Six ways to bring out the best in people

1.  Keep courtesy and consideration for others foremost in your mind, at home and away.
2.  Try to have fun without trying to be funny.
3.  While you can't control what happens to you, you can control how you react.  Make good manners an automatic reaction.
4.  Seek individual opportunities to offer a genuine compliment.
5.  Remember that sincerity, optimism, and enthusiasm are more welcome than sarcasm, pessimism, and laziness.
6.  Laugh with others, never at them.

"Be more concerned with your character than you are with your reputation.  Your character is who you really are, while your reputation is merely what people think about you."   John Wooden

TEAM WORK

Coming together is a beginning...Keeping together is progress....Working together is a success.

Teams are effective if you enjoy being around each other.

Teams need people who will not give up in the face of problems and in fact will be energized by the challenge.

Teams need support from the outside.

Teams will endure conflicts.  How we handle the conflict is very important.

Teams that are successful have trust among all members.

Teams that have trust must have trustworthy teammates.

Teams dont find fault;they find a remedy

Teams success is determined by the whole, not by individuals.


TEAM

Together.  Everyone.  Achieves.  More

Gold Standards

1. No Excuses
a. We have what it takes to win

2. Great Defense
a. This is the key to winning the gold
b. We do the dirty work

3. Communication
a. We look each other in the eye
b. We tell each other the truth

4. Trust
a. We believe in each other

5. Collective Responsibility
a. We are committed to each other
b. We win together

6. Care
a. We have each other’s backs
b. We give aid to a teammate

7. Respect
a. We respect each other and our opponents
b. We’re always on time
c. We’re always prepared

8. Intelligence
a. We take good shots
b. We’re aware of team fouls
c. We know the scouting report

9. Poise
We show no weakness

10. Flexibility
a. We can handle any situation
b. We don’t complain

11. Unselfishness
a. We’re connected
b. We make the extra pass
c. Our value is not measured in playing time

12. Aggressiveness
a. We play hard every possession

13. Enthusiasm
a. This is fun

14. Performance
a. We’re hungry
b. We have no bad practices

15. Pride
a. We are the best team in the world and we represent the best country

Choice not Chance

Great post from Coach Starkey's blog!  It is a daily must read www.hoopthoughts.blogspot.com


Choice not chance, determines destiny.  Choose to become a champion in life.

1.  Choices dictate life's opportunities, so make choices with great care.
2.  Your "little choices" do matter.  You must commit daily to seeking out the right choices for yourself, and operate according to a belief system that all your choices do matter.
3. It is crucial to practice "right thinking" which means to think deeply, think clearly, and allow yourself to feel deeply.  All of those are part of the process of making reasonable choices.
4.  Keep your power.  Recognize that you are in control and continue to develop your "power" further.  Incorporate a mind set to "stay in the moment" to fortify self-determination and your power to perform
5.  If it's meant to be, it's up to me.  Always remain focused and embrace reason over emotion at all costs.

Joanne P. McCallie

Nine Promises

1.  Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible.
2.  Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special and that you value
3.  Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best in yourself and others.
4.  Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as your are about your own.
5.  Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
6.  Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future.
7.  Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile
8.  Promise to give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
9.  Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company...a church...a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude....I am convinced that life is 10 % what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.  And so it is with you....we are in charge of our attitudes.

CENTRAL BASKETBALL

Dreams

The difference between a realist and dreamer is...A realist sees the chance for failure.  The dreamer sees the chance for success.  Dale Brown

There comes a time, a time in every man's life when he is faced with a personal crises or monumental challenge.  It is at this time that a man discovers what truly exists deep down inside his soul.

Great men have dreams, hopes and aspirations.  Average men do not.  It is the strength of the will, and the fire of determination blazing inside the soul that leads men to fulfill these dreams, hopes and aspirations.

Great men reach deep down inside their soul to accept, fight and conquer any and all challenges.  Average men never reach this deep and therefore falter and are defeated.  Your will, and the amount of intensity and determination with which you meet challenges, has no correlation with size, speed, and ability.

Along the path of life, in search of our dreams, hopes and aspirations, there are many obstacles, many challenges, and many battles.  Great men are willing to pay the price for success and victory.  Average men are not and later live to regret it.

You see, the will is the backbone of the soul.  The fire within great men's souls blaze greater, and their will is strengthened with each battle, each victory.  These men constantly strive to reach their ultimate goal---their dreams.

Robert Kennedy once said,  "Some men dream things as they are and ask WHY?  I have dreams that never were and say WHY NOT?!"

Hubie Brown: Secrets of Winning Basketball

1.  Be on time for practice and games.
2.  Play Hard-No guy is bigger than the team
3.  Know your job.
4.  Do your players know when to pass & shoot?
5.  When you leave an area replace.
6.  You need a short and a long pass.
7.  You must be able to reverse the ball.
8.  Pass the ball to the player least expected to get it.
9.  The further you are away, the more open you are.
10.  Jump-up when guarding the inbounder
11.  You can make buzzer-beating, half-court shots if you practice them
12.  Smart passes to half-court make for effectice clock management
13.  Never let the inbounder make a uncontested pass
14. When you see people run good stuff use it
15.  Grab your teammates shirt to get away from your defender.
16.  Stay at least 3 feet from the sideline when catching an inbound pass.
17.  On screen and roll, dribble twice and turn the corner to score.
18.  Good spacing prevents one defender from guarding two players.
19.  The post defender will try to defend the curl off of a screen
20.  If the defender follows, curl off the screen
21  If the defender shoots the gap, bump off the screen
22  Hook the defenders arm to isolate on the rebound
23  Make contact use wide base on block out
24  Every time the ball is picked up jam and turn the shoulder
25  Front every post up
26  Young teams have to get more shots
27  What is your % on the break? 2 vs 1, 3 vs 2, 4 vs 3
28  The reward is the score

Central High School

After spending 5 years as a Florence Falcon I have traded my Blue for Red/Black.  Its tough and sometimes overwhelming to take over a program in the middle of the summer.  Over the past couple of weeks I have tried to begin placing my stamp on Central Basketball. 

One of the first tough decisions I faced was whether or not to conduct tryouts.  I decided due to vacations, football, church camps, etc.  we would just operate day to day with the athletes who are interested in playing next season.  We will conduct a tryout in the fall until then we will continue to improve daily.

One my goals is to make our facility as nice as possible.  I believe in taking care of your gym!  Coach Meyer's #1 rule was everybody picks up trash.  We are going to do our best to turn this into a first class organization.

The players so far have been outstanding.  They are learning everyday and adjusting to their third coach in three years.  I know that has been tough on this group of Seniors but they are going to be the first piece of the foundation that we lay during this rebuilding process.  Everyday somebody different tells me Coach Bryant you can win here football is too important....My mindset is that Central will win on the football field and then we will win on the basketball floor. 

My next step is hiring a staff.  Conducting day to day operations without a single coach 7th-12th has been tough.  There is so much teaching that has to be done.  I hope over the next couple of weeks we are able to fill some slots with people who want to apart of making Central Wildcat Basketball important again.

"Failure to Prepare is preparing to Fail."

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Coach Bryant

How to Motivate Yourself

1.  Read something positive every day.
2.  Remember your uniqueness and real worth.
3.  Try to "give yourself away" each day.  It's difficult to stay "down" if you are trying to "lift" someone else
4.  Make a habit of associating with winners and avoiding losers.
5.  Avoid gossip.  It's entertainment for vacant minds and is a loser's game.
6.  When you begin to feel overwhelmed or depressed, take a step in the direction of changing something.
7.  Learn to accept people and trust them.
8.  Make a habit of studying for growth.  If you don't like to study, do it until you do.  It's only a habit and you can cultivate it.
9.  Put your "mission ahead of your commission."
10.  Develop the habit of keeping promises to yourself.  Every time you do, you get stronger.
11.  You are the one who determines what your reaction is going to be.  To Anything.
12.  Make a decision only when you feel positve because the decision must be based on "Is it right?" not "Is it convenient?"
13.  If you accept people with empathy, with understanding, with high regard and without judging them, you are then in a position to begin to communicate.