The coaching philosophy focuses on using basketball to develop lifelong skills in players such as communication, commitment, and being part of something larger. Success will be measured by player development in these areas, not just wins and losses. The team will follow three principles: Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together. Playing Hard means being defensive specialists and outworking opponents. Playing Smart means having a positive mentality and communication. Playing Together means celebrating teammates and accepting roles for the good of the team. To maintain this culture, the coach will continuously improve, keep practices fresh, clearly communicate expectations, and develop offseason programs to help players grow as individuals and as a team.

1. Manual Boys Basketball
Play Hard Play Smart Play Together
Coaching Philosophy
Basketball is more than just an extra-curricular activity; I believe it is a transformational co-
curricular experience that when done right develops young men and women into leaders of our
future. Through our program athletes will develop lifelong skills such as communication, conflict
resolution, decision making, importance of commitment, being a part of something bigger than
themselves, empathy, how to be a champion in their role, community involvement and more.
Their development in these areas will be how we ultimately measure the success of our
basketball program.
On the court we will live by the three principles outlined above: Play Hard. Play Smart. Play
Together. We will expect these things every time we step on the court, whether it be a practice,
scrimmage, tournament, open gym or game. These three simple guidelines are the foundation for
a championship program.
Play Hard:
Defense and rebounding will be the pillars of our program. These two areas require nothing
more than heart and desire out of our athletes. While offenses can fluctuate, our effort is always
under our control. We expect our athletes to commit fully to be a great defensive team. They
will take pride in executing our defensive principles and making the game difficult for their
opponents.
Our goals will be to hold teams under 40% shooting. To gather 70+% of all defensive rebound,
and 40+% of all offensive rebounds. When the ball is loose on the floor we will always be the
first team to the floor with the goal being to win at least 60% of the “50/50” balls. Through this
hard work we will also aim to force the other team into 18+ turnovers a game. Players who are
committed to putting forth this effort will be the ones who see the most time in our program. A
lack of effort is the surest way to find a long term position on the bench.
Play Smart:
Basketball is a mental game and the team who wins the mental battle regularly wins the game.
There is zero tolerance in our program for excuses or blame. In the game we control our destiny
and we will not allow ourselves to look outside our team for reasons we did not succeed. In
game we will respect all officials’ decisions and will not engage in trash talk with the other team.
We will not fall into trap of playing to another team’s style or tempo and we will not react to
crowd interaction.
A big part of playing smart is communication amongst players. It is our responsibility to be the
most vocal team in our conference. We must always be talking on both the defensive and
offensive ends. We will welcome the communication and feedback from our teammates. All
communications will be positive in nature and pertinent to our overall success.

2. Our goals for the season are to have 0 technical fouls. When we commit mistakes, whether it be a
turnover, missed shot, etc…we will maintain a next play mentality where the mistake energizes
us for the next play. We will look to have less than 12 turnovers a game and under 12 fouls a
game as well.
Play Together
Basketball is a team sport and we will play it as such. When we succeed we do it as a team just
as when we lose it is on the entire team. We will always look to make the best play for our team
and not for ourselves. There is no room in our program for “ME” players. We will celebrate our
teammate’s successes and help pick them back up when they falter. It is expected that our
athletes accept their role and become a champion within their role. While we understand athletes
aren’t always happy with their role, we expect them to put that displeasure aside to continue to
support the team.
It has always been my belief that teams who have multiple players who can score 8-15 points are
much more dangerous than the team who has one superstar player who can score 30. One of our
goals here is to record an assist on at least 50% of our baskets.
Maintaining Culture
While this culture is currently ingrained in our program, I recognize that it is important that we
continue to intentionally work to maintain it. As such I have come up with the following steps to
ensure that our championship culture doesn’t dissipate.
1.) Always Strive to Improve – As coach, it is my job to put in as much time, if not more, on
my craft as I expect athletes to put into their game. I will keep up with current trends in
the sport, surround myself with a strong network, attend coaches trainings, and attend
practices of other area programs to continue to develop
2.) Bring in Variety – It is important to be flexible with program especially in practice and
plays. Athletes get bored with the same routine, be willing to use different drills and
plays to keep them engaged. Also be open to changing year to year, to best fit the
personnel you have that year.
3.) Maintain Expectations- Be clear at the start of each year what your expectations are and
hold the players to it. It is equally important to make sure parents understand your
expectations as well
4.) Intentional Practice Planning- It is important to get the most out of the limited time we
have with athletes. As such each practice plan will be meticulously planned to ensure
that we get to what we need to work on. All coaches will work together to develop a
season plan, as well as weekly plans and daily plans.
5.) Leadership Development – We will include at least an hour a week of intentional
leadership development programming for our athletes. This will be outside of the gym. It
is important to put that time into athletes if we want them to grow as leaders
6.) Expand Culture to Lower Levels- We will look to bring our culture into the local schools
as well. Some of the ways we will do this is by doing coaching clinics, holding open

3. practices, welcoming area grade school teams to come to game as special guest to the
team.
7.) Offseason Development- Success of a program hinges on how much work goes into the
off season. As such we will focus heavily on looking at different ways to develop our
athletes. The first thing we will do is evaluate all our players at the end of a season
giving them a detailed outline of what they need to do to improve for the next season.
We will also maintain a strong summer basketball program which will give athletes an
opportunity to continue to grow as a team and build their skills in an environment where
that is lower pressure. We will also plan a team building program that will take place
outside of the season. The sole purpose of this event will be bringing the team together.