Youth Basketball: 10 Life Lessons to Teach Your Team

“None of this is really about football….What I hope we’re doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something,” noted High School Football Coach of the Year Roger Barta in Joe Drape’s book Our Boys – A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen.

Barta’s coaching philosophy has not only passed on a lot of wisdom to his players and helped build community spirit, but has also produced results on the field.  His teams have won 8 Kansas State Championships.  Barta understands that youth sports provide a valuable vehicle to teach life lessons.

If you’re coaching a youth basketball team, you have a wonderful opportunity to pass on some of your own wisdom to players.  Look for opportunities throughout the season, during practices and games, to communicate important messages.  Here’s a sampling for your consideration:

1. Hard work and purpose lead to success. When a player individually or the team as whole puts in extra work, and the results pay off on the court, what better time is there to communicate this message?

2. It’s important to take chances because that’s how we grow and get better. Players at all levels can quickly fall into a pattern of only using skills that they’re most comfortable with.  Younger players might only dribble with their strong hand.  Encourage your players to take chances and reward the effort even if the result is less than optimal.

3. “Inch-by-inch, life is a cinch; yard-by-yard, life is hard.” Challenges are easier when taken in bite-size chunks.  By getting a little better every day, the process is more comfortable than if you try to make a drastic improvement in one practice.  It’s a good message for players to understand to try their best at every practice.

4. Winning and losing with grace. In basketball as in life, players will not always come out on the winning side.  Learning how to deal with one’s emotions immediately after losing a close game is an important experience for players, even if it doesn’t feel too good at the time.  Players can also learn how adjustments made in practice after losses can have a positive impact on future games.

5. Don’t quit. Whenever your team comes from behind and secures a victory provides a great opportunity to reinforce an important message:  never quit.

6. The power and magic of teamwork – everyone makes a difference! The best teams work together as a unit on offense and defense.  It’s not all about scoring and rebounding — every player finds a way to contribute.

7. Getting along within a group.  When working with a group, there’s usually going to be some people you get along with better than others.  Maybe because of similar backgrounds or interests, some players will make immediate connections with some and not so much with others.  Basketball teams provide players opportunities to work together, even with others they may not necessarily like (at least at first).

8. Making good decisions.  I recently listened to a basketball expert who said that when a player has the basketball, they’re frequently making about 10 – 15 decisions in in their head every 20 seconds, e.g. Should I pass, dribble or shoot?  If I pass, who to?  What kind of pass?  How hard?  Should I fake first?  What should I do if I pass? Etc., etc.  The game of basketball forces players to make decisions.  Some players learn from what the coaches say, and for other players, it takes the actual experience.

9. Preparing and meeting challenges.  How do you get ready for a big opponents?  Do you prepare a written plan, put in extra effort and make the most of your practice time?  If a coach makes the connections, it’s easy for players to see that preparation for a tough, cross-town rival in basketball is not dissimilar to preparing for a tough math test.  Both take a plan, extra effort and commitment.

10. Working within a system requires adjustments.  Most coaches will have at least a general set of rules for how the team should conduct their play on the court.  These general set of rules, along with the game of basketball’s rules, constitute a system for the players.  Through the course of the season, players learn how to adjust their style of play to the system.

Lessons learned well at young ages stay with kids for life.  Take advantage of your opportunity to have a positive influence on your players’ lives.  Because, it’s not really about basketball.

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If you’re interested in finding out more about incorporating life lessons into your basketball season check out 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans and Never Forget Their Kids books available via The Well-Prepared Coach Special.

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30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans — Be ready for every practice in 5 minutes! Go to www.coachingwhiz.com

BOOK EXCERPT: Never Forget They’re Kids – Ideas for coaching your daughter’s 4th – 8th grade basketball team

The following is an excerpt from Michael O’Halloran’s Never Forget They’re Kids – Ideas for Coaching your Daughter’s 4th – 8th Grade Basketball Team – SECOND EDITION.

Think through team goals and plan your approach:  Spend some time now to plan your interactions with your team. Even if you coached many years before, I think it’s a valuable exercise.  By way of example, here are the goals I set one year.

What do I hope each player walks away with after playing this season?

• Increased confidence in their basketball skills: both team and individual.
• A positive experience and some friendships.
• A knowledge of some of the life lessons that the sport can teach:
– Hard work and purpose lead to success.
– A willingness to take chances because that’s how we grow and get better.
– Winning and losing with grace.
– The power and magic of teamwork – everyone makes a difference.

Basketball Focus

• Focus on skills that are important to the game that players will be able to utilize with future teams in the coming years. For example, understanding: a team defense approach, how to box out, pick-and-rolls, give-and-gos, backdoor cuts to the basket, correct shooting form, dribbling with both hands, etc.

• Balance the importance of repetition to learn skills with keeping it fresh.

• Create multi-dimensional players: centers will know how to dribble and guards will know how to rebound.

• Defense creates offense.

• Our team will have few plays, but lots of know-how.

• Place an emphasis on quality practices.  Most other teams will practice the same  types of things that we practice. But, our knowledge of the details and level of execution will set us apart.

• Focus on teaching players not correcting referees.

Keys to My Approach

• Be positive. Kids accomplish the most when they feel confident.

• Breakdown complicated activities into bite-size chunks.

• Encourage a risk-taking environment. The effort needs to be rewarded even with the result is lacking.

• Empower players to think on their own.

• Never forget they’re kids.

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Create your Own Team’s Website

It’s hard to beat face-to-face conversation and email communication to get messages out to your players and their families. As a supplement to those, last season I created a website for our team. I used Shutterfly.com
and was very pleased with the application, the ease of use and the price– it was FREE!

Shutterfly is essentially a photo site. I discovered their ability to host a team website after looking for a tool that would make it convenient to share photos amongst families. Well, not only does Shutterfly provide a tool for sharing photos, but it offers so much more including: a blog, a team calendar, RSS feeds, cool photo display templates, a tool for conducting polls, a weather widget, a map widget (provides directions to your team parents on where games are being played), a download section (post a document and members can download and print it at their convenience), a roster list with contact info, a player availability
schedule and a YouTube gallery (share your favorite videos).

I chose to make the site a private site vs. a public site, so members who I invited have to enter a password before accessing the site. The sections or pages listed above are added to the site by simply selecting the desired tool and either clicking “add section” or “add page.” Photos, visuals and logos can be uploaded to the site to add visual interest. Photos can be cropped and resized to fit the site’s templates. Shutterfly has made the interface very intuitive. The end result is a good-looking website that takes a lot less time than you’d think to set up.”

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© 2010 Michael O’Halloran.  Excerpted with permission of Michael O’Halloran.

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Jimmy Valvano: Don’t Give Up

While watching last night ESPYs award show, the audience was reminded of Jimmy Valvano.

After NC State upset highly favored Houston in the 1983 NCAA Championship in a memorable dunk at the buzzer by Lorenzo Charles, those who watched the game will not forget Jimmy Valvano running up and down the court searching for someone to hug. People also remember Jimmy Valvano for a memorable speech he gave while accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award shortly before he died of cancer. Valvano announced the formation of the “V Foundation”, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer and its motto: “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

1983 NCAA Basketball Championship: NC State vs. Houston

Jimmy Valvano’s 1993 ESPY speech

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30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans — Be ready for every practice in 5 minutes! Go to www.coachingwhiz.com

The Brad Stevens Interview

As head coach for Butler’s basketball program, Brad Stevens has been on a roll.  Taking over the program in April of 2007, he led the team to a 30 win season his first year.  Stevens broke the NCAA record for most wins in his first 3 years.  Last year, Stevens coached Butler to the NCAA Championship game where they lost to Duke by 2 points.

Stevens, two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year, is known for his thorough team preparation and his calm demeanor on the bench during games.  Even in tight games during the NCAA Tournament run, when TV cameras focused in on the young coach, his poised presence was evident.  His coaching style seemed to rub off on his team, as his players never seemed rattled.  Stevens’ approach to coaching basketball has drawn comparisons to John Wooden’s.

Since the Championship Game appearance, Stevens has appeared on the Letterman Show, sung “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at Wrigley Field, and along with the Butler team, served as Grand Marshal of the Indy 500.  Butler University, where admissions are up 67%, has resigned Stevens to a long-term deal to keep him as head coach.  IMG Worldwide, a sports and entertainment company, recently announced that it had signed Stevens to represent him.

Sports Feel Good Stories caught up with the well-spoken Stevens as he took a short break from his hectic schedule.

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The Brad Stevens Interview

Sports Feel Good Stories: Congratulations on Butler’s NCAA tournament run.  It had to be a special thrill for you and everyone close to the program.  Basketball fans from across the nation seem to unite in support of the Butler feel-good story. What did it feel like to have more people rooting for the Butler team than ever before?

Brad Stevens: You know that’s a great question.  I think the thing that is most gratifying or satisfying thing to us is the chance for former players, former staff members and certainly Butler die-hards to get a chance to experience this, and get a chance to watch this team all the way through.  One of the great by products of the tournament was the opportunity to increase our fan base.  Whether that means increasing your awareness across the globe or whether that means people were -coming to 3-4 games a year are now buying season tickets.  I think that’s a really neat thing and I think that’s something that certainly whenever you’re building a brand and you continue to try to maintain a tradition like we have here; the more people that can jump on board, the more that are welcome.  It’s something we’re really excited about.  Now, the goal is to ride that wave.

Sports Feel Good Stories: Who were some notables that you heard from when Butler had success in the tournament?

Brad Stevens: You heard from people all over the world.  You heard from people stationed overseas, people from California to New York.  It was really unbelievable, and I’ll tell you, that just the letters and cards and well wishes and everything else, despite the fact that we lost the game were amazing and certainly we appreciated each and everyone of them.

Sports Feel Good Stories: What made you more nervous:  your appearance on The Late Show with Letterman or singing “Take me out to the Ballgame” for the Cubs at Wrigley?

Brad Stevens: No doubt, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  Not even close.

Sports Feel Good Stories: If Gordon Hayward’s half-court shot at the final buzzer in the championship game had gone in, how different would your life had been?

Brad Stevens: You know I think it would’ve been a little bit different but I don’t know if it would’ve been much more crazier than it is now.  I really believe that.  My wife and I were at a function and there were a few different coaches that had won national championship games, and the emcee was talking about the national champions in the room.  We kinda of looked at each other and thought, “Man, we were close.”  But, that’s part of it.  One of the things that we’ve always said is that at the end of day we’re trying to make this so our team feels like they have maximized their opportunities.  Even though there are always things that you’d take back in an one possession game and you’d love to do over, I think those are few and far between.  Our guys gave every, every effort.  They did it for each other and they did it for Butler.

Sports Feel Good Stories: Your poise on the bench during the tournament run was impressive.  In incredibly tight games, you never seem to lose your cool.  Rather, you seem quick with a smile and encouraging words?  How do you do it?

Brad Stevens: Our staff has worked hard to prepare.   And, you feel like, hey, If you prepare well and your players really care, and they’re committed to preparing, then the results take care of themselves and sometimes they don’t work out in your favor and sometimes they do.  But, you don’t have any regrets, if you’ve given your all.  You never think about, at least I don’t think about, the magnitude a basketball game.  All I think about is the basketball game, itself.  It’s easier for me to keep that in perspective than maybe it used to be, but I really don’t get overly consumed with what people on the outside think and that probably helps as well.

Sports Feel Good Stories: Tennis star Roger Federer claims to have been a terror on the court before he finally realized he needed to control his emotions to play his best game.  Your unflappable quality:  was it easy to come by?

Brad Stevens: I get more of that reputation because people watched me on TV more and I’m probably not as unflappable as people think, but at the same time, I’ve tried my best to be the voice for our players and I think that’s easier said than done.  I really like for those guys to go out and play the game and let the chips fall where they may.  We’re coaching and making adjustments and all those things.  I’m not good enough to do that and not have a clear head.  So, it’s important to me to try to stay poised.

Sports Feel Good Stories: What’s your basketball coaching philosophy in a nutshell?

Brad Stevens: The bottom line, and I’ve said this many times, if people think of Butler, then I want them to think first of a team.  That’s my goal in all of this part of the journey for me is to a tremendous team experience:  To get guys to think outside of themselves, to have guys really want to achieve for others.  We’ve been really blessed here in the people department.

Sports Feel Good Stories: Bill Simmons’  The Book of Basketball details the “secret” of winning basketball as revealed to the author by Isiah Thomas.  Here it is:  The secret of winning basketball is that it’s not about basketball.  It’s about team, sacrifice and put the good of the team above the individual.  What’s the secret of winning basketball?

Brad Stevens: I heard the book is great. Yes, team plays a huge role.  But, I think there’s a level of talent you need to be able to do that.  We got to the Final Four, and the fact of the matter, is that we’ve got good players.  That’s one of the things that can sometimes go unnoticed but at the same time I think do we get there without a having great “team-first” mindset? Probably not.  Certainly team plays a big role in achievement, because it’s just like any other company if you have 12 very talented people, but they’re all on their own page, rather than on one page, they’re just not going to get as far.  You know, I had a guy tell me when I was growing up, “it’s better for all of us to be on the wrong page, than half of us to be on the right page and half of us to be on the wrong page.”  I figure that’s really true.

Sports Feel Good Stories: Is it tougher to coach good defense or good offense?  Why?

Brad Stevens: It depends on your players.  Sometimes plays that are fairly routine or run by a lot of people, look a lot better when run by great players.  They can score with the ball, do different things with the ball, able to break it down with the dribble.  All you need to give those guys sometimes is just a small angle.  You don’t need to necessarily get them a wide open shot.  It all goes back to players and abilities.  Good defense is a lot easier to coach when you have guys who can move laterally, are strong, can guard multiple positions, and all those types of things.  So, again it goes back to personnel.

Sports Feel Good Stories: What basketball coaching books do you recommend?

Brad Stevens: The Sport Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh is a great book and I’m huge Dungy fan so I recommend Quiet Strength and Uncommon:  Finding Your Path to Significance.

Sports Feel Good Stories: For young basketball players intent on improving their games, what advice might you give them on how to improve their driveway workouts?

Brad Stevens: I’m a big believer in the concept of deliberate practice, working on one thing and really focusing in and honing in on that and becoming great at it.  It doesn’t mean you can only work on one part of your game, but when you get in a driveway or in the gym by yourself, work for a reason.  So many people misconstrue what a good workout is, work like it’s game like, work like it’s going to be translated directly into a game, and sometimes for some people that means working to minimize your weaknesses and maximize and perfect your strengths.  There’s certain things in this game, shooting for instance, that if you’re a good shooter — there a lot of good shooters — but if you’re a great, great shooter and don’t miss when you’re open, then that’s a real skill, a real trait.  You can find yourself on any number of teams at any number of levels.  Players who can do that but struggle to do other things can still play but they need to learn how to manage those weaknesses.

Sports Feel Good Stories: What suggestions might you give youth basketball coaches to get the most out of their practice time?

Brad Stevens: All I say is keep the big picture in mind and be yourself.

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Dude Perfect takes basketball trick shots to a new level

Basketball trick shots have a rich history. What child of the sixties doesn’t remember Harlem Globetrotters’ Meadowlark Lemon’s trademark hook shots from half court? More recently, the Hampton Inn Hot Shots bounced basketballs off roof tops and baseball bats while making incredible shots in national ads for the hotel chain.

Now, Dude Perfect, a group of college kids from Texas A & M, have turned their ability to make crazy basketball shots into commercial guns for hire.  After several trick shot videos made them viral superstars, including claim to the longest basketball shot ever made, they turned their efforts to help promote Tyreke Evans in his successful campaign for NBA Rookie of the Year.

In their latest video, Dude Perfect is helping promote the “GMC Heavy Duty Pickup Games” by making a crazy basketball shot from an airplane.  In a crop duster plane and in windy conditions, Dude Perfect’s top gun made the shot in the second attempt.  Shooting 50% from an airplane isn’t too bad when you consider free throw shooting percentages of some professional players!

ENJOY THIS VIDEO

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30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans — Be ready for every practice in 5 minutes! Go to www.coachingwhiz.com

Partizan reminds Cibona that basketball is played until final buzzer sounds

In miraculous fashion, Serbia’s Partizan’s team beat Croatia’s Cibona team on a buzzer beater with 0.6 seconds to play in the NLB League final game. Partizan’s Dusan Kecman made a long-distance, cross-court shot to win the game and shock the 16,000 home fans in Zagreb, Croatia.

Cibona’s Bogdanovic scored a 3-pointer and the apparent game winner to make the score 74 – 72 with less than a second to play before Dusan Kecman’s heroics. Kecman’s 3-pointer at the buzzer made the final score 75 – 74 for Paritzan.

The Cibona’s team celebration — with assistants running out on to the court — proved to be premature. Kecman said, ““I believed I would succeed. It is not just a phrase, I really did. I had to shoot, and so I believed in success.”

FINAL SECONDS OF PARTIZAN VS. CIBONA GAME

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