To Be or Not 2 Be

Morgan Wooten says that, “The sum of your experiences as a player, the information you’ve gained through observing games, the lessons you’ve learned through reading, and the ideas you’ve picked up on listening and asking questions at clinics, in combination with your personality, constitutes your unique coaching Philosophy.” In having a coach as a father picking up on lessons from various coaching clinics and practices was easy for me. I gained and experienced what others may not have experienced at a young age. Also my own youth basketball camps and clinics that I have attended and worked contribute to the way I look and think at basketball in its entirety. In my opinion I feel that one never will be able to pinpoint what makes a good coach, for example Coach K. stated that he learns something new from every game and every year that he coaches, reinforcing my opinion.

In playing basketball for many years at many different levels, I encountered many different coaches each having their own coaching philosophy. Ranging from coaches that preached basketball is fun and should be played for enjoyment to basketball is life and should be played with the mind state that wins and losses are looked upon as life and death. I feel that there is no right or wrong way to look at the game of basketball. I do feel that a coach needs to be open and communicate well with his players in order to receive the best possible performance from his players as well as gain their respect. In life I keep and open mind and do not judge anyone. I live each day with the thought engraved in my mind that a man is as only good as his word. Same thing applies to a coach, a coach is a coach and a player is a player, but we are all humans. Having a coach that said one thing and did another thing was a real struggle for me when it came to respecting him and buying into his philosophy (system). We encounter these happenings every day from people in society and sports. Practice what you preach has no value in my opinion if what you preach is not what you practice!