Things I Wish I Would Have Known Earlier As A Player...

Northern Illinois University Assistant Men's Basketball Coach Sundance Wicks has a great web-site that coaches need to look at: www.sundancewicks.com

Coach Wicks played for Coach Don Meyer at Northern State University. If coaches require their players to take notes in notebooks, Coach Wicks has his notebook for sale. Contact Coach Wicks on his website for more information. His notebook is a must-read!!!

One of Coach Wicks posting on his web-site talks about things you wish you would have known about as a player. Here are some of the things Coach Wicks talks about:

• What it feels like to be a senior (The sacrifice for the team)
• How much time the coaching staff puts in trying to prepare the team for life, practice and games.
• How much time the coaching staff spends thinking about what is best for the team.
• Your team is only good as the last player to buy in (weakest link) - you have a true team only when every last player has bought in.
• When you win with a team, the victory tastes much sweeter.
• Team Chemistry is the most important thing in the game of basketball - without it, championships are hard to come by.
• That the TEAM is not the coaches team, its your (PLAYERS) Team.
• That it can take an entire season to BUILD a team, and one incident to destroy the chemistry that was built.
• How you play in practice ultimately affects your performance in the game.
• If you want to be the best player, you have to be the hardest worker.
• It doesn't matter how good you are, if you are not mentally tough.
• That you win games by preparing properly in practice and not just lacing up the sneakers on game night.
• Its hard as a coach to sit a player who makes hustle plays consistently and works hard in practice.
• The importance of ball pressure and jumping to the ball and how to play it properly.
• Communication is a must to be successful on and off the court.
• I have a better chance to play if I am a great defender vs. a good shooter.
• The sooner I realize that everything starts with defense the better I will be able to prepare myself for the practices and games.
• The key to becoming a great rebounder is putting forth the effort to go to the glass and ability has little to do with it.
• A good team defense is built on the foundation of trust.
• How much you have mentally for the second night of play in conference; Friday / Saturday Games - After Losses, more so Wins.
• Its not who starts games, its who finishes the game - Be a Finisher!
• You have to have a great second half warm-up physically to get yourself ready mentally (perceived ability that we are ready to go.)
• That you can control two things in life: 1. Attitude 2. Effort - and more often than not, positive words and actions create positive reactions.
  

Quotes From Coach Meyer

If you do not know who Coach Don Meyer is, here is a quick bio:

• Just retired from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

• In 38 years of coaching college basketball, is the all-time leader with 938 wins.

• More than the 938 wins, he has helped so many of his players become better human beings.

• In 2008, after a car crash, doctors discovered cancer in his liver and intestines, during emergency surgery in which he lost one of his legs.

• Coach Meyer is the ultimate ambassador to the game of basketball. He has helped so many coaches become better coaches and people.

I still remember making a call to Coach Meyer. I never thought I would get to talk to him. I thought I would take a chance. His basketball secretary answered the phone and patched me right through to Coach Meyer. We talked for about 15 minutes and I felt like I had won a national championship.

I was sad to hear of the news that Coach Meyer was retiring, but I do understand why he made the decision. Coach will continue to be the great ambassador for the game and he will continue to mentor young coaches and people.

Buster Olney, from ESPN is writing a book titled, HOW LUCKY YOU CAN BE, the story of Don Meyer. It will be out in September of 2010. This will be a must-read!!!!

Here are some great quotes from Coach Meyer:

• Successful programs consist of people working hard, working together, while never worrying about who gets the credit.

• Shout praise and whisper criticism.

• To be a team, you must be a family.

• Discipline and demand without being demanding.

• Recognize and reward players who put the team first, not just the gifted ones.

• Simplify the game as much as possible. When you add, you must subtract.

• There is nothing more important than rebounding...don't just give it lip service.

• Shared suffering: one guy messes up and everyone runs. One guy does well and everyone benefits.

• Players who are late say that their time is more important than the team.

• Its not what you teach, but what you emphasize.

• Good shooters take the shots; best shooters take most of the shots.

• You build your program from the ideas from good coaches.

• Play off your great player...great teams have a go-to player and they play off of him.

• Prepare for every practice like you loss your last game.

• Your program must have an overriding purpose which is clearly visible and which teaches lessons beyond winning.

• When you watch the game, be a student of the game.

• The team is an extension of the coach.

• Players must do what you want them to do in pressure situations.

• When the legs go, the heart and head will follow quickly behind.

• If it comes down to you or the program, that decision was made a long time ago.

• Every day you teach attitude.
  

The Qualities of Skillful Leadership

Reading some great stuff by the late-great Jim Rohn. What a great mentor on leadership. Here are some of his thoughts.

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. I call leadership the great challenge of life.

Whats important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:

1. Learn to be strong but not rude. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It is not even a good substitute.

2. Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake kindness for weakness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.

3. Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble.

4. You've got to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can not get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we are part of the stars. So humility is a virtue; but timidity is a disease. Timidity is an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.

5. Be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without being arrogant. In fact, I believe the worst kind of arrogance is arrogance from ignorance. It is when you don't know that you don't know. Now that kind of arrogance is intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much too take.

6. Develop humor without folly. That's important for a leader. In leadership, we learn that it is okay to be witty, but not silly. It is okay to have fun, but not foolish.

Lastly, Deal in Realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I would like to think its unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It is fascinating. And I have found that the skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to work well for just about everyone; at work, in the community and at home.

The GOLD Standard

I am reading for the third time, The Gold Standard by Duke and USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. If you haven't read Coach Ks book, you need to do so.

The book is a blue print in how to lead a to put together a team as well as lead a team through all sorts of adversity.

Here are some key points from the book:

• Remember that everyone on the team must adapt, including the leader, so that your team benefits from the best of each member. Your team will not be the best that it can be if everyone adapts to a single individual...Remember that the sacrifice is worth the reward because teams can accomplish things that no individual could ever accomplish alone.
  

• The way you practice will determine the way you play...I do believe that strong relationships are the foundation for great teams and that team bonding is essential...Players improve individually when internal competition is created during practice.

• The practice plan is a living thing; it is fluid and ever-changing. But writing out the plan beforehand is a step I always take. I cant ask my players to be prepared to improve and to pursue our goal if I am not prepared.

• I love practice. It is when a coach exercises the most control over the improvement of his or her team.

• I constantly told our team...We are not going to let them run plays. We want to force them to make plays. If we could disrupt their system, we could reduce them to a group of individuals on the court as opposed to a team.

• On our team, there were two things that we talked about every single day; the gold medal and defense, our goal and our competitive edge.

• I do believe that strong relationships are the foundation for great teams and that team bonding is essential.

• Just as a team gets better as a whole in the face of competition, players improve individually when internal competition is created during practice.

• My goal was to seek out at least three guys at each practice and try to have a personal interaction with them...a leader wants all members of a team to feel included and invested all the time.

• I also try to think about which players I may want to single out for personal interaction, whether it be on the bus, while the players are getting taped and lacing up their shoes, during practice itself, or while they are working on individual shooting at the end.

• Part of what makes practices successful is attention to detail and respect for the opponent.

• I always tried to explain to the players their roles on the team, roles that were always revolving...when you give time to a person and explain their ever-revolving role, it makes them feel good. It is a reminder to them that their role is important enough to warrant explanation.
  

12 Simple Yet Significant Daily To Do List For Leaders

I received a to-do list for leaders from Steve Smiley, Head Men's Basketball Coach and Athletic Director from Sheridan College.

Coach Smiley also played point guard for Coach Don Meyer at Northern State and also wrote a book about playing for Coach Meyer.

1. Be the Hardest Worker at Practice Today: Without fail, one of the quickest ways to impact a team is with your work ethic. Choose to be one of the hardest workers on your team today. Not only does it set the tome for the work ethic of your program, it is also one of the best and quickest ways to enhance your leadership credibility with your teammates and coaches.

2. Be a Spark of Energy and Enthusiasm Today: Let your passion for the sport shine through today. Spread a contagious energy and enthusiasm amongst your teammates. Think about how lucky you are to be able to play and compete. Remember back to when you were a young child and reconnect with the joy you played with back then. Make your sport fun again for yourself and your teammates.

3. Model Mental Toughness Today: Because your teammates will look to you under pressure, adversity and stress, be sure to model mental toughness today. Bounce back quickly after errors to show your teammates how to respond to negative situations. Maintain your poise and optimism despite any mistakes you might make so that your teammates can trust and rely on you to get them through the tough times.

4. Connect With a Teammate Today: Leadership is all about relationships. Invest the time to build and strengthen the relationships you have with each of your teammates. Inquire about their day, challenges and goals. Make a special and ongoing effort to get to know every athlete on your team, not just your friends and classmates. The relationship building you do each day will pay off immeasurably down the road.

5. Compliment a Teammate Today: Be on the lookout for teammates who are contributing to your team. Call out a teammate for making a hustle play, pushing through a weight workout, recovering quickly from a mistake, getting an A on an exam, etc. Praise the actions and attitudes you want to see repeated. As Mother Teresa once said, Kind words are short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.

6. Challenge a Teammate Today: Challenge at least one of your teammates today. Positively push them and yourself to make the most of your workout. Make a friendly wager to see if they can be successful at least 4 out of 5 times in a drill. See if you both can improve your times in conditioning. Offer to stay after to help if there is anything they want to work on. Good leaders consistently invite, inspire, and sometimes implore others to greatness.

7. Support a Teammate Today: Odds are, at least one of your teammates is struggling with something today - it could be a performance slump, with a coach, an unglamorous role, struggling with a class, or a sick family member. Good leaders are consistently on the lookout for teammates who might be struggling and are ready to offer an ear to listen, an encouraging word, a pat on the back, or a shoulder to cry on.

8. Constructively Confront Negativity, Pessimism, and Laziness Today: As a leader, have the courage to constructively confront the negativity, pessimism, and laziness that will crop up on your team from time to time. Instead of fueling the fire by joining in or silently standing by, be sure to refocus your teammates on solutions rather than dwelling on and complaining about the problems. Left unchecked, these problems can quickly grow to distract, divide and destroy your team.

9. Build and Bond Your Team Today: Team chemistry naturally ebbs and flows throughout the course of the season. Take the time to monitor and maintain your teams chemistry. Let your reserves and support staff know how much you appreciate them. Stay connected and current with each of the natural sub-groups on your team. Douse any brush fires that might be occurring and continually remind team members about your common goal and common bond.

10. Check In With Your Coach Today: Invest the time to check in with your coach today. Ask what you can do to best help the team this week. Find out what your coach wants to accomplish with today's practice. Also discuss if there is anything your coach is concerned about regarding your team. Discuss your collective insights on your teams chemistry, focus and mindset. Work together to effective co-lead your team.

11. Remind Your Team How Today's Work Leads To Tomorrows Dreams: It is easy to get bogged down during your season with monotonous drills, tiring conditioning, and demanding workouts. Remind your teammates how all the quality work you do today gives you a distinct advantage over your opponents. Help them see and even get excited about how today's hard work is a long-term investment in your teams goals, rather than just a short-term hardship or sacrifice.

12. Represent Yourself and Your Team With Class and Pride Today: Leaders have the awesome privilege and responsibility of representing their teams. Take advantage of this opportunity by representing your team with class and pride today. Hold an open door for someone, sit in the front rows of class and actively engage in the discussion, say please and thank you, dress in respectful attire, etc. These tiny pushes represent you and your team with class and distinction. And they ultimately set you up for a lifetime of respect and success.

How Does One Define Toughness In Basketball?

The Michigan State Spartans are one of my favorite teams to watch on the college basketball scene. Coach Tom Izzo teaches the game the right way. His teams define the word TOUGHNESS.

You have doubtless heard, countless times about a coach preaching TOUGHNESS to his team. A team or player needs to be tougher, or their TOUGHNESS is being questioned.

Are coaches talking about the Chuck Norris toughness? Do they mean Jack Youngblood playing on a broken leg in the NFL playoffs? Are they referring to Ronnie Lott having his finger amputated so he could play in a football game? Or is it Randall TEX Cobb taking a bloody beating in the ring but never going down on the canvas?

What exactly is TOUGHNESS in the context of basketball? In the Gonzaga - Tennessee game this past year, while the Volunteers are bending over at the waist, Gonzagas 7-foot-5 Will Foster dove on the floor for a loose ball, secured the ball and passed it out. Gonzaga got a lay-up and a foul in transition on the other end. Gonzaga went to overtime and won. Without Fosters TOUGHNESS play, the Zags go home with a loss.

Here are just a few examples of how you can demonstrate true TOUGHNESS in basketball:

• Going after rebounds with both hands.
• Stepping to the line and knocking down pressure free throws, especially when tired.
• Talking on defense and letting your teammates know that you are there in case they get beat.
• Bump and stand up a cutter.
• Close out to a shooter under control.
• Sticking with your teams defensive principles, and doing it under pressure.
• Having a sense of urgency to stop the other team from scoring, not just your man.
• Getting on the floor for a loose ball.
• Taking a charge.
• Getting down in a stance and staying there
• Finishing plays.
• Setting up your man and making hard cuts.
• Getting your teammates together and keeping them together on the road.
• Not allowing yourself to be screened.
• Moving on to the next play, and displaying positive body language to give confidence to your teammates.
• Sprinting in transition, both on offense and back on defense.
• Filling your tank on the defensive end, and not the offensive end.
• Putting a body on someone.
• Jumping to the ball and taking away the ball side of the cut.
• Catching and facing the defense against pressure, not catching and dribbling.
• Blocking out on Free Throw situations every time.
• Taking good shots, and having the judgment to pass up challenged ones.

TOUGHNESS isn't just about being physical. It is far more than that. It is mental and physical discipline under pressure, to do the right thing every time!!!