Don't Be a Victim

We really try to take the blame for our mistakes and our failures with Henryville Basketball. One of the easiest defense mechanisms (which has been nurtured by our society the last 45 years) is to blame someone else for our shortcomings.

Basketball related "it was the refs fault"; "I didn't walk, he just doesn't know a good move"; "He takes too many shots"; "he needs to pass more"; "the fans are supportive enough"; the other kids are punks"; "the administration needs to have my back"; I could go on and on.

We as a staff must be able to accept our mistakes, acknowledge them, and move on. We will make mistakes, and if we try to deflect, blame others, act like it isn't the pink elephant in the room, we will lose respect as the leader of the program/team.

I have said "sorry" to my team, to my players individually, to my assistants when I was wrong. Believe it or not, I have been wrong. I know, I know if you go into the stands on a Friday night you will find a lot of people who agree with that assessment, but I am admitting it.

Don't be a victim, one of the hardest things to do is lose a game on a Tuesday night, especially sectional games, and come to school the next day. To walk the halls and look at the people who the previous night were doing all they could to help you win, and you feel that somehow you let them all down. Usually, they are very nice, but sometimes you don't even want that.

In life, we have a victim mindset that has permeated everything. We all need something, have failed because of something whether it be child molestation, murder, parents that loved you too much, parents that didn't love you enough, mean teachers, hard ass coaches, lenient substitutes, the police...something, somebody has caused you not to do what you are supposed to do, has made you into what you are.

Trust me, I have had more than my fair share of bad things happen to me, some worse than others, but I absolutely refuse to be a victom. Often we cannot control what happens to us but we can control how we react to it. It isn't easy sometimes, probably most times, but what other choice do we have?

Lie around and feel sorry for ourselves? Blame others? Do things we aren't supposed to do? Crime? Passing that sin onto others? Not me, I refuse to be a victim, I prefer to be a victor. I absolutely refuse to blame others for my mistakes; I refuse it. Do I fall short sometimes? Yes, I know when I am doing it, and I should stop, but it makes you feel better inside, psychologically, which is not right in my opinion.

I do believe that it is okay to feel sorry for yourself, to be depressed, to be down. If you put a lot of time and effort into something you are bound to feel defeated when you fail. It is normal, and okay to feel this way, but you must not keep you from moving forward. It is at that moment when you find out what you are made of, what kind of mental toughness do you have?

Perspective helps, too. I look at the stories of some people who have it worse than I do financially, career wise, health wise and it humbles you. Some of the things I have complained about, been upset about are really nothing in the grand scheme of things, in the overall picture.

But, in those darkest moments when you are dealing with death, when you are dealing with the illness of a loved one you must seek out the help of others. Someone to talk to, someone to vent to, someone to help you keep proper perspective. You have to have someone in your worst times, heck in all bad times that you can share your feelings with. Even in these worst of times, it too shall pass, and then what do you do? I would hope we move forward and persevere because that is what is wanted for us.

So, when you come to our games in the future, you can know that we are taking responsibility for us. We have practiced, planned, and prepared for that game. But, when you see me on the referees, or one of our players complaining about something, you can know we are falling short, but always striving to not be a victim.

(Pictured is Clint Horine, a recent graduate of HHS, fan of HHS basketball, and The Voice of HHS baseball. Clint has battled some daily struggles with his health, sometimes is down, but takes a negative situation better than most adults and makes a positive out of it. He is one of my heroes.)

Day in the Life of a High School Basketball Coach

Day in the life of a high school basketball coach...practice before the season begins:
6:00 AM...wake up and get ready/ read paper/eat breakfast
6:50 AM...wake daughter up and get her ready
7:00 AM...head to school
7:15 AM...arrive at school/open gym door for any player wanting to shoot/prepare for day
7:35 AM...hall duty, supervise until class starts.
8:00 AM...teaching responsibilities begin/teach US History, Psychology, and Sociology/during the day prepare practice plan/ make sure practice gear is cleaned and dried
2:50 PM...head to gym/get practice gear for guys/turn on lights/make sure floor is getting cleaned/ talk to assts. as you head out/ make sure everyone is getting in right frame of mind
5-5:30 PM...practice ends/this year the coaching staff will discuss practice, how it went and what we need to work on
5:45 PM...help with jr. high or elementary practices or prepare to attend one of these lower level games
6:00 PM...make sure you eat something/ no jr. high or elementary games and you head home for supper with the family/ play with the kids /if there is a lower level game, arrive home around 8 PM, then spend time with the kids

9:00 PM...watch practice or game film or just watch t.v., usually just t.v. to clear mind/ video games help to clear the mind from basketball also
11:00 PM..hope you can get to sleep by now and sleep through the night....many times I wake up around 4 AM thinking basketball and trying to go back to sleep.

Day in the life of a high school basketball coach...HOME game:
6:00 AM...wake up and get ready/ read paper/eat breakfast
6:50 AM...wake daughter up and get her ready
7:00 AM...head to school
7:15 AM...arrive at school/open gym door for any player wanting to shoot/prepare for day
7:35 AM...hall duty, supervise until class starts.
8:00 AM...teaching responsibilities begin/teach US History, Psychology, and Sociology/during the day prepare look over game plan/ make sure practice gear is cleaned and dried
2:50 PM...get to locker room and make sure uniforms, warm ups are laid out/ sweep and clean game floor/ make sure bleachers are pulled out/ get something to eat/watch jr. high practice
4:30 PM...back to gym to get dressed and open doors for players
5:00 PM...players are allowed to shoot around/ sit and compose thoughts or watch game tapes of opponent
5:30 PM...make sure opponents have everything they need, and socialize with opposing coaches
6:00 PM...J.V. game begins
6:20 PM...J.V. 1/2 time/ make sure game plan is on board in varsity locker room
6:40 PM...watch rest of J.V. game
7:00 PM...go over game plan with team
7:10 PM...send team to warm up/ speak with opposing coach/ referee meeting
7:30 PM...starting line ups, National Anthem, jump ball
8:45 PM...discuss result with team shortly and dismiss them as you go to the office.
8:55 PM...discuss result with assistants then call in scores to The Evening News and The Courier Journal
9:00 PM...make sure game uniforms are being washed and dried
9:10 PM...meet with wife and kids and either head home or out to eat to discuss game or to relax **I never watch the game tape the night of the game. I try to leave it at the gym even though I rarely get to sleep before 1 AM on game nights, hard to wind down.**

Day in the life of a high school basketball coach...AWAY game:
6:00 AM...wake up and get ready/ read paper/eat breakfast
6:50 AM...wake daughter up and get her ready
7:00 AM...head to school
7:15 AM...arrive at school/open gym door for any player wanting to shoot/prepare for day
7:35 AM...hall duty, supervise until class starts.
8:00 AM...teaching responsibilities begin/teach US History, Psychology, and Sociology/during the day prepare look over game plan/ make sure practice gear, game uniforms are cleaned and dried
2:50 PM...get to locker room and make sure uniforms, warm ups, team bags are laid out/ sweep and clean game floor/ get something to eat
4:30 PM...back to gym to to leave depending on leave time
5:25 PM...arrive at opponents gym socialize with opposing coaches/ make sure J.V. coach has what he needs
6:00 PM...J.V. game begins
6:20 PM...J.V. 1/2 time/ make sure game plan is on board in varsity locker room
6:40 PM...watch rest of J.V. game
7:00 PM...go over game plan with team
7:10 PM...send team to warm up/ speak with opposing coach/ referee meeting
7:30 PM...starting line ups, National Anthem, jump ball
8:45 PM...discuss result with team

9:00 PM...hopefully by now we are on the bus headed home

9:45 PM...make sure game uniforms are being washed and dried
9:55 PM...speak with wife on the phone on whether I need to get something to eat or if something is at home
**I never watch the game tape the night of the game. I try to leave it at the gym even though I rarely get to sleep before 1 AM on game nights, again hard to wind down.**

Day in the life of a high school basketball coach...during the summer:

During the summer, I will spend anywhere from 3-38 hours on the job at any given one time. On practice or open gym days, it will be closer to 3 hours, but when we go out of town for two days, it can be up to 38 hours with the team. We spend 21 days during the summer for these different amounts of time with the players.

I often speak with college coaches and tell them there is no way I could put in the hours they do, finally one day an assistant from the University of Evansville told me to put down on paper my typical day. I was amazed...and then I went home and thanked my wife for putting up with it.

Developing A Program from Kindergarten - Seniors in High School

One of the things that I did when I took over was to expand our intramural program to Kindergarten and 1st graders. The previous coaches had done a good job installing and continuing the program at 2nd grade through to 8th grade, but I wanted to give the younger classes a chance also.

I feel that the sooner we can get the kids exposed to basketball, the sooner they will put some of the skills to work. At each level, we teach them different fundamental drills to work on, and we emphasize that if they want to get better they must take those skills home and practice. You can really tell the difference in the guys from year to year on those who do go home and practice and those who don't.

What I have found, too, is that you will find what kids are extremely serious about basketball and which are not. It isn't a bad thing at a young age if you are not so driven that you are at the gym every single time it is open, but we want to give all boys K-8 that opportunity.

We have changed, too how we do things. We used to have intramurals in the fall, and in the summer a camp. But our numbers would be way down in the summer as opposed to the fall, so last spring we installed spring intramurals also. There were two main reasons, 1. to get more kids involved, and 2. one thing I noticed our kids didn't understand was basic basketball stuff in games.

We practice for 1/2 hour, showing fundamentals, shooting drills, etc., then for the last 1/2 hour we let them play. Trying to teach the younger kids about the baseline, the sideline, what is a walk, double dribble, when to pass, and so on.

With the Kindergarteners, we match them up, and every time down court, we match the defense up with the offense. And we allow someone different to bring the ball up the court every single time. Unfortunately at that age level, the person bringing the ball up is the one who shoots it.

At every level above that, we work hard for that 1/2 hour getting kids to understand the game. From playing defense, to passing, to shooting, to talking as we get to the older grades.

Then during the varsity season we take each group (K-2, 3-5, 6-8) and allow them to run up and down the court at one of our home games in front of the crowd. The players are allowed in free, but the parents and other family members pay. From the feedback I get, it is something that the kids and parents look forward to each winter.

In four years, I have changed some things and done some things the same. I hope that what we are doing is instilling a love for the game of basketball in the kids and is getting them to work on their games from an early age til the time we get them. I want them to have a love affair with the game, but I also want players when they get to high school who are fundamental and understand the game.

Plan your work, Work your plan

Many coaches are much smarter than I am and maybe don't need notes at practice. However, I have found that I always forget something that I want to do on that day.
Below is an example of one of our practice plans:

November 12/ Practice #2

3:05 – 3:08 Thought Of The Day…..get better every day.

3:08 – 3:14 Pre-practice

3:14 – 3:18 Full court dribbling

3:18 – 3:30 Offensive footwork
-Fist shooting…..curls off screen, catch and rip where you came from, catch and go.
-Posts should always be stepping into open areas.
-mix in shots, feeding the post for a shot, and shooter re-locating for a shot
-then perimeter catches, screen away for a shot coming off “double” screen.

3:30 – 3:40 Defensive breakdown
-wall up
-1 on 1 ½ court…keep ball on side….catch and shot fake, make sure you stay down, hands up.

3:40 – 3:45 1 on 1 block out

3:45 – 3:55 Run….2 in: 22
FT/ Drink

3:55 – 4:03 Shadow D

4:03 – 4:08 3 out/ 1 in….2 out of 3 stops.

4:08 – 4:23 Forward Help/Recover
-3 on 3 with person in corner being beaten.
-3 straight stops or run

4:23 – 4:28 100 point shooting

4:28 – 4:43 Break breakdown with Defense

4:43 – 4:58 Guard help/recover
-3 on 3 with person on wing extended being beaten
-3 straight stops or run

4:58 – 5:03 FT

5:03 – 5:08 4 on 3 in the lane

5:08 – 5:18 4 on 3 live
-get 2 stops and you are out.
5:18 – 5:27 5 on 5 shell/ transition

Just the titles of the drills gives me the idea of what I want to do. If I need to, I will write or even type in extra details on a new drill, or an old drill to make sure we hit what we are trying to do.

We usually want to warm up, then work on individual offensive moves or individual defense, then we move it to team offense and defense. We try to make as much of it a competition as possible to get them to compete all practice.

I believe that practice should be hard and short. We will go 2 1/2 hours for the first couple of weeks, but if they practice hard, we go 2 hours only. By 5 o'clock, they are ready to go home and I have seen a decline in effort.

I am planning on having 1 open practice again this fall, everyone and anyone is invited to come watch that one day.

How do you want to be remembered?

The title of this article is a question I ask my players and students on a semi-regular basis.

For two reasons:

1. most people will say they want to be remembered in a positive manner, so I have them look at their behaviors. Does their behavior connect with their wishes?

"I want to be remembered as a good kid." Are you doing things on a consistent basis in class, on the court, in society that will render that memory?

"I want to be remembered as a hard worker." Are you turning in all your assignments, diving for loose balls, putting in the extra time to render that memory?

"I want to be remembered as......" It doesn't matter, if your actions don't equal your wishes, then one of two things needs to happen. You need to either change your actions, or change your wish. Hopefully, more often than not, we change our actions.

2. Not every basketball player is going to be remembered as one of the top 10 basketball players of all time at HHS, but you can be remembered as the consumate team player on a team that wins. The program was here before us, it is here while we are here, and when we graduate/retire, it will go on. Memories are formed whether we want them to or not.

People may not remember your name, but when you tell them you played on the 81 team, the 04 team, the 05 team....it helps for them to connect you with those winning teams.

You may score 20 points a game, but if you have a losing record and cannot get your teammates to bond as a team, then people forget you. They might say "yeah, I remember you could really shoot, but how well did your team do?"

I know as coaches we will remember all the players, but the ones who gave of themselves for the sake of the team are the ones who will stand out in the future. Basketball and life, are selfish endeavors. You play because you get something out of it, and if you give up something of yourself, something that helps you enjoy it to make the team better...those are the greatest players ever.

What is the cruel part of being remembered is that some of us no matter what or how we do things, no matter how successful you are, we will be judged by numbers. Each year when a team wins or loses, in our record book, it isn't the name of the players next to the record. It is the coach, the coach's name is next to the W-L column. It isn't just in coaching, it could be in accounting, any job where making a profit is the bottom line. If you are the greatest person in the world, if you the numbers are bad, you will be remembered for that, sometimes only for that.

So, what can we do? We work as hard as we can, try to be good people, continue to strive to be better in every way, and then at night be able to look at ourselves in the mirror.

The Four Agreements

I get a monthly newsletter from Xavier University Men's Basketball program.

In one of the newsletters it included The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Found it interesting and a good guide in life.

1. Always Do Your Best: No matter the circumstance do your best, no more, no less. When doing your best, you will learn to accept yourself, you will learn from your mistakes, look honestly at results and keep working. You will be accountable to yourself and to others.

2. Be Impeccable with your Word: Your word is the power to express and communicate which creates events in your life. Take responsibility for your actions, but do not judge or blame yourself too harshly.

3. Don't Take Anything Personally: Taking things personally is the maximum expression of selfishness because we assume that everything is about me. Nothing other people do is because of you, it is because of them.

4. Don't Make Assumptions: You tend to make assumptions on everything and the problem is that we believe that assumption to be the truth. We assume things on what others are doing or thinking and we take it personally. To keep from doing this, ask questions until it is clear what it is that you want to know.