Relentless Rebounding

Rebounding is a huge key to winning games and championships! Rebounding is an inevitable part of the game that is one of hardest skills to develop and usually takes time to make it a habit. Rebounding requires technique, timing and toughness! 

Rebounding must be practiced daily in every drill! Anybody can rebound because that's the one stat that any player at any position can get if they choose to. Dennis Rodman made a career out of it and he was undersized.

We teach rebounding from the shell drill with 4 people out on the perimeter and 4 lines on the baseline.  Start with no ball and just have players react in the whistle:

1. Contest - high hand on the ball with chopped feet! This is important for players to not jump into a close out because they will get beat by the pump fake and by the time they land, their box out chances are pretty much out the window. 

2. Swim - turn to feel the player with your body and both hands need to be up in the air ready for rebounding. That is a huge point of emphasis that we develop is where their hands are. Players will want to hook and hold with their hands, but it's a foul and if you have to use your hands to hold a box out, what will you use to grab the rebound?

3. Box Out - Butt in Gut! This requires players to move their feet and feel their opponent. We like to do several drills emphasizing just this part with the ball on the ground and holding their opponent off for 5 seconds then advance to 10 seconds. Have offense go live and try to get the ball. 

4. Pursue with 2 - force the issue with attacking rebounds with both hands. This  decreases turnovers and jump balls.  

5. Chin It & Pivot - Pretty self explanatory but maybe the least practiced technique that really makes a diffence in traffic especially once fatigue sets in. 

These are fundamentals we use for rebounding daily. Now we break it down from the shell drill and we move on based on the team's attention to detail.  As we practice with no balls just on the sound of the whistle, the players must say each technique as they are doing it. So they will yell "Shot, swim, box out, pursue with 2, chin it & pivot" this helps them with remembering each step. 

After a few reps at about 50% speed, we crank up to about 75% speed. Then we add one ball for each group to close out based on the balls position (on ball, deny, help) the offense will catch and shoot.    The players have to now box out from varies positions. Advance the drill to live offense, then disadvantage defense by dropping off a defender but the three offensive players still have to get the rebound.  So many variations to improve rebounding. 

Make sure these basic fundamentals are developed before going too advanced. The more you get excited about rebounding, the more your team will. We stat practice and our top two rebounders for the week will start in the game! It keeps players focused on it and anybody with double digit rebounds is getting a big time shout out after the game! We may even allow them to pic where the team will eat post game meal!  Rebounding deserves a lot of attention and focus but with time and technique your team can get better!  This is how to develop Relentless Rebounding! 

Teamwork on Staff

The most fundamental concept for any successful team is learning how to work with others as a team. The same applies to a coaching staff.  Teamwork and unity can overcome flaws and mistakes if everyone is committed to the common goal of winning!

 Some chemistry happens naturally while other chemistry is developed through communication and patience.  The more you get to know somebody and understand them, the better you can work with them. It's the same advice we give to our players but this can be challenging for any staff. 

Here are some key points to building chemistry on a staff:

1) Communication is Key - talk to each other and get to know one another for better understanding.  It's important for everyone to have a good relationship with each other and with the head coach. Relationships take hard work and time so be patient.

2) Respect Each Other - this does not mean being a "yes man" or agreeing with everything someone says, it just means listen and hear one another. It's ok to agree to disagree but all communication needs to be with respect.

3) Capitalize on Strengths - once you conquer the first two this third key will come to the forefront with time. Some strengths are easy to find while others may take trial and error to find. Figure out what each staff member is good put them in position to be successful.  This will create a more functional staff and create symmetry within the program.

4) Encourage the Positive Openly - this is a concept that works well with players too and catches on pretty easy. Find something positive that someone is doing and acknowledge it - this makes others want to do the same and increases productivity.  People will want to be around you and want to listen to you. This is a concept that cannot be faked and made up.  It will cause people to shut down if you are lying or making something up.  They will also shut down if you constantly give credit to one person so be genuine and all inclusive.

5) Conflict Resolution - Understand --> Conflict is natural and normal but it cannot be ignored.  It's great if coaches can resolve things without always alerting the head coach but sometimes it's inevitable.  Head coaches have to address problems from a neutral perspective and come to a resolution. It's not about who's right, instead get to the bottom of what is right vs. what is wrong.  People will only trust and commit a program that operates in honesty and integrity. 

6) Get Over Taking Credit - the more credit you want, the less credit the team will have.  In order to have a successful program or team, everyone must be willing to sacrifice and the return will come in wins!

Remember: You should rather have a championship team than an All American or MVP on a losing team.  The difference is all about a selfless mentality and sacrificing personal gain for the team's success.  It's exactly what we preach to our players and the best way to get them on board is to lead by example.  

Recruiting

One of the biggest challenges for any college program is recruiting. It is the lifeline of your program.  The key is recruiting the right players for YOUR style of play.  Even if a player is talented, if they  do not fit into your program's culture then they will end up being unhappy and possibly transfer.  A recruiting philosophy is the first step to developing guidelines and standards so that every coach is on the same page about how YOU recruit. There is no right or wrong way, just YOUR way that matters!

This is our basic recruiting philosophy that we used at San Jacinto College:

1) Recruit early and frequently - we have no limitation on viewing periods so watch as many games as you can. We will watch them play with their high school and AAU teams to evaluate their consistency and level of play. Also a great way to see how they play against various levels of competition.  Don't be afraid to go after the big fish! Especially if they give you a serious ear and listen!  You will know right away if they like you.

2) Evaluate their work ethic by watching their high school practice.  This is huge for us to build relationships with our players and their coach.  Some coaches have even asked us to speak to their team after practice or run a drill in practice.  Get involved and see what that player's work ethic is like and how she responds to coaching. 

3) Communication - the biggest part of retention in the long run is having a direct relationship with the player.  Get to know the high school and AAU coach so they can help you but don't depend on them to do your job. Get to know their parents to gain their trust - if we don't establish trust this can be a deal breaker.  The most important relationship is with the player. Make sure each coach on staff has a good relationship with the player and she gets along with her future teammates. These small things go a long way.  Use social media to get to know them but also as a way for them to get to know you and your program more. If their social media is alarming have a conversation with them and give them the benefit of the doubt.  We normally don't engage them through social media until they sign! All communication will usually be through text, a few phone calls, maybe some emails, but most kids want to text.

Remember, players normally choose the school they feel the most wanted by so the more they see us at games, practices and random "good luck tonight" texts - they will remember you. Try to personalize everything: hand written notes, remember their favorite song and text them when you hear it on the radio, send them info about your program and highlight things specific to their major and interests.  Once you build a relationship with them and decide this is a player that can help you, then set up a visit. We try to bring them in on game day so they can see our style of play. 

*2014-15 season featured 3 WBCA All Americans that we recruited

On the visit, we like to show our campus in a specific order:

1) Start at gym - talk about history of program, show improvements we have made so far and goals they will help us reach 

2) Show academic path - degree plan ready in a folder as we see classroom sizes are small and walking distance, career center where they can get leads in the jobs in their industry 

3) Show tutoring center & library to connect them ahead of time with resources available (Parents love this)

4) Tour science building (newest building on campus) to show the commitment to growth and expansion by the college

5) Meet campus Provost - he normally has the recruits names and where they are from ahead of time and he always has funny stories for us

6) View the apartments where the team lives and all amenities - Big selling point!

7) Tour the city of Houston and meet team for lunch/dinner - great time for players to talk to recruit and parents to talk to coaches

These are some things we used that worked for us and a great reference for new head coaches looking for some ideas on how to start! Be yourself and you will attract the right fit for your program.  

Happy Recruiting!

Effective Communication

There really is an App for that!

This past season we decided to start a group chat with our players to communicate to them any important information about games, deadlines, practice times etc.  through an app called Group Me. Then we started a group chat with just their parents that we could communicate game times, gym locations, team events and status updates on our national rankings!  The parents really enjoyed getting these updates from our staff and truly bought into our culture and made sure that every game there was at least one designated parent that would update the group line on play by play of each game.  You could literally see the dialogue of our parents go from "How is my baby doing" to "Are WE winning" and really caring about our team sustaining our national ranking throughout the season.   This app helped us communicate with three different groups about important information and keep the focus on our TEAM first and off of the individual.  Our parents even coordinated who would bring half time sandwiches, fruit and Gatorades to the team.  They decorated our entire banquet and even sponsored drinks and cake for the event.  This was a great use of technology and any parent or family member that wanted in on the app we just added their number so they could get updates. 

 The app has a calendar that you can add events to and each person can RSVP.  They do not need to download the app in order to receive alerts.  If they do download the app, they have the option to like messages and pictures.  Its a controlled way to communicate with each other and even offers options to do conference calls.  We do one conference call at the beginning of each season to go over the checklist that each player needs to have before move in.  Parents are encouraged to listen in so they can get the information first hand.  This was a great way to avoid having the same conversation multiple times and also helped iron out any wrinkles in the communication chain!

Motivation

How to stay MOTIVATED?

It's hardly a secret that a key to successfully accomplishing one goal after another is staying motivated. There are task that you may not like at all, yet you find motivation to complete them because you recognize how each particular task serves a greater goal. How  exactly do some of us manage to stay motivated to finish the task we start? Here is just a few ideas you can try:

1) Find the good reason 

    Any goals you have no matter how simple some may be has good reason behind it. Find what that is and think of it everytime you are doing tasks to reach your goals.

2) Make it fun

   When it comes to motivation, attitude is everything. Some tasks are more fun than others as we all know. The tasks you have to complete to reach your goals that are not as fun, you have to make them fun. Think of how you can enjoy the tasks you are doing. Also, think, how you can make the tasks the best part of your day. 

3) Take a different approach

    You always want to have different approaches to how you are going to reach your goals. You want to have backup plans because if one plan does not work out, you have a different route to pursue your goal and you stay motivated rather than letting a down fall still your motivation.

4) Recognize your progress 

     Put your goals in stages so when you reach a certain stage you see progression and that will help you stay motivated. 

5) Reward yourself

    Get yourself a gift of achievement! Nothing feels better than when you reach your goals and then receive a reward. That will for sure motivate anyone to go for another one.

Love of The Game

A lot of people say that they love this game but do they really?? One who says they love the game should really sat and ask themselves if they do or not player or coach. As the years go by I hear more and more of that statement "I love the game of basketball" I look at them when they say it and in their eyes they don't really understand the work ethic that goes into having success as a player or coach in this game. Sometimes once they realize the hard work it takes some people go toward a different path or direction. 

Hard work and dedication to what you believe in within the game of basketball is what brings you success. The next time you are sitting there thinking about the game or even when you are discussing the game with another person, ask yourself,"Do I really love this game like I say I do?" If you really can't answer that question then you might need a different direction but if you can please keep the love and respect for this game and never take it for granted. This will keep you humble and hungry and not get caught up in the glame and fame that comes with it. Always remember the work it takes to get to that point.