Coach Ed Science
  • Home
  • Intro
  • PS (1-4)
  • PS (5-9)
  • PS (10-14)
  • PS (15-18)
  • PS (19-21)
  • Space Exploration
  • Warriors Hoops
  • Summer Basketball Camps
  • Flying Pumpkins, 2020
  • Literacy
  • #getBETTER Hoops at Home
  • Coach's Corner
  • NOVA Nation
  • Villa Drills
  • Improving Your Shooting
  • Footwork Drills
  • Bball Skills & Drills
  • USA Basketball Tips
  • Things to Ponder
  • Motivation
  • Sportsmanship
  • Thoughts from Paul Harvey
  • Cool Links & Games

Coach's Corner

“It never ceases to surprise me at the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge.”
- Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury

Don't Let the Scoreboard Control You (Roy Williams, Part X)

9/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Bad coaches and managers get freaked out when the scoreboard looks bad. They react by micromanaging and criticizing team members about the "bad numbers". They instruct the team to work harder and "get their numbers up." They remind the team that "their" results are unacceptable. The team members may react by working harder but also become tense, worried and unhappy and in the long run underperform and/or quit. The bad coaches let the scoreboard control them.
 
The great competitive coaches and managers like keeping score. They know they must win to keep their job. They enjoy winning and thrive on competition. When the numbers are not to their liking, they calmly focus on the specific processes that are not working and work with team members to make improvements. They do the same thing when the scoreboard looks good. The team members respond by staying calm and doing the work necessary to improve results. In the long run there is constant improvement and a happy team. The great coaches do not let the scoreboard control them.
 
In his terrific book, Hard Work with Tim Crothers, Hall of Fame North Carolina Coach, Roy Williams, describes how he manages the scoreboard:
 
"I try not to look at the score in the first half, because I don't want that to influence my thinking about how we're playing. Sometimes if a team is taking bad shots and they're making them, a coach could be fooled into thinking his team is playing better than it really is and that just leads to problems later. I try to look at the big picture and focus most on our rebounding and our defense. I have always hoarded timeouts. I've said that when I die, I'm going to have more timeouts left than any other coach.
 
In the second half, I start checking the score once the clock gets down to the eight-minute mark because by that time we have two opponents: the clock and the other team. That's when I'm usually pretty happy that I have lots of timeouts left to manage the end of the game.
 
When the game is over, I tell my players they must beat me to the locker room. I don't ever want the whole team waiting around for one guy talking to his girlfriend. I usually give them some quick thoughts on the game and no matter how well we played, I can never be totally satisfied. Even after our best games, I'll say, "Everybody remember the easy one you missed, remember the time you lost your man on defense, remember the time you didn't box out."
 
If we lose, I usually apologize to them and tell them it's my fault and I must do better.
 
Then we put our hands in and I say a prayer. I always end that prayer by saying, "We do realize we're more fortunate than others. Amen."
 
Roy Williams does not let the scoreboard control him.
 
Do you let the scoreboard control you?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Dave Edinger has been coaching basketball for 37 years at the high school, middle school. and international levels. As a head coach, his teams have won 572 games.

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed