10 Things That Require No Talent ....

One of the more difficult aspects of coaching is trying to find a role for

all of your players. It is especially challenging to have upper classman

who are on the team, but lack the skills to be major contributors. Finding

a role for them is important for team morale and ultimately for your

own morale as a coach. I believe you need to be proactive in role identification. At the end of the season, I tried to have a conference with each returning player. I tried to be VERY honest as to what role I saw

them filling the following season. For some players, I would tell them

rather straight forwardly they would not see significant playing time

next season. If they wanted to be part of the team, they could still

make a contribution by focusing on some (if not all) the suggestions

below.

There are many ways a player, regardless of their athletic ability/basketball skill can contribute to the success of the team. I had this list tucked away in one of my folders and I thought it was worth sharing.

10 THINGS THAT REQUIRE ZERO TALENT

BEING ON TIME ....Shows respect for the program & your team mates.

WORK ETHIC .... Can you focus on the task at hand

even when the coach is not watching?

EFFORT .... Can you raise your effort level?

Or is it good one practice and not so good the next?

Can you demonstrate a consistent effort level?

BODY LANGUAGE .... How are you communicating

with your team mates and coaches?

ENERGY .... Do you practice with energy and can you contribute

to your team by helping your team mates to play with more energy?

ATTITUDE .... How do you handle disappointment? Lack of playing time?

How do you handle success? Are you positive or negative with

yourself and your team mates?

PASSION .... Do you love to compete? Do you love the game?

BEING COACHABLE .... Do you accept coaching or reject it?

Are you willing to try and apply what you are being taught?

DOING EXTRA .... Do you take advantage of opportunities

to get better? Are you willing to spend extra time working on

your skills, your strength, etc.

BEING PREPARED .... Do you know the scouting report?

Can you fulfill the role or roles the coach needs?

Are you mentally focused and are you

capable of executing the special situation sets, offensive sets, etc.?

Not all players can be "great" players but ALL players

can be "great" members of a TEAM.