BUILDING TEAM UNITY

Coach Smith is one of the greatest coaches in the history of basketball. I thought I would share some things he thought were important about TEAM UNITY...

"My philosophy is team unity - Basketball is a team game. We can't succeed unless we do it as a team. Point out to the players that everyone must play defense. It is important to have goals for team unity. Points are not the only thing. You need each other. Team play is built in practice. Our idea is to have an emphasis of the day, and then give credit during a practice to those players that are accomplishing that emphasis. Players must be aware that if they let down at any time they are huting the team."

BUILDING TEAM UNITY:

1. Do not let one teammate yell at another.

2. No one is perfect. Have you ever seen a perfect game by a basketball player?

3. A player needs encouragement when he or she makes a mistake. You must care about the last person as much as you care about the stars.

4. Never substitute on a mistake. If a player is trying, what more can you ask?

5. Respect every player on the team.

6. A life lesson is tolerance for one another. We should go out of our way to respect and satisfy each and every person, even though society evaluates success by the number of wins and losses.

7. Build a respect and rapport between each player and coach.

8. Praise correct performance and effort.

9. Players on the bench should always stand and applaud team plays and players coming to the sidelines following a substitution.

10. Give emphasis to unselfishness among team members and to give credit to the players who do the little things.

11. Acknowledge the passer. Point your finger to the player. (Give both a verbal and physical response).

12. Always have players on the floor let you know when they are tired. (we do it by having them raise a fist). Starters usually come out five to six times in a game.

13. Get players to go as hard on defense as they do on offense.

14. Stress constantly recognizing the need for each other.

15. After a game, try to give recognition to the opposing coach.

16. Why do we run sprints?? For PRIDE. We think we are in better shape than the other players. Sprints help build team morale.

17. Convince your players not to let their teammates down. The best way to build team unity is to teach players the correct way to play the game is to play hard. Secondly, players must understand that every player is important.

18. Emphasize to the seniors that this is their team; they will make the rules and the coaches will enforce them. Do not allow any phony rules - they hurt team unity.

19. A player wants to be disciplined; this helps to develop both team and self-discipline. Give a player a second chance when it is appropriate.