Core Values

The Golden State Warriors have started the season 23-0.  Their team is functioning at about the highest level the NBA has seen.  They are led by Steve Kerr, a guy who played for Lute Olson at U of Arizona, Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.  In Kerr's absence due to a spinal condition, Luke Walton (also a product of Jackson and Olson) is guiding the team.  The team has four core values: Compassion, Joy, Mindfulness and Competitiveness.  Sounds a bit like 'Zen Master' Phil Jackson.  Balancing these values must be a challenge - competitiveness and joy might cause some friction, unless you win every game!? Critics might point out that Steph Curry is responsible for this more than the coach, but Lebron James' and Kevin Durant's teams lose games every once in a while.

Lose Your Mind and Come to Your Senses

What does this mean and how does this apply to sports?  The psychologist, Fritz Perls, used this phrase as a way to get his patients to live in the present.  It's application to sport- I think it's intuitive - the rational mechanisms of the brain do not have enough time to react to, say, a 98 mph fastball, or a tennis serve at 140mph, so, we rely on... what Yoda calls, the force.  Remember when Obi Won Kenobi's voice says to Luke, 'Trust your feelings".  The Jedi metaphor has a lot of wisdom.  This sentiment is said a lot of different ways.   In the words of Andre Agassi, "Freed from the thoughts of winning, I instantly play better.  I stop thinking, start feeling.  My shots become a half-second quicker, my decisions become the product of instinct rather than logic."  

Coaching Pedigree

 Steve Kerr, the coach of the Golden State Warriors, is known for his time playing under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, but what about his college coach?  His college coach, Lute Olson, also clearly made an impression.  Kerr wrote, "The thing about Coach Olson was that he created a family atmosphere for us. We admired him and respected him, but feared him a bit too. The best coaches have that. Fear and respect, a combo of both. You just can’t run a successful team or operation without that discipline and structure, but you also want the human side, the family side, the connection. Lute provided all that." 
  No huge surprise - discipline and care.  How to accomplish that as a coach?

Dr. Coach

A professor of social psychology at the University of St. Thomas puts his PhD. to use on the basketball floor.  He tries to recruit self-motivated student athletes who will work with him and the team, and improve over their careers.  DIII coaches do not hover over their players like the DI coaches, so he figures, he better find players who will work on their own.

Coaches wearing out their welcome?

Coaches push players, but how far?  Steve Nash, in his glass half full way, praises his college coach for making him tougher, even if some of what he did was, in Nash's view, unnecessary.  Apparently, Jim Harbaugh pushes  players to the limit.  Is this the right formula for 4 years of college?  Perhaps.

Nurturing Young Talent or Tanking?

In Philadelphia, they are doing both.  With the NBA regular season over, the 76ers will not lose more games this year, but, basically, they are a minor league team conducting in-season tryouts, hoping to land the next Kobe Bryant in order to turn the franchise around.  Will it work?  Is it 'ethical'?  I guess in baseball Pittsburgh did this for a decade, and in basketball, the Clippers were poorly run and unintentionally a minor league team.  The interesting thing is that young players see a losing team as an opportunity...to stay in the league, and so they play hard, and they have a coach who coaches them, instead of manages their egos.

Visualization & slowing down.

Interesting article about the mind game of soccerfootball. Wayne Rooney visualizes, and Messi does a 2 minute on-field analysis after kickoff before really playing. Slowing the game down seems like a universal skill of top athletes. Is this speeding the brain up? How - through repetition? talent? biology?

As an Underdog

Jason Kidd recalls his NCAA days when his Cal Bears beat the 2 time defending champs, Duke.  As underdogs, they played loose, got a few breaks, and won.  Pressure and playing loose...

Dean Smith - RIP

Legendary basketball coach, Dean Smith, died this week.  His legacy is that not only of a successful basketball coach, but as a good man who was respectful of opponents, and supportive of his players in all dimensions of his life.  I am skeptical about the coaching industry, but here is a man who seemed to be successful while keeping his role in perspective.  He took brave political stands, and his players graduated.  With the cloud hovering over UNC athletics, hopefully, they can use the legacy of Coach Smith to balance athletics with university life (again, I am sceptical).  Maybe Smith was lucky that he did not have to bend the rules to be successful because he was smart and innovative.  In any case, his example is one to aspire to.

Developing Talent

This article in the New York Times is about a young 'prodigy' from Norway who just signed for Real Madrid.  His father - a former pro player - devoted lots of time to his development.  Is it nature or nurture?  Yes, and, probably.

To sleep, Perchance to dream

Recent research suggests that athletes perform their best according to their internal clock - their circadian rhythms.   Early risers do better earlier in the day than late risers.

This makes sense to me.  When I can, I am a late riser.  I find I am sharpest in the afternoon/early evening.  I figured it was the result of years of after school sports that usually start around 3pm.

Anyhow, I suppose we can get a good sense of when we perform our best, and try to schedule accordingly.  I can sympathize with those golfers who must contend with 6a.m. tee times.

 'As for coaches and team owners, Dr. Smith said, “It would be handy to know the phenotype of all of your team members. You could predict who would be playing well at various times of day.”'

Coaching Styles

Interesting article on ESPN about Pete Carroll's career fall, and current rise.  In New England, he followed Bill Parcells - the expected hard-ass type coach.  Carroll was seen as a west coast hippie.  His relentless optimism vs. Parcells' more 'old school' toughness. 

A few weeks ago, an article about Urban Meyer, coach of Ohio State football, documented his rise and fall and rise.  He turned to a Christian book about leadership to re-find success, and to find some balance in his life. 

So, is the old-school, Parcells-type coach just outdated?  Do players' respond to the military-style of coaching that puts discipline above all else?  Has Bobby Knight's style come and gone?

His protege, Mike Krzyzewski just coached his 1,000th victory in collegiate basketball. Coach K. IS a product of the military, but he seems to blend in other influences.

Are these just cosmetic differences in coaching style, or do we live in an era of different expectations, or something else?