What I Learned this Summer, Part II

This was probably the area where it is most difficult to evaluate my progress. Largely because I have not had any specific feedback from students about my lesson plans. I enrolled in a OISE/UT Additional Qualifications course and was able to communicate and exchange ideas with a plethora of business teachers facing similar concerns.

Consequently, I have a much better idea of what I teach, why I teach, who I teach, and how I should teach. Even if I forget the entire Business Studies component of this course, I will remember to ask myself those questions.

Throughout the course, we discussed how to best put ourselves in the shoes of the students who are enrolled in the course. While completing a technology based assignment, we talked about how challenging it can be to try a new task with no prior experience. Sometimes it seems that as teachers and coaches, we have done the same thing so many times we forgot what it was like to do it the first time. I will be sure to help students adapt to their new environment as they enter Grade 9 and comprehend new technologies which may be unfamiliar.

I don’t want to be in class talking about the politics of marketing or on the court talking about the triangle offence if the teenagers to whom I am speaking don’t understand the concept. As a leader, it is my job to break these ideas down into smaller specific instructions. I really want to incorporate more scaffolding in the classroom and in my practice plans. I can’t tell an M.D.P. team that the timing of the camp offence is off without explaining why this is important and how it scoring opportunities for everyone can be increased if we tighten up the execution. As Lao-Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Even Mike Krzyzewski spoke about how the Redeem Team had an attention-span of fifteen minutes and that he needed to mix things up with different speakers, different media, and rhetorical techniques, especially humour. In the The Gold Standard, Coach K writes about how instructing major concepts at the beginning of practice seemed to sap everyone’s energy. The articles and books that I read - along with my assignments for OISE/UT and the National Coaching Institute - demonstrated how much my first two goals for the summer are very interconnected.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann has constucted an entertaining period film with his latest release, Public Enemies. The film recounts the exploits of bank robber John Dillinger during the Great Depression. Although he may be an outlaw, Dillinger captures the public imagination with his charisma and Robin Hood persona. Initially, Dillinger was sent to prison for robbing a grocery store. He regretted the crime because of the kind nature of the store owner but became embittered towards society because of a sentence that he felt was excessive. After leaving prison, he successfully organizes a series of daring bank robberies but always steals from the bank, never the customers with whom he sympathizes.

This empathy becomes his downfall as he becomes involved in a relationship with “Billie” Frechette and remains loyal to individuals whom he should avoid. When she is arrested because the police wish to squeeze him, he remains in Chicago and is eventually killed. Dillinger’s inability to quit when he is ahead and refusal to change leads to his downfall outside a movie theatre in Chicago. Like another biopic that I screened this year, Milk, Public Enemies remains tense despite the fact that you know the protagonist is going to get it eventually.

Mann alters the facts to suit his needs. The timeline of the story is not entirely accurate but it makes for a more interesting story. Mann devises a situation where Dillinger is the last of his gang at large but that it not really the case. The director creates an image of a rebellious anti-hero but it is not until late in the film that Dillinger reveals exactly what motivates him. The film seems to correctly portray the public and media hysteria towards the criminal, showing perhaps that the more things change, the more things remain the same.

At times it seems as if Christian Bale’s role, agent Melvin Purvis, offers the more compelling character. As pressure from Washington increases and methods within the F.B.I. increase, Purvis seems to be conflicted, asking himself the question posed by the recently deceased Robert McNamara as he reflected on the Vietnam war: “What makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?” As Purvis employs increasingly extreme measures in order to apprehend Dillinger, the agent has more and more trouble living with himself. Twenty years after the shooting death of John Dillinger, Melvin Purvis shoots himself.

Who is the noblest character, the criminal who always sticks with his friends or the lawman who may have executed Pretty Boy Floyd in cold blood? Neither is exactly who they seem, residing among shades of grey rather than the moral absolutes of good and bad, like the rest of the citizens of the world.

Why We Make Mistakes

Why We Make Mistakes provides anecdotal evidence about why humans repeatedly commit the same common errors. The books is written like a concise summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Outliers books that imparts more information in less words.

The book outlines countless ways that someone can make a bad decision, from drivers to surgeons. There is no universal remedy to reduce blunders but overconfidence and a failure to understand and make use of feedback were consistent among multiple missteps. The old adage repeated by Winston Churchill seems to be appropriate: “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.”

Building upon Gladwell’s books, author Joe Hallinan writes that it is not simply enough to complete 10,000 hours of an activity, one must intelligently analyze their performance and learn what could be improved. When acting quickly, humans should be aware that brains process information according to previously established paradigms: we see what we expect to see. Keeping an open mind and adjusting to the situation can reduce oversights.

Hungry for More

Hunger - a film recreation of the hunger strike by I.R.A. leader, British M.P., and inmate of the Maze Prison in Belfast Bobby Sands - is mostly very good. It is a gritty recreation of the “Troubles” between the United Kingdom and Irish Republicans. The cast successfully portrays the intense emotions of Irish prisoners on a “blanket and no-wash” protest because they are seeking political status. When Sands and other inmates seek to up the ante with a hunger strike, the actors give the audience a real sense of the determination required to sacrifice oneself for a cause.

However, major flaws abound.

Firstly, the lead character is not sympathetic at all. As the audience watches Sands deteriorate and suffer extraordinarily painful symptoms, he merits no compassion. He is reprehensible and completely disregards the lives of others and their families. There is no reason that anyone but one of his compatriots would wish for him to survive or hope that he proves his point.

The protagonist orders the murder of prison guards and encourages other inmates to end their lives by joining his strike. Sands is not a tragic hero who recognizes his mistakes and regrets the path he has chosen. He is simply a callous and self-centered ideologue who is so consumed by the righteousness of his cause that he is hyperopic to those around him, like Pádraic Delaney in The Wind that Shakes the Barley as he executes his own brother for the sake of the new Irish Free State.

Secondly, the symbolism of the film is inconsistent. Early in the film, the director Steve McQueen focuses on the hands: the bloodied and bruised hands of a guard, the feces encrusted hands of a protesting prisoner, and the gloved hands of the cleaning staff. This is meaningful because the hands are the tools of the characters, like the characters are the tools of the British and Irish sides. That is, until the idea is abandoned midway through the film.

The film begins by profiling the daily minutiae of a guard’s life. I’m not sure what to make of him; he doesn’t seem to enjoy his job and has become desensitized by all the violence required. Sands is shown with his family members and discussing his ideals with the prison pastor and this helps clarify his character. There is a half-hearted attempt to show parallels between the good and the evil (although this is from an entirely relative point of view) but it is not coherent throughout the film.

I’m not sure what the message is of the film. Considering the mindless violence of the Troubles and the two thousand civilians killed, nobody is sympathetic. Perhaps, as Andy Dufresne said in another prison drama, The Shawshank Redemption, it’s “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

Fate Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Smokey the Bear persistently preached that “only you can prevent forest fires.” He understood that he could preach until he was blue in the fur about fire safety but he could only succeed if everyone did their part. A coach can make speeches, review game tape, prepare scouting reports, or employ coaching gimmicks but the team can only succeed if every player on the court contributes.

After a Toronto High School Senior Boys Basketball championship game, a West Hill player was heard to remark that the game was “easy.” One teammate concurred but another remarked that “wait, we lost.” Some athletes can’t separate process from outcome or recognize the differences between each definition of success. It is another issue entirely when team can’t figure out that both the process and the outcome are wrong and does not make adjustments.

Maybe the other team isn’t intense or applying pressure but let that be their problem. Beth Mende Conny once said that “if you can’t take control of your life, don’t complain when others do.” Or don’t sit there in the locker room afterwards wondering what happened.

Like work ethic, fear is an emotion that athletes can only conquer themselves. Jim Valvano remarked that “there are 86,400 seconds in a day. It’s up to you to decide what to do with them.” Well, there are 1,920 seconds in a high school game and it’s up to you to perform and leave it on the court without regrets.

The Class

For teachers, Laurent Cantet’s Palme d’Or winning film, Entre les murs, is a mirror on their daily lives. For others, it’s a window into a public school system that has changed a great deal during the past twenty years.

François Marin teaches the French language to junior high students in the 20th Arrondissement in Paris. Over the course of the year, both teachers and students face many trials and tribulations. At the end, almost everyone admits that they have learned something and they all get along during a staff-student soccer match. However, the year is not a success for all, such as a student expelled for violent behaviour and another who wishes to drop out.

Debates occur frequently: in class, in the staff room, and during meeting. The protagonist must separate François from M. Marin for his own personal health and sanity. The film questions how important decisions are made in schools and whether they best serve the student: how should students be rewarded (and penalized)? Do the needs of the many (the class) outweigh the needs of the few (the student)? Doubt is cast on the relevance of the curriculum and whether anyone really knows anything (“If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don’t know”). Students continually debate the matter of which African country has the best soccer team.

How can teachers best serve students? Youth require some combination of the curriculum, along with communication, critical thinking, analysis, socialization, self-control, organization, and countless other skills. Can it be taught in a single year, or over the course of thirteen years? As the characters find out at the end of the film, there are things more important than what happens between the walls of the classroom.

John Wooden said that teachers should never get angry with students who test them but they should always remain fair and firm. M. Marin does his best but even the best teachers at the school slip from time to time and need help. During the school year, both students and teachers make significant personal improvements.

The film is very realistic, posing as a documentary. It may run a little long but the story successfully creates drama and comedic out of mundane school moments. The screenplay is accurate, depicting many moments that may seem absurd when shown on the big screen but occur daily in school around the globe. The large cast performs very well and the audience develops a rapport with the teachers and the students, even those who disrupt the class. Cantet and writer François Bégaudeau ask relevant questions about the school system and its future direction.

One student struggles with writing but can succeed by communicating in other ways. Unfortunately, due to his self-control problems, he takes a step backwards. After expulsion, it is hoped the student will succeed at his new school but his fate remains unknown.

Another Way to Die

A door left open: Bo Schembechler said “prepare, prepare, prepare.” John Wooden said that “failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” You can’t get upset on the court or in life when you are let down by something you should have foreseen and prepared for.

A woman walking by: In every life, short-term pleasure can’t overcome long-term pain. Treat the source, not the symptoms. Correct the player’s attitude so that they buy-in and become willing to correct their technique.

A man on your side: Another inch of your life sacrificed for your brother. If it impedes productivity, deal with it immediately; otherwise avoid getting caught up in the paperwork. Coaches should remember that they need to get paid too. The team can only go so far. In the hospital, there is plenty of paperwork so you won’t miss it.

A look in the eye: Essentially, John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” is nothing but a set of very high standards. If you compromise your own standards, looking at yourself in the mirror every morning becomes the most unbearable part of each day.

A phone on the table: Finding passion on your own is immensely difficult. Not everyone is interested in pushing the boundaries of quality. Finding coaches and players who share the same philosophy is critical.

Someone that you think that you can trust: Undeserved self-satisfaction is the timeless rival of self-actualization. If you are doing something interesting, challenging yourself, why bother? There are so many tiers in sport. Anyone can win a game at some level but not everyone can reach their potential.

Another way to die: Toiling through routine, repeating the same mistakes, wondering why we’re here; we’ve all been in one situation or another. When a person ceases to better themselves, they stagnate and die. Even little steps, made each class, prep period, practice, and game in the hopes of making a substantive change over an entire term or season can forestall a slow and ignominious death.

Talent Myopia

In 1960, Theodore Levitt published Marketing Myopia, a seminal article for the Harvard Business Review that highlighted how a narrow understanding and a refusal to accept change doomed a number of business empires. Companies ranging from electric street car manufacturers that didn't understand the effect of the automotive industry to dry cleaners who did not cope with the development of new synthetic fabrics were criticized. The same problems also manifest themselves away from the business world, on the basketball court, where players get caught up with their own abilities and misunderstand their role in the sport.

Self-Deceiving Cycle: There is a certain groupthink among today’s ballers, ideas and opinions taken as given, facts ignored, despite all common sense. They follow the hoop culture vicariously via NBA.com but don’t follow the example of their role models. They watch an And1 mix tape and assume that they have the all the skills they need. E.O. Wilson once said that “Blind faith, no matter how passionately expressed, will not suffice. Science for its part will test relentlessly every assumption about the human condition.”

The Cycle develops as players forget how their heroes made the Association, ignoring examples like Steve Nash shooting free throws in the rain on Vancouver Island and disregarding the countless others who wanted to be him but failed in a blaze of glory. From where they are now, focusing only on their narrow range of skills and not the entire game, it might serve them well to read the signposts.

Production Pressure: It can’t be denied that young players are pressured by countless others. There’s pressure to keep the baskets coming at the Bantam level, rather than shoot correctly (irrespective of the outcome). There’s pressure to win by any means necessary rather than do it the right way (you don’t get paid for winning club games). There’s pressure to talk about Brandon Roy’s three-point buzzer beater against Houston, rather than the player who allowed him to get open (Travis Outlaw set the screen). There’s pressure achieve the coach’s definition of success, rather than John Wooden’s (As Coach Wooden would say, you can’t shoot if you can’t move and get open). Coaches should pressure players to improve, not just perform.

Population Myth: Some excellent student-athletes have always been recruited because they standout at their level. There are countless youth teams but very few professional leagues, and very few professional leagues that pay well. It’s hard to make a living playing ball. Agents serve dozens of clients and most of them are not Scott Boras.

Sooner or later, the number of buyers will shrink and the number of sellers will remain the same. Coaches will not only assess players on their physical abilities but their mental and social abilities as well. Some players will reach a certain point based on talent alone but others will be held back. Some players will less talent will surpass them because they play the game well.

Student-athletes must accept that they are basketball players, not ball handlers or scorers and learn the about the entire game: accept advice, rebound, set screens, give help, take leadership, move the ball, pass and cut, etc… Even Trajan Langdon is getting paid to play basketball these days.

Synecdoche, New York

“The visible world is no longer a reality and the unseen world no longer a dream.” - W.B. Yeats
Synecdoche, New York, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Charlie Kaufman opened to mixed reviews this past weekend. I thought it was a good film.

Kaufman’s directorial debut delves into death, divorce, and decay. The protagonist, Caden Cotard, a struggling director in Schenectady, New York reads the obituaries of different friends in the newspaper as September turns into November in a single morning. Eventually, Caden’s wife leaves him and he becomes paranoid about his health. He receives an apparently unlimited grant which permits him to move to New York City and stage a play of his life, which becomes a play of a play, and more.

Surrealism reigns and space and time become compressed; eventually seventeen years pass. Cast members leave, others arrive, and eventually his ex-wife, daughter, and lover are dead (she died of smoke inhalation after moving into a burning house, put on the market by a “motivated seller”). Caden can no longer take the strain of directing and swaps roles with one of his actors.

During one of the many funerals, a priest announces that everyone is insignificant in an absolute sense. Compared to the life of the universe, a person is alive for less than a mere fraction of a second, spending eons waiting to be born and the rest of time being dead. Yet, a person can discover moments of significance in a relative sense, as Caden discovers when he finally accepts the overtures of Hazel, who was front of house for his productions in Schenectady and assistant director after the company moved to New York.

People are largely interchangeable, as shown by the actors who star in Caden’s play - and the play within it - and the performances of Hoffman and the rest of the cast. The character is as real as any person in the theatre. It doesn’t matter if you are Caden, the first Brock in a series, the twentieth one, or the only one. Eventually, one of the Prisoners leaves the Cave and doesn’t know what to make of it, like Dave in 2001: A Space Odessey.

Caden’s life does not work out as he had planned and he spends a great deal of time cleaning. He’s worried that he is dying, progressing from a fear of death in a few days, to a death in several months, to death in many years.

Years later, Caden makes peace with the mother of the actress with whom he traded places. Since people are peers of one another, this moment provides sufficient satisfaction to the director. He lets most of his worries go moments and finally enjoys life for a moment. Then he dies.

Identity, Choices, and Perspective

“No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one may be true.”
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Regrettably, I played on a summer league team that was absolutely blown out in the playoffs; fortunately, I was able to reflect on the outcome and develop some good rules for handling this situation in the future.

Establish and maintain a consistent identity: Once a coaching career is underway, every time one steps on the court they must determine beforehand whether they will play or coach that game. It is not possible to do both well and I don’t think it’s possible to have fun performing poorly, irrespective of the number of middling performances.

Select a role and define goals before beginning. Whether leader or part of the whole, execute responsibilities as best as possible.

Establish whether the team will be comprised of friends or players: It’s fun to run with friends just for laughs but it’s frustrating to play with teammates who hold different motivations. Once again, goals and responsibilities must be clearly defined and team objectives and obligations must be outlined collectively. The pursuit of glory and self-actualization can stress even the best relationships so prevent potential conflicts when choosing team members.

Establish a sense of perspective: Most of time, basketball is merely a game. Wishing for an entire guard rotation taller than 6-2 is vain because whilst that would be a boon when confronted by athletic teams, it’s not happening in a summer league.

It shouldn’t take an Ignmar Bergman film to understand that the hardwood is not paramount and that while the game is seductive, it should never wreak meaningful consequences, whether it is cross words among friends, clichéd aphorisms during the huddle, or stress after the game.

Comedian: “Aren’t there special rules for actors?”
Death: “No, not in this case.”
- The Seventh Seal

Individual and Team Honours

“I think back to the people who would drop by my office and say, ‘keep your head up’ when you’re feeling down. Publicly, when I was out and about, I kept my head up, you’re never going to show people that you’re struggling with things on the inside, but when you’re sitting in your office by yourself and you’ve lost three or four in a row and people come by and say kind words, you remember those times.”
- Sam Mitchell

The Toronto Raptors bested the New Jersey Nets 89-83 in Game 2 of a first-round series and Sam Mitchell claimed the Association’s Coach of the Year Award today. The former far supercedes the latter because it is the first playoff win in five seasons but Mitchell’s citation is also meaningful because it is significant of team effort and was earned because Toronto’s coaches and players kept their heads up and succeeded despite adversity, illustrating a number of clichéd verses written over the years.

April is the cruelest month. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry he could not travel both, Sam Mitchell finds a thrill in bucking fate and riding down the endless odds. Il a mis son manteau de pluie, parce qu’il pleuvait, et il est parti sous la pluie. His is not to make reply, his is not to reason why.

Oh, all the places he’ll go. If he can dream - and not make dreams his master, if he can think - and not make thoughts his aim, if he can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, his is the Earth and everything that’s in it.

“It is the eye which makes the horizon.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Preparation and attitude are two of the few things that a coach or athlete can control on game day. I’ve found the offensive sets that the Raptors run to be completely anemic occasionally (Tuesday’s win was encouraging because it shows that Toronto can compete with New Jersey and won’t settle completely for a perimeter game if faced with a combination of a zone defence and crucial no-calls) and Mitchell’s brief experience means that he has much to learn about coaching.

H.A. Dorfman comments on the fine line between athletes who are focused on accomplishing goals and those worried by negative self-talk. Greg Maddux’s mantra is to “execute pitches”; Dorfman believes that pitchers should try to “control the strike zone” or “attack the hitter” because those who fret that “they don’t have good stuff” are doomed to be hit hard.

Likewise, Sam Mitchell has been instrumental in helping this younger team come together and reach their potential. Mitchell has modeled how to remain positive and self-evaluate correctly and the team has benefited from his perspective. Coaching in the Association is exceptionally difficult, as Bob Hill demonstrated when he got a pink slip as Mitchell was getting the Red Auerbach Award.

There is room for improvement throughout the organization and it’s possible that the best path through the yellow wood is the one that Sam Mitchell is traveling. Also, props to my 2007 Championship pick, the Phoenix Suns, for not repeating last year’s mistakes and running the Los Angeles Lakers off the court during the first two games of their first-round series.

Do the Right Thing

So Reggie Evans put his foot under Chris Bosh as he released a jumpshot, rolling his ankle. In response, Rasho Nesterovic punched Evans the next time that he attempted a lay-up.

“Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another.”
- Arthur Conan Doyle

Do the Right Thing depicts Mookie - a pizza delivery boy - as he tries to balance his employer, family, partner and son, and community. He eventually tosses a garbage can through the pizzeria window. After being told how he would always be welcome at the restaurant, Mookie instigated a riot that destroyed the place.

“Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.”
- James Naismith

Spike Lee’s film illustrates how those who are the victims of intolerance are often quite intolerant themselves. Sal’s use of ethnic slurs during an argument with Radio Raheem instigates a brawl which leads to the destruction of Sal’s pizzeria in a fire and Raheem’s death in a police beating.

“I just try not to offend anyone, set a good example, and watch what I say because words can cut deeper than a punch to the mouth.”
- Sam Mitchell

Minimalism

I was coaching a team that won a league title on Sunday and I didn’t do anything. The credit - as usual - belongs to the team and I was fortunate to coach a team where all the players contributed. Aside from getting one of the referee’s attention and touching my shoulders once midway through the first half, I made sure that I stayed out of my team’s way.

Screens permitted ballhandlers to get to the key, traps and pressure forced turnovers, and the team won the rebounding battle. In the previous round, the team had started slowly and needed to make up a thirteen point deficit in the second half. In comparison, maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the game was almost relaxing.

I regret not distributing the playing time more evenly. That was an egregious oversight that I will not have a chance to rectify. I think that everyone played at least eight minutes and nobody more than thirty-two but I relied heavily on the starting five. Personally, knowing that I could have done better puts a damper on the occasion.

When asked why he left his starters in the game during the 1998-99 season, Mike D’Antoni said that he’d “rather be the a------ who won by a lot than the idiot who blew the game.” Fair or not, that accurately describes a reality of coaching. Having erased the opponent’s large lead during the semi-finals, I was sensitive to the chance of a comeback and wanted to win. Consequently, I will be apologizing later this week to a number of players.

That Championship Season

Myriad films have employed basketball as a plot device (Hoosiers), a Sisyphean obstacle for the protagonist (Hoop Dreams), and an outlet for a character’s creativity (Finding Forrester); That Championship Season utilizes the sport as a symbol of what has been lost.

Four high school teammates reunite with their coach twenty-four years after their state championship triumph. During the intervening years, they have married, pursued their careers, and gone their separate ways.

“We lost something boys.”
- Coach Delaney

Subtle changes were made to the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title. For example, the play emphasizes how compromising their personal values in the pursuit of winning is largely responsible for the characters’ dysfunction but this is only introduced late in the film. On the stage, greater blame is laid on the actions of Coach Delaney but he appears to be the glue that keeps everything together on screen.

The key theme is unchanged: glory fades but the people remain. The former teammates can recreate the last-second play that won the final game but interactions off the court later than evening illustrate how they are no longer a team. The Fillmore H.S. team was successful because it accomplished goals that they players could not have reached independently.

As adults, lacking the focus provided by participating in something significant, the players have hurt themselves and each other. The players’ names may be engraved on a silver trophy but a high school title that they won when they were teenagers cannot carry them through life.

That Championship Season illustrates the affect a coach can have on a player. The final member of the starting five hasn’t been seen in a quarter century because of resentment over the methods used to achieve victory. While extreme representations were necessary to keep the play and film dramatic, coaches should still be mindful of their influence, even on a smaller scale.

“Never accept anything less than success. It’s a philosophy.”
- Coach Delaney

Tex Winter said that one is only a success at the moment they are performing a successful act. Afterwards, it’s time to more on to the next target. Only after Coach Delaney brings the players together again and inspires them to work on George’s mayoral campaign are they able to put aside their differences, move forward with their lives, and become a team again.

Watching the Association on ESPN

"How can you give up a wide open three followed by an offensive rebound on the other side of the court?"
- Bill Walton, during the Spurs-Rockets game on 24 January 2007

Team defence is getting worse and worse in the Association and beyond. Conversely it seems like the screen and roll play is getting better and better.

Inbounding under their basket with few seconds remaining on the shot clock, the Spurs set a double screen for Ginobli on the foul line. Ginobli curled the screen, received a pass, and made the lay-up.

Earlier in the evening, Marion set a ballscreen for Nash in the corner. While the two defenders converged on the ballhandler, the Matrix rolled to the hoop, received a pass, and made the lay-up.

Both times, one could ask: "where's the help?" Even if the screener's defenders are caught up, help-side positioning and communication should prevent the easy basket. These principles could have enabled the Rockets to box-out Elson properly and earn praise from Bill Walton instead of scorn.

"Excellence is doing a common thing uncommonly well."
- Booker T. Washington

Inevitably - irrespective of the quality of the defence - it is execution of the little things that contributes of the success of the offence. Phoenix keeps it real, leading the league in transition baskets, slipping the screen, and pull-up jumpers. Coaches can lose their teams (and often themselves) when basketball becomes too complicated.

Many teams just suck at one end of the court. Emphasizing the basics leads to improvement. Rob Smart at Queen's has been doing a good job in this regard. The Golden Gaels' offence is a series of downscreens run for forty minutes. San Antonio ran something similar for Ginobli and Bowen. The teams execute, talk, and read, taking the opportunities the defence provides.

The Responsibility of the Coach

Evidently, it is the players play hard, play smart, and play together; the coach merely plays the role of the enabler and the modeler. If contributions were not made on the court when they were needed, contributions off the court were irrelevant. Players wear headbands and win games, coaches can only ban the former and observe the latter.

According to Bear Bryant, “After a victory the players deserve the credit; after a loss the coach deserves the blame.” Is Bryant’s dissection of the blame appropriate? If players merit praise for their physical and mental performance than they should receive criticism when warranted in a loss.

Except the opposite nature of victory and defeat create the possibility of dual judgment. Players seized the day and won the game. Winners performed up to their standards of quality under pressure. Losers didn’t perform. But why?

Usually because of a failure in the role of the coach. Did the coach model the way? Inspire a team vision? Challenge conventions? Enable and motivate others? Read enough Kouzes and Posner? The losing coach probably did not do enough or didn’t do it the right way for that group of players.

Fortunately, there is hope for the defeated coach. I’ve found that coaching is largely an exercise in self-actualization so everything that happens is a piece of information that can be used to climb higher so long as that information is thoroughly and accurately studied.

Self-evaluating after a loss I noted that the two major times that I intervened in the flow of the game resulted in positive outcomes for the team. There were no Isiah Thomas moments so I should be satisfied with my self-actualization, right?

In reality, my superficial analysis did no favours to either the team or me. The players deserve credit for working hard, overcoming adversity, and becoming closer together. For an early season game at this level, it was a sincere success. Reflecting critically, I realize that I deserve blame for countless acts that all contributed slightly to the defeat.

Thankfully, basketball wasn’t banned yesterday so there’s hope. Even if I can only fix one screen and roll sequence or speak slightly more concisely before the next game, it’s still a step forward and only one of many along a longer path.

Irrespective of my self-improvement, the players must still play the games. Becoming a better coach will provide the team with many more tools to do their job, win, and earn the credit they deserve.

Why Do We Coach?

Paul J. Meyer once said: “You never work for someone else. The truth is someone is paying you to work for yourself.”

Someone recently suggested that coaching for the purposes of self-actualisation was possibly selfish. In the end, don’t all humans choose their actions in order to satisfy a need (physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation)? Even those employed in an altruistic occupation do so because helping others meets their belonging, esteem, or self-actualisation needs.

The suggestion was made with a somewhat negative connotation. I couldn’t disagree more. People are free to act as they wish and no one can tell someone else how to make the most of themselves. Conventional wisdom is very popular and a revelation that all action is incentive based (economics is merely a model to understand life) can be hard to accept.

Why do we coach? Obviously, we love the game and the people - players, coaches, referees, and fans - who play it. But don’t coach to indulge ourselves; there are many ways to satisfy our basketball jones without affecting the lives of young people. We chose to assume positions of influence in the lives of student-athletes because we wanted to give back and make a difference.

Basketball (or any sport) is the vehicle, personal best sand self-actualization are the destinations. Since we coach because we want to help players become the people they aspire to, how do we make the biggest difference?

Choice Theory

A recent Choice Theory workshop that I attended was very productive. During a very valuable ninety minutes, the group discussed the negative consequences of criticism. Players and coaches shared how they had been affected by criticism. Coaches, family members, athletic directors, and others hurt people with thoughtless - and sometimes abusive - comments.

First of all, there is never any place for personal criticism. In sport, although it is necessary to provide feedback, comments should focus on specific behaviours, not a person's character. Secondly, correction must be supplemented with encouragement to build the confidence of individual athletes and the entire team.

Unhappy people evaluate others, happy people self-evaluate. Greg Norman once said: “If you’re serious about improving your play, be brutally honest with yourself.”

Track and Field and the Bar

Congratulations to Tyler Christopher, who won bronze in the Men’s 400m, Canada’s only medalist at the World Championships. Mark Boswell offered an interesting quote regarding his narrow miss of the bronze medal in the men’s high jump, “The bar can take you out as easily as it can put you in.” Unfortunately, it seems that many other promising Canadian competitors must go back to the mental training drawing board.

Sport=Art

When you play sports, you are the work of art. The show is ongoing; there is always another chance to perform. You can always improve what you have to offer.

Play sports for fun but take advantage of the opportunity to set new personal bests. Push yourselves and push your team-mates to get better. Don't set low expectations; don't expect to finish last.

Seriously, I was an athletics banquet and “at least we didn't finish last” was a refrain. Anyone can do better than last. I could take up any sport tomorrow and finish last (or better). If it were my first time playing that sport or I could see that at that time, that was where my abilities stood relative to my competitors, I wouldn't beat myself up over it. But I have pride and I would try my hardest to improve my performance the next time.

Athletics, like any other extra-curricular activity, is part of a school's identity. Sports can be a powerful vehicle for student-athletes to achieve their self-actualization goals. Obviously, students go to school to learn so they should hit the books first. Afterwards, it's still important to learn how to be the best you can be.

As Albert Camus said, “There is in this world beauty and there are the humiliated. We must strive, hard as it is, not to be unfaithful to the one or the other.”

Do your best, no matter what the activity. Do it for yourself, your teammates, and the person you want to become. Determine what you want and take steps to get it. You're accountable to yourself and each other. This isn't easy but the rewards are worth it. Set the example.

Go Figure

Phil's back in LA. Go figure. As Red Auerbach said, “Never take anything for granted in basketball or any other sport. Anything you think can’t possibly happen not only can happen but probably will happen.”

After writing The Last Season, I’m mildly surprised that Jackson accepted with the Lakers job. How can Jackson regain his integrity after airing a season’s worth of dirty laundry in print? Like the book, taking a $10M/year (or whatever) deal from the Lakers amounts to a cash grab.

I have similar feelings about Larry Brown and the Cleveland Cavaliers job. It seems like Brown could be doing more to keep his eye on the ball and help the Pistons.

In the end, it is by your actions that you shall be known. Larry Brown has a reputation that precedes him. As Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on ESPN.com, “No pupil has ever come closer to Dean Smith's genius on the floor, and gone further from his character off it.”

Larry Brown and Phil Jackson are not the only ones who demonstrate less than exemplary behaviour. You have to watch out yourself, especially in the coaching profession. I wish I was smart enough to handle all the political games that are part the profession these days but I’m also glad that I steer clear of them.

In The Maltese Falcon, Kaspar Gutman toasts Philip Marlowe: “Here’s to plain speaking and clear understanding.” There’s merit in that phrase. The short-term hit you take if you stand up for yourself can be aggravating, demeaning, unpleasant, or all of the above, but you are much better in the long-term if you remain true to your principles.

It’s perhaps a tad clichéd for a basketball coach to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance due to the Phil Jackson connection. The book was recommended twice to me by someone I respect highly so I’m giving it a read. As mentioned in Hoop Dreams, Jackson gave that book to John Paxson to read one season.