Stop Playing the Lottery, Start Winning

“I hope I have a good year next year.”

I have heard this comment from hundreds of athletes since I have been around the game of basketball as both a player and coach. Heck, I probably even said to myself at some point.

Stop basing your game on hope and start building it on WORK.

Why do so many players prepare for the season like they are playing the lottery? Playing the lottery is hoping something happens. It’s why I don’t play the lottery. I want to go earn what I get in my life.

Here is a common conversation I have with players during the off-season.

Player: “Coach, I’m going to the gym. “

Me (Coach): “What are you going to do at the gym?”

Player: “Getting up shots”

Me: “What type of shots?” (This is when I usually get a strange look back…the wheels start turning and the athlete fumbles through their words thinking about what they are going to do and what I want to hear).

Me: “You don’t have a plan. You’re basing your game on hope.”

The first thing you do when going somewhere is figure out how you are going to get there. If you go on a trip in the car, you plug in the address to your GPS system. If you are taking a class at school, you get a syllabus from your teacher or professor that outlines what you need to do and how you can get an A or B in the class.  If you are going to cook something, you buy the ingredients at the store and follow the recipe.

“Direction and discipline, not intention, determines your destiny and success.”

When working with athletes, I often talk to them about a 3D philosophy. I have found that the athletes and people that have all three of these D’s are coming much closer to maximizing their potential and vision. The three D’s I’m referring to are this:

Dream (vision, goals)

Direction (plan)

Discipline (self-discipline – habits)

It starts with a dream. Once you are clear on your dreams, vision and goals, you can map out your direction. Your direction is your plan and process of how you will accomplish your dreams. Coaches are a great resource in helping you establish your direction and off-season training.  The third D, discipline ultimately falls on the athlete. A coach can help some with a player’s discipline, however, it ultimately comes back to the player’s self-discipline.  The highest level of discipline are habits. At PGC (Point Guard College) we often ask athletes at our summer courses this question.

Are you training according to your aspirations?

Prepare with urgency and imagination.  As a player, I used to love the off-season. I came to realize this was my time to separate. When you have inferior athleticism and speed, you must out-skill and out-will your opponent. This comes through a ridiculous dedication to off-season training. Being in an empty, hot gym or outside in the driveway or park is where players are born and games are won and lost.  This is where playing time is earned and opponents are beaten.

The problem is most athletes don’t carry this same thought.  Most athletes hope to improve their shot, get a better handle, or become a more dynamic playmaker.

Stop hoping and start working.

Another important piece to development is having an imagination. It  is critical to maximizing your time and efforts. There will be days when you don’t feel like it. There will be times when you are in an empty, dark gym.  In these moments, you have to remind yourself  that you want to perform when the lights come on.  During these lonely times, put yourself in the season. Imagine you’re playing in that championship game. Visualizing yourself going against the best defender or team you have ever played against can help spark your intensity and training efforts. 

Action Steps for this Off-Season (Separation Season):

1)   Decide your Dreams, Goals and Vision. It can even be helpful to break your dreams into three time frames (short-term, intermediate, long-term)

2)   Map out your direction and plan. Be specific. If your doing a shooting workout, saying you will get up 200 shots isn’t good enough. More exact the better:

a.     i.e. 100 made 3pt shots (40 from right and left corner, 40 from right and left wing, 20 from top of key area). 25 mid range 1 dribble pull-up jumpers going right, 25 mid range 1 dribble pull-up jumpers going left. 25 Mid range catch-shoot no dribble, 25 free throws

3)   Create the discipline that matches your habits. One great way to help create the discipline you need is to surround yourself with people that hold you accountable. Find that guy or girl who is the hardest working kid in your program or in your area and train with them.

 -Sam Allen

Connect with me on questions, thoughts and comments

@CoachSamAllen

www.bcbball.com

www.pgcbasketball.com

Master the Boring

Former NFL Running Back, Herschel Walker (pictured above), is known for his legendary workout routine that he developed as a kid and used throughout his career. Walker, who attended the University of Georgia, would complete between 750-1500 push-ups and 3500 sit-ups every day before college practice even started. His daily discipline is an example of “Mastering the Boring.” After so many hours and repetitions, he became a master in his sport. 

In the book, The Talent Code, author Daniel Coyle discusses the belief that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Let's break down those 10,000 hours into years:

If you have one two-hour practice every day, it takes 5,000 days to reach 10,000 hours.

5,000 days is 13.7 years (13 years and just over 8 months) if you practice 365 days of the year!

Now, there are only so many basketball drills a person can do with a time frame of 13 years and 8 months.  There will be a lot of repetitiveness

involved if you choose to dedicate yourself to intense training. 

Any basketball player that chases greatness and wants to excel will face the challenge of boredom. Most players get bored if they go to the gym and do the same drill every day. Most players don’t know that greatness has routine. The fact is, people don’t get bored. People choose to be bored.

Choosing an intense level of dedication means choosing to “Master the Boring.” Who will get worn down by the "mundane" repetition, and who will see the value in the process? Those that love the sport of basketball absolutely love the process of being in a gym alone and working on their craft. There are some athletes who want the recognition, rewards, and attention when playing for a crowd, but are not willing to do the work when no one is watching. 

“Master the Boring” means taking pride in the simplest of drills and putting your entire focus on one task until it becomes a habit and then continuing to practice it to maintain it at that level. “Master the Boring” refers to fundamental skills like making a certain number of three-pointers, working on form shooting, footwork, doing ball-handling, making free-throws, and choosing one or a combination of drills to repeat every day. It’s not flashy or cool to work on these skills, but they will separate you from the competition and help you and your team win games. 

From the time I was a senior in high school, I used a 10-minute ball-handling routine. My focus was to pound the ball as hard as I could throughout different drills. I wanted to make myself lose the ball. I continued this routine consistently for the next 12 years of playing basketball (through college and professionally). At first, it was exciting, and I found myself getting better pretty quickly with my ball handling. Then, I hit a period where I felt like I was getting worse with my ball handling. I would begin to think to myself, "Why am I doing this? Why am I spending time on this?" I continued to push through this doubtful self-talk and stuck with my routine.

Additionally, during my career, I found myself wanting to take it easy on days that I was tired and not wanting to do my drills. I felt alone sometimes because it wasn't easy to separate myself from the standards that were set at practice. Sometimes it was easy to think that simply fulfilling the expectations set by my coaches or team leaders was enough to get better and even be successful. But, falling into that group mentality wasn’t always going to prepare me for excellence.

I trained myself to be different in my approach - putting time in alone at the gym when my teammates chose to spend their free time outside the gym.  I learned to talk to myself and convince myself that I was sticking with it. 

Steve Nash once said, “If I did what everyone else does, then I would be out of a job.”

Eventually, I reached a point where my routine became second nature to me. Even after 10+ years, I found myself excited to get to the gym early to go through my ball handling. I was excited to see how fast I could go and how good I could get. 

Honestly, the path to "Mastering the Boring" is not a smooth, joyful path the entire way. There are ups and downs that you will find you have to battle within yourself. There will be days when you don't feel like it. There will be days you don’t feel like going to the gym to shoot, or you will tell yourself "it's too cold, it's rainy, I am sore today, I have a game today, it's my day off...” This is where successful people separate themselves not only in basketball, but also in school, work, or really any other life challenge.  

"Master the Boring" is about developing simple routines and having the ability to get excited about accomplishing them every day--turning them into habits. Not all days are fun, but if you can push through this phase, you will reach a point when the “boring” becomes a part of who you are…and you will never go on a date again…

Kidding. Really, if you become a “Master of the Boring”, you will learn what it means to accomplish greatness.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you want to choose the path to “Mastering the Boring”? 

2. If so, what is your daily plan/routine?

3. Who can you share your plan with? (It can be done alone, but if you share it with someone else, they can help you along the way and keep you accountable and motivated.)

Action Steps:

1.    Choose a skill that is important to your position on the court: ball handling for point guards, shooting for wing players, footwork for post players, or free throws.

2.    Determine the amount of time or the amount of reps you will do for that drill.

3.    Find a teammate to share your routine with so that they can either participate with you or hold you accountable to your daily routine.

4.    After completing your routine, use positive self-talk to reinforce your accomplishment: “I just got better,” “I am proud of myself for doing my routine today,” and, “I just prepared myself for the biggest game of the year”.

-Robby Bostain

@RobbyBostain

Blue Collar Basketball

www.bcbball.com

#MasterTheBoring

South Atlanta vs. Greenforest Christian-BCB MLK Showcase

South Atlanta (13-4, 5-0) vs. Greenforest Christian Academy (16-1, 6-0)

Michael Reddick is in his eighteenth year as Head Coach of South Atlanta High School. The Hornets have won a lot of games under his leadership. They are looking to build off of an Elite Eight finish in the state tournament last season. The captain and leader of the team is senior point guard Devontae Dean. Dean is coming off of an All-State performance last season and is an all-around player that can fill up the stat sheet. The warrior for the Hornets is senior forward Artavious Banks. Banks has averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds in his last 7 games. 6’7Junior forward Tyler Thornton is gaining Division I interest and has an offer from Texas Southern. The Hornets are a deep team with offensive weapons throughout the roster.

Greenforest comes into the BCB Showcase under the leadership of first-year head coach Larry Thompson. The Eagles are arguably the top team in the state in any classification with loads of offensive and defensive talent. They have proven their quality against talented teams throughout Georgia and outside the peach state. The heartbeat of the team is 6’7 senior forward Precious Ayah. Ayah has verbally committed to Miami of Ohio and is averaging 11 points and 8 rebounds per game. Senior guard John Ogwuche has verbally committed to New Hampshire. Ogwuche is averaging 15 points per game and shooting 45% from the 3 point range. Junior point guard Justin Forrest is the leading scorer for the Eagles at 18 points per game. Forrest is drawing interest form Division I schools like Murray State, North Florida, and Charleston Southern. Keep your eye out for 6’8 forward Victor Enoh who is a tenacious rebounder - having recorded 23 rebounds in a game earlier this season - and is averaging 12.5 rebounds per game. Enoh has drawn interest form Kansas State, Georgia State, Alcorn State, and Tennessee. 7’1 center Ike Obiagu is one of the best shot blockers in the country. The Eagles have a lot of depth and will look to use their size to their advantage.