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It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one’s hat keeps blowing off. - Woody Allen
There are a bunch of interesting things out there on the web.  Probably the best newspaper coaching story I’ve read was in the New York Times last week.  Unfortunately it’s not publicly available anymore, so unless you are a TimesSelect member, use this link to Deadspin.

The story is about a youth soccer team in Clarkston, Ga.  The team, The Fugees, are a group of three select/travel teams.  What makes the story interesting is that the team is drawn from refugees resettled in a small Georgia town 10 miles northwest of Atlanta.  The personal stories of every player is filled with heartbreak and hope.

The hometowns on the roster reads like a roundup of all the bad news from the past 10 years.  Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Gambia, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan…  They are all a long way from a soccer field in Georgia.

Things aren’t all rosy however.  Clarkston has become a town targeted for refugee resettlement, which has caused resentment from the locals.  This means the team has to fight for a place to play and acceptance from the town.  You can learn more about the Fugess on their website — fugeesfamily.org

This next story isn’t about great coaching.  In fact it’s about someone always thought of as un-coachable.  "Pistol" Pete Maravich was the original run and gunner.  He never saw a shot he didn’t like and if he liked it, he usually took it…  His statistics are amazing.  He played college ball at LSU from 1968-70 and averaged 44.2 points per game, leading the nation in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons.  He scored 50+ points 28 times and was a three time All-American.  In short, the guy can fill it up — and a new video on Yahoo Video shows him filling it up for over 6 minutes.

But it’s not just Pistol Pete running and gunning.  There is a short clip of a very young Don Criqui (Buffalo native) interviewing Maravich.  Stockton asks Maravich how long he practiced dribbling as a kid.  Starting at 12 years old, Maravich dribbled the ball eight hours a day in the summer and four in the winter.  Yes he was a hot dog, but he spent a lot of time perfecting that recipe.

Enjoy the video — I did…

It gets late early out there. - Yogi Berra

I'm a little late to this controversy, but I've never let a little mold put me off of anything…

On December 8th, Tommy Craggs wrote an article in Slate titled "What John Wooden Gets Wrong About Basketball".  Anyone who has read this site knows I have great admiration for the man.  But I'm not enough of a basketball savant to judge his basketball knowledge.  As a rec league player and, despite my height, perennial late round pick, I had to rely on the fact that the man won 10 NCAA titles and 16 Conference titles as a coach, and as a player he was a three time All-American and Player of the Year in 1932.  He is also one of three people inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and as a coach.  With that resume, I figured he was pretty good at the basketball in addition to understanding how to train and motivate people.  But that's just me with my limited understanding of basketball.

I do like to read differenct perspectives.  I like to know why people believe different things, maybe learn something I didn't know which could change my perspective on a person or issue.  So when I saw the title of Craggs' article I thought I'd give it a try.  After all, a guy that last coached when I was in 4th grade probably has been proven wrong about a thing or two.

But my hope for enlightenment was shot in the fourth paragraph.  When I read this passage I knew the article wasn't about Wooden or his philosophy as much as it was a chance for a writer to get noticed by taking a shot at a 96 year old man.

But it's time we retire this notion of Wooden as basketball's wise old man and see his legacy for what it is: a triumph of rigidity, bureaucracy, paternalism, and anal retentiveness.

Wow, that's a lot of things for one man to get wrong and still be admired at 96!  So what is Craggs' evidence for the indictment?

Wooden was a relentless taskmaster who counted discipline among the game's most important tenets. He had a hand in everything, from his players' grooming habits down to the wool content of their socks (50 percent). In one incredible passage in his coaching textbook, Practical Modern Basketball, Wooden details the Bruins' eating routine: "The meal usually consists of a ten-to-twelve-ounce steak broiled medium or an equivalent portion of lean roast beef, a small baked potato, a green vegetable, three pieces of celery, four small slices of melba toast, some honey, hot tea, and a dish of fruit cocktail.

Taskmaster indeed…  I don't know a college coach worth his shoe contract who isn't concerned about his athlete's feet and doesn't consult a nutritionist.  Wooden didn't have the benefit of a Nike research center or Gatorade Training center.  He had to figure out what kept his athletes from getting blisters and what food gave them the strength to play the game as he taught it.  Craggs may not like the certainty that Wooden had about what was right, but if the noted conformist Bill Walton could survive then Wooden's UCLA was probably a little looser than Stalin's Russia.

John Wooden is the father of modern basketball because he taught an up-tempo, attacking game.  It was revolutionary at the time and required each player to perform his specific task perfectly.  Yes he insisted his players do things a particular way — because that way worked!  Coaching is about making the whole better than the sum of it's parts.  Regardless of the titles, there can be no argument that John Wooden was very good at doing that.

Bum Phillips , former NFL Houston Oilers head coach, once said about Don Shula , the legendary NFL Miami Dophins Coach, "He'll take his and beat your's, then he'll take your's and beat his".  The same is true of John Wooden.  He had tremendous talent at UCLA, but there were other teams with great talent too.  John Wooden used his discipline, knowledge and talent to beat them all.  Sounds like an American success story to me…

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and if you want to get anything from Amazon in time for the big day you better order soon.  Here are some of the things I'd like to see under my tree…

My coach predicated everything on defense. He always talked about defense, defense, defense. I took it to heart that if you play defense, you can take the heart from an offensive player. - Eric Williams

Lately I've been getting occassional email newsletters from the website Basketball Drills and Plays.com.   Today's email is about defensive positioning.

Like most coaches, I like good defense.  I always tell my players, "If they don't score, we can't lose".   That isn't possible in basketball, but that doesn't mean defense isn't important, just that the goal is different.  Basketball defense is all about making the other guy work harder.  The harder he works for a shot, the fewer good ones he'll take.

It can get demoralizing when your opponent puts in an off balance running one hander.  But if you concentrate on the process of good defense rather than the results of the shot you can get your kids to continue playing good defense.

Let's look at some of the tips from Basketball Drills and Plays.com:

TIP: Keep your eyes on the defender's abs

• No matter what fake the offensive player performs, they can only go where their abs take them.

TIP: Play defense with your feet not your hands

• Don't be lazy, you need to move your feet.  Reaching aimlessly with your hands will only lead to pointless fouls.

TIP: Go for the steal on the up-bounce

• This is when the ball is moving the slowest, and when your player has the least control.

TIP: Get low 

• When in your defensive stance make sure to get low and wide, while staying on the balls of your feet. This will maximize you ability to stay in front of your defender and not let him blow past you.

Good solid advice for anyone playing defense.  I've always liked the one about following your opponents stomach.  When you tell a player that for the first time they think you're nuts.  Then they try it…  You just have to remind them to take their eyes off of their opponents abs when he doesn't have the ball…

Basketball is basketball. - Oscar Robertson

Remember the 5 Question Interviews I ran with the Men's and Women's Basketball coaches?  I asked both of them to tell me the most important thing to teach the kids.  Both coaches said "Fundamentals".  In basketball there is nothing more fundamental than ball handling.

I found an eleven part online Youth ball handling clinic at kudda.com.  I think it's great to have an in depth course available free of charge, but I felt the videos were a bit lacking in actual instruction.  You should watch the videos and get ideas for drills, but if you aren't up to speed on the fundamentals yourself, you'll need some help to make sure the kids are dribbling correctly. 

Maybe that's me reliving my general incompetence on the hardwoods, but by the end of level one the kids were doing things I couldn't do.  Be careful not to rush the kids through the levels too quickly.  Watch the videos and determine where your kids fall on the ability scale, then use those drills in your practices.

• Level 1 - dribble while looking at the ball
• Level 2 - dribble with head up
• Level 3 - moving with the ball
• Level 4 - moving at full speed 

One tip I took from Level 2 on how to get the kids to keep their head up — have the kids call out the number of fingers you are holding up.  Simple, yet effective.  I love that kind of teaching method — and you can use that in any sport.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden

I received an email on Friday from longtime reader Greg Connors.  You may remember Greg as the Buffalo News writer who profiled this site in the early days.  Turns out he is a youth basketball coach.

Greg was looking for some basketball sites so he could get ready for his season.  I hadn't done a lot of searching for basketball - other than John Wooden anecdotes - but I did have d one site ready to send Greg.  I think it may have enough drills to keep him busy…  The site boasts 837 drills in 14 categories.  As you might expect, there are a few duplicates — if not out right, at least closely related.  But there are still some you'll want to make a part of your practice.

One that I found is called "Simon Says".  It's just like the kids game we all played, but with basketballs.

All of the players on your team get into a circle. One player will start out in the middle, 'Simon'. This player may do any ball handling skill that he/she desires. After a short period of time the middle player will call out a new skill and will preface the command with 'Simon Says…' if they do not say 'Simon Says' then players are to continue what they are doing. A player is out if they follow command without hearing 'Simon Says'

You get the kids doing different things, get them to listen, and have a little fun in the process.

The site has a "Youth Drills" category.  These drills are designed for kids learning the game.  The section is divided between drills and games, so you should be able to find what you need to round out your basketball practice.

I've found some other sites, but let me hear from you.  What's your favorite source for basketball drills?  Let me know by email or in the comments.

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy? - Albert Einstein 

Mike MacDonald, Head Coach, Men’s Basketball
Medaille College, Buffalo, NY

Mike MacDonald was the head coach at Canisius College for the past nine seasons. The 2000-01 Golden Griffins reached the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship game under MacDonald. For his work that season, MacDonald was named the Basketball Coaches Association of New York Co-Coach of the Year. MacDonald has also coached the Western Region Open Squad in the Empire State Games for six seasons, leading his teams to three gold medals (1994, 1995, 1997), one silver medal (1998) and one bronze medal (1998).

In addition to MacDonald's success on the court, he has played a key role in development of the basketball program and the academic development of student-athletes while at Canisius. Under his leadership, two of the last five MAAC Scholar Athletes of the Year have been from Canisius. MacDonald's tenure at Canisius also saw renovations to the Koessler Athletic Center and upgrading the men's basketball schedule. In 2001 MacDonald was named to the Business First 40 Under Forty list of outstanding young leaders in Western New York.

1 - As a youth league coach, what should I be teaching the kids that I'm probably not?

The most important thing to teach is the fundamentals!  Drill them, drill them, drill them!!  Don't worry about a fancy offense in basketball, make sure the kids can pass and catch and dribble and shoot first.  After that, teach them how to respect the game and their opponent.  Too many kids are in to trash talking, helmet throwing, etc., because they see it on TV.  It's up to youth coaches to correct that!

2 - What shouldn't I be teaching the kids that I probably am?

Trick plays, gadget plays, etc..  Don't teach a flea-flicker in football before the kids know how to block and tackle.  Keep the game simple, and focus on skill development, not W's and L's! 

3 - What is the most important fundamental for kids to learn?

How to hustle and play hard at all times.  Also, to not get down on themselves when they make a mistake.  Those things are invaluable to youngsters, and they all go back to respecting the game.

4 - Who is the best coach you know?

John Beilein , West Virginia University

5 - Why do you coach?

I coach because I like to see players get better…on the court and off.  I get a rush out of watching that gangly freshman turn into a mature senior.  I like to know that I may have played a small, very small part in someone improving their game and their life.  There's nothing better than getting a call from someone you coached many years ago, and realizing that that young man, as grown in to an adult.  Sounds hokey, but it's true.  Coaches-at all levels- can make a difference!

A champion needs motivation above and beyond winning - Pat Riley

Introducing a new feature here at CoachKidsSports.com.  Today and Monday will feature five question interviews with Division III coaches.  Today's entry is Pete Lonergan, the Women's Head Basketball coach at Medaille College in Buffalo, NY.  Monday features Mike MacDonald, the Men's Head Basketball coach at Medaille.

Pete Lonergan, Head Coach, Women’s Basketball
Medaille College, Buffalo, NY

Pete Lonergan is entering his fourth season as the Head Coach of the Lady Mavs with a coaching record of 56-20 (.738). Last season Lonergan coached the Lady Mavs to a 26-2 overall record, going undefeated in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (18-0). The Lady Mavs won the AMCC post season tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament. The Lady Mavs won their first round match-up against Washington & Jefferson, but lost in the second round to the University of Rochester. Lonergan has been named the AMCC Coach-of-the-Year for his work the past two seasons. Lonergan brings experience as a Division I Head Coach at St. Francis University and Niagara University.  He has an extensive coaching "tree" with more than eight former assistants or players currently coaching.

1 - As a youth league coach, what should I be teaching the kids that I'm probably not?

The three areas that youth coaches should focus on are:

1. Fundamentals
2. Making sure the kids are having fun
3. The concept of team first.

2 - What shouldn't I be teaching the kids that I probably am?

Most coaches focus on winning and losing. While it’s fun to win, it shouldn’t be the priority at that age. Coaches should focus on the development of basic skills and fundamentals. 

3 - What is the most important fundamental for kids to learn?

It depends on the sport, but focusing on the fundamental skills of each sport. For basketball, kids should learn to master the basics of dribbling, passing and shooting. For football, you should focus on tackling, blocking, throwing, running and catching, etc. For young athletes to get better they first need to understand and execute the simple, basic drills and movements necessary in their sport. 

4 - Who is the best coach you know?

Pat Riley

5 - Why do you coach?

There are two reasons. First, at any level, a coach is a teacher and I enjoy teaching and watching a player learn the skills. I enjoy seeing players learn skills and develop their throughout their playing career. Secondly, at the collegiate level, I enjoy the competition. The preparation, planning and strategy add an exciting element to the coaching experience.