By Greg Anthony
ESPN Insider
As we head towards the end of the season, every team competing for the playoffs should be gearing up for the home stretch, and now more than ever coaching becomes important in preparing your team for the challenges ahead.
A coach has to do three things that are vital to a team's success: Motivate his players, prepare them from an X and O standpoint and put them in a position to win.
Because the season is long and filled with adversity and it's easy to feel sorry for yourself as a player and a team, a coach has to be able to keep his players focused on the big picture. Keeping guys from getting too high when things are going well or too low when tough times seem to overwhelm them sounds cliché, but it's a big part of being an NBA coach.
So much of how players deal with the day-to-day grind of an NBA season depends on how much of a psychologist their coach is and how well they respond to the mind games designed to keep them focused on the moment and not on what has happened or what is to come. All that really matters is how you respond to the challenge in front of you on a given night. A team's mental health often determines how well it will do in the long run.
But a coach also has to be able to prepare his team from a basketball perspective, whether it be on the practice floor or in film sessions, and he has to get his team to respond to his personality and his style of coaching.
One thing a coach has to be is consistent in terms of how things are done. In his dealings with players, he has to make them feel like they're all in it together, like his goals are in line with his players'. And while it doesn't matter if his players like him personally, he has to be respected. His words and actions have to carry weight, and there has to be a bilateral standard of accountability. Players must feel that if they execute his game plan, they will succeed. This trust doesn't happen overnight. It's earned over a period of time, and it happens quicker for some than others. Consistency goes a long way toward generating the respect and trust that ultimately helps reinforce the coach's message.
The third thing that will allow a coach to build that trust is his ability to put his team in a position to win. He needs to be able to change defenses or diagram plays that give his team a chance to succeed. He needs to show his players how to take away certain strengths of an opponent.. In essence, he needs to show his players he can manage a game from the bench.
Like players, coaches can make mistakes in the heat of battle. They also can let the pressure affect them, which will hurt their trust and credibility with their team. I've had coaches, when diagramming a critical play get so nervous that they'll have six Xs on the board. People, we only have five players in the game. That's not a good way to show your worth as a coach. Players look to the coach for leadership and direction, and when a coach can't live up to that, players begin to tune him out.
I remember my time in New York, playing for Pat Riley. We always felt like he would give us whatever we needed down the stretch of a game. His ability to not only put us in a position to succeed, but the calm in which he did it, really gave us the confidence that we were prepared to get the job done. You never doubted him or his staff, and that respect brought about a lot success.
So as we head down the stretch, keep an eye on the coaches. It's no secret the ones who achieve the most do so because they are more often than not the best. And players need their coach to deliver in the crunch, just as the coaches and fans expect their players to do. Sometimes players don't deliver because they have not been given the tools to do so.
Greg Anthony, a veteran of 11 NBA seasons, is a regular contributor to ESPN Insider. Click here to send him an e-mail.
ESPN Insider
As we head towards the end of the season, every team competing for the playoffs should be gearing up for the home stretch, and now more than ever coaching becomes important in preparing your team for the challenges ahead.
A coach has to do three things that are vital to a team's success: Motivate his players, prepare them from an X and O standpoint and put them in a position to win.
Because the season is long and filled with adversity and it's easy to feel sorry for yourself as a player and a team, a coach has to be able to keep his players focused on the big picture. Keeping guys from getting too high when things are going well or too low when tough times seem to overwhelm them sounds cliché, but it's a big part of being an NBA coach.
So much of how players deal with the day-to-day grind of an NBA season depends on how much of a psychologist their coach is and how well they respond to the mind games designed to keep them focused on the moment and not on what has happened or what is to come. All that really matters is how you respond to the challenge in front of you on a given night. A team's mental health often determines how well it will do in the long run.
But a coach also has to be able to prepare his team from a basketball perspective, whether it be on the practice floor or in film sessions, and he has to get his team to respond to his personality and his style of coaching.
One thing a coach has to be is consistent in terms of how things are done. In his dealings with players, he has to make them feel like they're all in it together, like his goals are in line with his players'. And while it doesn't matter if his players like him personally, he has to be respected. His words and actions have to carry weight, and there has to be a bilateral standard of accountability. Players must feel that if they execute his game plan, they will succeed. This trust doesn't happen overnight. It's earned over a period of time, and it happens quicker for some than others. Consistency goes a long way toward generating the respect and trust that ultimately helps reinforce the coach's message.
The third thing that will allow a coach to build that trust is his ability to put his team in a position to win. He needs to be able to change defenses or diagram plays that give his team a chance to succeed. He needs to show his players how to take away certain strengths of an opponent.. In essence, he needs to show his players he can manage a game from the bench.
Like players, coaches can make mistakes in the heat of battle. They also can let the pressure affect them, which will hurt their trust and credibility with their team. I've had coaches, when diagramming a critical play get so nervous that they'll have six Xs on the board. People, we only have five players in the game. That's not a good way to show your worth as a coach. Players look to the coach for leadership and direction, and when a coach can't live up to that, players begin to tune him out.
I remember my time in New York, playing for Pat Riley. We always felt like he would give us whatever we needed down the stretch of a game. His ability to not only put us in a position to succeed, but the calm in which he did it, really gave us the confidence that we were prepared to get the job done. You never doubted him or his staff, and that respect brought about a lot success.
So as we head down the stretch, keep an eye on the coaches. It's no secret the ones who achieve the most do so because they are more often than not the best. And players need their coach to deliver in the crunch, just as the coaches and fans expect their players to do. Sometimes players don't deliver because they have not been given the tools to do so.
Greg Anthony, a veteran of 11 NBA seasons, is a regular contributor to ESPN Insider. Click here to send him an e-mail.