Introduction 

Every coach must be himself. Here are some of the things that I feel are important in life as well as in the game of basketball. Only take what fits your personality and your style of coaching. 

Live In the Moment
When we are young we think we know everything there is to know about life and probably basketball. But the truth is we do not know everything and we are actually in the learning process all through our lives.  The message is simply, “Live in the moment that you are in.  Make your life exciting.  Do what you have to do, as long as you don't hurt people.”

Dream Big
Every one must dream.  I don't care what your dreams are, but dream big.  Want something.  Don't let things pass you by.  Don't get caught in a corner.  Don't be another guy going down the street going nowhere.  Get on the top shelf.  Touch the Rim, the Clouds, and that type of stuff.  Live for the moment.  There are two ways to travel in life. One is with the eagles in the mountains.  The other is at the nauseous level of your feet. Make your choice.

Fear of Failure
Most people in our coaching profession are afraid they might be wrong.  I can understand this.  I'm wrong too, some of the time.  But I can't wait until the fifth time-out to make a correction.  I can't wait until halftime to correct things/mistakes.  When a coach sees something, he can't hold anything back.  Don't be embarrassed.  Don't be afraid to be wrong.  You're not an executive who can postdate a memo.  What you do as a coach is out there in the open.  There is no equity in your profession.  You have to accept that.  It's a very, very manly type of pressure.  When you win a National league championship or a National/Provincial championship in high school, you have got one-year equity.  You have one year of grace; you can't let it pass by.
Don't fear failure.  Get out of the shallow water.  Take the tide out.  There is no problem if you go out and come back without a fish.  The only disgrace in life is not going after it.   If you go out and don't catch the fish, what's the difference?  But you must go out.  It's a beautiful, beautiful life. 

Be Yourself
Be yourself. All the X's and O's are not worth it.  You've got to like the person you are.  I always liked being me.  I didn't want to be other people or some other coach. I was blessed to learn from some of the best coaching minds in this country and a few others outside. I just always liked my way of living.  There are a lot of people who may not like it, but I always enjoyed it. So be yourself and enjoy it.

Do What You Think is Right
You're all going to leave your profession at some point in time.  The moment will come when you have to gently pack coaching away--everyone else had to do it, so why not you?  No one can keep it up forever.  Enjoy it while you're at it.  Do what you think is right.  Don't try to please the administration or other people.  They will jump ship on you if they need to.  Your loyalty should be to your family first, your players second, and your organization third.

Stay Together in the Coaching Profession
One of the things I am most proud of in my coaching career is that I think we have finally realized the need to start a little more love between coaches.  I remember some years back at some major tournaments or games and all the big-time coaches refused to associate with each other for various reasons.  This has been changing, and in the past seven or eight years, we've seen coaches showing much more consideration for each other.   So stay together in your profession, because it's certain that none of your superiors will help you.  No one can help you but yourself.  You are born alone, and you die alone.  Don't try to get a better position than others.  Do the best you possibly can with the material you have and without fear.

Give No Excuse--Accept No Excuse
All you have to do in life is to give no excuse and accept no excuse.  I don't care about 100-degree temperatures, the rain or the traffic jams.  I don't care about a sprained ankle.  You either win or lose a game.  And you cannot have indecisions in your program/team.  Do not allow any fooling around on the court.  Maintain a disciplined team and everything will run more smoothly. 

Eliminate the Fifth Column
The fifth column is the column from within.  The fifth column is internal jealousy and selfishness.  This must be eliminated.  It is the cancer that destroys teams.  Get that cancer out before it grows.  The competition is not the problem.  The problem is from within.
We try to teach players in a rough way to avoid jealousy.  You have to make them work together and the only way to have teamwork is to eliminate jealousy.  Eliminating jealousy is the answer; it's the key to the game, so you've got to work on it.  All I really did was work on the minds of the players and hope that we succeeded together.  If we all went uptown together, it was all worthwhile. 

Make Five People One
All we ever do in our team is to make five people one.  Sometimes you have a situation on your team in which one player constantly throws the ball to a buddy.  They come to practice together and leave together like husband and wife.  You must break up the husband and wife act, and you must watch them closely.  A lot of times this happens subconsciously.  I don't care. They have to knock it off.  This is how cliques form.  It's up to you to watch those things and take care of them.

Keep Coaching Simple
Keep things simple.  As coaches we try to get too complicated too much of the time.  Remember the KISS saying "keep it simple, stupid."  Don't get complicated.  You forget the obvious when you try to force knowledge into young people who can't absorb our complicated knowledge/too much knowledge.  Give them only what they can absorb and keep the information at their level.


Are You An Offensive or a Defensive Coach?
You must know whether you are an offensive or a defensive coach.  You can't be both, you can't please everybody.  My colleague is a defensive coach while I tend to focus more on the offensive aspect of the game.  However, during our training sessions we focus more on defense. Our reasons are:  (1) if you practice defense, you know what you are doing while offense is quite unpredictable; and (2) defense is like water.  It finds its level.  It is there day-in and day-out.  Plus, as a player, if you can’t shoot, play defense.

You Must Act the Part of a Leader
You are the leader and must set an example.  Don't let your players see you tight.  They pick up on it, and then they get tight. You must set the example for your people.  As a coach you must have no indecision--none!   That's why at the end of the game, when it's prime time, you must have automatic moves.  I have no problem knowing who the boss is.  I know the coaches are the bosses.  I know when the score is 62-62, everybody will be quiet, and we will make the decision on what to do.  I am not trying to prove to anyone that we are running the show.  If you've got to prove you're the boss, you're not the boss.

Know Your Players
The only reason I yell at a player is because he has talent.  If I didn't think he had talent, I wouldn't yell at him.  It would be a moral sin if I didn't get the talent out of a person.  Some players will play without knowing the score.  To them everything is beautiful.  They are so nice that all they want to do is play.  That's all right if a player doesn't have talent, but when a player has talent, it was my obligation to get him to produce.  Just because you have ability doesn't mean that you are going to produce or reach a certain level.  You must study your players to know what is best for each particular person so that you can get the most out of his/her talent. 

Always Leave the Door Open With Your Players
Never give them an either-or.  That's the first step to insanity.  Always try to leave a crack so both of you can get out of a situation with dignity.  Remember, cracks always get bigger.  Don't accept them.  Only accept what you want.

Eliminate Surprises
You want no surprises in a game.  You tell the players "You can do what you want off the floor, but on it, I am the discipline."  That’s why we let players relax a bit on the sideline/bench.  But when they step back onto the playing court, they do what they are supposed to do.

Play the Game to Win
Know yourself.  One of the first things you think of and decide on in a game is whether the official has a quick or slow whistle, what kind of official he is.  There are three crucial times in a game: 1) the first three minutes, 2) the last three minutes, and (3) the first three minutes of the second half.  Always make sure your team is properly warmed up before the game and at half time.

Don't Make the Game of Basketball Your Mistress
We treat coaching as a mistress.  We neglect our families.  We all want to improve our station in life.  We keep trying to advance, and sometimes find ourselves running toward an impossible goal.  I’ve done it myself.  I'm not saying everyone else is wrong. I was wrong.  We tend to run toward our mistress at the expense of other things.  Basketball was my mistress.  Basketball was my world.  Be careful.  It is a beautiful thing you are building as a coach, but don't get it all mixed up.  You have to take care of home first.

Coach Sammy Wanjohi – Coach KPA & FIBA Coaching Instructor
All images courtesy of ALSABASKETBALL.COM