Warren Buffett's hiring guide

From Don Meyer's evening of excellence

3 things Warren Buffett looks for when hiring:

1. work ethic
2. intelligence
3. character

& Without character, work ethic and intelligence
don't matter

- Don Meyer

Winning The Games Within The Game

WINNING THE GAMES WITHIN THE GAME REVISED.doc

The Best Things Ive Seen in Coaching: Don Meyer

Best things i've seen in coaching.doc

Trademarks of Northern State & Coach Don Meyer

Trademarks of Northern State.doc

Don Meyer Motion Offense Progression

Motion offense progression.doc

5 Characteristics of successful players

FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL PLAYERS.doc

courtesy of www.coachmeyer.com

Evaluating a game the Don Meyer way

Here is a great post from Coach Don Meyer on the system he uses to evaluate his team's performance:



Tools that we use to determine how well or poorly our team actually played. Many times the scoreboard is a poor judge of your team’s performance.

...............
1. Turnover Margin: Looks to see if your team has “sureness” with the ball on offense and whether your team can create turnovers on defense. As the coach, you might have a goal of having a +5 margin, for instance, or you might set a mandatory goal of, for example, always having less than 10 turnovers and having a goal of forcing at least 15 turnovers.


2. Rebound Margin: Using a rebounding margin is a good barometer of how well you competed on the glass, and is probably better than measuring your rebounding effort with absolute numbers. For example, having a goal of out-rebounding your opponent by +10 is probably more realistic than saying that your goal is to get 50 total rebounds every game. Each game will have a varying number of rebounding opportunities due to the pace of the game, referees, etc.
.....................
3. Field Goal Attempts: If everything is equal, the team that gets the most and the best shots will win. Newell’s Rule = “Get better shots than your opponent and get more of those better shots.”
...........................
4. Field Goal %: Two rules that your program could live by are; your best shooter should have the most shots (shooting isn’t equal opportunity) and your worst shooter should have your best FG% (only takes lay-ups, wide open shots).
.....NSU Grading System:
..........4 = Wide open lay-up
..........3 = Wide open shot by good shooter
..........2 = Contested shot by good shooter
..........1 = Terrible shot
..........0 = Turnover

....................
5. Free Throw Attempts: The golden rule is to make more free throws than your opponent attempts.


6. Free Throw %: It’s one thing to get to the free throw line; it’s another thing to make your free throws. Great teams make their free throws.


7. No player scores more than 15 points: We like to use 15 points as a barometer to see if any one player really hurt our team. Most teams may have one or two stellar scorers that require special attention on defense and if our team can’t slow those players down, it will
be a long night. Holding great scorers under 15 points is a great measure of how well your team is playing team defense, because it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to stop a great scorer with one defender; help-side, rotations, and an overall effort by all five players on the floor is required.


8. 3-Point Game: Refers to both on offense and on defense. On offense, it’s simple enough – your team must make open 3’s. The players that are great 3-point shooters need to be the ones taking those shots. On defense, we always stress the concepts of “No 3’s to a 3” and the concept of a “Dead 3," who is a player that has at least 50% of his/her attempts from the three-point line. A Dead 3 gets no standing looks; he/she must dribble to a shot. Thus, how well did your team defend the 3-pointer? Also, how well did your team get your 3-point shooters open?
..............
9. Floor Game: The floor game encompasses a wide range of possibilities, including getting loose balls, taking charges, saving the ball from a turnover (saver-savee idea), etc. Your team could have a goal of taking a minimum of 2 charges, or getting 90% of all loose balls, etc.
...................
10. Assist Game: The assist game can mean many things. As a coach, you can look at your team’s assist: turnover ratio, possibly with a goal of 2 assists to 1 turnover (2:1). In addition, you can look at the assist to made basket %. Another, less subjective way of tracking assists would be to track how many “screen assists” your team has in a game; the number of times that a team member’s screen (possibly a back or flare screen) led to a wide open shot or lay-up.
- post compliments of Coach Bob Starkey / LSU

Some Don Meyer quotes

"For every one hundred people that can handle failure, there is but one who can handle success"

"You can't want something for somebody more than they want it for themselves"

"Pepole aren't attracted to you because of what they see in you. They are attracted to you by what you see in them"

"Players that are afraid to be embarrassed will never be great"

"An important part of coaching is to eliminate excuses by players"

"You don't have to win championships to be a champion"

Don Meyer Final 4 Clinic Notes

Developing Sureness to Eliminate Turnovers
Pete Newell’s Rule: Get better shots than your opponent and get more of those better shots

1. Basketball position with hands ready and knees bent
2. Spacing – Angles – Momentum = SAM
3. Move without the ball and be hard to guard
a. Talk every cut and give hand targets
b. Open shot, no shot, curl cut example of turnover
4. Passing
a. On time and on target
b. Pass away from the defense
c. Timing + Accuracy + Quickness + Deception
d. Pass fake, shot fake, go against momentum
e. See it all, Vision, Scan like John Stockton
f. Jerry’s Rules:
i. A good player knows where he is on the court.
ii. A great player knows where everyone is on the court.
iii. A superb player knows where everyone is on the court and what everyone is going to do.
g. Hit the first open man
h. No Last Resort passing = dribble until you have exhausted every shot opportunity for yourself and then you pass
i. Give the ball to a three pointer at three and in rhythm
j. Penetration and passing we want no scare crow passes or parachute passes
k. Penetration by one perimeter other perimeter flatten or crackback
5. Receiving the Pass
a. Catch with your feet, your eyes, your hands
b. Ball in the air feet in the air
c. Shorten the passes and particularly versus pressure
d. Possession over position. Don’t pull off the pass
e. Rim, Post, Action in triple threat position
6. Triple Threat
a. Shot, Pass, Drive
b. Know who you are and what your game is to determine your order
c. 60% of your weight on your permanent pivot foot
d. Two inch shot fakes
e. Circle tight to get your first step quickness
f. Body on first on first step and last (Air Dummies)
7. Use the Dribble
a. Ball protection
b. To the rim
c. To a pull-up by getting your defender to run
d. Obtain a passing angle
e. Do not pick up your dribble without a pass or a shot
f. Speed dribble you throw it out and chase the ball
g. Power dribble versus a quickness mismatch
h. Versus full court pressure use 45 degree angle to the middle of the floor until the defense commits
i. Back Dribble
j. Pull back crossover between legs to protect
8. Measure of a Great Guard
a. He can control the game without scoring a point
b. His game is tight mentally, physically, and fundamentally
c. How fast can he go from a dribble to a pass or a shot
d. Balance Hand Pick-up
i. Start with the ball on the floor
ii. It is just like a quarterback taking the center’s snap
9. Big Picture Thought
a. What is the best thing for your team to run?
i. E.g. Don’t run four out motion with a three out team
b. Best handlers handle and make plays
c. Know who you are and what your game is
d. Tighten up your game
e. Post man is always ready to relieve pressure
10. Skill Development
a. Massed work rather than distributive
b. Do one drill fifty times rather than fifty drills one time
11. Beswick Rating Scale
Talent Mindset
A A Great
A B Inconsistent, can’t learn skills, coach killer
B A Over achiever, can learn skills
B B Gone

Newell’s Rule
Get better shots than your opponent and
get more of those better shots
OUR DEFENSE
1. Transition and talk; defensive fast break.
2. Know who you are guarding. His number, his game.
3. Ball pressure; early help and quick recovery. UBIQUITOUS.
4. Shut down a scorer in the post; no threes to a three.
5. Shot pressure; change or alter.
6. Smart fouls only.
7. BOPCRO; Block Out, Pursue, Chin the Rebound, Outlet.
OUR OFFENSE
1. Look to run every possession.
2. Handle the ball with sureness.
3. Be hard to guard; help each other get open.
4. Great shot discipline.
5. Get fouled. Make more than opponent attempts.
6. Offensive board coverage.

WE KNOW THE SHOT WE WANT
AND WHO IS GOING TO TAKE IT.

GET THE SHOT WE WANT RATHER THAN THE QUICK SHOT THAT OUR OPPONENT GIVES US.

IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO KNOW WE WILL WIN THE GAME. WE MUST KNOW EXACTLY HOW WE WILL WIN THE GAME.