Posts Tagged ‘Alan Stein’s Thoughts’

Off Season Training – Part II, by Alan Stein

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

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 2nd 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 5th 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 8th seed and will play the tournament’s #1 seed, Montverde Academy (ranked 9th in the nation by ESPN) at Coppin State (Baltimore) on ESPN U at 2:00pm on Thursday, April 1st.  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 week and post video highlights from their workouts as well as 3 weekly dunk attempts (to monitor their progress).  HoopsKing, Ganon Baker Basketball, Hoop Connection, 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

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Off-Season Part I, by Alan Stein

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

The Montrose season is finally over.  We lost our final home game (senior night) by one point.

The final 14 seconds of the game epitomized our entire season.  The game was tied and we needed to inbound the ball at mid-court.  We called a 30 second time-out and drew up our final play, which called for our best player to get the ball on the wing and look to score with 3 seconds left, and have the other four players crash the boards for a last second put-back.  Instead, two players went to the wrong spots, the play got scrambled, and we made a lazy pass that got intercepted with about 6 seconds left.  The other team ran the break and drove in for a lay-up, which we blocked, but their point guard scooped it up and shot it as time expired.  Whistle blew… we fouled the shooter!  He calmly sank the first free throw and then turned and blew a kiss to the crowd.  Game over. And that pretty much sums up our season.

It was our first loss at home in 8 years and the first time in 34 years Coach Vetter has lost on senior night.  We sure had a lot of “firsts” this season; unfortunately none of them were positive! This season was disappointing and overwhelmingly frustrating for the players and the staff.  But in all honesty, I am OK with that.  I am mature enough to know, in coaching as well as life, you have to take the good with the bad.  It can’t be all smiles.

Regardless of the issues we have had this season; I really and truly care about the kids in our program and am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with them.  They are a great group of young men. Other than a few very minor exceptions, our kids played their hearts out all year long.  They didn’t play particular well this season; but they always played hard.  We demand a major commitment from the players in our program, so I always have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for those who are left standing in our locker room after the final game.

The odd part is, technically our season may not be over. We are still waiting to hear if we will be invited to the 2nd Annual ESPN/Rise National High School Invitational, which will take place the first weekend in April and will be televised on the ESPN networks. Honestly, I would be shocked if we got an invite, because we have not had the type of season to deserve it.  But I also know the selection process is not that cut and dry and a lot of other factors come into play. Therefore, I am completely at peace in letting fate decide.  If we don’t get invited, I will be relieved this season is actually over.  If we do, then I will be thankful for the opportunity and do everything in my power to help our team prepare. I was told the 8-team field will be announced later this week or early next week.

Hopefully most of you know, my main goal and number one priority is to help as many basketball players and coaches as I can.  I am very thankful for the myriad of people who have helped me along the way and I am always looking to give back to the coaching fraternity.  I want to contribute to a game that has had such an impact on my life. That is why I put so much time and effort into this blog; as a means of using my experiences and expertise to help others.

In addition to my blog, here are 5 ways I plan to help coaches and players this off-season. The first 3 are absolutely FREE.  The last 2 are offered for a very affordable price (don’t forget, this is how I make my living!).

1)    Over the past month I have sent out two rounds of “coaching nuggets.” These have been stories, notes, poems, and tidbits I have picked up over the past few years from some brilliant basketball minds. I have been overwhelmed at how positive the response has been.  If you would like to receive FREE “coaching nuggets” like these each month, all you need to do is sign up for my email list. You can sign up under the left menu bar on my homepage, www.StrongerTeam.com.  This will allow me to automatically send additional “coaching nuggets” out once a month, as opposed to having you request them and then me personally responding. I still have another dozen new “coaching nuggets” I haven’t sent out and plan to send out two or three a month in an automated email beginning in April.  So please sign up!

2)    Another resource I hope you find helpful is my YouTube channel, www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  I have posted a ton of content over the past 6 months and will continue to do so this off-season. I just posted a video of a Maryland Basketball Off-Season Workout which features former Montrose players Adrian Bowie and the 2010 ACC Player of the Year, Greivis Vasquez.  This video shows how intense off-season workouts should be as well as shows how strength and power translates to the court.  This video exemplifies exactly why basketball players need to strength train! As far as future videos, I will post the warm-ups and workouts from the McDonalds All-American game, Jordan Brand All-American Classic, and the Nike Skills Academies.  I am also launching a series called “Can He Dunk” where I will select a handful of high school age players to participate.  They will be kids who are close, but can’t currently dunk.  I will document their training for 12 weeks. I will post video highlights from their workouts as well as 3 weekly dunk attempts (to monitor their progress).  You won’t want to miss this!

3)    I recently shot a few hundred video clips of basketball specific strength & conditioning exercises and drills, including those for warm-up, dynamic flexibility, agility, footwork, plyos, and strength. While I have not finalized where I am going to post these, I will post “100 Exercises in 100 Days.” As the name implies, I will post one new video a day for 100 straight days (I am aiming to begin on April 1st). This will create an extensive video library for those of you in need of some innovative exercises and drills to spark up your off-season workouts.

4)    I have received hundreds of email requests for my help in putting together off-season workouts.  With that said, I am currently finalizing a 12 Week Off-Season Basketball Strength & Conditioning Program. I plan to have this available for sale in early April. 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.

5)    I am also in the process of finalizing an online Basketball Strength & Conditioning Coach Certification. My goal is to create an online certification to give a basketball coach (primarily youth, high school, and/or AAU) a solid foundation of proper basketball specific strength & conditioning expertise.  I am NOT looking to duplicate all of the training certifications currently available, so there won’t be much in the way of physiology or biomechanics. Instead I will focus on the nuts and bolts of what a coach really needs to know.  It will address proper warm-up, dynamic flexibility, pre-hab (injury prevention), quickness/agility, reaction, strength, power, and basketball conditioning.  Once someone completes the certification, they will have sufficient knowledge to develop and supervise a year round training program.  The certification materials, course, and exam will all be available online, with an estimated cost of $199.00. I am hoping to have this ready by the end of the summer. When available, you will be able to register at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com.

I apologize if this blog seems “commercial,” but I wanted to clearly define the ways I plan to be of service this off-season.  Next week I will give my full thoughts on specifically how to make this off-season as productive as possible.  I will address the ever present pros and cons of AAU, will offer some thoughts on evaluating and testing, and on setting player development priorities.  But most importantly, I will hammer home why your off-season program is the foundation in building a championship program.

After all, the best players (and teams) are in the best shape!

Next week’s blog will probably be my last blog of the month.  My beautiful wife and I are expecting TWIN boys in the next week or so!  We are elated for this new chapter in our life and are ready for the joys and challenges of parenting.

But don’t worry; it will only be a short hiatus.  The blog will be back in full force in April!

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

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Successful Coaches Part III, by Alan Stein

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

For those of you keeping score at home; here is a quick Montrose update:

After weeks of adversity, an emotional team meeting, and then the subsequent best practice we have had all year… our team played pretty well last weekend as we won the 54th Annual Sleepy Thompson Invitational Championship in Alexandria, VA.  We beat Fork Union Military Academy, St. Albans, and Episcopal.  We still aren’t playing as well as we are capable, but we did take a giant step forward and are very thankful for the wins.  We finally got back to playing hard, playing smart, and playing together.

Our final game of the season, which will be senior night for our two seniors, will be this Tuesday.  Then we have to sit tight to see if we will be invited to the 2nd Annual ESPN/Rise National High School Invitational which will take place the first weekend in April and will be televised on the ESPN networks. Four of the top 15 teams in the country are expected to participate in the 8 team field: #4 St. Benedicts (NJ), #9 Montverde Academy (FL), #10 Findlay Prep (NV), and #12 Oak Hill (VA). If we are fortunate enough to be invited, it will give us one final chance to rectify this turbulent season, end on a high note, and prove we are one of the nation’s top programs!

This is the third and final segment of “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches.”

If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you go back and read the last two posts before reading this one.

In the first segment of this series, I offered to send out several powerful “coaching nuggets” to anyone who emailed me.  The response was overwhelming and I received a ton of positive feedback.  Several of you actually sent me a few of your own “coaching nuggets.”  I saved those, as well as added a few more from my own archives, and have compiled a second batch of “More Coaching Nuggets.” If you are interested, simply email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com and I will happily send them to you.

As a reminder, this series is the edited transcript from a phone interview I did this past December with my friend Andy Louder from Hoop Skills Academy (www.HoopSkills.com).

Andy Louder: What do you think is an appropriate way for a coach to handle a loss?

Alan Stein: There are 3 things you need to do after a loss in regards to your team: know why you lost, look at how you lost, and handle the emotions of disappointment.  How you handle each of these issues depends on what level you’re dealing with. If you coach a U-12 AAU team… or a high school JV team… you should handle the loss differently than if you are a college coach because of the age and maturity of your players.  First of all, you need to establish why you lost.  Did you lose because of a lack of effort? Or lack of execution? Or was the other team simply better? It is very important to give your team an honest evaluation so they can learn from it.  Next, especially when dealing with junior high and high school age players, you need to evaluate how your players handled the loss.  Did they lose with class and good sportsmanship? Or did they act like jerks? Did they “lose together?” Or did they start pointing fingers and blaming each other? Did they hold themselves accountable or did they make excuses?  Lastly, you need to do some damage control if things get emotional (especially towards the end of the season and in the playoffs). Being upset, even shedding some tears, is not necessarily a bad thing. It means your players care and that they’ve invested a lot of time, effort, and love into your program. When they don’t win, there should be disappointment! But you have to teach them how to learn from it and quickly move past it. You can’t dwell on a loss. Your players need to learn how to use it as motivation, for either the next game, or for the off-season.

Andy Louder: So would you say it’s important to balance the disappointment with optimism to make sure you don’t ruin their self-esteem?

Alan Stein: Absolutely! You don’t want a loss or a couple of consecutive losses to destroy their confidence. That is why honesty is so important. If they played hard and played well and still lost, they need to know that.  If they didn’t play hard or didn’t execute, and actually deserved to lose, they need to know that as well. Give it to them straight.  Even if it stings, they will respect you for it and appreciate it over time.  Another thing to consider, that I learned from Coach Rick Pitino, is you can be much more critical of your team after a win, rather than after a loss.  When you win, your team’s collective confidence is sky high and your players are more apt to accept and internalize constructive criticism. You should be much more careful after a loss because their confidence is lower and they will begin to second guess themselves. That is why giving your team a verbal blasting after a bad game is not always the answer (although sometimes it is). After a loss, unless they absolutely deserve to be reamed out for a very poor effort, you have to choose your words carefully.  Many times it is best to sleep on it and wait until the next practice to address your concerns because they will be in a better emotional state. And you will be too!

Andy Louder: What is the difference between your pre-game speech and half-time talk?

Alan Stein: Regarding preparation, we really believe in being a 24-hour program. Very little new information is given to our team right before a game, almost everything we do, is done ahead of time. We believe preparation for every game starts the night before with eating a good dinner, getting a good night’s sleep, visualizing success, and waking up and having a decent breakfast. At our level, we scout every team we play, either on film or in person so that we’ve got a really good idea of their personnel and tendencies. We give this report to our players the day before each game. We review it again right before the game, but at that point, if they don’t know it… they never will! Also, we try to motivate our players constantly.  We don’t usually get into the big rah-rah pre-game speeches. We review the scouting report (and establish who is guarding who), go over our “keys to the game,” say a quick prayer, and then go out and play! Our half-time talk is basically an evaluation session; we let them know what things they’re doing well and what things they’re not. Obviously to be successful in anything you need to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not, and half-time is the perfect time to deliberate. Half-time is also a great time to get the players’ feedback.  They see things differently on the court than we see them from the sideline. Half-time should be about making corrections (minor or major).

Alright, that’s the end of “Traits and Habits of Successful Basketball Coaches Part III” and the conclusion of this series. I hope you found it helpful.

Next week I will post a must-read blog about the off-season and will include my thoughts on AAU, setting priorities, evaluating weaknesses as well as will give an update on my two up-coming YouTube promotions (“Can He Dunk?” and “100 Exercises in 100 Days”).

I will also give insight into my soon-to-be released downloadable 12 Week Off-Season Basketball Strength & Conditioning Program. I plan to have this available for sale in early April. 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.  It will be sold at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com.

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I have put together a follow-up collection called “More Coaching Nuggets.” Just email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com and I will gladly send.  If you missed the first batch, you can still email me for those as well (please specify in your email exactly what you want!).

Please check out (and subscribe to) www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  My friend and colleague, Paul Ricci, does an outstanding job as the strength & conditioning coach for the University of Maryland’s men’s basketball team.  He has been kind enough to share several outstanding videos with me. I just posted Maryland Basketball Post-Game Workout which features former Montrose players Adrian Bowie and Greivis Vasquez.  Even though the workout is optional, nearly every player has “bought in” and gets in a quick full body lift immediately following all home games.  Great stuff!

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

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Successful Coaches, by Alan Stein

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

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 30th. 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 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

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Adversity, by Alan Stein

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

If you have read my last three blog posts (“Losing Sucks,” “Lesson Learned,” and “Want To”), you know the Montrose Christian boys basketball team has been experiencing some adversity lately.

It all started three weeks ago, when we luckily escaped with an overtime win against a team we should have pounded, because our players had a casual and arrogant attitude.

Then we traveled to Orlando and lost two games in a row at the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament. We suffered our first lost because of a handful of critical errors… and the second lost because we laid down and played soft.

Upon our return from Florida, our leading scorer and a potential All-American, Terrence Ross, unexpectedly withdrew from school and transferred to a prep school in Arizona.

And towards the end of last week, the DC area was hammered with 20+ inches of snow.  The Blizzard of 2010 Part II started last night as we were hit with additional 15+ inches.

We have not played a game since our second loss in Orlando on January 30th. We have had four games cancelled since the snow began. The snow has been paralyzing. We have only had two practices since we got back from Florida and only one practice in the past 7 days.  That was yesterday and we only had the 7 players who could make it to school. Our top two players both live in Fredericksburg, VA (about an hour and half away from school) and have been completely snowed in.  Given the current weather conditions, we won’t be able to practice for the rest of this week.  That means our players will have been off for almost two straight weeks!

Why is that a problem?

We are scheduled to play St. Anthony’s HS in Trenton, NJ at the Nike Prime Time Shoot-out this Saturday. St. Anthony’s has been one of the nation’s top HS programs for the past 30 years… winning over two dozen state titles, a handful of national titles, and produced numerous All-Americans and Division I players… several of which have played in the NBA.  They are lead by Coach Bob Hurley, who in my opinion is one of the top 5 basketball coaches on the planet… and that includes college and NBA coaches.  I have admired Coach Hurley from afar since I was in high school and have read The Miracle at St. Anthony twice.  I got an opportunity to have dinner with him this past fall as our clinic speaking schedules intersected in Minnesota and Iowa.  It was a real honor.  He is a tremendous clinician and overwhelmingly passionate about the game of basketball. I have an immense respect for Coach Hurley, not just for everything he has accomplished, but because of the way he has accomplished it.  He is pure class. He is not just a coach, he changes lives.  He represents everything that is right with sports.  He is one of a kind.

But I will have to put my admiration aside for a few hours on Saturday, because we have a game to play! If you know anything about Coach Hurley’s teams, they are always one of the toughest teams in the country.  They play up tempo, smothering defense.  They press, they trap, and they never, ever quit.  They are relentless.  When they smell fear in their opponent, they go in for the kill. Currently, they are our polar opposite.  While we are facing some internal adversity, they are playing their best basketball and playing with a potent swagger. Last week they beat DeMatha HS by two. DeMatha was ranked in the top 5 in the country by ESPN at the time.  St. Anthony’s has climbed up to 23rd in the nation (ESPN) while we have plummeted to 45th.

The odds are stacked against us to say the least.  I am not saying that for pity or to make excuses, it is just a reality.

With all of that said, the million dollar question is… how will our team respond to our recent adversity?

My prediction?

Only one of two things will happen… there will be no grey area.  Either we will come out with passion and pride and play like we have something to prove (which we most certainly do) and make it a competitive, intense game between two of the country’s premier programs…

Or…

We will trudge in with our tails between our legs… mentally fragile…full of excuses…and walk right into the lion’s den and get smacked by 30. If we come in like that, trust me, St. Anthony’s will embarrass us.

Albert Einstein once said, “In the middle of every adversity lies opportunity.”

I hope our guys understand that.  Lord knows I will be doing everything in my power to get that point across.  I will also make sure they understand that the more adversity they face in life, the more positive they have to be.  A positive attitude and collective, sincere enthusiasm can conquer many things.  I also want them to know that many times, adversity is a prerequisite to major accomplishments.  Look at Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.  Drew, as well as the city of New Orleans, went through severe times of adversity in the last several years… and now they are the Super Bowl champs!

Our players need to take pride in overcoming difficulties. They need to view them as challenges and rise to the occasion.  They need to look at Saturday’s game as an opportunity to “fix” everything we have been going through and to show the world what we are really made of.  They need to look at it as a chance to put this season back on track.

And when I say “fix”, I am not at all concerned with the final score.  My entire focus will be on how we play and how we respond to the adversity we have been facing. If we come out with passion, pride, and compete to the final buzzer… it will be one of my proudest moments since joining the program 7 years ago… regardless of whether or not we get the W.  If we cower, and wallow in our own self pity, and get mutilated and humiliated… it will be the most disappointing moment I will have experienced with Montrose.

And for the record, please understand I keep all of this in its proper perspective.  Basketball is my driving passion, and the Montrose players and staff are very, very important to me. But my overall happiness in life isn’t dictated by a scoreboard or a W-L column.  Sure, I get poopy-pants when we lose.  Of course food tastes better when we win.  But I learned a long time ago not to pin my own happiness on the shoulders of 16, 17, and 18 year old boys.  Life is too short for that.  And while I love the game of basketball about as much as anyone can and I am an extremely competitive person by nature… it is just a game… and I recognize that.  I am very well aware that the “adversity” I have been writing about pales in comparison to real adversity… natural disasters, death, unemployment, sickness, etc.  I don’t have it twisted, I know where things stand.

But on that note, over the course of the past three weeks, I have received dozens and dozens of unsolicited emails from coaches and players who have offered kind words of support for our program and have shared similar experiences of the basketball adversity they have faced this season.  For that, I am truly grateful.  I appreciate each and every time someone reaches out… and I am eternally thankful to be in the basketball coaching fraternity.

Whether good or bad, next week I will report in with a full recap of our game with St. Anthony’s.

And as always, check out (and subscribe to) www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom. Last week I posted a video of a Nike Skills Academy Warm-up. I will post the second part of that later this week.

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

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Duke PreGame Warmup, by Alan Stein

Friday, January 29th, 2010

Check out the video below that Alan filmed prior to the Duke vs. Wake Forest game in January.  We actually do some of the two ball passing drills at our camps!

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Lesson Learned, by Alan Stein

Monday, January 25th, 2010

This is a spontaneous follow up to my last post, “Losing Sucks.”  Why a follow up?  Because this past Saturday night we were very lucky to escape with a 4 point overtime win against Kecoughtan High School from Hampton, VA.  Before I say anything, let me congratulate their players and staff for playing an excellent game.  They played winning basketball, and in all honesty, they deserved to win the game.  They should hold their heads high and be very proud of their effort.

Our performance, if you can call it that, bothered me so much I felt compelled to write this. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you read “Losing Sucks” first for the proper foundation as I mentioned something in that post that is paramount to the point I want to make here:

“It is so important to recognize when you play well and lose.  It is equally important to recognize when you play poorly and win. You need to learn from both.”

KHS needs to recognize they played very well even though they lost the game.  I recommend they watch the film and take note of the many things they did so well.  My guess is, if they do those things against every other team on their schedule… they will win most of their games and have a great chance at a state title.  They took great shots and played tough defense for 32 minutes.

On the other hand, our players need to be humble enough and mature enough to admit they played poorly and still won.  And they played really poorly.  While I am thankful we got the W, I absolutely consider our performance a loss.

Why do I consider it a loss?  Let’s review, from “Losing Sucks,” the three reasons you lose a game:

  • You weren’t as talented as the other team.
  • You didn’t execute or make plays.
  • You played with a lack of effort.

The only reason we squeaked out a win was because we were more talented than they were. Bottom line, and I mean this with sincere respect to the KHS team, we had better players.  However, Montrose alum Kevin Durant’s favorite quote is quite applicable here:

“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

We almost found that out the hard way.

KHS should look back and accept they lost because we had better players (Point #1)… there is no shame in that.  They did execute and they did make plays (Point #2).  They did play with passion, heart, and effort (Point #3).

Our players, on the other hand, need to look back and admit the exact opposite.  The only reason we won was because we had better players.  We didn’t execute or make plays and we sure didn’t play with the passion and effort that is the epitome of the Montrose legacy.

Please notice I said “our players” as opposed to “we” in an attempt to distance myself and the coaching staff from our players. I did that intentionally.  While we are all in this together, and we are all part of the program… the coaching staff very well recognizes and admits the shortcomings from this game… I am not quite sure our players do. They need to be mature enough to learn from this. Our coaching staff already has. As coaches, all we can do is prepare our players in the best manner possible and do everything in our power to put them in a position to be successful.  We can’t play the game for them.  That is 100% on them.

I have mentioned time and time again, that the Montrose program is run exactly like a major college program… only with 16, 17, and 18 year olds.  That is why our players are so successful at the next level, because they have already acclimated themselves to the academic and athletic schedules and standards of excellence required of big time Division I programs.  We take a lot of pride in “What We Do” (another previous blog post). What separates our program from others is our attention to detail, our strict discipline, and our proven system for building a time honored basketball powerhouse.  Structure and discipline are the backbone of our program… and this past Saturday our players lacked both.

The problems began at our standard Saturday game day shoot-around.  Our players were told to eat their pre-game meal at 2pm (4 hours before tip-off). On Saturday games we give our guys the freedom to eat on their own or with their families. They were also told to be dressed in their practice gear and game shoes and on the court at 4pm.  When the clock struck 4pm, only two players were dressed and ready.  For the next 10 minutes players casually strolled in… some wearing practice gear and some wearing Montrose sweats.  Some even had the audacity to have food in hand when they walked in!  This arrogant, lackadaisical attitude is the antithesis of what our program represents and is absolutely unacceptable.  This attitude goes against everything we believe.

Part of the problem was the kids knew that Coach Vetter was not going to be at the pre-game shoot around. They knew he would delegate that to our associate head coach, Dan Prete (who is a phenomenal coach in his own right).  Coach Vetter chooses not to see our players until right before the game. Coach Prete was shocked and extremely offended by this blatant act of disrespect.  He gave them a much needed verbal blasting… hoping to nip their overconfidence in the bud.

However, a verbal blasting a few hours before game time was not enough to knock some sense into our guys.  They pretended to put on their game face and act as if they were ready to play… but my keen eye knew better. Our guys continued to go through the motions of our warm-up with a pompous, care free attitude.  I tried to light some fire in them…with a few words of wisdom and an array of “F” bombs… but it was to no avail.  Their attitude was too deep… they were cocky, thought they were untouchable… and were just plain out of it.

Our staff knew we were in trouble.  And boy, were we right.

We missed 6 lay-ups during warm-ups. SIX! Five of which were from our starters.  We are one of the top 15 teams in the entire country… we have numerous high major Division I players… and we missed 6 lay-ups?! That can only happen from a severe lack of focus.

Our players thought they could just show up and win based on pure talent.

Looking back, I hope they realize if KHS scored 1 more point during regulation…just 1… they would have showed our guys how wrong they were and taught them a lesson they would never forget.  Now, all we can hope for, is our guys are mature enough to learn the same lesson without suffering the actual loss.  As mentioned before, we have not lost a home game in the 7 years I have been with the program.

And what is the lesson I hope they learned?

“Respect every opponent; don’t take anyone lightly.  On any given night, you can beat anyone.  On any given night, anyone can beat you.”

If you don’t really believe that… believe me… someone will eventually bite you in the ass.  Ask Tark and Larry Johnson if they thought Duke could beat them in the 1991 national semi-finals.  Or if Mike Tyson thought Buster Douglass could win… much less knock him out.  The list of surprising upsets is long.

Another lesson I hope they learned?

“It’s not who you play; it’s how you play that matters most.”

Great players and great teams prepare for every game the same way.  Whether it is a pre-season scrimmage or a state championship… their mindset is the same.

Please know I really and truly care about the players on our team.  They are amazing young men and I am very thankful to get an opportunity to work with them.  And that is the main reason I hope they learn from this.  I want to see them grow. I want to see them get better. I want to see all of the sacrifices they have made to be a part of our program pay off… not get flushed down the toilet because of an afternoon of immaturity and cockiness.

I told them afterwards, there are three things they need to do when reflecting on this particular game:

  1. 1. Admit they were overconfident and didn’t take their preparation seriously
  2. 2. Learn from it
  3. 3. Don’t ever, ever let it happen again

If they do those three things, then this can be the spark that ignites us and takes us to a whole new level. We absolutely have the potential to be the #1 team in the nation… we have the tools. It will be interesting to see how we respond.

Hopefully they respond quickly as we have a great opportunity in front of us this week.  We head down to Orlando on Wednesday to play in the Montverde Classic. Our first round game is against one of Florida’s state champs from last year, a team that is 14-1 and has most of their players back from last year.  If we win that game, we will most likely play the host school, Montverde Academy… a team that hasn’t lost a home game in several years.  Montverde is currently ranked # 21 in the nation by ESPN and is coached by Kevin Sutton… a former Coach Vetter assistant of 13 years and an amazing coach. If we were to win that, we will most likely play Findlay Prep in the championship… who is currently ranked #2 in the nation by ESPN… and a team that beat our ass in the semi-finals of last year’s RISE National Championship tournament.

So we have a few days to get it together and take advantage of a special opportunity. I will be tweeting in regularly from the tournament, so make sure you follow me at www.Twitter.com/AlanStein for updates and behind the scenes insight.

And as always, check out (and subscribe to) www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom for video clips of our Pre-game Warm-up, On Court Warm-up, and In-Season Workout.

And 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.

One love.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

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Losing Sucks, by Alan Stein

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Losing sucks.

How’s that for an introductory line and title?  Hell, I don’t even like losing my car keys!  Chris Paul said it best during a talk at his camp last summer, “I hate losing more than I like winning.”  I know a lot of elite level ballers who feel the same way and use their distaste of losing as a major source of motivation.

As much as losing sucks, I do hope we can all agree, especially given the catastrophic events that have recently taken place in Haiti… that losing a basketball game is not the end of the world.  As important as basketball is, you have to keep things in perspective.  Nevertheless, I still stand by my opening statement… losing sucks.

Now, some of you reading this haven’t lost a game this season (John Wall, are you there?).  And some of you have lost almost every game you’ve played (hmmm…. New Jersey Nets).  However, I imagine a majority of you are somewhere in between.

Given January is the “hump month” for high school and college hoops, I have received a few dozen emails in the past two weeks asking me how we (Montrose Christian) deal with losing.

Whether you are a player or a coach, how you handle a loss and deal with adversity speaks volumes about your character, your competitiveness, your commitment to excellence, and determining whether losing will become a habit or the initial spark that ignites success.

Even though losing is not the end of the world… losing should hurt.  When you invest an inordinate amount of time, effort, and love into something like the game of basketball (and at Montrose we do)… losing should hurt.  If it doesn’t hurt, then you don’t care.  And if you don’t care… you shouldn’t be playing.  However, you can’t let it hurt for long. You can’t wallow in self pity. You must lick your wounds, learn from the loss, and quickly move past it.  If you don’t, it will happen again. And it will continue to happen until the reasons you have been losing are corrected.

I will be the first to admit how fortunate I am to be involved in a program that doesn’t lose very often. In my 7 years at Montrose, we have only lost around 15 total games (not sure of the exact number, but we have only averaged a couple of losses per year). I mean we haven’t lost a home game or to a local opponent since I have been there.  The good news is we don’t have to deal with losing very often.  The bad news is, when we do… it really sucks!

Losing, like any other setback or failure, should be looked at as a learning experience and a way to grow and improve.  It is very important to learn from every loss… and use it as a stepping stone to future victory.  You don’t want to let one loss rattle your team’s confidence and snowball into a streak of losses (like what’s happening to the North Carolina Tarheels right now). You need to learn from it and nip it in the bud!

However, in order to learn from it… you must honestly and accurately identify why you lost.  In my opinion, there are only three reasons you lose a game:

1)    You weren’t as talented as the other team.

2)    You didn’t execute or make plays.

3)    You played with a lack of effort.

Determining why you lost is the most important factor when deciding how to handle it and how to bounce back.

If you lost because the other team was more talented… did you still compete? Or did you play scared?

If you lost because you didn’t execute or make plays… was it a mental thing (lack of focus)? Or was it just a poor shooting night?

If you lost because you lacked effort… and the other team outworked you… was it because…

Scratch that, there is no because.  There is never an excuse for playing with a lack of effort.  That is absolutely unacceptable.  Losing from a lack of effort is the only time you should punish yourself or your players at the next practice.  And you should make a statement to make sure it never happens again.  Like killing an ant with a sledgehammer.

I can accept and admit when the other team was better.  I can accept and admit when we had an off night (poor shooting)… but I cannot and will not accept losing from a lack of effort.

Our most famous loss in my tenure at Montrose was last year’s double OT loss to Oak Hill in the Championship game of the Iolani Classic.  That was a devastating loss.  However, our kids played their hearts out.  We couldn’t have asked them to play any harder.  I am not much into moral victories, but ironically… I still to this day think that was the best game we played all year… and we lost!  It is so important to recognize when you play well and lose.  It is equally important to recognize when you play poorly and win. You need to learn from both.

Our only loss this year was to Neumann Goretti out of Philly (currently ranked 9th in the nation by ESPN) in the semi-finals of this year’s Iolani Classic.  We played very hard that game; we just didn’t play particularly well.  We didn’t execute and we didn’t finish plays. We missed 13 shots in the paint, 12 free throws, and had 11 empty possessions (where we didn’t even get a shot off because we turned the ball over).  And we only lost by 7! While we were very disappointed in the loss, we knew our missed shots and careless turnovers were correctable mistakes. So we let it hurt for the night and then we woke up, put our hard-hats on, and went back to work. And our response paid off as we played very well the next game and beat a nationally ranked team out of Georgia.

NOTE: while we certainly missed some chip shots and freebies at the line, I don’t want to take anything away from Neumann Goretti.  They played an outstanding game and deserved to win that night.

In addition to identifying why you lost, it is equally important to evaluate how you lost.  Did you show proper sportsmanship to the other team and the officials? Did you play like a team or did you play selfishly, point fingers and make excuses? Obviously no one likes to lose, but it is very important you learn how to handle losses like a professional and with character… not like a petulant child.

We are very strict about this with our players and don’t give them an inch when it comes to sportsmanship or playing the blame game.  We win together, we lose together.  No one player wins a game by his or herself and no one player loses a game either.  Missing a shot at the buzzer, or throwing the ball away with 3 seconds left, is never what actually loses the game.  It was an accumulation of the previous 31 minutes and 57 seconds.

Make sure, as a coach or as a player, you take some time to reflect and evaluate both why you lost and how you lost and use it as a learning experience for your next game as well as for the rest of the season.  Even though January is coming to a close, there is still a lot of ball to be played!

If I can ever be of service to you or your team, please don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I promise to respond as quickly as possible.

If you haven’t done so, please check out (and subscribe) to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  I just posted a new video of a Montrose Basketball In-Season Workout.  Next week, I will post clips of the Duke men’s basketball team’s pre-game on court warm-up.  I got some awesome footage from their game against Wake Forest!

Also, for those of you who follow me at www.Twitter.com/AlanStein, or are my “friend” at www.Facebook.com/AlanSteinJr, beginning in February I will be posting weekly trivia questions for folks to win some sweet prizes – like Nike and Jordan gear!  All of the questions will come from my blog archive… so make sure you read past posts and study up.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

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No Guarantee, by Alan Stein

Friday, January 15th, 2010

The word on the street is Mark McGuire read the second half of my blog post from last week (“Random Thoughts”) and finally decided to admit he took steroids.  Thanks Big Red, it only took you 10 years.  And it wasn’t the slightest bit obvious (insert sarcasm). All joking aside, the year he broke the home run record, the measured circumference of his right forearm was an inch and half bigger than my neck! How in the hell could that be natural?!

OK, back on topic.

One of the toughest things to deal with as an adult is the concept that nothing in life is guaranteed.  Except for death and taxes.  And while I certainly despise paying taxes, my gut feeling is I would like death even less.

This concept of “nothing being guaranteed” is so evident in sports. Jim Valvano, the late coach of NC State and one of my favorite motivational speakers, once said something to the effect of:

“Just because you work hard doesn’t guarantee you will be successful.  But not working hard guarantees you won’t be.”

Reigning NCAA National Champion coach Roy Williams said something similar:

“Working hard doesn’t guarantee success, but without it, you have no chance.”

Have you ever spent hours upon hours studying for a test… and still gotten a poor grade? Has your team ever spent hours upon hours practicing all week… and still lost the big game?

Of course you have; it happens to the best of us. Working hard and not achieving success is a tough pill to swallow.  It is hard in basketball and it is hard in life. But it is fact.  And it is something every player and coach needs to come to terms with… because no one is immune.  And when a minor setback (or failure) occurs, you have to learn from it, move past it, and get back to working hard again!

A young lady I had been working with for over a year, and who is a very accomplished high school player, tore her ACL a few weeks ago in a holiday tournament.  She was having a phenomenal season (team was 7-2) and a stellar game (had already hit five 3’s) up to that point. Then, early in the second half on a drive to the basket, she landed awkwardly while being fouled.  BAM! Just like that, she tore her ACL and her season was over.

Her father called me to tell me the bad news and told me she was devastated. As a senior, she was being recruited by several Division I schools, but unfortunately was waiting until the spring to sign… and she was distraught with thoughts that “no one would want her now.”

Personally, I was crushed by the news.  I couldn’t sleep for two days.  I really care about all the kids I work with and I felt terrible she was going through this.  She is such an impressive young lady, both on and off the court.

Unable to sleep, all I kept thinking was, how could this have happened?  She worked so hard this pre-season.  She did everything I asked of her and did it to best of her ability. After a couple hours of staring at the ceiling, I went down to my office and reviewed my notes from our sessions. I took solace in knowing we did everything possible to try to reduce the occurrence of this happening.  We incorporated numerous exercises and drills, every single workout, to reduce the likelihood of an ACL injury. We worked on proper landing. We worked on proper cutting.  We properly strengthened every muscle and joint in her lower body.  Honestly, I wouldn’t have done anything different. So thankfully, I don’t have to live with the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s.  We worked hard all pre-season and literally did everything we could have done to prevent this. Yet unfortunately, it still occurred.

I went to one of her team’s games last week to say hello, offer my support, and to speak to her father.  We had a wonderful conversation and I promised him I would help her with every step of her recovery. I also told him I was confident she would still play college basketball. The road will be tough, and it is (obviously) not guaranteed, but my advice to her was to stay positive, get ready to get back to work… and things will work out for the best.

Now, I am a strength & conditioning coach… not a psychologist by any means.  But I really believe after her short grieving period is over, she will need to re-focus and get back to working as hard as possible. I understand she is entitled to a period of time of feeling disappointed and depressed… but what’s done is done.  She tore her ACL; it’s a fact. Nothing can be done to undo that now.  Just like an errant pass or a missed shot, it is time to move on to the next play!

The most influential factor in her future success on the court will be how she responds to this setback.  This will be a real test of her character. I have full confidence she will come back better than ever because she has a tremendous attitude, relentless work ethic, and the mindset of a champion.

I am proud and thankful to claim an exemplary record over the past 10 years, with a particularly high rate of success for both injury prevention and performance enhancement.  And even though I can say, with full confidence, we did everything “right” in regards to her pre-season preparation… an injury still occurred.  We worked hard… and as we learned… success was not guaranteed (at least success in this particular instance). Fortunately, this is not the final chapter in her playing career.

It is imperative you understand you can’t second guess the importance of working hard and of doing what is right just because things don’t turn out the way you want. You still need to make the conscious choice to consistently work hard in every aspect of your life (especially in your training).  While the possibility of not achieving success is always looming, it is nothing to be feared, and certainly nothing to give in too.  If you make a daily commitment to excellence… you will absolutely “win” more than you “lose.” And I am not talking about the scoreboard.

If you read my recent blog post, “What We Do”, you can see the lengths the Montrose Christian basketball program goes to in order to be successful.  And yet we still (occasionally) lose games.  Do you think losing a game causes us to second guess “What We Do?”  No way!  And when you have a setback it shouldn’t cause you to second guess yourself either.

If you have any questions about ACL injury prevention (or recovery), or if I can ever be of service to you or your team, please don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I promise to respond as quickly as possible.

If you haven’t done so, please check out (and subscribe) to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  I just posted two videos of the Montrose Basketball Pre-Game Warm-up (one before we take the court and one on-court).  Next week, I will post clips from a recent in-season strength training workout.

Also, for those of you who follow me at www.Twitter.com/AlanStein, or are my “friend” at www.Facebook.com/AlanSteinJr, I will be holding weekly trivia questions for folks to win some HOT prizes – like Nike and Jordan gear!  All of the questions will come from my blog archive… so make sure you read past posts and study up.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

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Random Thoughts, by Alan Stein

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Happy New Year!  While I sincerely hope everyone’s 2010 is off to a wonderful start, I will be honest, I say “Happy New Year” somewhat facetiously. It’s January 7th for cryin’ out loud! When will people stop saying it?! On a similar note… the folks still saying “Happy New Year” are usually the same folks who thought it was cute to say “see ya next year” the last week of December or who are so void of something significant to say they say stuff like, “is it cold enough for you?”  Are you kidding me? It is 7 degrees out you dolt! Yes, it is plenty cold.  Oh well, I guess some people aren’t much for meaningful conversation.

Sorry to digress.

While I am not much into making New Year’s resolutions, even I get excited and inspired at the nostalgia associated with a new year.  Having spent a good portion of the last few weeks reflecting on 2009, my goal for this year is the same as it is every year:

“Do more of what is working and less of what isn’t.”

This simple concept is the foundation of success. You can take that concept a step further and ask yourself this question every morning when you wake up:

“Are the things I am doing today going to help me get to where I want to go?”

Are the things you are currently doing going to help you next week? Next month? Next year? In 5 years?  If you can’t answer yes to at least one of those time periods … then why are you doing what you are doing? Stop wasting your time!  And both of those thoughts transition into yet another power concept:

“Don’t confuse being busy with being productive.”

Everyone is busy.  Everyone has a long “to-do” list. But not everyone is productive. Not everyone gets results. Make sure the things you do on a daily basis are taking you where you want to go.  Don’t just spin your wheels.

With that said, those three concepts are very applicable to basketball players and coaches.

Now that a good chunk of the season is over… what things are working? What things aren’t? Are you too stubborn to change? Are you on pace to accomplish the goals you set at the beginning of the season?  Do you need to slightly alter and adjust those goals based on the results of November and December?

Are the things you are doing on a daily basis making you a better player? A better coach?  I am sure you are extremely busy during the season, but are you truly being productive?

If you are a player and you have been in a shooting slump the last few games… are you coming in before practice to get in some extra shooting work?  If you are, are you taking extra shots from where you get most of your shots in games? Do you even know where you get most of your shots in games?  At Montrose, we run a very disciplined offensive system.  Each of our players take a majority of their shots from the same 3 or 4 spots on the court.  So that is where they should take most of their shots in practice… if they want their practice to be productive.  If you are not playing as much you feel you deserve, have you scheduled an individual meeting with your coach to ask what you need to do to get more playing time? Or do you just sit on the end of the bench and pout?  That negative energy is a cancer to any team… don’t do it! And if you are a coach, don’t tolerate it. “Energy takers” need to be nipped in the bud immediately.

If you are a coach, and your team is struggling, have you pinpointed the specific reasons why?  Lack of effort? Lack of execution?  You can’t do much at this point about lack of talent… but you can about poor effort and/or execution.  Just make sure your practice plan addresses the specific area you need to ignite and improve.  If your team is not executing well… a ton of extra running as punishment will not help solve the problem. That’s apples and oranges.

Pause… new topic.

I have always been a big believer in the concept of “choices and consequences.”  Each of us has a choice in everything we do in life. Everything.  Even the things that happen to us that are beyond our control, we each choose how we respond and handle the situation.  And every choice we make has a consequence.  Some consequences are good, some are bad.  For some reason, the word “consequence,” has been given a negative connotation. But I believe the word consequence is just another word for result.  Every choice you make produces a result. What is the consequence of not eating breakfast? Hunger, lack of focus, low energy, and poor performance.  What is the consequence of  making 10 free throws in a row before you leave practice every day? Shooting a higher percentage from the line over the course of the season and hitting clutch free throws during games.  See the correlation?! Success is not an accident. Neither is failure.

I feel it is my duty as a coach to teach this concept of choices and consequences to the players I work with.  Here is a perfect example:

Coach Vetter has a mandatory team rule that every player must wear ankle braces for every practice and every game.  Right or wrong, that is his rule.  One of our players asked me the other night before our game if it was OK if he didn’t wear them.  I said, “Sure, if you are 100% willing to face the consequences of not wearing them.”  He looked at me with a bewildered look of confusion.  I asked him if he would be willing to face the consequences of Coach Vetter finding out he intentionally broke a team rule (and then have to face whatever punishment resulted), or even worse, if he severely injured his ankle during the game and ruined his season?  He looked to the floor and mumbled, “No.”  To which I smiled and said, “Good answer. Now put on your ankle braces.”

Here is another example of choices and consequences that is currently making headlines across the sports world:

Do you think Gilbert Arenas gave much thought to the potential consequences of bringing in three guns to the locker room?  Was that irresponsible stunt worth the consequence of suspension (and possible expulsion) from the league, severe legal action, loss of millions of dollars, and a permanent black mark on his reputation?  Not so funny now, is it Gilbert?

You know another valuable lesson to teach young people that comes to mind from this Gilbert situation?  And don’t say, “You shouldn’t bring guns in the locker room.”  If you don’t already know that you shouldn’t bring guns in to the locker room… then you either have a room temperature I.Q. or you have lived in a cave your whole life.  If that’s not the case, you should be hit in the head with a sledge hammer. (NOTE: Yes, I do think Gilbert should be hit the head with a sledge hammer; hopefully it would knock some sense into him!)

No, the real lesson is one we rarely see in professional sports… taking personal accountability for your actions.  Whether you are talking about steroids in baseball, Tiger’s myriad of affairs, or Gilbert bringing guns in to the locker room… I wish just once a pro-athlete would immediately accept the blame and say something like this:

“I am so sorry. I used horrible judgment and made a terrible mistake.  I was wrong and I sincerely apologize. I promise to go to whatever length is necessary to right this wrong.”

Of course they all say that once it’s too late… after a week or two goes by and they have exhausted all efforts to cover up their wrongdoing and BS their way out of trouble.  They all say it then. At that point, it is meaningless.

If Gilbert was man enough to be strapped with three guns, he damn sure should have been man enough to immediately accept full responsibility and hold himself accountable for the consequences. Instead, he acted like a horse’s ass and publicly joked about it.

And for the record, admitting you were wrong and apologizing does not make up for the mistake… but it does show you are a person of character and that you take full responsibility for your actions.

Lastly, I am very thankful to have received many nice Christmas gifts from my friends and family. One of my favorite gifts, given my affinity for reading, was the new Amazon Kindle electronic reader.  It is awesome!  If you are an avid reader, I highly recommend it.

The first book I bought was Personal Foul by Tim Donaghy (the former NBA referee who was arrested for gambling on NBA games).  It was extremely fascinating and was an easy read.  I knocked it out in a week. Of course, the entire book was written from the perspective of a lying, cheating, self-admitted gambling addict… but if even 10% of what he claims is true… WOW!

Also, I just posted a video montage of the Montrose Pre-Game Warm-up at www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.  Early next week I will post the Montrose Pre-Game On-Court Warm-up (showing what we do when we take the court 20 minutes before every game). Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss any of the action!

If I can ever be of service or help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I promise to respond as quickly as possible.

Play hard. Have fun.

Alan Stein

www.StrongerTeam.com

www.Twitter.com/AlanStein

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