Hard Court Herald Volume 24, Issue 3 January, 2009 What’s Inside 2 MBCA Board 3 Hoops/Coaching Potpourri 8 Inaugural Midwest Showcase Shootout 9 Q & A With the Difference-Makers: Jay Blossom-Webster Groves 11 Missouri Challenge All-Star Games 12 Show-Me State Games 13 A View From the Sticks 15 Coaches’ Clipboard 17 Meat & Potatoes Section 18 Mr & Miss Show-Me Basketball 20 All-District & All-State Process 23 Academic All-State 24 Richard Fairchild Coach of the Year 25 Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame 26 Kevin “Cub” Martin Asst Coach of the Year 27 Membership Application 2 Hoops/Coaching Potpourri As collected by Shane Matzen Hard Court Herald Editor Marquette High School Editor’s prequel: I like to be honest with you, our faithful member and reader, so let me be blunt: I’m having major problems this month coming up with a topic to reach out to you with. I did write an article but it had more to do with me trying to psychoanalyze myself and this season than it did with attempting to be a service to the membership. If you’re really desperate and want to read what goes through my mind then feel free to e-mail ([email protected]) and I’ll provide you with the text. What I have gathered for you though are some short items that I think are very good and very relevant to you the coach. Following are just a few of the hundreds of short blogs from a site I recently came across entitled “Eric Musselman’s Basketball Blog”. As you may or may not know, Coach Musselman grew up around the pro game as his father was a longtime professional coach and he eventually had the chance to coach the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. He was kind enough to allow me to re-run some of his articles he found helpful and bring them straight from his site to yours. Please do yourself a favor and visit his site at: http://emuss.blogspot.com/ or you can reach him at: [email protected] Eric Musselman's Basketball Notebook Notes, observations, and commentary on basketball and coaching. Coach Eric Musselman Make people believers, not bystanders Good story in the January '09 issue of Harvard Business Review about the keys to success for new leaders. 3 The authors outline five common traps that new leaders frequently fall into as they look to "prove themselves by going after quick wins" (i.e., early results). Instead of "abandoning the quest for early results... the leaders who make the most successful transitions do, in fact, focus relentlessly on quick wins. But they focus on a different kind of achievement. Rather than riding roughshod over others to prove themselves, they pursue... 'collective quick wins,' accomplishments that make their entire teams look good." Here are the five common traps: 1. Focus too heavily on details. "A tendency to get bogged down in minutiae. In looking for the quick win, the [new] leader tries to ace one component of the new job. Focusing intently on this goal, [he] doesn't pay enough attention to [his] broader responsibilities." When a leader personally attends to details, the rest of the team/staff can't see a role for themselves in the effort. There's no "shared understanding." Further, when focusing on one area, a new leader can ignore "the performance issues they considered to be higher priorities." 2. Reacting negatively to criticism. "At the very least, an inability to deal with criticism means that the leader takes much longer to improve in areas of relative weakness." 3. Intimidating others. "When leaders come to new roles convinced of their brilliance and the inevitability of their rise..., they can be intimidating to those around them. Confident of their plans' success, [new leaders] can mistake their team's compliance for agreement and endorsement." 4. Jumping to conclusions. "Some leaders hoping to score a quick win jump into its implementation too quickly. To the people around them, it feels as if these leaders have arrived with the solution already formulated instead of engaging others in its design." 5. Micromanaging. "Leaders new to their roles often make the mistake of meddling in work they should trust others to do. Unwilling to take the time to get [the team] on board with an overall vision or goal -- but afraid their decisions and actions won't align with it -- they second-guess and micromanage." According to the authors, members of "the team must make real, direct contributions." In their words, "Make people believers, not bystanders." They recommend asking, "Can key players on the team see their fingerprints on the outcome? Would they cite their contributions with pride? If the answer to either questions is no, the win is not collective." Further, "a leader... should engage a respected member of the team to help." Why? 4 Because this person "may have more credibility with the team than [the new leader] does, so the early endorsement will quickly alleviate the skepticism of other team members." ****** Understanding what causes a team to lose Ask Jermaine O'Neal, a veteran of a dozen NBA seasons, why TOR has struggled at times this season and he doesn't hesitate: "It boils down to experience. How much experience do we actually have? I'm interested to see how many double-digit leads we've given up this year. I would have to say 16 or 17," said O'Neal. According to this story, "the Raptors are second in the NBA in losing games in which they've held double-digit leads this season." "I don't know if we understand what causes a team to lose. It's pretty basic," said O'Neal. "We're just not getting that effort. Sometimes when the games get tight we get a little tentative about what we want to do and don't play the same way. It's almost a tale of two teams in two halves ... (It) has been our Achilles heel." TOR coach Jay Triano says his team has a "habit of incessantly looking over at the bench for guidance at the expense of pushing the pace. Again, perhaps the constant seeking of a coach's input is a function of relative inexperience." "We've lost games pretty much the same identical way. And we've got to figure out a way to get out of it," said O'Neal. "You can't draw it up any better. You can't practice it any better. The players have got to do the job." ****** 5 A blueprint for a first-time head coach Second post of the day about the Ravens, but this was too good to pass up. John Harbaugh has provided a blueprint for first-time head coaches. As this article puts it, "everything about the Ravens' surprising season has carried the Harbaugh touch." After reading the article, I'll culled a few key points: 1. Build a strong staff. Coach Harbaugh's staff includes offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, a former head coach in college and in the pros; defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, a favorite among the players and a member of Brian Billick's coaching staff when the Ravens won the 2001 Super Bowl; Wilbert Montgomery, the former Eagles RB who won a Super Bowl as a coach with the Rams; and offensive line coach John Matsko, a 35-year coaching veteran who was on the Rams' staff (along with Wilbert Montgomery) that won a Super Bowl in 2000. 2. Have a plan and stick to it. According to one BAL player: "He didn't blink once, not once, from the things he wanted to do. He had a plan and he stuck with his plan. You have to respect a coach that win, lose or draw he says, 'This is what we're going to do,' and not, 'Let's change this or that.' The great thing about John once he set a path, he wasn't going to deviate from it. His path was that he wanted to do the right thing for his team." 3. Make the rules clear and enforce them. "Harbaugh has definitely had the courage of his convictions and has been a strong disciplinarian whenever it's been called for. Although injuries were also a factor, Harbaugh benched McAlister for violating team rules, including showing up late for meetings prior to a 31-3 loss to the Colts." 4. Let your team know you that you respect and care for them. "When Harbaugh took over the Ravens, he had large signs that say, 'Team, Team, Team,' emblazoned all over the training complex. Harbaugh continually has called the players 'mighty men,' which draws amused smiles from reporters, but his praise has paid off with mutual respect. 6 "He tells us all the time that he's proud to stand with us as our coach on Sundays," said one Ravens player. "How could you not want to play for someone who is proud to be your coach? You play hard because it's your job, but he makes it more fun to do it." According to the article, "Besides instilling toughness through more physical practices, Harbaugh has also demonstrated a capacity to care. He didn't rush cornerback Samari Rolle back to work when his father, Harry Rolle, died of a sudden heart attack, encouraging him to take as much time as he needed to grieve." One BAL player described Coach Harbaugh as "humble," saying "He treats everybody with respect. You have no choice but to play hard for a coach like that." 5.