Noblesville High School Basketball Program Documents

            PRINCIPLES TO SUCCESS IN OUR PROGRAM

The following four principles are what I believe to be the most important aspects of the game and our program.

1.                  Compete – I do not think any word can be more powerful and inspiring to an athlete than the term COMPETE. This is the most important part of what we will do. When you compete, good things will happen. When everyone in our program is competing together, this is a way to erase mistakes, to magnify our strengths, and to cover up our weaknesses. We want avoiding screens, rebounding the basketball, and constant pressure on the ball are just a few ways we measure our intensity level. “Our goal is not to win. It’s to compete and to play as a team.  Then winning takes care of itself.” Mike Krzyzewski

2.                  Be A Great Teammate - As our young men are growing up, we must instill

the importance of working with others because it is essential when they get out in the real world. Basketball is a team sport and can be special when all players are working together toward the shared goal of the team. We will always encourage our team to make the extra pass, or help a teammate who has gotten beat on the drive.  “Teamwork is what makes common people capable of uncommon results.” Pat Summit

3.                  Be Coachable – It is amazing how the game of basketball and the game of life are so similar. Each demands a personal commitment to excellence to achieve success. To reach excellence one must make personal, significant sacrifices in and throughout their lives. They must always have a mindset to win and do the very best they can. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “The most instructive experiences are those of everyday life.”  His words still apply to the everyday world of hoops. The game demands discipline, preparation, and mental toughness.

4.                  Accept your Role – At the center of every high performance team is a common purpose, a mission that rises above and beyond each of the individual team members. To be successful, the team’s interests and needs come first. This requires “we-opic” vision (“What’s in it for we”), a challenging step up from the common “me-opic” mind-set. It means sharing your strengths and differences to move the team forward.

A Chinese proverb states “behind an able man there are always other able men”.

The truth is teamwork is at the heart of great achievement. The question isn’t whether teams have value. The question is whether we acknowledge that fact and become better team players. That’s why I emphasize that one is too small a number to achieve greatness. You cannot do anything of real value alone.

I challenge everyone to think of one act of genuine significance in the history of humankind that was performed by a lone human being. No matter what you name, you will find that a team of people was involved. That is why former US President Lyndon Johnson said, “There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve by ourselves.”