Coach’s response:
- The biggest focus of the early block of the season is simply to make a consistent habit of the smallest details within the game. Understanding that the difference between winning and losing can be one possession in the 2nd quarter, or the last shot of the game. When the game is played the right way, it is played one possession at a time. Which contradicts human nature.
- Huds and Jack know the way. Whether it’s the tone of practice, execution of a drill or logistics on game night. They know the expectation and are bringing exactly what is needed from experience.
- Similar to question 1. The challenges that this brings to me as a coach are to inspire enough belief and confidence in ourselves individually, so we can gravitate to being player-led by the time we play win-or-go-home basketball. Players win games, not coaches.
- Team Goals
- Win the next game
- Play our best basketball at the end of the season
–> Understanding the mission is not casual; it’s a constant daily reflection of who we are in life and who we strive to be as individuals, which ultimately makes up who we become as a team.
- Team chemistry is a fancy word for individual buy-in to the task at hand. Team chemistry is the sum of the parts, and the sum comes from each individual’s part. Hard times, gritty practices, the battle against human nature, and overcoming true obstacles together. When you conquer yourself mentally, physically, and emotionally, and do it vulnerably together, only then do dreams and desires become available.
Article:
With the start of a new season on the horizon, the Hawks boys basketball team is not focusing on creating hype, making predictions, or drawing attention. Instead, the emphasis is on one aspect: turning small details into consistent daily habits.
In a sport where a single possession during the second quarter can determine the game’s outcome, the Hawks have been trained to compete with a “one possession at a time” mentality. This mindset is unexpected for what humans typically do, but this is the base upon which the Hawkeye coaches believe and want to establish a winning culture by the ned of the year.
Huds and Jack are two of the main contributors to establishing this type of culture. With previous experience under their belts, Huds and Jack know what a typical practice should look like, how a drill should be completed, and what a game night should be like. These two leaders will provide an example for the rest of the players.
To the coaching staff, the task is to instill sufficient confidence and belief in each of the players such that the team becomes player-led by the time the postseason arrives. The coaching staff uses the internal motto — “Players win games, not coaches” — to reinforce the fact that if they want to develop a competitive team in the win-or-go-home format of basketball, the players need to develop the confidence to make decisions on the court without input from the coaching staff.
The team’s objectives are simply stated:
- Win the next game.
- Play your best basketball at the end of the season.
However, beneath these simple objectives lies a deeper objective. The Hawks are going through the process of developing a greater sense of self-identity as both players and as individuals. It is this development of self-identity as individuals, the coaches say, that will ultimately define the team’s identity.
While “chemistry” is a term that is used liberally in sports to describe the way a team functions, the Hawks define it differently. The Hawks define “chemistry” as total buy-in. Buy-in is demonstrated by the willingness to push through tough practices, battle one’s own human nature, overcome obstacles, and accomplish all of this as a unit. When each individual player demonstrates buy-in and has conquered himself (mentally, physically, and emotionally), then the potential for true success exists.
It will certainly not be easy for the Hawks to reach their full potential, but it is evident that they are not looking for shortcuts. They are constructing something much deeper. Something much more difficult. Something that will be earned.