Player Development, Part I

Today, Ettore Messina held a clinic at the University of Toronto regarding the development of the young post player. I thought that it was a very insightful presentation and included some technical elements which are not usually covered in North American coaching literature.

First of all, Messina spoke of developing trust with players. I agree with his point that players will respect you once you prove that you can help them improve. To me, it’s highly logical and creates relationships based on respect, not the one-sided interactions that have become prevalent in schools and teams in North America. As I am focusing on my personal connections this season, I will try to keep this intuitive point in mind.

Coaches must give athletes opportunities to succeed, in order to build confidence and build relationships between coaches and players and between teammates. When an athlete succeeds at a simple task, they feel confident about trying something more difficult. When players see that coaches are helping them, they buy into the system. When a guard sees that a post is helping them defensively, they will trust them by passing them the pass at the other end.

Messina also discussed the instruction of specific skills to make things easier for players. Skills should be challenging at first but not impossible. During the Summer Olympics, Mark Tewksbury stated that Canada should have specific skill benchmarks for athletes at all levels (for example, how well should a fifteen year old swimmer be able to perform the dolphin kick) and Messina’s coaching philosophy supports Tewksbury’s claim. Both athletes and coaches are responsible for making consistent progress and keeping standards realistically high.

Body of Lies

Body of Lies is unfortunately less than the sum of its parts. Fortunately, it’s made with a number of top quality parts (Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio) so it’s still a very entertaining story. Crowe has worked with director Scott in previous films such as American Gangster and Gladiator and they always do well together. Body of Lies is much closer in quality, scale, and significance to the more recent American Gangster than the Academy Award winning Gladiator.

It is still a film that is worth seeing.

I am tired of films with taglines such as “Trust No One”, overly enthusiastic editing that confuses the storyline, and excessive use of technology as a plot device. It becomes clichéd, like trailers that attempt to pique interest by making the film seem incomprehensible. Reviews of the film criticized the use of cellphones but it was necessary in order to connect Crowe and DiCaprio. The two were positioned on opposite sides of the world and would not have been able to see each other personally often. (Even Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro had to interact via telephones in Heat.) I thought that it was also important to symbolize how Crowe’s Ed Hoffman was losing his grip on his personal life at the expense of his career: real-life interactions replaced by a cellphone headset.

The ensemble cast carries their share of the load. Body of Lies includes some very intense scenes that were made possible because of tremendous performances. Crowe punctuated several scenes with a memorable glance over his thick glasses.

DiCaprio’s Roger Ferris was trying to balance the priorities in his life, struggling to prevent himself from being physically and mentally destroyed. Ferris’s love interest, Aisha helped him save himself, both when he received a rabies shot at the hospital where she worked but when they fell in love later. On the other hand, the story wrapped itself up far too neatly. The plot was complicated and I found it implausible that all the loose ends were seemingly tied up.

Body of Lies means to show how the United States has lost its way in the war on terror. Hoffman says that the terrorists have simplified their existence and see the conflict as fighting “men from the future.” Jordanian intelligence chief Hani Salaam says that “the U.S. cannot keep a secret because they are a democracy.” In the end, it is Salaam’s basic methodology that surpasses the sophisticated technology and size of the C.I.A..

Scott’s contribution is fairly limited. There are some clever jump cuts that enhance the disjointed nature of the screenplay. He also captures some of the action in epic helicopter shots, showing how the audience is only watching this story from far, far away.

Relationships and Individuals

Coaching is often described as relationship building, bridging people together. When two random squads play the team with superior talent, the players most physically and mentally ready to play, will win. Sometimes, the talent comes pre-packaged, hence the importance of recruiting and motivation in short-term scenarios.

When a coach possesses the luxury of time, what attributes become necessary? Does relationship-building remain paramount? When is it necessary to know the game and develop talent? Where do high standards fit in? A sophisticated project requires a sophisticated approach.

The Canadian National Soccer Team faces turmoil because certain key players were dismissed for reasons not germane to the pursuit of the World Cup. The players felt that they deserved a personal call from the Head Coach informing them of recent personnel moves; the coach felt that they shouldn’t have spoken out. Consequently, Canada will miss another World Cup and faces a dilatory qualification schedule remaining.

In a program, I think that it is important to develop talent. Players and coaches must improve continuously throughout the year. Student-athletes should take their responsibilities seriously and undertake the challenge of self-actualization; coaches should assign specific tasks to keep things simple and keep the team focused. Everyone should devise high standards and hold themselves to them, pushing each other to get better at game intensity.

It is not solely the teacher or the coaches job to make the class interesting or the practice fun. School or basketball shouldn’t be all work but individuals needs to find their own motivation. If it isn’t inside, it’s hard for someone to jam it in from the outside. Interest and fun can come from success, improvement, and Maslow’s self-satisfaction from being the best you can be.

If a coach can engender this sort of motivation, they can overcome a lack of relationship-building skill. An expert high performance coach can serve these players well, but they must want to be served. It is a relationship founded on respect.