Gene Keady-- Boilermaker Philosophy

Here are some really good clinic notes from Gene Keady.


There are  4 things that all players in all programs say it takes to be a champion
ATTITUDE
WORK ETHIC
COMMITMENT
LEADERSHIP

• Attitude:  Have a good attitude, a listening attitude, and an attitude of togetherness.  With all this the attitude of the team will be positive.  This seems to be the gist of every story of the teams that won (The team concept).  They wanted to play hard, have fun, enjoy the camaraderie, and listen to what the coaches say because the coach is the boss.  We all have 4 things in common we  must be successful in, to get that positive attitude.
• Time Management: How do you organize your time?
• Competitiveness: how do we teach our kids to be competitive?
• What do we do about discouragement? How do we handle this on a daily basis?
• How do you solve problems?  
• Work Ethic:   Succesful players talked about how hard they worked during preseason conditioning and in practice.  The teams that were champions wanted to be the best.
• Our team won 28 games, second in the big 10 and the biggest cheer I got all year  was when I said "No practice tomorrow."  They hated to practice, therefore we didn't get past the second round.
• Commitment:  People were committed to being a champion.  They worked on their own self-improvement.  They loved to play.  When we recruit, we want to recruit the IDEAL player.
• I: INTELLIGENCE:  Common sense and academic sense.
• D: Dedication
• E: Enthusiasm
• A:Ability; Quickness and shooting
• L: Loyalty, This is the most important thing of all.
• Leadership: 3 basic rules concerning leadership and what we expect of our players.  If we can do these 3 things we will win a Big 10 Championship.   It is amazing how it works. 
• Be on time: 
• Go to class every day: 
• Try your best

Some more thoughts from Keady:

• Intensity foundation:  All game habits are set by the same tone of your practice intensity habits.  If you don't practice hard, you aren't going to play hard in the game.  We do a lot of competitive things in practice. This is broken down into practice, games, players, and teams.
• Practice:  What do you try to get out of  your practices?  Aggressiveness, competitiveness, techniques, and system.  We have to teach techniques more today then before. 
• Game:  You must have a philosophy and you must sell  your team on your philosophy.  This will depend on your talent level.  
• You must have goals.  If you don't set goals, your kids won't be motivated.
• How do you handle the refs?
• Management:
• Players:  It is important to have 1-1 meetings with your players.  Tell them what they are good at and what they should improve on.  
• Honesty: If your players trust you, then you will be able to motivate them.
• Be positive, but be demanding.  You must have high goals.
• Team:  6 parts that the team should be centered around.
• Teach Fundamentals.
• Be in shape
• Team morale(Do things other then basketball)
• Pressure defense on the ball (Keep things simple)
• Flexible offense
• Fast Break

4 things to Win:

1. Control your players
2. Schedule to meet the needs of your talent level
3. Be able to adjust to the referees and the rules
4. Have the administration behind you.