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Excerpts from They Call Me Coach, John Wooden
That’s the way I try to work with players. They are just like doves. Some need to be held a little tighter or they’ll get out of your control. Others don’t need to be held as tightly in order to get the best out of them. There is no standard that will work for all, but above all, a coach must be patient. In game play it has always been my philosophy that patience will win out. By that, I mean patience to follow our game plan. If we do believe in it, we will wear to opposition down and will get to them. If we break away from our style, however, and play their style, we’re in trouble. And if we let our emotions command the game rather than our reason, we will not function effectively. I constantly caution our teams, “Play your game, just play your game. Eventually, if you play your game, stick to your style, class will tell in the end.” This does not mean that we will always outscore our opponent, but does insure that we will not beat ourselves. I think I thrive on pressure. It has never gotten to me either as a player or coach. When a player constantly works under pressure, he will respond automatically to it. For this reason I am confident that what the team does on the weekend in a game relates 100 percent to what it does during the week. A man may make mistakes, but he isn’t a failure until he starts blaming someone else. Three things are vital to success in basketball – condition, fundamentals, and working together as a team. I said that when I played, I said that when I first started coaching, I said that last year, and I will keep on saying it next year, the year after, and for the rest of my life. I constantly repeat the admonition I learned from Piggie Lambert at Purdue: “The team that makes the most mistakes will probably win.” There is much truth in that statement if you analyze it properly. The doer makes mistakes, and I want doers on my team – players who make things happen. Just give me a group of gentlemen, who play the game hard but clean, and always on an upward path. Then the championships will take care of themselves if the overall ability of the team warrants them. Coaches become extremely attached to their players and to their managers. Because they work with these students under condition of sever emotional and mental stress, as well a physical, it is understandable that they establish closer relationships with them than are usual in the normal classroom situation. “In group activity,” I wrote, “there must be supervision and leadership and a disciplined effort by all, or much of our united strength will be dissipated pulling against ourselves. “If you discipline yourself toward team effort under the supervision of the one in charge, even though you might not always agree with the decision, much can and will be accomplished. “Your lot is certain failure without discipline. “I am very interested in each of you as an individual but I must act in what I consider to be the best interest of the team for either the moment or the future. “Your race or your religion will have no bearing on my judgment, but your ability and how it works to my philosophy of team play very definitely will. Furthermore, your personal conduct and adherence to standards that I make will undoubtedly be taken into consideration either consciously or unconsciously. Continue to Next Page
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