Guide to Winning: BE COACHABLE!
- Coach David Heeb
- Jun 30, 2017
- 6 min read
What's up JWT Nation. Today I want to talk about something that is very important if you want to be a winning player. I want to ask you this question before we start: "How coachable are you?"
I think your ability to be coached and take direction is in direct correlation with how successful you're going to be as a player. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE when you become an adult. If you can't take some feedback and criticism, it's probably going to be really hard for you to get along with people, hold a job, and do all kinds of other important adult things. (I'M TALKING TO YOU NOW ADULTS. BE COACHABLE!)
So here is my best example I can give, and this is a great example because it's all over the news. I'm going to give you an example of a guy who has been ONE OF THE BIGGEST LOSERS that I have watched play in my lifetime...
Carmelo Anthony.
Melo is all over the news because he got Phil Jackson fired. Now he wants out of New York, where he's the teams highest paid and most talented player, but they're awful. So he wants the easy way out to go play with his friends somewhere else. We've seen this before with Melo.
He's one of the best scorers I've ever watched play. He's also a massive waste of talent. He's a loser. You can't build a winning team around Melo. I've been saying that for years, and the events of this past week just proved me right, AGAIN.
Melo started his career in Denver, where he was immediately a really good player in the NBA. His teams won. They made the playoffs. They eventually couldn't get over the hump, so Melo wanted to go play somewhere else. The reason they couldn't get over the hump? According to Denver's coach, George Karl, a lot of the reason was Melo.
In his book, Furious George, this is what Coach Karl had to say about Carmelo:
“He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it."
So Melo forced his way to New York. He wanted to play with Amare Stoudamire. He wanted to be in the big city. Those two had big plans.
"It's what he wants. It's what I wanted, to come to New York and play on the big stage," Stoudemire said. "He has the same type of swag. This is what he wants and he can handle it. We're going to do it together."
Then he ran Coach Mike D'Antoni out of New York because Carmelo "didn't like his system." That is hilarious, because D'Antoni is an offensive guru who inflates all of his teams' offensive stats while playing virtually no defense. Basically, on the surface, he's the perfect coach for Carmelo.
The only problem? Mike D wants his teams to space and pace, to move the ball. That is anti-Carmelo. He doesn't want to move the ball. He wants to hold it forever so he can score. He's not coachable.
So New York fired Mike D, and brought in legendary coach Phil Jackson to be the new president of basketball operations. If he didn't listen to Mike D, surely to goodness he would listen to Phil Jackson, right? After all, Phil Jackson coached Jordan and Pippen. He coached Kobe and Shaq. He has 11 rings. He knows what he's talking about.
Nope. Carmelo got him fired, too. Right now the whole world, especially Stephen A Smith (please watch: HILARIOUS), is calling Phil Jackson an idiot. He's lost his mind. Why? Because Phil said Carmelo needed to not hold the ball so long.
"He can play that role that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant played," Jackson said. "That's a perfect spot for him, to be in that isolated position on the weak side. Because it's an overload offense and there's a weak-side man that always has an advantage if the ball is swung."
"Carmelo, a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than -- we have a rule, if you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold the ball for three, four, five seconds, then everybody comes to a stop. That is one of the things we work with. But he has adjusted to it, he knows what it can do and he's willing to see its success."
The fact is Anthony has been a disappointment in his career. Now in his 15th season, he has made a conference finals only once, has a painfully low winning percentage in the postseason and has finished in the top 10 in MVP voting only twice and never higher than third. That is astounding for a player of his talent. None of that has stopped him from being hard to coach or manage, whether you are D'Antoni, George Karl (not that we're all rushing to defend George right now) or Phil Jackson, Melo has produced more headaches and missed opportunities than greatness.
So why is it, when I turn on my TV, I have to hear about "flagrant disrespect" being shown to Melo right now? Kids, don't be fooled by that noise. The whole point of JWT is try to help you build winning habits. So back to the original point of the article...
Be coachable. Melo is a supremely talented player. "Best offensive player I ever coached" is what George Karl, who has won over 1,200 games in the NBA, said about it. Mike D, who just won NBA coach of the year, just wanted Melo to move the ball quicker. "He can play the role MICHAEL JORDAN and KOBE BRYANT played" is what Phil Jackson, winner of 11 rings, said about him.
Carmelo is VERY TALENTED, but he's a waste of talent. Why do I say that? Because with all those smart people giving him advice, he refused to listen. Sure, he got his stats, but his teams usually lost. Don't be that guy. Be coachable. Your coach wants to win, and he wants you to get better. I guarantee it. I've never met a coach that was trying to lose or make a player worse. So don't resist coaching. Listen when people try to help you. Be coachable.
This is true in every walk of life. At your job, be coachable and respectful and try to take direction. This is true for students in class with teachers. Listen to the feedback they're trying to give you. Being coachable will help you almost any scenario I can think of.
Here are three simple things to do that will immediately make you more coachable. This make playing ball (or going to work) more fun, and you'll be more productive. I guarantee it.
1. Accept the fact that you can mess up. We all make mistakes. My coach used to always say the only way to play a perfect game was go stand in the corner and not do anything. No turnovers. No missed shots. But you also didn't do one GOOD THING either! Legendary Coach John Wooden said a "doer" is going to make mistakes. So accept the fact that you're going to mess up sometimes.
2. With that first point in mind, the second thing you need to do is REALLY LISTEN. Don't get defensive about your mistakes. Getting defensive puts you in excuse making mode. With the example of Carmelo... it was George Karl's fault, it was Mike D's fault, it was Phil's fault, the system didn't work when it was wide open scoring, the system didn't work when it was the triangle... always an excuse, always being defensive. Instead of doing that, accept you can mess up AND LISTEN. Take some coaching, be willing to change, and learn from the mistake you just made.
3. This last point goes along with the first two, and it's a trap I see people fall into all the time. DON'T POINT FINGERS. I see so many players do this. I've seen people I work with do this. Let's say the coach (or boss) says you threw the ball away (or were 5 minutes late to work). Now your immediate response (again: being defensive, not really listening) is "well why don't you say something to HIM? He just did the same thing I did! Coach never gets onto HIM!" What does that have to do with you? Did you throw the ball away (or were you late)? Isn't that on you? Worry about fixing what you did. That's the only way YOU can get better, and you getting better should be your #1 priority.
I'm telling you, this will make playing ball (or going to work) so much more fun, and you're going to be so much more productive. It's a winning habit. Own your mistakes, really listen, and don't point fingers. Be coachable!
Thanks for reading.
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