The link for his blog is
http://basketballinsights.blogspot.com/
Being my assistant is not so difficult, but at the same time it might be difficult. I don't disturb anybody past usual working hours. I'm not calling people in the night. After the game I'm so tired that I just watch the game myself to clarify my ideas, then I need to sleep. Even if I'm mad or stressed, I can't go all night long watching tapes. I need to rest as I wake up early every morning — 7.30 or maximum 8 am — even after the game. But I want them to suggest new ideas. During practices when we set up the teams I want them to create problems to the team I'm coaching. I want them to create situations that look like the real game. I want them to imagine how the opponent will play and try to recreate this kind of problem during practices. I want them to come up with new ideas and be ready to express and defend them, but at the same time to accept the fact that it will be my decision whether to use their ideas or not. The greatest quality of an assistant coach is unselfishness. Once you start being jealous that the coach used your idea that turned to be the key for the game and got all the credit without mentioning you, you're no longer a good assistant. I used to be an assistant. When I started thinking that I could do it my way, I was lucky that I had the chance.
At the same time head coach should never confuse loyalty with an ability to follow and agree. A good assistant should be able to tell the coach: “Look, we're heading into the wrong direction” and explain why. You have to tell, if you see the coach choosing the wrong direction. I had very few problems with my assistants during my career. And it happened only when I had a “master of the after” as an assistant. Those are the people who are good at saying “We should have done this” after the game and “Maybe, we should do something about it” when things are not going well. Do what? Make your suggestion.
We disagree with my assistants all the time, which I think is a good part of our job. In theory they call “organizational behavior”, they point out that group thinking (making decisions together that in most cases leads to thinking in almost the same way) might be a big problem. In group thinking, the one who disagree avoids expressing his opinion because of the fear of being criticized. It might be a disaster for the organization. So if there is a good thing I do as a coach, I don't encourage group thinking. I keep pushing my assistants to tell what is wrong in their opinion to create some kind of diversity. If we all think in the same way, I don't need assistants. On the other hand, we do a lot of brainstorming, on the bus, even on the bench during games. There is one reason I sit between my assistants from day one as a head coach. I want my assistants to talk and then it's my responsibility to pick up what I feel is good. During the game I never explain to them why I chose something over something else, because we don't have time for that. But I want to hear their voice.
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