Wow, what an amazing NCAA Championship game!  Congrats to Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils.  I also want to congratulate Coach Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs for an amazing season.

A lot has happened since my last blog post.

Jack and Luke came home from the hospital and are doing very well.  They have each gained a pound since birth, which is funny because my usual recommendation for weight gain for high school basketball players looking to add muscle in the off-season is to try and gain a pound a week!  Looks like my boys are already on the program.

Despite having newborns, my wonderful wife allowed me to sneak off to Columbus, OH to work my 5^th straight McDonalds All-American Game.  It is such an honor to work that event each year and a real pleasure to re-connect with many of the players I worked with this past summer.  The McDonalds folks bring me in to conduct warm-ups before each practice (and the game) and to serve as a strength & conditioning resource for the players and coaches who don’t have such expertise at home.

Here is a video of one of the warm-ups I took the players through: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ufai44l1ic

I also posted a video of the halftime show, a talented group of exhibition dunkers called Team Flight Brothers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eDilgrA820

After the McDonald’s game I flew back in time to join Montrose for our game against Montverde Academy in the 2^nd Annual ESPN RISE National High School Invitational.  For those who weren’t there or didn’t see it on ESPNU, we lost a heartbreaker by 2 points.  We led most of the second half until Montverde’s point guard hit an off-balance lay-up with 2 seconds left in the game.  While I would have certainly preferred to win, I am at peace with the loss because our team played very well.  We played hard, played smart, and we played together.  We just came up a bit short… very similar to the way Butler did.  Butler has nothing to feel bad about and neither do we.

Here is one final update on a variety of resources to help you this off-season:

For those of you on my email subscription list, you will be receiving an email at the beginning of next week announcing the release of several new off-season training products.  There will be a dozen new downloadable PDF documents for sale, including a comprehensive, detailed 12 Week Off-Season Basketball Strength & Conditioning Program. This program will outline exactly what needs to be done this off-season – exercise by exercise, day by day, and week by week.  It will be available next week at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com.

In addition to info on these cutting edge training products, I will also be sending a few FREE “coaching nuggets.” These “coaching nuggets” are handouts, notes, and stories I have accumulated from some brilliant basketball minds.  I plan to send out a “coaching nugget” or two every month, so make sure you join our email subscription list at www.StrongerTeam.com.  You can sign up directly under the menu bar on the left side of the homepage. 

Last week I selected the 6 participants for our new series called “Can He Dunk?” I chose 6 local high school age players who can’t currently dunk. I will document their training program and see if I can get them to dunk by the end of the 10 weeks!  Their workouts begin this week and I will air the videos at the end of May or beginning of June. Make sure you subscribe to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom so you don’t miss any of the action.

I was all ready to launch my 100 Exercises in 100 Days promotion on April 1^st, but hit a slight snag with the production company that did the filming.  I am still waiting on the final clips.  As soon as I receive those I will post one clip a day for one hundred straight days.  This exercise library will be an asset to any player or coach (and it’s FREE)!

Clips will be posted in the Stronger Team media gallery: http://www.strongerteam.com/Global/Gallery/Default.aspx?g=album&aid=5

Last but not least, below is my spring schedule, with the contact info for each event.  I will be conducting clinics and group workouts in Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio, Utah, Texas, New York, Michigan, Virginia, Missouri, and Iowa. I hope to see you there!

If you need anything else, or if I can be of service in any way, don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Train hard. Train smart. Deserve success.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

Alan Stein 2010 Spring Event Schedule:

Clinic Features:

• Movement Preparation

• Dynamic Flexibility

• Reaction, Quickness, Agility & Footwork

• Core Strengthening Exercises

• Basketball Specific Conditioning

• Motivational Life Lessons

Nike Championship Basketball Clinic in Dells, WI (April 24)

http://www.basketballcoach.com/cgi-bin/basketball/clinics/2010/wisconsindells-wi-basketball-clinic.html

Cutting Edge Reaction, Quickness, and Agility Clinic in Madison, WI (April 24)

Email Mr. Seneca Blue at blue24553@aol.com  

Alexander Basketball Academy Clinic in Frederick, MD (May 1)

Email Mr. John Alexander at John@ABasketballAcademy.com  

Cutting Edge Reaction, Quickness, and Agility Clinic in Cleveland, OH (May 2)

Email Mr. Sean O’Toole at SOToole@Ignatius.edu  

The Big Game Fundamentals Conference (with Stronger Woman Basketball) in Lehi, UT (May 6-7)

Email Ms. Steph Wood at StrongerWomanBasketball@gmail.com  

Cutting Edge Reaction, Quickness, and Agility Clinic in Dallas, TX (May 8)

Email Mr. David Kilpatrick at David_Kilpatrick@sbcglobal.net  

Nike Championship Basketball Clinic in Verona, NY (May 15)

http://www.basketballcoach.com/cgi-bin/basketball/clinics/2010/verona-ny-basketball-clinic.html

Smarter Team Training Clinic in Wixom, MI (May 22)

Email Mr. Rob Taylor at RPTaylor@loyola.edu  

Cutting Edge Reaction, Quickness, and Agility Clinic in Richmond, VA (May 23)

Email Mr. Kevin Brooks at KBrooks@modis.com  

Pure Sweat Basketball Clinic in St. Louis, MO (May 29-30)

Email Mr. Jason Frye at JasonF@smtcstl.com  

Kingdom Hoops Basketball Clinic in Ankeny, IA (June 9)

Email Mr. Julian Seay at JulianSeay@gmail.com  

1 on 1 Basketball Camp in Germantown, MD (August 2-6)

Email Mr. Brett Isaacson at Brett@1on1Basketball.com  

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, we (Montrose Christian) are currently preparing to play in the 2^nd Annual ESPN RISE National High School Invitational.  We drew the 8^th seed and will play the tournament’s #1 seed, Montverde Academy (ranked 9^th in the nation by ESPN) at Coppin State (Baltimore) on ESPN U at 2:00pm on Thursday, April 1^st. 

Montverde Academy, coached by the brilliant Kevin Sutton, beat us in late January by 2 points… which in retrospect was the exact moment our season began to unravel (considering we lost our next two games).  So we are excited to have the opportunity to play them again!  National powers Oak Hill (VA), Findlay Prep (NV), Winter Park (FL), and Christ School (NC) are also playing, making this the nation’s top post-season high school tournament.

Our coaching staff decided to take an entirely different approach to our preparation for this tournament. We wanted to shake things up, start anew, and put this past season’s adversities behind us.

To initiate this “new beginning”, on our first day back we decided to have the team come over to my training facility for a team workout, instead of having a normal practice.  We felt this change of scenery and break from the norm would help get their competitive juices flowing and set the tone for the next couple of weeks. We were right! 

I put the team through an intense circuit training workout. I filmed the workout and have posted it as three separate videos on our YouTube channel.

Montrose Basketball Team Warm-up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1azoC95MU

Montrose Basketball Team Circuit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDXmpfX4V6A 

Montrose Basketball Team Competition "> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irg4LNkn3T0     

You have to see these videos!  

Here is a description of the workout:

Team Warm-up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-1azoC95MU

We began with an active warm-up:

·         Movement series

o   Walk backwards with long strides, walk backwards staying low, “awkward” walk forward, stationary step behind lunge, and stationary crossover lunge.

·         Medicine ball series

o   Front pivots (rip the ball through high for 5 and low for 5) (10 pivots each foot)

o   One foot balance and reach (Reach to the front, left, right, back) (3 reaches each direction / each foot)

o   Triple threat first step (long jab / first step) (10 long steps each foot)

·         Tire pushes (with partner) (10 pushes with two feet, 10 pushes on one foot / each foot)

·         Rope hops (full rope with both feet and half the rope with each foot individually)

Team Circuit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDXmpfX4V6A 

We set up a metabolic conditioning circuit for the upper and lower body.  There were 10 stations.  Each player worked for 1:00 and then rested for 1:00 (when they switched stations).

1.    High step up with 75 lb. sandbag (med ball substitute)

2.    Tire flips and pogo jumps (two different size tires: 300-400 lb and a 500-600 lb)

3.    Medicine ball defensive slide and throw (12 lb ball)

4.    Vertimax rim touches / dunks (heavy cord, level one)

5.    Rope climb with elevated feet (2” diameter rope)

6.    Kettlebell Turkish get-ups (15 lb and 25 lb Kettlebells)

7.    Band high pulls / low pulls (heavy resistance cord)

8.    High bar jump pull-ups (one bar set at 10’ and one set at 9’ 6”)

9.    Band push-ups (medium resistance band)

10. Sled pulls (150 lbs)

Team Competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irg4LNkn3T0

Once the circuit was complete we did three competitive drills where the players accumulated points (overall winner was awarded a prize).  WARNING: two of these drills our players hadn’t done since elementary school! But they loved it!

·         Freeze tag: we made a 25’ x 25’ box and played tag with 4 players (1 person was “it”).  They had 10 seconds to tag all three players.  They got one point for each person they tagged.  Each group took 40 seconds (all 4 people were “it”).  We went through it twice. 

·         Card catch: I had a standard deck of playing cards and would throw them in the air and the players tried to catch them before they hit the ground.  This is very, very difficult as the cards flutter around unpredictably. It is an awesome drill for hand/eye coordination and lateral movement.  They got one point for each catch (I threw 10 cards per player).  Once all 10 ten cards had been thrown, they had to sprint/slide and touch each card as fast as possible.

·         Tug of war: I divided the team into two, 5-man groups and let them play good old fashioned tug of war.  We did the best two out of three.  The winning team each got 2 points.  Even though it was mid-March, we were lucky enough to have a beautiful 65 degree day… hence the reason we finished outdoors.

I think injecting a workout like this into your off-season program once a month is ideal.

If you need additional help or guidance with your off-season program, I am currently finalizing a comprehensive, detailed 12 Week Off-Season Basketball Strength & Conditioning Program. This program will outline exactly what needs to be done this off-season – exercise by exercise, day by day, and week by week.  It will be available the first week of April at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com.

Also, as a reminder I am launching a YouTube series called “Can He Dunk?,” where I will document a rigorous training program for a select group of high school players… and see if I can get them to dunk after 10 weeks of training! Make sure you subscribe to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom so you don’t miss any of the action.

On a personal note, my beautiful wife gave birth to our twin boys (Jack and Luke) earlier this week.  Granted I am biased, but they are both pretty handsome.  Several scouting services already have them ranked in the Top 5 of the Class of 2028!  All kidding aside, I am so very thankful for these new additions and am so excited for this new chapter in my life.  I look forward to the joy (and challenge) of being a parent!

If you would like to receive FREE monthly “coaching nuggets” please make sure you join our email list at www.StrongerTeam.com.  You can sign up directly under the menu bar on the left side of the homepage.  These “coaching nuggets” are handouts, notes, and stories I have accumulated from some brilliant basketball minds.

If you need anything else, or if I can be of service in any way, don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

One of my favorite lines from the movie Christmas Vacation was when Cousin Eddie asked Clark W. Griswold if he was surprised by his unexpected visit, to which Clark replied, “Eddie, if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be as surprised as I am right now.”

That is exactly how I felt when I got the news that we (Montrose Christian) got an invite to play in the 2^nd Annual ESPN RISE National High School Invitational.  A week ago I figured our bubble had burst after we suffered our first home loss in 8 years and an uncharacteristic 5^th loss of the season.  I honestly didn’t think we had a shot and I truly believed our season was over. But then a few schools declined invitations because of their opposition to playing on Good Friday… and next thing you know… we were in! 

The folks at ESPN RISE do a tremendous job and everything they do is first class. Their goal, over time, is to create a legitimate high school national championship, a high school version of March Madness. And they are well on their way. I support their efforts 100%.

For background info and details on this year’s tournament, please visit http://tinyurl.com/ESPNNHSI.  

As you will see, we drew the 8^th seed and will play the tournament’s #1 seed, Montverde Academy (ranked 9^th in the nation by ESPN) at Coppin State (Baltimore) on ESPN U at 2:00pm on Thursday, April 1^st.  For those of you who have been keeping up with my blog, you’ll remember that Montverde beat us in late January by 2 points… which in retrospect was the exact moment our season began to unravel (considering we lost our next two games).  So we are excited to have the opportunity to play them again!  National powers Oak Hill (VA), Findlay Prep (NV), Winter Park (FL), and Christ School (NC) are also playing, making this the nation’s top post-season high school tournament.

Now before any heckling begins, let me say that I am well aware we are not one of the top 8 teams in the country (this year). I know our performance this season didn’t warrant an invite.  I will happily admit we got the nod over a few other schools based on our national reputation and program history.  Regardless of the reasoning… we are in!  So now it is time for our program to refocus, put all of our recent trials and tribulations behind us, and start fresh.  We have been given a second chance and we need to do our best to make the most of it. 

While obviously we want to win… our primary concern is getting our guys to play as well as they are capable of playing.  They haven’t done that since the beginning of the season.  So the next 15 days will be interesting to say the least.  One of my favorite quotes comes to mind when thinking of how we will approach this:

“If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you’ve been getting.  If you don’t like what you’ve been getting, then change what you’ve been doing.”

Seems pretty simple, huh? We need to shake things up the next two weeks and have an entirely different approach.  We need to make things fun, make things competitive, but make sure our players enjoy and value this experience.  We need to get back to the basics and leave the past behind us.  We need to get back to playing hard, playing smart, and playing together.

To initiate this “new beginning”, we decided to have the team come over to my training facility for a team workout, instead of having a normal practice.  We wanted to get their competitive juices flowing. So I put them through an intense circuit training workout… very similar to how we began our pre-season workouts in late August.  I filmed the workout and will be posting it in three separate segments at www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom:

Team Warm-up

Team Circuit

Team Competition

You have to see these videos!  

I already posted the first segment (Team Warm-up) and will post the remaining two videos next Monday (3/22) and Friday (3/26). I will also post a blog on that Friday describing the workout in great detail in case you want to implement something similar with your program this off-season.

In addition, I will post periodic updates with insight to our preparation for the NHSI tournament at www.Twitter.com/AlanStein and will most certainly recap our entire experience in my first blog of April.

Even though we aren’t in our off-season just yet, I know many programs are.  So let me get back on track and discuss some of my key off-season thoughts.

I am well aware that most basketball players don’t really have an off-season anymore, they simply go from the high school season to the AAU season to the summer camp circuit.  This makes the approach to training even more important!

An off-season strength & conditioning program is the foundation of championship programs and elite level players.  A solid strength & conditioning base gives you the potential to take your basketball skills to another level. You obviously aren’t going to be a very good player or team if you can’t shoot, pass, defend, rebound, or handle the ball.  That is a given.  But what if you can shoot, pass, defend, rebound, handle the ball… and you are quick, explosive, and in great shape?!

About a year ago I adopted the tag line, “the best players are in the best shape.”  The same can be said for teams, “the best teams are in the best shape.”  Think about it.  Who are currently the two best players on the planet? Kobe and LeBron.  Have you noticed what kind of shape they are in?! Do you think those guys work hard in the off-season? You better believe they do.

If you need help in planning your off-season, or you are interested in my thoughts on AAU, testing and evaluating, and the most common mistakes players/coaches make, I highly recommend you read the two-part series I wrote last year as my thoughts haven’t changed a lick:

http://blog.strongerteam.com/post/2009/03/16/Planning-Your-Off-Season3b-Part-I.aspx

http://blog.strongerteam.com/post/2009/04/03/Planning-Your-Off-Season3b-Part-II.aspx

If you need additional help or guidance with your off-season program, I am currently finalizing a 12 Week Off-Season Basketball Strength & Conditioning Program. This program will outline exactly what needs to be done this off-season – exercise by exercise, day by day, and week by week.  It will include dozens of digital pictures and exercise descriptions, all of which utilize standard equipment (DBs, free weights, bodyweight, etc.) to make sure the program is easily adaptable to everyone’s respective situation.  There will be a strength/power component as well as a quickness/agility component (each sold separately).  The program will be available online as a downloadable PDF; so you will be able to save it to your computer as well as print copies.  I am projecting the sales price to be around $39.99 for each component.  Believe me; it will be worth every penny! It will be sold at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com.

Also a reminder I am also launching a YouTube series called “Can He Dunk,” where I will select a handful of high school age players who are close, but can’t currently dunk.  I will document their training for 12 weeks and post video highlights from their workouts as well as 3 weekly dunk attempts (to monitor their progress).  HoopsKing, Ganon Baker Basketball, Hoop Connection, Athletic Training Innovations (ATI) and SLAM Online have all partnered with me on this project. You won’t want to miss this!  Make sure you subscribe to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.

I know you will be glued to the TV for the next three weeks watching the NCAA tournament… but if you get a chance to switch channels in between games, I highly recommend you watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 “Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks” as well as HBO’s “Magic and Bird: A Courtship of Rivals.”  Both were very well done and really brought back some amazing childhood memories for me (I am 34 years old).  I recommend younger players watch both of these as well… so they can get an appreciation for the game’s recent history.  I think some kids today think the NBA started with Kobe and LeBron!     

And if you need a good book, I am reading an old classic by Steve Alford called, Playing for Knight (1989).  It is fascinating.  Coach Knight has always been one of my favorite coaches and I have so much respect for him.  Say what you will, but the man is authentic! I am going to get a chance to finally meet him in person in April and May as we are both scheduled to speak at the same Nike Championship Basketball Clinics in Wisconsin and New York.

As mentioned before, I will post a blog next Friday (3/26) which will be a full description of the Montrose Team Workout I took our players through as well as provide links to all three videos.

On a personal note, our latest doctor’s appointment leads us to believe that my wife will be delivering our twin boys sometime next week…

If you need anything else, or if I can be of service in any way, don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

For those of you who have been following, you know we (Montrose) have been going through some team adversity the past few weeks. How did we respond this past Friday?  Horribly.  Ballou High School, out of Washington D.C., beat us in every statistical category and won by 14. It was painful to watch (we had 26 turnovers).  To put this loss in its proper context, it was the first time we lost to a local team in 8 years.  It is the first time in Coach Vetter’s 34 year career that he has lost 3 games in a row.  So needless to say, our adversity has really begun to snowball (pun intended).

We played uninspired, casual, and overwhelmingly sloppy.  We played with no passion, no sense of urgency, and just looked out of it.  Aside from a handful of decent plays, we looked like we were in a daze.  After the game, everyone just sat there with their heads down, with almost no emotion. Everyone looked stunned.  Our program used to have an aura about it – a swagger if you will – that intimidated every local opponent we played.  Teams used to doubt whether they could actually beat us.  But that has passed.  Now teams know we are beatable.  The mystique is gone and we have a major target on our back.  With that said, our remaining games will not be easy, regardless of whom our opponent is.

After our embarrassing performance, our staff decided to give the team the entire weekend off and scheduled a team meeting for this past Monday (instead of practice).  Everyone was encouraged to speak and to air out their issues.  When handled appropriately, confrontation is a very positive thing.  Kids today lack in-person communication skills because they have so many other outlets and ways to vent (like Facebook and text messaging).  They aren’t used to verbally expressing their feelings and showing their true emotions.  They keep everything bottled up. But many times, especially when going through adversity, speaking your mind and sharing your feelings is exactly what needs to be done. It cuts to the heart of the issues and makes you feel better.

Each player and coach had the chance to get everything off their chest in a respectful way.  It was very productive.  As coaches, we can’t assume we know how our players feel or what they think.  We have to ask.  What did our staff find out during the team meeting? 

We found out a few deep issues we had no idea existed. We learned that the team was very hurt and angry at Terrence leaving, but even more surprising, they had lost their collective confidence. Terrence leaving actually rattled our guys (we had no idea). They had major doubts that we could win without him (which in hindsight is understandable, given he was our leading scorer).  Thankfully they were mature enough to admit it. 

Now it is our staff’s job to show our team how we can still be successful.  It is our job to show them what steps need to be taken and what roles need to change in order for us to regain our confidence and get back to winning games.  And that is exactly what we will do.

Our practice the following day was the best practice of the year.  The kids had energy, enthusiasm, and an extra spring in their step. It was as if a weight was lifted off of their shoulders. They competed hard and had fun.  And all it took was a heart-to-heart meeting that welcomed open communication and appropriate confrontation.  If your team is going through some adversity right now, I suggest you do the same!

With the Montrose update out of the way, it is time to re-focus on the intended topic of this blog:

 “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches”

This is the second part of a three-part series. Originally, this was only going to be a two-part series, but I decided to extend it because I have so much info I want to share.  Next week I will post the third and final segment. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend you go back and read last week’s post before reading this one. As a reminder, this series is the edited transcript from a phone interview I did with my friend Andy Louder from Hoop Skills Academy (www.HoopSkills.com).   To provide a timeline, this interview took place in December… well before the aforementioned adversities!

Andy Louder:  It’s not always the team with the five best players that wins; chemistry plays an important role. How can a coach find good chemistry?

Alan Stein: You will probably answer most of your chemistry questions in practice and through trial and error. At Montrose, our school colors are green and white. We have reversible practice jerseys, so at the beginning of each practice we announce a green team and a white team. The green team is who we consider the “starting 5” for the day. But that constantly changes throughout practice because the players on the white team are working hard to prove they deserve to be in green. And we tinker with the line-ups in practice all of the time… searching for groups that have better chemistry and play better together. It is important not to put all of your focus on your starters though. I can’t stress enough how important players number 6 through 12 are to your overall success. They are the guys who push your starters every day in practice. That is a tough role to accept because they’re not the ones making the headlines and they get very limited playing time during the game. However, those players are the backbone of your team. They are also the players you have to work extra hard to keep motivated, especially late in the season.  Since they don’t get a lot of playing time or public recognition, it is important you praise them and acknowledge them in front of the team as often as possible. If they aren’t feeling like they contribute, or don’t feel like they are an important part of the team, the negativity will start.  And that type of negativity is a cancer that kills team chemistry and morale. At Montrose, we have an eight man rotation. But our players nine through twelve are just as vital to our overall success and we try to let them know that daily. Plus, we don’t ever want our players to think that top 8 is set in stone.  We want players to compete for those 8 spots every day. Our guys understand that no spots are 100% guaranteed.

Andy Louder: How much of chemistry has to do with knowing your team’s identity and what your style of play is?

Alan Stein: Knowing your team’s identity and style are paramount.  You can’t have good chemistry unless everyone is on the same page. Another thing that goes with chemistry is having good kids.  No jerks. If you have bad kids; the chemistry will suffer severely. It helps to have kids that really like each other off the court. They don’t have to be best friends, but it’s very important that every player has a mutual respect for everyone else on the team and they respect the program as a whole. Another major part of chemistry, and arguably the most important thing a coach needs to accomplish, is making sure everybody on the team knows exactly what their role is. Every staff member and every player must be crystal clear on what their role is and they need to agree to accept it. This starts with effective communication and not assuming anything. Many times, a player thinks they know what their role is, but it is completely different than what the coach thinks. You’ve got to work those issues out immediately.  If not, they are chemistry killers!

Andy Louder:  What are a few of the obvious things you see most struggling coaches do?

Alan Stein: I think with anything in life, regardless of whether you’re talking about basketball, everything boils down to relationships. I think the coaches that tend to struggle are the ones that don’t have a solid relationship with their players. I’m not talking about camaraderie or a friendship necessarily, but more of a mutual respect built on trust, honesty, and making sure the players know you genuinely care about them as people (not just as basketball players). Your players need to know you sincerely want what’s best for them and your goal is to make them the best player they can be. If they believe that, most issues can be resolved rather quickly because you have a strong foundation. Also, many times struggling coaches don’t know how to motivate each player. You have to find what motivates each individual on your team, because it’s different from player to player. Some of our players respond very well when I get up in their face and am very intense. I’ve got others that I have to take a much more subtle approach in order to get them to play their best. And then of course, the simplest answer to give a struggling coach is, “do more of what is working and less of what isn’t!”

Andy Louder: Please give us a few examples of a healthy player/coach relationship.

Alan Stein: First of all, you have to establish the boundaries of an appropriate player/coach relationship.  The younger you are, the harder this can be because you want to be “buddies” with your players.  That can blur the line of professionalism.  A healthy player/coach relationship should be built on trust, honesty, and respect. I don’t believe in coaching through fear or in coaching through intimidation. Your players (obviously) need to understand you’re the one that’s running the team and that you’re in charge, but there are numerous ways to do that without using fear and intimidation. And then of course there are the intangible qualities of having good character. Those are things as a coach, you can’t just talk about, and it is how you have to live your life.  A healthy player/coach relationship starts by setting a good example in everything you do.

Alright, that’s the end of “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches Part II.” I will post the third and final segment next week, so please check back.

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I have collected a variety of “coaching nuggets” over the years. I just recently sifted through them and pulled out several of my favorites… including some wisdom, advice, and stories from some brilliant basketball minds. If you haven’t already done so, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com and I will happily send them to you.

On that note, I received such outstanding feedback from this recent batch of “coaching nuggets,” I will be putting together a follow-up collection called “more coaching nuggets.”  I will have those ready at the end of next week (please don’t email me for them just yet).  I will let you know when they are ready in next week’s blog as well as through announcements on www.Twitter.com/AlanStein and www.Facebook.com/AlanSteinJr.

And as always, check out (and subscribe to) www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  Last week, I posted the Maryland Basketball Pre-game Warm-up.  My friend and colleague, Paul Ricci, does an outstanding job as their strength & conditioning coach.  I will be posting a couple videos of Maryland’s in-season strength training workouts later this week and next week.

If you need anything else, or if I can be of service in any way, don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

Here is an update on last week’s blog, which if you have been following for the past month, can probably agree it would make for an excellent PBS after school special… “The Roller Coaster Life of a High School Strength Coach: The Alan Stein Story.”

Our leading scorer, Terrence Ross, who withdrew from Montrose upon our arrival back from Florida, has re-enrolled in his old high school (Jefferson HS in Portland, OR).  He is petitioning the state for an exemption to allow him to finish the season with them. If that goes through, he will be eligible to suit up early next week and help them pursue a state championship.  Is it just me, or is there something monumentally wrong with this?

Due to the inclement weather, we did not make the trip to New Jersey for the Nike Primetime Shoot-out.  It was very disappointing to not have the opportunity to play against legendary coach Bob Hurley and his high octane St. Anthony’s HS team.  I had been looking forward to that game since our schedule was released.  I have so much respect for Coach Hurley; it would have been an honor to play him.

So now my anticipation in seeing how our guys will respond to our back-to-back losses will have to wait until tomorrow when we play Ballou HS in College Park in the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland. 

We have not played a game since January 30^th. This past Monday marked only our third practice in the month of February!  In hindsight, I firmly believe the extended time off from the snow has been both a gift and a curse.  On one hand, it has given our guys some much needed time away… to reflect on (and hopefully mature from) our recent adversities. On the other hand, the only way you can get the taste of losing out of your mouth is to win… which means our back-to-back losses in Orlando have been lingering for nearly three weeks. We are ready to play!

All of that is behind us now.  No sense in living in the past.  It is time for a fresh a start.

Pause. Deep breath. Smile.

This blog is the first of a two part series on a subject that I hold near and dear to my heart:

 “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches”

I am a coach to the core.  I just happen to coach the X’s and O’s of strength & conditioning instead of the X’s and O’s of basketball.  I am passionate about coaching and have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to becoming the absolute best coach I can be.  I have read hundreds of books, watched dozens of DVDs, and attended countless coaching clinics.  I have subscribed to just about every basketball coaching resource available.  I have filled binder after binder with hand scribbled notes. My commitment to my own professional development is at times, overwhelming.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love it! Coaching is what makes me tick.

I have been extremely fortunate in my career to have had access to some of the best basketball coaches in history.  I have spent 7 years under the direct tutelage of Coach Stu Vetter. I have had lengthy conversations with Coach K, Jay Wright, Rick Barnes, Tubby Smith, and Gary Williams. I have had dinner with Hubie Brown, Bob Hurley, and Rick Majerus. I have spoken at clinics with Don Meyer, Chuck Daly, Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, and Billy Donovan. I have attended camps run by Dean Smith and Morgan Wootten. I have assisted camps with Tates Locke and Kevin Eastman. I have worked alongside numerous coaches at the McDonalds All-American games, Jordan All-American Classic games, and the Nike Skills Academies.  And I did my absolute best to soak up as much knowledge as possible from each of these iconic figures. And please know, I don’t mention these names to brag, but more to give thanks for the impact they have had on my development.  And while I have mentioned several high profile names, I can’t even begin to compile a list of every coach who has helped me, taught me, inspired me… and left their mark on me. And don’t get it twisted; it’s not about the names. Some of the finest coaches I have ever been around are not necessarily famous… but are remarkable coaches, teachers, and motivators. I have built some incredible friendships along the way, and as I mentioned in last week’s blog, I am eternally grateful to be a part of the coaching fraternity.

With that said, I wanted to do a blog that highlighted some of the things I have learned in the past 10 years as well as share a handful of resources I have collected along the way.  I will elaborate at the end of this post, but all you have to do is email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com and I will happily send you several powerful “coaching nuggets.”

This blog series will be structured a little different than my previous posts (change is good, right?).  This past December I did a phone interview with my friend Andy Louder from Hoop Skills Academy (www.HoopSkills.com).   The topic was “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches.”  What follows is an edited transcript from that interview.  I will post the remainder of the interview next week in the second segment.

Andy Louder: The first question I have deals with a broad topic of coaching in general. When I look at exceptional, top notch, hall-of-fame caliber coaches, I generally see three things they possess. They’ve got exceptional leadership skills, they’re great motivators, and they’ve got immense basketball knowledge. Now for a beginning coach, obviously it’s very hard to acquire all three of these things at once. Which of these areas do you recommend newer, inexperienced coaches focus on the most?

Alan Stein: While coaches wear many hats, and their job is all encompassing, I completely agree with you as far as narrowing it down to those three areas. It is difficult to pick which one should ultimately take precedence, but I’d have to lean towards leadership. I think great coaching always begins with leadership. As a coach at any level, you’re basically the CEO of a small company (your team) and it all starts with you and the environment and culture you create. It starts with the habits you instill and the standards you establish with everyone in your program. All three of the areas you mentioned require distinctly different skill sets.  I think especially for newer coaches, the Xs and Os will come over time and through experience.  Growth in coaching is learning through trial and error and seeing which things work and which things don’t. The basketball portion can be learned. You can attend clinics and get DVDs to pick up the basketball drills, concepts, and sets. So I suggest focusing on the leadership aspect and developing a strong culture with your program. You also need to work hard to develop a quality relationship with your players and staff.  You must build mutual trust and respect. You need to work hard to be the type of leader your players want to follow. Remember, as a coach, it all starts with you. Coach Don Meyer once said, “An army of asses led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions led by an ass.”

Andy Louder: Very good. I think the first thing most new coaches gravitate towards is the Xs and Os. They think they’ve got to be a wizard on the court and know all the right plays. I agree with you Alan, I think it’s more about taking control of your team, being a leader, and getting everybody to focus on the same goal. OK, next question. Basketball practices are obviously a very important component to success. How would you recommend maximizing practice time?

Alan Stein: From a coaching standpoint, whether you’re a new coach or you’ve been a coach for 30 years, it’s very important you develop your basketball coaching philosophy and you need to stick to your convictions. You need to be authentic to yourself and your personality.  Learn from other coaches, but don’t ever try to be another coach. You need to have a priority list of what’s important to you and your program. You need to have a philosophy from a leadership standpoint point as well as an Xs and Os standpoint.  What do you believe in? What are your values? You have to be consistent in what you preach. Every program is going to be a little bit different in what they prioritize. If you’re going to be a running team, constantly looking to press and fast break, then that needs to be a high priority during practice (as does your teams’ conditioning level).  You get what you emphasize!  I also recommend being as time efficient as possible. If you can efficiently get in everything you need in an hour and a half… then don’t drag the practice out to two hours.  Focus more on the intensity of effort and the quality of effort as opposed to the quantity effort. This is really important towards the end of the season to alleviate both physical and mental burn-out. At Montrose we are very big in standardization and consistency. All of our practices follow a similar template and a pre-planned practice schedule. We work on different things every day, but the template is always the same. There is always a player led structured warm-up followed by “pre-practice,” which is 10 minutes of individual, position specific skill work where we divide the bigs and the guards. Then we have a 3-minute team meeting at the jump circle where we share a quote of the day, we have an offensive emphasis of the day (ex. “penetrate the gaps against a zone defense”), and a defensive emphasis of the day (ex. “close out on all shooters with a high hand”).  Then we break in unison and usually start practice with one or two of our fast break drills. This gets the players running and communicating and sets the tone for the rest of practice. At Montrose, we hold our kids accountable for everything they do during practice. We chart missed layups, free throws, charges taken, and dives for loose balls. At the end of practice, there are rewards and penalties for those types of plays. Every detail is important in our program. Our goal is to create consistent work habits. Repetition is not a form of punishment!

Andy Louder: So you would say, rather than just bombard your players with all sorts of thoughts, ideas and drills and going from one idea to the next, get your few simple ideas in place for each practice and really stress on doing them well… so they can eventually master those things?

Alan Stein: Absolutely.  And you need to find balance throughout the year.  The off-season is a great time to do more individualized skill work, where players work on specific moves and address specific weaknesses. Once the season starts, more focus should be placed on the overall team concept during practice time (players should be encouraged to do their individual work on their own; outside of practice). But it is all about balance. We certainly do individual shooting drills during practice, because we want our players to get in quality reps; but those drills take up a much smaller percentage of time than they do in the off-season. We spend more time involving team concepts such as practicing different end of game situations (down 3, the other team has the ball, 1:24 left in the game, both teams in the bonus). We coach both offense and defense during these situations. We want every person on our team to develop… not just the starting 5.  This is how you build a program, not just a team. We are also constantly trying to find ways to maximize our personnel and find who plays well together. It’s very rare that the five best players win a championship. It’s usually the five players that play the best together that win!  A true team is made up of players who understand and accept their role and maximize each of their strengths… while minimizing each of their weaknesses.  And figuring out that winning combination is one of the challenges of coaching! And establishing each player’s role… and getting them to accept it… is arguably the most difficult challenge.

Alright, that’s the end of “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches Part I.” I will post the second segment next week, so please check back.

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I have collected a variety of “coaching nuggets” over the years. I just recently sifted through them and pulled out my favorites… including some wisdom, advice, and stories from some brilliant basketball minds. If you would like them, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.  I am happy to share them with you and encourage you to forward them (with a link to this blog) to all of your colleagues.

And as always, check out (and subscribe to) www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  I just posted the Maryland Basketball Pre-game Warm-up.  My friend and colleague, Paul Ricci, does an outstanding job as their strength & conditioning coach.

If you would like the two songs I have been using in all of my recent videos, “Game Time” by S.K. and “Hoop Connection” by Chip Da Ripper, send me an email and I will gladly send them to you.  They are great for pre-game warm-ups or to listen to on your iPod during an individual workout.

As always, if you need anything else, or if I can be of service in any way, don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

www.Twitter.com/AlanStein