The Real Athlete Blog

This past weekend I had an opportunity to meet (and listen to) two brilliant basketball minds: Jeff Van Gundy and Brad Stevens. I was overwhelmingly impressed, as they both offered invaluable insight into what it takes to be successful on and off the court. Here are the highlights: 

Jeff Van Gundy Wisdom (old school)

• Don’t over coach. Don’t run too much “stuff.” Keep things simple.
• Albert Einstein: “Be as simple as you can be… but no simpler.”
• Most high school coaches would be twice as successful if they cut out half of their stuff!
• The key to winning: “You need to do what you do better than your opponent does what they do.”
• To coach successfully you need to know what type of player you can coach. Van Gundy has 3 types of players he can’t coach: soft, selfish, and stupid.
• Bill Parcells: “You have to know what loses before you can know what wins.”
• What loses? Giving up lay-ups in transition (not getting back), fouling too much (giving up FT’s), and giving up wide open 3’s (not closing out). You can’t win until you eliminate those 3 things!
• Tony Dungy: “If you want to be uncommon, you have to do what everyone could do or should do, but very few are willing to do.”
• Want to be an uncommon player? Box out. Take charges. Dive for loose balls. Make the extra pass. Those are all things everyone can do… yet very few actually do.
• Here is an answer to the question, “Why am I not playing?” Van Gundy: “I play the players that give us the best chance to win. If you want to play, do something that gives us a better chance to win.”
• Bill Walsh: “A great coach gets players to do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve the things they want to achieve.”
• Van Gundy’s 5-Point Philosophy:

• There are only 4 stats that matter in winning:

• If you win those 4, you crush your opponent. You win 3, you win easily. You win 1 or 2… and it depends on the differential.
• Dead ball mistakes are unacceptable. They are 100% preventable.
• Praise unselfishness. “You have to give up a good shot to get a great shot.”
• Good teams have ELO communication: early, loud, and often (sometimes called ELC: early, loud, and constant).

• Bill Walsh: “Mastery requires constant re-mastery.” Work on your craft (coaching or playing) every day!
• Advice to assistant coaches: “think like a head coach at all times.”
• Your values and standards are the foundation of your program. Don’t sacrifice or negotiate them for any reason.
• Deep, deliberate practice is most effective. Don’t try to do everything! Focus on what is most applicable to each player’s individual game as well as what is most applicable to your team’s style of play.
• Your goal should be to get more done in 45 minutes than most teams do in 2 hours.
• Jim Caldwell: “Don’t do more. Do less. But do it better.”
• True gym rats are rare. You are lucky if you have one on your team. You can’t make players love the game. Every player’s motivation level and passion for the game is different.
• The key to confidence is knowing you got better. Find ways to show your players they are improving (stats/film).
• Spend time on unique finishes around the basket (Eurosteps, etc.). It keeps players engaged and focused and helps eliminate going through the motions.
• NAIA coach: “Great teams do difficult things together.”
• Basketball is a game of deception to get an advantage. Your eyes are your deadliest weapons.
• Finish every workout or practice with a challenge or competition. End on a high note.
• Del Harris: “Every time you shoot, shoot to make. Every shot is important and every shot counts.”
• Track how many shots your best player takes in your first official practice this year. In Coach Stevens’ first practice at Butler, his best player only took 22 shots (in 2+ hours!).
• Since then, he makes sure players get in at least 100 shots a day in pre/post practice and time efficient shooting drills.
• “Great shooting teams are great passing teams.”
• Make skill work a year round emphasis… not just in the off-season.
• Don’t think creating a winning culture is important? Only 7 NBA teams have won a Championship since 1980.