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26 results found for "Mike MacKay"

Lessons From An NBA Training Camp

“Wow!” Three letters that sum up my trip to Ottawa for Raptors training camp. For the development coach in me, that easily was the best training camp that I’ve ever had the fortune to be a part of in all my years working in the NBA. I was able to squeeze a lot of other …

Motivation… Revisited

I wanted to share this email to my post on motivation sent to me… It comes from a very good friend/advisor/mentor and one of my former university coaches, Dr. Tim Elcombe. I have a great respect for his thoughts – although I have to admit that I only understand half of what the guy says …

Go Beyond Teaching To The Test

Back from a very good week directing at Point Guard College in Denton, TX. There were a total of 121 athletes who worked with our team of basketball coaches. We made some good modifications to the format and delivery and I was pleased with the progress made in how things are being taught at PGC. …

“Point Guard”… When Was It Coined? And, By Who?

I’m looking for some help. At dinner last night, this question was posed to the group: Where does the name “point guard” come from and when was it originally used? I didn’t know and still don’t have an answer. To give you a little background, this same question was asked of the likes of John …

Michelangelo’s Mastery Ain’t So Great

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” —Michelangelo … I’ve enjoyed this quote for quite some time. It sprang to mind some time ago after a road trip to back to Canada where I finally had the opportunity to swing by ‘Yoda Master’ Mike …

Basketball Lessons From ‘Iron Chef’

I love cooking shows. And… I think that much about coaching can be related to being a top chef. For years, a program called Iron Chef was my late night TV fix. (I’m talking the original Asian version with English voice over. The sensationalized US version just isn’t the same). During college, at 12:30am that …

TLC: You’ve Gotta Have Rhythm To Coach

It all starts with some TLC. Not tender loving care, that is, but knowing the difference between a teaching activity, learning activity and competing activity. Let me explain… TEACHING vs. LEARNING vs. COMPETING In order for a coaching staff to run more effective practices, coaches need to apply a little TLC. T = Teaching Activity …

4 Levels of Leadership

A favourite book of mine is The Art of Possibility, by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. It’s a great read for anyone. I have referenced ideas from it quite frequently wearing my coaching hat, but have also done the same during corporate speaking engagements. With all credit going to Ben and Roz… The following thoughts …

Teaching Vision In Basketball

The NYTimes.com featured and article, “It’s a Vision Thing for Nash in Soccer and Basketball.”  To be frank, it’s not an overly enticing read, but what jumped out to me was something that I’ve been toiling with at length for quite some time: vision.  And, how to teach it. In the article, Claudio Reyna, long-time …

Pre-Competition Considerations

Our Canucks lost to Lithuania last night ranking them as 10th of 212 basketball countries in the world. An accomplishment needless to say – especially in light of the fact that this is the first time we’ve qualified for the world championships with a team at this age group (U17). Things To Acclimate To… Yoda …