From Burton Uwarow, By Jerry Faulkner
- You may be the only mentor they have
- Teach more than basketball
- Read books about successful people
- Coach people, not basketball. Dealing with people makes you successful. Read, “How to win friends and influence people.”
- The team is a train, you are the conductor, the season is a track. Who are you gonna put on the train?
- Where are they going to sit?
- What job are they going to have? Engineer, custodian, etc…
- Your job is education, enforcement and encouragement. You are the conductor insuring everything goes right on that train. If there are any problems on or off the train you must do all you can to solve them.
- Assembly line scenario: don’t look at the finished car, look at the assembly line.
- Champions act like champions before they are champions.
- You hear a kid may not play this year:
- It is not a required course, it is an elective
- Would you want to depend on a kid like that in a last second situation?
- Never beg a kid to play… it never works out.
- Dealing with the administration: Communication in general
- Who can fire you?
- What is their definition of success?
- Keep them informed. Meet with them for 10 minutes every week
- Tell them what a good shot is. Tell them what to say on defense. Tell them what to say to their teachers and what to ask their teachers
- Give administration traits of a successful athlete, season agenda, handouts, etc.
- Playing time:
- Preventative medicine
- 6 individual meetings each year (pre, post, beg, end of summer)
- Talk: personal, academics, basketball
- Basketball: praise, critique, talk about what is needed for improvement and for more playing time. Tell what skills and how those skills need to be developed. At a doctor’s office they tell you what is wrong and how to fix it… ex. get against the wall to fix your shot. You are the conductor, you initiate the conversation.
- Academics: names on a box on a board. Let us know what they do right, what they do wrong. It will be tracked and noted. When you mention that you are aware, they will know you care.
- Personal: lives, hobbies, family situation, struggles. What are their goals… in life and in basketball? Never lose sight of the goal.
- Why are you playing basketball?
- Dealing with parents: what people are not up on they are down on.
- Communication: practice times for the year, travel times, cell phone numbers, email, packet with personal letter and your philosophy. Talk with the player and also in the letter…tell where you see their son as a player right now.
- Tell the player the worst news and give him your best.
- Have a pre-season meeting with the players and parents
- Supper: kids introduce their parents, kids leave and I talk to the parents
- Consistency: do it the same way every time.
- Education and enforcement – shirt tails, warm-ups, story of the principal’s son or the janitor’s son.
- If you have to have a parent meeting: Sunday afternoon, nobody knows, once it’s over, it’s over. Never argue with a parent. You two are not talking about the same person.
- If it comes down to what is best for the team and what is best for you, that decision has already been made.
- Example: would you prefer your child to be all-conference or the team to win their conference. Most people choose their child.
- The Problem Player:
- The “when” guy… not if he messes up but when.
- Player repeats the verbally what the consequence of messing up will be
- Parent is notified of the same
- Administration is noted of the same
- The last meeting should be short and easy if the groundwork has been laid
- Dealing with the media:
- We, not me
- Speak about assist leaders and rebounders, defenders. The scorers already got their reward
- Treatment of officials:
- They are human beings that don’t like to be shown up.
- No retaliation or verbal expression
- Get ball from out of bounds
- Personally hand the ball to the ref
- Yes sir, no sir
- Do your players know the rules?
- Post common errors and have an official review
- Cutting players from your team:
- Have the tradition of lining them up from senior first to freshmen last on the last day of tryouts. If possible, have an exit door where they can leave without seeing their teammates.
- A senior should start or be the first guy off the bench or they should be cut after their junior year
- View on multi-sport athletes:
- It’s over after 8 semesters
- How will you spend your time?
- You will have to look in the mirror and say “I did it my way! I made a decision based on what I want to do”
- When done you alone will reap the rewards or the consequences
- Recruitment of players:
- Know NCAA guidelines
- Be honest with your players and with the coaches who are recruiting.
- Perception test:
- Ask periodically who is the best defender, rebounder, post feeder, assist man, talker, encourager.
- Who would they want for 1 stop?
- Who would they want to get that 1 basket?
- Who is the hardest worker in practice?
- Giving awards: only ever gave 3 and the team voted on them
- Most improved
- Defense
- Best example on and off the court
- Differences in today’s player:
- Want to know the why of everything we do
- There are two things that everyone can do better than you: build a fire and coach
- Handling criticism
- Deserved? – admit it, fix it, learn from it, forget it… You can’t drive an automobile properly when looking in the rearview mirror.
- Undeserved? – skip to the last step = forget it
- “If you don’t want to be criticized say nothing, do nothing, be nothing, stand for nothing.”
- Personal relationships:
- To them love = time
- 3 questions you should ask after the season:
- Did you learn a lot?
- Did you learn more than basketball?
- Did you enjoy it?