The Pump Brothers put on their annual Collegiate Business Conference last week. Friday, August 8th was the clinic that had a lineup that included Oscar Robertson & Jerry West, Isiah Thomas & Chuck Daly, Pat Summit, an Athletic Directors panel, a panel on coaches representation that included Mick Cronin and Jim Christian, Media relations segment with Jim Harrick, Denny Crum and some media folks including Jeff Goodman, Mike DeCourcy, and Gary Parrish, and an impromptu post agenda clinic with Lawrence Frank who broke down the pick n roll aspects of what he does offensively with the Nets.
The clinic had many high points and took a look at the profession from different angles. It was part entertaining, part program building, dealing with modern topics of media, agents, search firms, and it had taste of x's and o's from the highest level. Maybe the best aspect of the program was that it put hundreds of coaches together in one spot to develop relationships. In addition to meeting several folks that were extremely impressive, it was uplifting to be around coaches truly dedicated to their craft. Seeing head coaches like Jamie Dixon grinding out notes from Lawrence Frank's impromptu session while the reception is going on at the pool was very impressive.
Conference Notes
Keynote Address by Oscar Robertson & Jerry West with Roy Firestone
Oscar Robertson
used a tennis ball wrapped with rubber bands until he got a basketball of his own
back then there was nothing to do so kids played sports
Auerbach won partially because he had veterans on the bench who wouldn't kill you in the game
Jerry West
suggested reading: "1960 Olympics: The Olympics that Changed the World"
more nationalism then than now
absolutely highlight of life was winning the gold medal
OR: '60 team hadn't been corrupted by NBA, weren't expected to win
millionaires now think they are beyond playing for the USA
JW: $1 per diem in '60
substance over style players
looks at players characteristics:
1. how smart you are
2. how you play with others
3. do you compete for your teammates
"WHEN YOU ARE AROUND GREATNESS, KNOW ONE HAS TO TELL YOU"
played the Celtics 23 times one season
at height of his career he wanted to quit because he hated losing to the Celtics so bad
never touched a weight
OR: never lifted, bailed hay growing up
JW: Kareem Abdul Jabber never complained about money, playing time, or practice
OR: basketball was a way of life and an oppurtunity now it is all commercialized
JW: basketball was "my life"
"WHEN YOUR YOUNG YOUR BEST FRIEND IS YOUR MIND, YOUR DREAMS"
he never shot in a gym until the 7th grade
JW: the branding or logo you wear has nothing to do with whether you can play
Roy Firestone hates press conferences where kids pick between a few hats, says its disrespectful to the college process
JW: school opened new horizons for him as a person
the aau and recruiting at such a young age kills the dream for kids
now you have to coach families, hangers on, and all the baggage
at one point the Lakers had to play 5 games in 5 days in different cities
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Chuck Daly & Isiah Thomas: The Player Coach Relationship
Chuck Daly: last 10 years never raised voice
stressed getting past mad
Isiah Thomas: if coaches let me slide and not rough up relationship then I wouldn't been who I am or been the player i was
CD: "Midnight Rule" - no matter what happens in the game that night, get over it by midnight
IT: Dennis Rodman changed because he didn't get paid and Detroit broke his heart
CD: Rodman was doing things that really impacted the game but wasn't making any money and Detroit didn't want to pay him so he created a character as a means to get paid
IT: money changes perception of you by the people around you, then you start eliminating those people. Then you adjust or believe the perception people have of you.
Isiah played hurt because he didn't want to let his teammates down
IT: Losing is distasteful
CD: to win it all, you have to hate (hate other teams abilities, success, etc.)
never took timeout with dream team so he could get back to eat quicker
IT: everybodys friends with a loser
more in it to hurt others than help
post game interviews were never about the game
media wants to be paid and be a star - negativity sells
FAIR IS IF YOU GET HIT, YOU GOTTA GET UP
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Pat Summitt
you win in life with people
your program is family
3 P's - she makes her players aware of
1. Parents - they love u, support u, but not coach u because they live through u
2. Peers - your friends tell u what u want to hear
3. Press - write about the best scorer
Accountability!
Hire an assistant coach that will make your players accountable
Hire the best strength & conditioning coach and let them do their job
Take care of people around u - she got a limousine and had a night on the town for everyone in the office after landing candace parker's recruiting class
Hire a good recruiting coordinator
Tennessee is aware of 9 and 10 year olds already
sign great people to your program, after 30 years she says people don't change
no job is too big or too small
work camps, she is there start to finish
discipline and rules are uncompromised regardless of who it is
No Miss - Up Front Rule: students can't miss class and must sit in first 3 rows
she says if missing 1 or 2 classes is ok then missing 1 or 2 games is ok
Tennessee Women's Philosophy:
1.Defense
2. Board Play
3. Take care of the ball
4. Shot Selection
Shot selection: record everything in practice, managers put up shot percentage after each practice. numbers are hard to argue
Not what you teach, its what you EMPHASIZE
Watch practice film: you can see so much more. who is putting out, who knows what they should know, who is hiding, body language
Personality Profiles
Many kids have Attention Deficit Conflict - as a coach you want to know who has attention to details
Bill Rogers - told me I cannot yell Chamique Holdsclaw and he was right
"Predictive Index"
1 on 1 meetings three times a year
in these meetings I find out what you can bring to the team
Expectations/vision of how team should be is communicated
Only 1 time shot over 50% in a championship game
Defense and rebounding wins
Summitt uses the term "invested" over and over
She's only missed 2 days of camp
Promote program and give back
54 people were at her first game, now 15,000 per game
Media Guide - cover always the team, coaches on the back
On court huddles - designate speaker
Organize bench - where everyone sits
Leadership by peers - have athletes fill out in interviews info on teammates
Support other programs at school - her and Bruce Pearl classic example
Recruit together with the women's program
She had Pearl's team all over to her house with her team and Pearl's recruits
Scouting - have players scout
every staff members watch film on every team
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The Athletic Director Round Table
Dave Blank (Elon) - hired Dr. Tom Davis at Drake
Said Coach Davis was a great communicator especially when he needed something
When asking for something, don't say "Here's what I need", rather say "Here's what i could use to get it done"
Chris Del Conte (Rice) - for his Rice hire, they put together candidates from 10 schools with similar academic component and admissions
wanted the right fit
Ken Kavanagh (Bradley) - Leave quick messages for an AD if interested
Who knows the AD? Thats who should call
Blank - Don't underestimate your network
positive changes (when coach leaves for better job) are more surprising and an AD probably has fewer preconceived notions of who he wants
Eugene Doris (Fairfield) - the initial shortlist is unlikely to have the candidate that is chosen
AD's are generally not stuck on ideas
Kavanagh - who you surround yourself with is important in a search
ask yourself "can i retire there?", often you stay longer than you think
also ask "will i get fired there?"
Doris - don't be a yearly mover
are u responsible for success for a program? hard to say if u move quickly
learn how to interview
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Communicating With the Media
Gary Parrish (CbsSports) - make any story a one day story
Jim Harrick & Denny Crum - gameplan any crisis with the SID, its what the SID does
Mike DeCourcy (Sportingnews) - scout the media when you change cities or jobs
call media to get to know them, call other media to get the low down on media in an area
know that lies will always come out
Reporter dropped an F bomb after she thought the mic was cut
was on youtube in 10 minutes, today has 150,000 views
Jeff Goodman (Foxsports) - news is instant, what you say off the record is safe
personal relationships matter and may be the difference on a slant or running with a story or not
some stories have to go no matter what
Parrish - everyone talks, gets texts from meetings
could be managers, trainers, etc.
develop assistant coaches speaking skills as well as players speaking
Roy Williams - doesn't let freshman talk to the media until after first game
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Lawrence Frank wrapped up the conference with some screen and roll offensive sets and concepts.
Number one above all else is getting players to "buy in": Heads and Hearts
Punch is their term for wanting the ball inside
He said if the D goes under a screen, blame the screener
Spring into screens
On a side pick n roll, wants screener to run throug the elbow
Wants screen to be set on lower part of the body
On a high screen (flat angle, spread, traditional) run through the nail
4 S's for screen n roll action
1. starting point (where you start with the ball)
-side 2 feet inside arc, 3 feet below free throw line
2. set up - get low with the dribble, always look to beat defender without screen going away from screen
3. separation
4. score - go at bigs outside hip, think lay up
Bibby was asking why they never ran plays for him when they ran 25 side screen and rolls
"organized attack" - Cavs do with LeBron to force a double on him and let 4 play 3
"get" - screen
"sprint up" - corner player gets running headstart going away from slot penetration
"2nd penetration" - off a sprint up
3 T's
1. Trust the Stuff
2. Trust Eachother
3. Trust Yourself
A bad shot = "I don't trust my teammates"
NBA shoots 36% on contested shots, 47% on uncontested shots
Broadway doesn't rehearse then change at the show. Don't do things you don't do at practice. Don't get out of character.
Doesn't like going against switches because guys do wrong stuff to exploit (for example he gets a small v. big and the guard shoots a 17 footer)
Vs. switch with a guard vs. big
back up and go full steam at the big
screen 5 on a 4 when small vs. big, make bigs switch on perimeter which is unfamiliar
offense is constant counter punching
a half dive off a screen is hard to guard off side screen, especially a step inside elbow
