Respect

By Joe Haefner

This was passed on to us by a coaching friend, Bud Leonard.

Respect.

This is a topic I have spoken on at many camps and to quite a few young basketball players across the province. I feel that it is the basis of a good understanding and attitude toward the game of basketball. Respect is the foundation and building block to many things that are, or should be, important to you as a player and a person.

To start with, you must have self respect. Not the phony chest beating macho kind you see on the streets and on TV, but the kind that can serve you well in all that you do. Self respect doesn’t include being aggressive, a show off, or the center of attention; that is known as bravado and often denotes a “thug” or “smart alec”. Self respect is the inner assurance that you know how to do the right thing and are prepared to do so. It is that something inside you that lets you know that what you are doing or how you are playing is the ‘right way” and will end in satisfaction for you.

You must always respect your team mates. They are very important to you; they are part of your team, now and forever. In future years they will become a large part of the bank of memories you have about your basketball experience. At present you may feel that you are a better player than they are. That may be true at present, but it is up to you to help them become better! You can’t accomplish this by making fun of them and their efforts to play the game that only beats them down. What you can do is respect their efforts and show them that you care about them and need them as a team mate. Remember that nobody misses a shot, drops a pass, or runs the wrong play on purpose; and you must respect the effort they make.

Respect for your opponent is also necessary. They are players just like you, playing a game they love, just for the fun of it .If they seem to be the type of player who is a “show boater”, show them the right way to play through your style as a player. There is no need to “chirp” at them all game long, just play your game and they will learn. Your sense of self respect just may change theirs!

A great aspect of respect shown by the best players is that shown to the game officials.These men, or ladies, are mostly former players who are “giving back” to the game. They have one of the toughest jobs on the court. Yes, they will make a mistake on occasion; this is not done on purpose, just as you don’t miss a shot or fail to rebound on purpose. The more respect you show to the officials, the more respect they will have for you as a player and as a person.

Respect for the coaches is mandatory. Your coaches are there giving up their time to help you to become a better player. They were all once players and understand how difficult the game can be , how time consuming practices can be when homework needs to be done , and how much you want to win. Mostly they are there to help you succeed!

If you can master the art of respect, and show it in your play and attitude at practice and during games, your game, and your enjoyment of the game, will increase to levels you never expected.

Coach Bud Leonard.

Why It is Good to be a Salesman When Coaching Basketball

By Joe Haefner

If you have ever coached, you know that if the team doesn’t believe in what you’re trying to teach them, you’ll never be successful.

You have to convince your team and SELL to your team the coaching tactics and philosophies that you are trying to incorporate.

For example, I’m a big believer in rebounding and lowering turnovers. When trying to stress the importance of rebounding and lowering turnovers, I take my players to chalk board.

First, I put up on the board.

44 to 38.

Assume all shots are worth two points.

Team A – 35% Field Goal Percentage.

Team B – 45% Field Goal Percentage.

Then, I ask the team, “Which team do you think won?”

Usually, the team will respond with Team B. Some may say Team A. I don’t reveal my answer yet and continue on.

Next, I write on the board:

Team A – 15 offensive rebounds & 9 turnovers

Team B – 3 offensive rebounds & 17 turnovers

Team A – 32 extra possessions (15 offensive rebounds & 17 forced turnovers)

Team B – 12 extra possessions (3 offensive rebounds & 9 forced turnovers)

I pause for a second, then write on the board: “32 - 12 = 20 extra possessions for Team A in which they got a shot.” Then, I begin to write the following.

Team A took 62 shots.

Team B took 42 shots.

Team A – 62 shots X 35% FG = 22 made shots & 22 x 2 points = 44

Team B – 42 shots X 45% FG = 19 made shots & 19 x 2 points = 38

Then, I circle Team A and say, “Even on a bad shooting night, Team A won the game, because they rebounded the ball and took care of the ball.

Of course, there are other factors such as fouling, 3-point shooting, free throw shooting, and so on, but you want to simplify things to get the point across to your players.

If you can use examples like this and sell your tactics and philosophies to your players, they will be more like to work hard at the things you focus on, because they understand why you emphasize the things you do.

How Do You Always Keep a Positive Attitude as a Coach?

By Joe Haefner

One of my weaknesses as a person is that I can be a perfectionist and be a little too critical sometimes. This is something I have to be very aware of as a coach, because if you are too critical and always pointing out your players’ mistakes, they are going to lose confidence and play scared. As Don Kelbick has told us over and over, you want to “reduce the fear of failure” in your players. That’s the best way to get them to play to their potential.

This point leads into a story from Thanksgiving Break this year. I made the drive up 35 North from Kansas City to Iowa this year to go home and visit the family. My dad told me my old high school coach Kevin Barnes, who is now coaching his son’s 8th grade boys basketball team, wanted me to stop in for a practice and help out. This really got me excited, because I hadn’t talked to Coach Barnes for awhile and I love coaching kids and just being around basketball. I hadn’t been around the coaching atmosphere for almost a year, because I took last year off of coaching in an effort to build this website with my brother. I also wanted to pick his brains about his experience coaching his son’s team.

Anyways, one of Coach Barnes’s greatest qualities is his ability to remain positive. Even when he corrects a player, he has an uncanny ability to make a joke about it and get a laugh out of the player. When you walk into his practices, you can just feel the excitement and the positive vibe.

One time during the scrimmage at practice, a boy led a 2 on 1 fast break and got a little too deep under the hoop. He stopped and attempted to pass the ball, but it was too late. Another defender had hustled back and stole the pass.

My initial thought was “You probably should have passed the ball earlier or just attacked the hoop. If you are going to stop like that, you need to be aware of your surroundings so you make a good pass.”

Coach Barnes’s reaction was “Great hustle, Bobby. Way to get down the court and break up the play.” He didn’t say one word to the boy who made the bad pass.

Now you may be thinking, “Well, how does the kid know what he did wrong?” or “You should correct that bad play right away.” I used to have the same mentality that you needed to correct every mistake the second it happens. What I learned relatively quickly is that if you correct every mistake, you get a player who is SCARED TO PLAY, and that’s the worst kind of mentality for your players to have. You want your players to be fearless. They also tend to think too much which causes them to freeze up instead of just reacting to the play. Not to mention, the player never learns how to think for himself if he is always corrected and misses out on self-discovery which can hurt the child from a development standpoint.

Most of the time, you’ll find that the player will make the mistake a few times and correct it himself without you even saying a word.

Now, I’m not saying that you should never correct the player. If the player consistently makes the same mistake, then you should correct him in a positive manner. I like to use the sandwich technique from Morgan Wooten. Which is positive statement, correction, positive statement.

Positive: “Hey Jimmy, way to hustle to start the break. You always do a great job of that.”

Correction: “But next time try to make the decision a little earlier.”

Positive: “Keep playing hard, buddy. Love the way you always seem to be there on the hustle plays.”

Remember, the younger they are, the more time you should give them to discover the mistakes that they are making.

Do you have other methods of staying positive? If so, what are they? What are your thoughts?