelling, "Dig deeper," or "Let's go! Let's go!" that got me moving again. What got me to stop my pity party and start moving my feet was something I told some JV basketball players earlier today. I was filling in for the JV coach who was out of town by running his practice. With only 5 JV guys, it is nearly impossible to run an effective full practice. Fortunately 10 of my guys showed up even though it was an optional day.

After doing some shooting drills and some light running I had the the JV boys play the Freshmen boys in a best of 5 series up to 5. At the end of the first game I huddled up the JV boys and one of them asked me, "Coach, how long are we going to do this for?" At first I was annoyed because it sounded like he was questioning my coaching decision. He said it like he had something better to be doing or as if he had somewhere else to be. After further probing he eventually said, "I just want to know how long we are going to play so I can pace myself."

I was confuzzled. Yes, I said confuzzeled. Here are a couple of thoughts that went running through my head.

• How do you plan to beat the other team if you pace yourself? I bet they are going to go hard every possession.
• Why are you going to play if you need to think about pacing yourself?
• High school kids are supposed to be bubbling over with energy.
• Aren't the JV kids supposed to be setting a good example by destroying the Freshmen every possession regardless of being tired?
• Was I like this when I was a kid?
• Are you sure you want to be here? If so, buck up and get after it.

All those thoughts, and more that I can't mention, went raging through my head. After an awkward silence I looked at him and said, "You should go as hard as you can for as long as you can."

He obviously didn't agree with me so I continued. "If you always go 100%, that will be the only speed you know."

He began to nod his head. "When you are contemplating pacing yourself and your "busy" going at sixty or seventy-five percent, when are you ever going to decide to go up to 100%?" I see his face look as perplexed as mine just was. "You'll get comfortable at whatever your pace is and when you need to go 100% you won't have any experience being any good at it."

Those words haunted me when I felt like throwing in the towel. "Go as hard as I can for as long as I can." I've never been a long distance runner and there is absolutely no guessing why not. That mentality is definitely better suited for sprinters. However, going 100% all the time isn't always conducive to working out or playing sports. It's more about being in control but still pushing yourself.  Teaching the young man when to turn the gas on might have been a more appropriate lesson. It is always good to have 20/20 hindsight.

So I've given myself a new goal when I plan to work out or when I play with my basketball players. I am going to go as hard as I can but be in control. There is no way I can overcome the 5 month layoff, but through hard work and effort anything is possible.

As Good As I Once Was...

Toby Keith said it best,
"I ain't as good as I once was.
I got a few years on me now.
There was a time, back in my prime,
When I could really lay it down."

 How true those words are. For the past few weeks I've been coaching basketball. Although that may sound fun. After all I am a recovering basketball junkie being a former college basketball player and all.

Watching my freshmen basketball players play, I've always felt that they were going half speed and needed a swift kick. Now they are moving pretty well. They now even shock me with how they compete. Basically, they can meet my expectations. Well this past Saturday I decided to play with them. But little did I realize, they are I shape and I am far from it.

Toby Keith also sung,
I used to be hell on wheels,
Back when I was younger man.
Now my body says, "You can't do this boy."
But my pride says, "Oh, yes you can."

After losing 3 sprints and almost losing a one on one match up to a freshmen in high school, I've decided that it is time to get back into shape. Today was Day 1 of Insanity. I won't have myself losing to high school kids. Especially high school kids who have yet to show they are ready to play in college. Many of them may end up playing in college but they should not be able to beat me in a game of 1 on 1, even if it is full court.

All I know is I am need to dominate the whole practice if I decide to play with them. I should be ashamed when I go up the court 3 times and then find away to stop and talk so that I can rest before the hallway mark of a 5 minute drill. Pretty brutal. No wonder the kids always want to get water and I never let them, it must be because they are tired.

Shaun T, don't let me down. I have a lot riding on you.