Systems Basics

Below are my notes from watching Gregg Popovich talk about fundamentals of team building, system basics, and coaching a successful basketball team.¹

Character

They am what they am

You can load a team with talent. Obviously you need a baseline of skill, but character is the fiber of a team and is the beginning of everything you do as a team.

If you find people with good character then it’s easier to be open and honest with them.

Accountability

Total, brutal, between the eyes, honesty.

This doesn’t mean be a jerk, or be manipulative, or lie. If performance is poor, observe it, you have to confront that head on.

Standards

The standards your hold each person can be somewhat unique to that person, however, the team still has to march to the beat of the same drummer.

Managing

A coach or manager isn’t responsible for having the best ideas. It doesn’t matter where the ideas actually come from, it’s about putting the right people together and letting the ideas surface to the top. When a team is built out of members who have strong character, who have gotten over themselves and don’t have anything to prove to them, then their honesty is constructive and they are comfortable to share ideas openly.

Losing

Don’t waste time feeling sorry for yourselves or blaming “the basketball court Gods”, there’s no place for having a pity party.

It’s important to confront the failure head on, relive every minute of the game you lost and understand where your team went wrong. Empower the team and make them understand that they have the ability to control their fate. Come out of a loss with and understanding of what could’ve went better. It’s a measure of character, courage, and fortitude to get back on top.

Leadership

Some leaders are born and some are made.

Whichever it is, you can usually feel it intrinsically.

Also there is no one ideal leadership style, everyone does it their own way and that’s ok.

Taking a timeout

Coaches often waste time saying useless or obvious things:

“We gotta rebound the ball.” (Oh, really?)

If a team is getting burned, ask them what they want to do about it. Put it in their hands and force them to think critically.

Timeouts are crucial for talking and reevaluating what’s going on: briefly, succinctly.

Coaches shouldn’t get in the way of the team’s communication, hovering over them and doubling down isn’t going to help anyone.

Goal settings

Goals need to be general and basic.

It’s not about “winning the championship”, or “being the best team ever”, etc.

It’s about the journey, the difficulty of being great, and enjoying the process.

The journey is what to be proud of. The journey is what to focus on.

What did the team achieve as a group?

Goals can be focused on how to do our best, be the most prepared, and be the most healthy.

Training

Don’t skips steps, start at the beginning and master the basics:

First drill: jump stops and pivots.

Its not about having secret plays that are smarter than all the other teams.

Taking pride in the work, and doing things to a degree of excellence grows the spirit of the team and grows their character.

When a team’s spirit grows in this way they then begin to feel like they’ve earned the win and deserve the win.