Lawrence Frank
Lack of trust can be a self fulfilling prophecy
Trust yourself, assistants, players, staff
What do we do to get better
Blame no one
Expect nothing
Do something
WHO is the important question? As in who is not doing it?
Hold specific players accountable for specific tasks
Journey not a destination
Lock into the journey
Get better today, daily improvement
1. Work ethic
a. Give us the same deal everyday
b. Our job as coaches is to get this
2. Demand the best from each other
a. Make the best player be the hardest worker
b. Players will not defy the best player
3. Be Prepared
4. Will be a smart team
a. Don’t forget who you are or get lost in game planning
i. Nets forgot they were a running team vs. Detroit in ‘04
5. Well Conditioned Team
6. Play As a team
a. Help a teammate first
b. All give love to each other
c. Cross on a fast break to help a teammate, hard curls to help screener get one
7. Push you to become a better team
a. Be yourself
b. Be a straight shooter, direct and honest
c. Be confrontational enough to hold players accountable
d. Are we committed
8. Be on time
a. Respect your peers
9. Young Players 30 minutes early
a. Select some veterans
b. Sprint to center circle, talk it up
i. Get into a conversation
10. Trim the fat
a. 10-15 minutes of 3 man weave
b. Practice what you do in a game
c. We need you to practice and practice hard. “Trust Me”
11. Habits
a. Practice good habits
i. Cut hard, Screen, Great shots
b. We go hard at short intervals of game speed
We don’t have shoot arounds (we call it practice)
Must have focus in shoot around
We will read you
Ask a lot of questions in this
Concentrate!
Preparation and Execution
Game Night Procedures
How much time do you need to get ready?
31 minutes to get ready
Then I Need your eyes and ears
11 minutes for coach speak
Time outs
Players sit on the bench
Talk to teammates the right way
Encourage
Bench Players
Shorter window to produce
Bench measured by wins not stats
Coaches complain about players, Players complain about coaches
Early in game
A lot of movement
Establish Inside game
Hot the guard picks (roll, post defense, double pick away, cut to post up, dribble hand off)
Hot hand – stay with it
Officials
Kenyon Martin Rule – if you throw up your arms you come out (don’t show them up)
Get on refs during deadballs
Media
Media doesn’t want vanilla (doesn’t sell)
Never criticize anyone in organization
Ban “off the record” stuff
Create a brotherhood – “play with each other, for each other)
Do not tolerate questions and excuses
Let the players know early they will be moved if they can not comply
Have individual meetings to never leave anything unaddressed
Address players strengths and weaknesses
Find out what they think
Do You:
1. Buy In
2. Are you accountable
Chain of Command – get on you more if you’re a leader
Internal Leadership
Theme or motto for the week – something that reflects where we are as a team
Ask them what they think should be the theme
Let Players Take Ownership
Don’t want opponent to think he got up on you
Players measure themselves vs. opponent
Throw players curveballs once in a while
No practice if we hold opponent to 72 pts
Video
Music
Saving Private Ryan – guy he let go shot Tom Hanks
Patton – Always advance
Preparation and Execution
Touch guys everyday
Meeting without a meeting
You can be hard on guys if they know you care
8-12 meaningful touches per day
Learn from your players everyday
They work harder if it is their idea
Use the media to give love to guys who don’t play a lot
Quick Hitter vs. Zone
Dribble hands offs are harder to guard than pick and rolls
Lay some wood on the defense
Receive hand off and hold and read defense for ½ second
If you are not a shooter, then dribble hand off
Box Score Accuses
The Tape Indicts
The Tapes Don’t Lie
JEFF VAN GUNDY
We’re a product of where and who we coached with
Coaching the same basically at every level
Do it in detail then pare it down
Write everything down and update it
Show them what it is supposed to look like – use past tapes, dvds
Backs against the wall
Riley scripted everything he said
Never off the cuff
Socratic testing of team on the wall
Sit them in a stance, don’t criticize, just move on, retention of knowledge
From Riley:
End of the year appraisal for the staff
One and a half hours
Riley to Van Gundy: “Do you want me to be honest with you?”
Things he said:
You dress poorly, will never be a head coach that way
You can be a head coach in this league. I just wanted to be an assistant for
a while.
He gave you confidence to be a head coach.
1. Are you competent? They will trust.
2. Are you reliable?
3. Are you trustworthy
4. Are you sincere
Coaching Confidence
De-Motivators: fear, doubt, worry
Build up each others confidence
If you are a glass half empty or totally empty like me, then you need a positive influence around
Greatest players in the NBA are most fragile
Constant confrontation with facts, misleading facts, etc. by Riley
Who can you coach?
Soft, stupid, selfish
Can’t coach anyone with two S’s
Can’t dumb down until it is just dumb
Hold marathon film sessions to develop concentration and tolerance
“Hold you hostage” – go over everything (becomes a motivator)
Curry favor of the media as well as coaches ally
See it. Talk it. Execute it.
