It was a hard day today. I have been struggling with my emotions, and I needed to express how I was feeling; even though, I really could not put my finger directly on why I have been breaking down in tears all afternoon and into the early morning.
It all started when word came through that 9 people tragically died in a helicopter accident in Southern California today. That alone made me stop and consider life and the consequences that come from living it. Normally, that type of news may not make it to Colorado where I live. It may only be a blip on the national news media's coverage of the day. 9 lives lost. 9 families devastated. 9 communities changed forever. It deserves more of our time, but it is just another sad story that happens in some capacity in every part of the world every day. We know it deserves more of our sympathies. Those 9 people had a purpose that has now fallen to those they have left behind. That burden will be too hard to carry for many, but soon, someone will pick up that purpose, and through time that burden will ease to those in that community.
Today, amazingly, that burden fell to millions around the world who knew the name Kobe Bryant. Thousands were quick to pick-up his purpose and share his story. The death of a vibrant, enthusiastic, passionate 41-year old father of 4, international celebrity, future Hall of Famer, arguably one of the Top 5 men's basketball players to ever play the game, and for millions, a role model they never met is quite simply knocking the planet to it's knees today. Many, young and old, lost a person they have looked up to for most of their lives.
That last part is why I have been struggling emotionally today.
You see, I had just completed my 2nd full season as a head college coach the day the news broke that Kobe had been accused of sexual assault in July of 2003. I was a collegiate men's coach...a leader of young, impressionable men on their own for the first time in their lives. Most of my players were just a few years younger than Kobe at the time. I remember how disappointed I was in Kobe. Millions of young men looked up to this kid who skipped college to go compete with grown adult men in the NBA. I was, and in different ways now, a big believer that young men NEEDED 4 years of college to grow-up, make and learn from "small" mistakes, mature their attitudes and desires, learn self-control, learn how to deal with conflict and differentiating opinions. I knew I needed every second of 4-years of college for all of those things and many more.
These accusations against Kobe only made my thoughts on the matter stronger and gave me conviction in my opinion. From my perspective, the pressure, stress, millions of dollars and the media's microscope was too much for most 30-year olds, let alone a 17-year old who hadn't had time in a conducive environment to grow into something more resembling an adult. Kobe never had time to gradually grow into someone the world wanted to touch and have 5 seconds with. 17 year olds are not ready to be gods or at least treated as omnipotent. That level of desire and scrutiny from a big world was enough to blow any kid's head to the size of the Goodyear blimp. From his attitude on and off the court, it was obvious, to me, that he had succumbed to that explosion of ego.
Fast-forward 15 years after the charges were dropped and the whispers had stopped, Kobe had completed a world-renowned basketball career ascending to the Mt. Rushmore of professional basketball and capping it all off in his final game with an overwhelming 61 points as his teammates watched him launch shot after shot. I was still dumbfounded to see that there was still a gigantic hole of humility that never was filled. He still did not seem to get that the world did not revolve around him. It only seemed to matter that the actors around him performed to the script as he had written and directed. Even with obvious growth as a husband and father, 5 NBA championships, 2 MVPs, 2 Olympic gold medals, and not really a sniff of wrong-doing since that accusation 15 years before, it was clear to me that his driving goal in life was to be seen as the greatest basketball player of all-time...and everything else was secondary...even the respect of his colleagues and peers.
Now, today, and whether all my vitriolic opinion was righteous or completely out of context, all I could think about was if I was in a helicopter with my young daughter, and I knew that it was about to go down, how I would be fighting heaven and hell to find a way to protect her and save her from an end she did not deserve. I would become super-human, so she did not have to experience the slightest amount of fear or pain. I would still be fighting after my last breath had been taken from me.
It was in that moment of reflection that I was hit with the undeniable understanding that if there was ever a father built for that end, it was Kobe Bryant. It had taken the better part of 24 years in the public eye, but he had become an adult to be proud of and one who deserved a person's respect beyond basketball and fortune and fame.
Kobe did not die today as an egotistical athlete or a first ballot Hall of Famer or a good or bad person. He died today being the father he was destined to become and one we all hope we never have to be.
He played the game so well because he anticipated 5 plays ahead of everyone else on the court. He was the consummate chess player who thought he could win the board with only his king. A novice chess player knew that was impossible, but Kobe lived for the impossible. He made it his goal in life to prove us skeptics wrong. He was one of the few to ever play the game who could actually make that work.
For me and for the rest of my life, the name Kobe Bryant will be synonymous with one thing and one thing only...Father. I know, without any doubt, that in the last seconds of his life his singular concern was protecting that little girl from what he knew was inevitable. Just like in every aspect of his life from that point back in 2003 when he thought his life was over, he started to see the world before it saw him. Today, that education allowed him to be the daddy that little girl desperately needed.
There is nothing more devastating to witness in this world than an unfinished life. I truly believe that Kobe's was just starting and with his guidance, love and direction, Gigi's life was on track to be greater than even her father's. I am so thankful that those 4 girls got to witness the man he was becoming, but I am heart-broken for the love, nurturing and education they are losing with his death. I can only imagine the loss the world is facing not having him around for the next 40 years. It is without a doubt that he was raising those 4 girls to make the world a better place, and we should all be saddened we won't get to see the final scene.
Sleep well knowing that we have 9 new angels today watching over us and the smallest of the 9 is being held tight by the tallest who is still refusing to let her go.
Matt Rogers
Monday, January 27, 2020
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
#80 Defense, Defense, Defense!
Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack. --Sun Tzu
I broke back into the Diary yesterday, and after writing a new post, I took the time to re-visit some posts that I wrote 5-6 years ago. What I learned is that writing is not like riding a bike...I have become a very poor writer as I have left my skills lay dormant. I will get back on the bike and before long I will be riding with no hands again. Please be patient with me in the meantime...:-).
As a college basketball coach, my strength after many years of doing everything the wrong way became teaching the defensive side of the ball. I do not know why it took me so long to make my team's defense our priority. It really makes no sense. If anyone watched me play throughout high school and my unimpressive college career, they would quickly tell you that my strength as a player was my defensive strategy and instincts. I could keep anyone in front of me, and I could make the best of the players uncomfortable and frustrated, as I worked very hard to take away their strengths and make them beat me with their weaknesses.
After reviewing my 79 some blog writings over these last 6 years, you can imagine how disgusted I was with myself that I found I have never written a blog about defense. Granted, defense is not sexy. Most coaches do not teach it at clinics or camps. It may be taught at those venues but not near as much as offensive strategy and offensive skill set. Good defenses slow the game down. They can make the game a struggle to watch, so you don't see a lot of great defensive possessions popping up on SportsCenter; outside of your occasional great block or coast-to-coast steal with a big dunk at the end. Sorry, ESPN. That is not defense.
So, where do I begin? How do I make defense sexy? Would a National Championship excite anyone? Well, if you watched my old friend Brad Soderberg and the Virginia Cavaliers last year, that defense shut down some of the most potent offenses we have seen in years at the college level. Every offensive possession was a struggle, and they made great players have to make great plays to win the game. There is only so much magic in every hat, and the Cavaliers made every team have to find more than was in theirs. They won a National Championship with great defense, outstanding team rebounding, and infectious sharing of the basketball. You may not have loved to watch the game as a novice fan, but a seasoned college coach would tell you that you got to see the Mona Lisa in action. It was a pure masterpiece designed by two of the best coaches on the planet...who rarely get their due.
Coach Bennett and Coach Soderberg teach the "Pack-Line Defense". No defender ever leaves the 3-point line, and everyone pinches to the ball eliminating driving lanes, passing lanes and interior scoring. The "Pack-Line" forces teams to shoot quick and have to win the game from 23 feet. It is very smart basketball and the reason the UVA wins 30 games almost every year.
I have never been patient enough to teach the Pack-line. I do not have the ability to watch teams run 30 seconds off the shot clock every single possession for 5 straight months. Maybe for a few weeks, but 5-months would put me in the mental ward.
I have always been a big believer in up and on-the line man-to-man. I believe in forcing teams to the corners and to the elbows and eliminating one pass away. The hardest shots on the floor are shots off the dribble at the elbows (because you are shooting with defenders in both sides of your peripheral vision and typically the tallest defender in front of you). Shooting from the corner is equally tough because you do not have a backboard behind you to give you sensory depth. How often do you see young people in a gym shooting from the corners? Nah, that is no fun. Kids don't practice it and that is why we want them taking lots of shots in games from there.
The defenders that are two passes away straddle the rim-line and force players to re-think attacking the rim off the dribble; and therefore; makes the offense play on one-side of the floor. Any basketball coach will tell you that the key to good offense is making the ball move from one-side of the floor to the other while making the defense have to move the farthest and work the hardest. The more times the ball is reversed, the more likely the defense will get lazy and eventually make a mistake. So, for me, it is complete common sense to eliminate ball and floor reversal for 32 (high school) or 40 (college) minutes and make teams beat you on one-side of the floor.
I do not want to make this blog too long, but talking team defense was not my sole purpose of today's writing. The sexy part of defense is what I was great at...shutting a singular player down. If 5 guys can shutdown the other 5 guys, the game will be over very soon...See 1990's Chicago Bulls and 1980's Detroit Pistons.
How do you become a lock-down defender? 3 very simple strategies:
1. Play on a defender's hip and force them (I mean pin them) to the sideline. Take away the middle of the floor and use the sideline as your trapping mate.
2. Keep your eyes on the offensive players belly like your life depends on it. Too many kids watch the offensive player's eyes or the ball. Those visuals will only deceive you. The belly is going nowhere and will never lie to you.
3. Never be afraid to retreat and re-attack. If a player makes a quick move, dive your feet toward the basket and create space between you and the man while continuing to protect the middle of the floor. When the offensive player sees that the move did not open up the middle, and you still did not give them a straight lane the rim, they will get soft and it is time to immediately attack again and pin again.
*You don't have to be the quickest guy on the floor to be a great defender, but you have to be the smartest. If you are only giving the ball-handler one direction to attack, you can anticipate and beat him their with your feet every time.
Ahhh! The monkey is off my back. I did it! I wrote an entire blog about defense...and although I am still disgusted with myself for taking this long, I am thrilled that the coaches reading this have some fun talking points to take into practice tomorrow.
Happy Hunting! Go shut a team down tomorrow. It starts in practice! Make it feel like the Octagon. No one comes out until someone is knocked out :-)
Email: coachrogers12@gmail.com
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
I broke back into the Diary yesterday, and after writing a new post, I took the time to re-visit some posts that I wrote 5-6 years ago. What I learned is that writing is not like riding a bike...I have become a very poor writer as I have left my skills lay dormant. I will get back on the bike and before long I will be riding with no hands again. Please be patient with me in the meantime...:-).
As a college basketball coach, my strength after many years of doing everything the wrong way became teaching the defensive side of the ball. I do not know why it took me so long to make my team's defense our priority. It really makes no sense. If anyone watched me play throughout high school and my unimpressive college career, they would quickly tell you that my strength as a player was my defensive strategy and instincts. I could keep anyone in front of me, and I could make the best of the players uncomfortable and frustrated, as I worked very hard to take away their strengths and make them beat me with their weaknesses.
After reviewing my 79 some blog writings over these last 6 years, you can imagine how disgusted I was with myself that I found I have never written a blog about defense. Granted, defense is not sexy. Most coaches do not teach it at clinics or camps. It may be taught at those venues but not near as much as offensive strategy and offensive skill set. Good defenses slow the game down. They can make the game a struggle to watch, so you don't see a lot of great defensive possessions popping up on SportsCenter; outside of your occasional great block or coast-to-coast steal with a big dunk at the end. Sorry, ESPN. That is not defense.
So, where do I begin? How do I make defense sexy? Would a National Championship excite anyone? Well, if you watched my old friend Brad Soderberg and the Virginia Cavaliers last year, that defense shut down some of the most potent offenses we have seen in years at the college level. Every offensive possession was a struggle, and they made great players have to make great plays to win the game. There is only so much magic in every hat, and the Cavaliers made every team have to find more than was in theirs. They won a National Championship with great defense, outstanding team rebounding, and infectious sharing of the basketball. You may not have loved to watch the game as a novice fan, but a seasoned college coach would tell you that you got to see the Mona Lisa in action. It was a pure masterpiece designed by two of the best coaches on the planet...who rarely get their due.
Coach Bennett and Coach Soderberg teach the "Pack-Line Defense". No defender ever leaves the 3-point line, and everyone pinches to the ball eliminating driving lanes, passing lanes and interior scoring. The "Pack-Line" forces teams to shoot quick and have to win the game from 23 feet. It is very smart basketball and the reason the UVA wins 30 games almost every year.
I have never been patient enough to teach the Pack-line. I do not have the ability to watch teams run 30 seconds off the shot clock every single possession for 5 straight months. Maybe for a few weeks, but 5-months would put me in the mental ward.
I have always been a big believer in up and on-the line man-to-man. I believe in forcing teams to the corners and to the elbows and eliminating one pass away. The hardest shots on the floor are shots off the dribble at the elbows (because you are shooting with defenders in both sides of your peripheral vision and typically the tallest defender in front of you). Shooting from the corner is equally tough because you do not have a backboard behind you to give you sensory depth. How often do you see young people in a gym shooting from the corners? Nah, that is no fun. Kids don't practice it and that is why we want them taking lots of shots in games from there.
The defenders that are two passes away straddle the rim-line and force players to re-think attacking the rim off the dribble; and therefore; makes the offense play on one-side of the floor. Any basketball coach will tell you that the key to good offense is making the ball move from one-side of the floor to the other while making the defense have to move the farthest and work the hardest. The more times the ball is reversed, the more likely the defense will get lazy and eventually make a mistake. So, for me, it is complete common sense to eliminate ball and floor reversal for 32 (high school) or 40 (college) minutes and make teams beat you on one-side of the floor.
I do not want to make this blog too long, but talking team defense was not my sole purpose of today's writing. The sexy part of defense is what I was great at...shutting a singular player down. If 5 guys can shutdown the other 5 guys, the game will be over very soon...See 1990's Chicago Bulls and 1980's Detroit Pistons.
How do you become a lock-down defender? 3 very simple strategies:
1. Play on a defender's hip and force them (I mean pin them) to the sideline. Take away the middle of the floor and use the sideline as your trapping mate.
2. Keep your eyes on the offensive players belly like your life depends on it. Too many kids watch the offensive player's eyes or the ball. Those visuals will only deceive you. The belly is going nowhere and will never lie to you.
3. Never be afraid to retreat and re-attack. If a player makes a quick move, dive your feet toward the basket and create space between you and the man while continuing to protect the middle of the floor. When the offensive player sees that the move did not open up the middle, and you still did not give them a straight lane the rim, they will get soft and it is time to immediately attack again and pin again.
*You don't have to be the quickest guy on the floor to be a great defender, but you have to be the smartest. If you are only giving the ball-handler one direction to attack, you can anticipate and beat him their with your feet every time.
Ahhh! The monkey is off my back. I did it! I wrote an entire blog about defense...and although I am still disgusted with myself for taking this long, I am thrilled that the coaches reading this have some fun talking points to take into practice tomorrow.
Happy Hunting! Go shut a team down tomorrow. It starts in practice! Make it feel like the Octagon. No one comes out until someone is knocked out :-)
Matt Rogers
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
Matt Rogers is a 22-year high school and college coach veteran. He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to a High School State Championship. His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every collegiate level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels. He currently is the Senior Recruiting Specialist for NCSA - Next College Student Athlete where he has helped thousands of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level. Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 22 years and his two children.
To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.
Monday, January 6, 2020
#79 Keep It Simple
That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. --Steve Jobs
One of the truly great positives about getting older is that you start to realize how much time you have wasted in your life. The positive is not the wasted time, but rather the education that comes with learning from that lost time.
My three great flaws are over-thinking, over-talking and over-reacting. Those three characteristics have led to lost time I will never get back. I have a passion for justice and teaching things the "right way", so that passion often gets the best of me because I give too much information with too much enthusiasm, and often, the point of my passion and enthusiasm gets lost in translation.
Because of the ridiculous amount of time I have spent over-coaching in my career, I am slowly learning to be much more conscious of speaking and teaching with "conviction": "say what I mean, and mean what I say." For example, if I am going to teach a kid how to become a better jump shooter, I do not need to give him or her an oral history on the great shooters of all-time. That does not help anyone shoot the ball better.
I need to simply start and end with the importance of their feet. If your feet are set, and your feet are square to the basket, and you have a center-of-gravity that makes you stable (a little bump won't knock you over), you are ready to shoot the ball and will probably make more than you miss. If I can get a kid to consistently shoot the ball knowing how important their feet are on the catch, that kid will grow in confidence progressively over time. As a teacher, I want that kid to learn that simple formula for success, but it requires the kid to be focused on doing it right over and over again.
The same goes for the young people I educate on developing themselves into the "ideal recruit". If you are out of shape, I preach to them to start with a short run down to the end of the block and back without stopping. Tomorrow, do it again. If after a week or two of one trip down the block and back, it starts to get easy, now is the time to add a second lap to your run. Focus on starting small. Build your endurance, and then build on that endurance one step at a time, and you will see not only your shape improve, but your confidence will grow with it.
As Steve Jobs said, "simple can be harder than complex" because simple relies on discipline, routine and consistency. When we teach simple concepts, we allow the student to focus on small things instead of big things they may not remember or may take away from their focus.
I am in the middle of process where I am going to make a pretty scary and dramatic career change (or career evolution as I am calling it). I often find myself distracted by all the mistakes I have made in the past and all the things that could go wrong with the future. My feet get caught in quick-drying cement, and just like that I am no longer moving toward my goals. I worked hard today to create a simple daily process by focusing on what I want to do without worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. I have made my process simple, and now I am focusing on repeating the work that needs to be done each day until I have a routine. I know through experience that routine will lead to discipline...and from there, I will begin to the move the mountains I want to move.
So, whether you are teaching shooting fundamentals or trying to get into better shape or, like me, working to make a career evolution, I encourage you to focus on keeping it simple, and you will begin to move the mountains that seem so impossible today.
Email: coachrogers12@gmail.com
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
One of the truly great positives about getting older is that you start to realize how much time you have wasted in your life. The positive is not the wasted time, but rather the education that comes with learning from that lost time.
My three great flaws are over-thinking, over-talking and over-reacting. Those three characteristics have led to lost time I will never get back. I have a passion for justice and teaching things the "right way", so that passion often gets the best of me because I give too much information with too much enthusiasm, and often, the point of my passion and enthusiasm gets lost in translation.
Because of the ridiculous amount of time I have spent over-coaching in my career, I am slowly learning to be much more conscious of speaking and teaching with "conviction": "say what I mean, and mean what I say." For example, if I am going to teach a kid how to become a better jump shooter, I do not need to give him or her an oral history on the great shooters of all-time. That does not help anyone shoot the ball better.
I need to simply start and end with the importance of their feet. If your feet are set, and your feet are square to the basket, and you have a center-of-gravity that makes you stable (a little bump won't knock you over), you are ready to shoot the ball and will probably make more than you miss. If I can get a kid to consistently shoot the ball knowing how important their feet are on the catch, that kid will grow in confidence progressively over time. As a teacher, I want that kid to learn that simple formula for success, but it requires the kid to be focused on doing it right over and over again.
The same goes for the young people I educate on developing themselves into the "ideal recruit". If you are out of shape, I preach to them to start with a short run down to the end of the block and back without stopping. Tomorrow, do it again. If after a week or two of one trip down the block and back, it starts to get easy, now is the time to add a second lap to your run. Focus on starting small. Build your endurance, and then build on that endurance one step at a time, and you will see not only your shape improve, but your confidence will grow with it.
As Steve Jobs said, "simple can be harder than complex" because simple relies on discipline, routine and consistency. When we teach simple concepts, we allow the student to focus on small things instead of big things they may not remember or may take away from their focus.
I am in the middle of process where I am going to make a pretty scary and dramatic career change (or career evolution as I am calling it). I often find myself distracted by all the mistakes I have made in the past and all the things that could go wrong with the future. My feet get caught in quick-drying cement, and just like that I am no longer moving toward my goals. I worked hard today to create a simple daily process by focusing on what I want to do without worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. I have made my process simple, and now I am focusing on repeating the work that needs to be done each day until I have a routine. I know through experience that routine will lead to discipline...and from there, I will begin to the move the mountains I want to move.
So, whether you are teaching shooting fundamentals or trying to get into better shape or, like me, working to make a career evolution, I encourage you to focus on keeping it simple, and you will begin to move the mountains that seem so impossible today.
Matt Rogers
Twitter: @madcoachdiary
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rogersmatt16
Blog: madcoachdiary.blogspot.com
Phone: (312) 610-6045
Matt Rogers is a 22-year high school and college coach veteran. He has led two teams to the NCAA National Tournament and one team to a High School State Championship. His teams hold numerous school and one NCAA record. He has mentored and coached players at every collegiate level while serving as an athletics administrator at the high school and NCAA levels. He currently is the Senior Recruiting Specialist for NCSA - Next College Student Athlete where he has helped thousands of young men and women from around the world achieve their dreams of playing at the college level. Coach presently lives in the Denver, CO area with his wife of 22 years and his two children.
To request Coach Rogers to speak at your school or event, you can reach him through any of his contact information above.
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