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Coaching Philosophy

by J.P. Clark, Boston Celtics, Assistant Skill Development “I don’t want to be any good.” “I am not interested in becoming the best I can become.” “I want to be mediocre.” Have you ever heard any of the above statements spoken from an aspiring player? The answer to that question is most likely no. These statements are never spoken, ever. You see, as players, really as humans, we all have an innate desire to be great; to become special. Deep down, we all want to live to our greatest potential; to become the best we can become. The question is how do we fully maximize our talents? How do we live to our full potential? Today, I am going to share with you The 5 Keys to Fully Maximize Your Talent.

The four laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation and repetition. The goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure. To make sure this goal was achieved, I create eight laws of learning -- namely explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, and repetition." -Coach John Wooden
If only Coach Wooden could have lived long enough to see the Read & React! You would think that his quote came from a Read & React Coaching Clinic! The Read & React DVD takes care of the first three laws:
  1. Explanation
  2. Demonstration
  3. Imitation The next 5 Laws of Learning the Read & React are left up to your practice plans:

I’m a huge fan of Seth Godin. I get an email from his blog site every day. Here’s a recent one: “Banks should close at 4, books should be 200 pages long, CEOs should go to college, blogs should have comments, businessmen should be men, big...

When defending a player on the wing, you should do everything you can to keep the ball from being dribbled into the middle. This means forcing, influencing, or shading the ball towards the corner/baseline and then working hard at stopping the drive (by yourself) before the attack reaches the short corner. Basketball defender guarding a basketball dribbler The above sentiment is nothing revolutionary, but let's examine why it works.

When the ball drives baseline, there are several factors in favor of the defense:

  1. The offense is actually decreasing the usable court space.
  2. The baseline becomes a defensive “sixth man”.
  3. Shooting angles are not as good as being in the middle of the floor (read: shooting percentages drop).
  4. Natural passing angles are fewer and more difficult.
  5. Non-ball defenders seem to drop toward the goal more easily than when the ball is driven into the middle.