championship habits

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4 Lessons From Champions

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As I enter my third season on the basketball staff at Stetson University, I’m extremely grateful for everything I’ve learned and been a part of. I’ve had the opportunity to be around some great coaches, four of whom have won championships. Donnie Jones (2006 & 2007 Florida Gators), Brendan Suhr (1989 & 1990 Detroit Pistons, 1992 Olympic Dream Team), Shawn Finney (1998 Kentucky Wildcats), and Jonathan Mitchell (2007 Florida Gators). I was thinking about some lessons each of them has taught me that are crucial to becoming a champion. Here are four lessons from people who are champions.

Donnie Jones is our head coach and one of the kindest people I’ve been around. He treats people the right way and is consistent in doing so. He won two back-to-back national championships at the University of Florida in 2006 & 2007 when he was on staff with Billy Donovan. Anyone who knows Donnie and has been around him echoes these same sentiments. He is a master at building genuine relationships and I believe it’s one of the most important keys to his success. This is the first lesson in becoming a champion.

  1. TREAT PEOPLE WELL

Brendan Suhr was on our our staff my first year. He is a legend in the coaching world and has 45+ years of coaching experience in the NBA and college. He won back-to-back World Championships with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 & 1990 and also won a gold medal in the Olympics with the 1992 Dream Team as an assistant to Chuck Daly. He has coached some of the world’s greatest players over the course of nearly 5 decades and finds a way to communicate and teach in a way that players learn and understand. He doesn’t teach a certain way because “it’s how it’s always been done.” Instead, he adapts and adjusts his teaching style to impact players the way they learn best. This is probably why he has been so great for so long and it’s the second lesson I’ve learned in becoming a champion.

2. ADAPT & ADJUST WITH THE TIMES

Shawn Finney is joining our staff for his first season, but I’ve been able to be around him for the past 8 months and have seen him in action. He won a national championship in 1998 at the University of Kentucky while on staff with Tubby Smith. One of many things that makes Coach Finney good at what he does is his attention to detail. Whether it’s on the court or administrative work, he is always fine tuning and making sure everything is as close to perfect as it can be. He pays attention to the little things and holds people accountable to them. This is the third lesson I’ve learned in becoming a champion.

3. PAY ATTENTION TO SMALL DETAILS

Jonathan Mitchell played at Florida and won a national championship in 2007. He is a young coach with a young family, but works extremely hard. He is someone who will put the work in even when it’s inconvenient and tiresome. He has done a fantastic job in recruiting and has grown as a coach because of this. It is the fourth lesson of becoming a champion.

4. YOU CAN’T ONLY WORK ON THE DAYS YOU FEEL GOOD

While there are many more aspects that go into being a champion, I believe these 4 lessons are some of the most important ones you can control. I also get the privilege of working with two other great coaches who have experienced a lot of success and have taught me a lot. Adam Williams, who played at Kentucky and Marshall, and Luis Guzman, who played at Temple and overseas. I’m excited to begin year 3 with these men and continue learning more about what makes them the best of the best. It’s not every day you get to work with people who have won 6 championship rings.

  1. Treat people well.

  2. Adapt & adjust with the times.

  3. Pay attention to small details.

  4. You can’t only work on the days you feel good.

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Champions Today

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This past season, our team rallied around the phrase, Champions Today.  We found ourselves explaining its meaning to people who wondered about our purpose, and while many cynical people questioned our motives, we were given the opportunity to share our intention behind it. 

Champions and Championships are two totally different ideas; words that bring a vast accumulation of meaning.  For example, to be a champion means to fight for something, or to defend something that is important to you.  It implies that there is a process that needs to take place.  Championships, on the other hand, by definition give a distinction of completion.  The journey is already completed and achievement is already obtained.  

Champions Today by no means expresses that we have reached a premature state of success.  However, it does suggest the significance of the journey and the importance of our habits.  It indicates the influence that our present actions will have on our future achievement.  We can't assume that success will automatically appear to us just because we play the game.  We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard that focuses on the here and now.  Every decision, every habit we determine is our path that will ultimately lead us to our destination.  

Our program as a whole embraced this idea of being Champions Today and in turn, experienced positive results. Daily tasks such as showing up on time or serving a classmate became habits that allowed us to reach our goal of being champions at that very moment.  As our habits became consistent, there was a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that propelled us to the next level.  While we never perfected anything, we did become better men and better teammates.  Collective responsibility within our program became one of our most treasured core values because we saw how it allowed everyone to make each other better.  

As we continue our journey through the process we keep encouraging one another to build championship habits.  Habits that will ignite a passion inside of us to be our best.  Habits that will develop us into men of integrity.  Habits that will put aside our selfishness and humbly lift other people up.  And habits that will allow our team to trust each other.  Being a Champion Today is more than showing up and winning a trophy.  It's all about deciding what kind of person you want to become and taking the necessary steps to get there.  No one said it would be easy, but I promise you that it will be worth it!

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Deflections Matter

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When measuring a successful defensive team, most people will look to common stats such as turnovers forced, blocked shots, defensive FG%, and opponents PPG.  However, there is one "unofficial" statistic that may prove more beneficial than any of those.  

DEFLECTIONS.

Coaches will have various definitions of what a deflection is.  Some will claim it is only when a player misdirects a pass by getting a hand on the ball and others will tell you that charges and shot-clock violations count as deflections too.  No matter what your definition of a deflection is, there is no doubt that it is a valuable statistic to track.  

Every good defensive team plays with energy and aggressiveness, and deflections are a sure way to tell if your team is carrying that passion.  Deflections will help you understand how active your team is defensively and whether or not they are applying appropriate pressure.  It has been said that 40 deflections per game is the benchmark for most teams looking to secure a win.  Obviously, you as a coach will need to find an appropriate number that works for your style of defense at your level.  Active feet and active hands will dictate the intensity of your defense and will ultimately lead to deflections which have been proven necessary to win on a consistent basis. 

“Deflections tells you how much energy you’re playing with and how active your hands are. If you lack deflections, then you’re probably not being a very aggressive team and you probably don’t have very active hands.”
— Eric Musselman; University of Nevada Head Coach

Your players are giving a lot of effort whether you think so or not, and telling them to play harder on defense isn't always the answer.  Deflections are a tangible goal that your players can strive for.  This  allows them to feel more in control of the circumstances than when you give the vague answer of, "play harder!"  

Here are some drill ideas that we have used to emphasize the importance of deflections in our program:

QUICK HANDS 3 v 1

For this drill you will split your team into groups of four.   1, 2, & 3 will stand approximately 8 feet apart and pass the ball around in the triangle.  x1 will work to get as many deflections as he can.  x1 will be "in the middle" for a 30 second round and then a new player will rotate into the middle.   Each individual will keep track of his own points as follows: 1 point = deflection; 2 points = clean steal; -1 point = offensive player turns it over; 2 points = dive on the floor for a loose ball (we add this later on to make deflections "live loose balls").

Points of Emphasis: Offense must "catch and peek" and make strong rip throughs and passes.  Pass fakes are encouraged.  Defender must stay in a good stance and have active hands.  He should be applying "voice pressure" the entire time he is in the drill.

QUICK HANDS 4 v 2

This drill is similar to Quick Hands 3 v 1, but it adds an element of "team" and creates more energy.  You will have your players select a partner and then place them in groups of six (three teams of 2 players in each group).  The drill will proceed the same way as  3 v 1, except now you are competing as teams and your points count for both players.  The team with the most points wins.

Points of Emphasis: Offense (see above).  Defense must adhere to same emphasis as 3 v 1 and must work together as a team.  Constant communication should be encouraged between teammates.  

Eliminating Baskets in Defensive Transition

In the article, Factors to Successful Pack Line Defense, I briefly wrote about three characteristics that make our Pack Line defense successful for our program at Bob Jones University.  I would like to take each of those factors and go more in depth with them.

TRANSITION DEFENSE

Our transition defense always begins when we take a shot or turn the ball over on offense.  On the shot, it is our practice to aggressively send THREE offensive players to the glass, while our 1 & 2 guards GET BACK.  Obviously, if we get the offensive rebound we will continue to execute our offense.  However, if we do not secure the ball we will need to immediately get back in transition and stop the ball.  In a turnover scenario, everyone will just immediately get back.  In order to successfully accomplish this, we will need each one of our players to perform their role at a high level.  Note: each of these role descriptions should be performed with the three MUST-DO'S at the end of this article.

Roles Defined

It is the duty of the point guard to initially STOP THE BALL!  He is the first line of defense and his role is crucial in eliminating easy baskets in transition.  His job is to engage the ball handler by the time he reaches half court. He needs to slow down the ball handler, eliminating any passes up the sideline.  He will do this by attempting to turn the opposing player 2-3 times.  By doing this, our point guard is limiting the ball handlers options to either retreating or making an ill-advised cross court pass. 

Our 2 guard is SPRINTING immediately to the paint.  His primary responsibility is to eliminate anything that comes near the rim.  Whether it is by dribble penetration, a pass ahead, or a post feed, it is this players responsibility to take away any baskets in the paint.  He will perform this role until his teammates get back in position at which point he will closeout to the perimeter player.  

The other three players need to GET BACK as quickly as possible by SPRINTING.  A tendency of many inexperienced players is to be content in "buddy running," which basically means they run even with the player they are guarding.  To be successful in transition, this can't happen!  We need our post players to recover to the paint to relieve our 2 guard of his duties.  They will then need to fulfill the responsibility of protecting the rim.  The last guy back will need to sprint to the weak side of the floor and eliminate any ball reversal that takes place.

After successfully eliminating the primary break many teams will ease up.  Great teams understand that their job, however, is never done and the real fun now begins!  Players will now need to instinctively go from a "transition" mindset to a "half court" mindset.  This is the time that our defense can now make a statement.  

Championship Habits in Transition

Realistically, many teams perform their roles that are listed above, but still find ways to give up easy baskets in transition.  Why?  Because they do not perform the minor details that great teams demonstrate.  These following habits are MUST-DO'S for any team that wants to become great in defensive transition:

  1. Proper Floor Balance - When each player performs their role correctly, proper floor balance comes naturally.  However, there are still times when one or two players will run to the wrong area, leaving an opposing player wide open.  Great teams make it second nature to be in the correct place to keep the defense balanced.
  2. Exceptional Effort - Effort is 100% controllable by each member of your team.  If anyone lacks desire to sprint or communicate properly, one would have to question why that player is in the game.  Players will NEVER (yes, that's an absolute) be able to to perform their roles to the best of their ability without exceptional effort.  Transition defense is something to take pride in at all times.
  3. Clear and Precise Communication - Verbal and non-verbal communication is crucial to successful transition defense.  Not only should each player be verbally talking through what their role is, but they should also be non-verbally giving their teammates cues about where to go and who to pick up. 

All three of those MUST-DO'S go hand in hand and will only be successful if they are habitually ingrained in your player's minds.