Basketball pioneer and innovator George Raveling provides timeless wisdom on the art of creating a great bench.
Coaching U Live Clinic 2014 Notes
Nothing of life is of any value, unless you can share it with others.
The voices we listen to, determine the choices we make.
Responsibilities
Coach your team
2. Lead your program (we do a poor job of this)
What got you where you are today, won’t get you where you want to go in the future.
Self evaluate who we are and what we are about, constant refinement.
Find out what you don’t know, what you need to know.
Athletes
Don’t build fences around your players, they spend too much time in compliance.
Forget about your needs, be a servant leader.
We spend too much time on the how.
Not enough time on the why.
Knight: always explained WHY and HOW it mattered, and would always be competitive.
We have responsibility to help athletes who can’t help themselves.
Building a Bench
Design your bench blueprint
Pick a team that best gives you a chance to win.
Knight 1984 Olympics: last guys will be picked on attitude, they will bust their ass every single day. They might never get to play.
Your bench must solve problems that others can’t solve.
Specialists = meet the demands of unique situations.
This makes them feel special.
Specific role = defence, shooters, leaders, protectors.
Find an energy bunny.
What are your bench expectations?
What is your substitution philosophy?
During The Game
Don’t put kids in if they haven’t been prepared.
The bench must be a classroom.
You can either be spectators or students.
Bench must be mentally participating in the game.
Do you have a captain on your bench?
Roles
Biggest mistake: I never defined players roles.
Can change as circumstances change.
It’s about how you perform in your minutes played.
75% of all NBA players are role players.
San Antonio: everybody manifested their roles.
Some kids just win.
“That’s the way we always did it”, isn’t always right.
Life Lessons
Teach your kids how to be a leader
You are coaching somebody else’s child.
Do you teach them how to be a winner in life?
It’s execution that determines how good your strategy is.
“Everybody wants to be loved, respected, appreciated and valued.”
The true test of a relationship, is during times of crisis.
Notice what people don’t say, it says more than anything else.
People are illogical, unreasonable, self-centred — love them anyway.