Basketball 101 Class by Brian Rea
The need for some “classroom” time for your team/program is very important in my opinion. That is why at Payson we have implemented Basketball 101 class. This is a pre-practice or morning class that is set up specifically for discussing, teaching, diagramming, reading, goal-setting, etc. in a classroom setting. Just as on-court time is valuable, so is our “Basketball 101” class time. We not only have to teach the bodies of our players how to play the game, but feel that we need to teach their minds the “WHY?” of all aspects of the game.
The handout that I am sharing with you is from our first Basketball 101 meeting of the 2013-14 basketball season. It was a great meeting, and very eerie as to the expectations / goals met after reflecting on the season…
The part I want to highlight is the “Beliefs I Have For Our Team” section…
BELIEFS I HAVE FOR OUR TEAM:
We don’t care what anyone else thinks…We are going to play for championships!
(Post Evaluation of Belief – We won the Christmas Tournament, the Mid-Winter Tournament, and played in our 3rd straight Regional Championship)
We are going to be a Top 10 team in the STATE in Class 1A
(Post Evaluation of Belief – We were ranked AP #1 for 13 of 16 weeks. Ended at #3. 1st ever #1 State Ranking for any program/any sport in our school’s history)
We are going to win 20+ games
(Post Evaluation of Belief – We went 24-4 and had 3rd 20+ win season in the 5 seasons of our run with this program)
We are going to win another Conference Championship
(Post Evaluation of Belief – We won our 2nd straight WCC Championship)
We are going to play for the Regional Championship
(Post Evaluation of Belief – We played in our 3rd straight Regional Championship at the time)
Now, the ONLY two areas I put as “winning” of something were the Conference Championship and 20 games…These are over a number of games and months. These accomplishments are not a one-and-done situation, therefore I wanted to make it “winning” or “championship” driven. But, you will notice with the other three “beliefs” that I stated that we will “play” for championships and such. That kept the players from feeling like failures had they not won those one-and-done situations.
These again are/were BELIEFS that I had for this team. They weren’t GOALS. I felt that showing them what I “believed” would happen prior to our first practice together would give them confidence instead of a burden of trying to reach goals. This way they were feeling confident and inspired that I was behind them 100% and showed them my love and belief in them and their potential. And as you can see, these young men used that confidence and inspiration to have incredible success and build lasting memories.
Hopefully through this article you will see the message and the usefulness of our Basketball 101 class, and the difference between setting goals and showing beliefs. It’s not meant to brag or boast, but to show you something that was actually written and expressed before the first practice of the 2013-14 season ever occurred…and what resulted from those “beliefs”. I am no fortune teller or clairvoyant, but I believe that coaches know their teams and what they could potentially accomplish…the thing I hope you take from this though is this; Evaluate how you go about goal setting and THINK about the benefits of possibly changing these to “BELIEFS” you have for your team and players. I truly think it is a great builder of confidence and inspiration. Take that for what its worth…
I will be sharing some of the contents of our Basketball 101 meetings in the next few articles, so until next time…
Best Swishes,
Coach Rea
Follow Coach Brian Rea on Twitter!!!
Head Boys Basketball Coach
Payson-Seymour High School (IL) – 105-39 Record in 5 seasons @ Payson / Elite 8 Qualifiers in 2013
Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Board Member (District 16)
Email: coachbrea3@gmail.com
Played College Basketball @ Quincy University (2 Years ’96-98) & Aquinas College (2 Years ’98-’00)
Head Basketball Coach for 10 Seasons and counting (All in the State of Illinois)
Have sent 7 players to play in College basketball programs
Personal Speed, Strength & Skill Trainer
Click on the pdf link to download the Basketball 101 Class Meeting:
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