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Words & Interview // Mounda Williams

Alan Stein is a name that carries a lot of weight in the basketball world, and I do mean world. Alan has had the opportunity to travel to many places to share his expertise on the game. He has been around the best of the best players and coaches as he has contributed to the CP3 Elite Guard Camp, LeBron James Skills Academy, Jordan Brand Classic and the list goes on.

We were able to catch up with Coach Stein and he shared with us some of his insights on what seperates the best of the best, transitioning levels of basketball, floor leadership and coaching strategies. Whether you are a player or a coach, we can all extract useful information from the following.

MOUNDA WILLIAMS: ALAN YOU'VE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO COACH AT MANY PRESTIGIOUS CAMPS LIKE THE CP3 ELITE CAMP AND YOU'VE BEEN EXPOSED TO MANY OF THE ELITE TALENTS ON A VARIETY OF LEVELS. DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THERE ARE CERTAIN DISTINCT QUALITIES THAT MOST OF THOSE GUYS SHARE IN COMMON? IF SO WHAT ARE THEY?

Alan Stein: That is an excellent question. I think first and foremost, there's a level of competitiveness. Having been around a lot of really great players, they're all extremely competitive. They're competitive with themselves and they're competitive with their peers and that kind of fuels and drives how hard they work along with their dedication to being the best player that they can be. I've certainly seen, to be quite honest, varying levels of work ethics. I would never imply that every elite player works as hard as possible because unfortunately some of them choose not to which is a shame, but when the lights come on, those kids are usually really, really competitive.

MW: NOW FOR GUYS WHO MAY EVALUATE THEMSELVES AND REALIZE THAT THEY DO NOT YET POSSESS SOME OF THOSE QUALITIES, HOW DO YOU SUGGEST THEY OBTAIN THEM?

AS: You know, regardless of what level someone is, and the other thing, to be quite honest, that unites most of the great players is that they were born with some physical tools that not everyone else was born with. That's certainly not true of every single player out there but the best of the best are usually pretty good athletes. They've got pretty good coordination. They've got pretty good control. That just tends to be the norm but the thing that unites every single one of us on the planet, is our ability to control our effort and our attitude. Those are two things that we have 100% control over 100% of the time. Regardless of where you are on that spectrum, whether you're a novice 6th or 7th grader who is just learning the game, or you're a division II college player, wherever you are on that spectrum, you have to remember that you control your effort and you control your attitude. The more time and energy and focus you put into controlling the things that you have control over, the better your results. That's the key; for every player to try and maximize themselves, the tools they were born with, and maximize their game. Certainly not every player has the ability to play in the NBA and that's just the cold hard fact, but every player has the ability to maximize their game and play at the highest level that they're capable of playing. The only way that can be done is if they focus on their effort and their attitude.

MW: AS A YOUNG ATHLETE, THE TRANSITION FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL

BASKETBALL TO HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL, ESPECIALLY AT AN ELITE LEVEL

PROGRAM LIKE DEMATHA WHERE YOU'RE ON STAFF, CAN BE A LOT TO

HANDLE AND THE TRANSITION BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE BALL

CAN BE EVEN MORE TASKING. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ATHLETES

WHO MAY BE MAKING THOSE TRANSITIONS NOW?

AS: You know, it's true. Every level you go up, if you're going from junior high to JV

or JV to Varsity, or Varsity to college, there needs to be a new acclimation because

when you get to that next level you can't get away with what you got away with at the

current level. When you're younger, just being a great athlete is usually enough for

you to rise to the top. Sometimes at the younger ages, kids aren't as skilled as they

need to be because they're so athletic that that's been good enough. Then they make it

to the next level and they see that players are both athletic and skilled. Then you try

to go up another level and everyone is athletic and skilled so now you have to be able

to think the game. You have to have a certain basketball IQ. Then you try to climb

another level, where everyone's athletic, everyone's skilled, everyone has a basketball

IQ, and now you have to have some mental toughness. The reason guys make it to the

NBA or to play professionally overseas is because they've been able to acclimate every level they go up. They've been able to add that next component to their game and that's really the key for players; to evaluate where they are athletically, skill-wise, IQ-wise and mental toughness-wise and then really try to grow and improve in each of those areas as they try to take their game to the next level.

MW: NOW WE WANT YOUR OPINION ON FLOOR LEADERSHIP. THERE ARE SOME COACHES WHO APPOINT A TEAM CAPTAIN, WHICH IS USUALLY THE GUY WHOM THE COACH FEELS HAS A STRONG CHARACTER AND HEAVY INFLUENCE SO HE HOPES THE REST OF THE GUYS WILL TAKE AFTER HIM, AND THEN THERE ARE COACHES WHO WON'T APPOINT A TEAM CAPTAIN BECAUSE THEY FEEL THAT THAT IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. THEY'D RATHER SEE THOSE ROLES PAN OUT ON THEIR OWN, BELIEVING THAT THE MORE DOMINANT PERSONALITIES AND TRUE LEADERS WILL EMERGE. WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON IT?

AS: I mean, every situation is going to be different and every coach knows their program and their players differently. I certainly can't give one statement that will fit across the board. I just believe in authenticity. I think players and coaches need to be authentic to who they are. I've seen tremendous players that just aren't extremely vocal. They lead through more of a quiet leadership. They lead by example but they don't say a lot, where I've seen others who are just naturally vocal. There are guys in practice and in games that really bring the team together and do a lot of the talking so I think everyone is different. I think you can have both types of leadership. Certainly, as a coach, you know, you want your better players, your more skilled players to be your leaders because that's going to carry more weight. That's not to say that a player that doesn't play a lot of minutes can't also be a leader on the team because they most certainly can but there's kind of a hierarchy. I think more times than not, members of the team will respond better if your best player is also your leader and also your hardest worker. As a coach, I know that if my best player is a leader, and is the hardest worker on the team, then we're going to have some pretty good success. On some level, every player needs to accept a role of leadership. You can't have too many cooks in the kitchen but every player should strive to lead by example; to set a good example in practice; to set a good example on and off the court. Then you have a couple players, whether they're designated by the coach or they choose on their own, to really try to be that captain, to be that voice. So really I don't think there's a right answer. I think every team's dynamic is going to be different, certainly a little bit different depending on the age you're working with. I think at the younger ages it might take an adult or coach to really encourage them to be a leader or maybe to assign captains, whereas you get up to the college and the pro levels, and I think that's more of a team decision. I think the team should decide who they want to represent them as their captain. Again, every situation is going to be different so that's just kind of an overview.

MW: AGAIN, WE'VE MET COACHES THAT ENCOURAGE

PUBLIC CHASTISING FROM THEIR FLOOR LEADERS; NOT

HUMILIATION OF COURSE BUT JUST GETTING ON A

TEAMMATE IN FRONT OF THE GROUP FOR A LACK OF

EFFORT OR MAYBE A FOOLISH PLAY, BECAUSE THEY FEEL

THAT KEEPS THE TEAM ATTENTIVE. THE OTHER

PHILOSOPHY, WHICH MANY OTHER COACHES ENDORSE IS

THAT IT'S MORE PRODUCTIVE FOR THE LEADERS TO KIND

OF PULL GUYS ASIDE AND TELL THEM THAT THEY'RE NOT

GETTING WHAT THEY WANT OUT OF THEM BECAUSE

PLAYERS TEND TO BE MORE RECEPTIVE THAT WAY. WE'D

ALSO LIKE YOUR OPINION ON THAT.

AS: Once again, it goes back to the authenticity of the coach. Every coach is going to have a different personality and different way of doing things. They need to handle every situation in the manner that they think is best. Most importantly, coaches need to learn their team. Every player responds differently to criticism, whether it's in public or whether it's in private. A coach needs to know that about every player. They need to ask, you know, if I publicly correct johnny in front of his teammates, is that something he will respond positively to or respond negatively to? If the answer is positive, then maybe that's the best route to go. If the answer is negative, then maybe pulling johnny aside after practice and talking to him is going to be a better solution. Really again, while we can have a certain foundation, and certain philosophies and beliefs for coaching throughout, so much of it this stuff just depends on the coach, the personnel, the age of the team, other specific and individualized characteristics and that's one of my favorite parts about coaching. There's not a one size fits all. There's certainly some aspects that are true across the board but for the most part, every team you coach is going to be a little bit different and you need to be able to adapt as a coach when dealing with that group. If have a player who you can really get on in front of everyone and they come back with a positive response, then great. If you don't, you need to change your ways as a coach to make sure that you get that best response.

MW: WE SEE, FROM TWITTER, THAT YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO COACH BOB KNIGHT SPEAK A FEW DAYS AGO. WITHOUT A DOUBT, HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST TO EVER WALK A SIDELINE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE HIS MOST UNIQUE QUALITIES?

AS: I've been a huge coach K fan for as long as I can remember. I've been drinking the coach K kool-aid for a long time and of course he played for Bob Knight and coached under Bob Knight. He's really cut from the same cloth so by default, I have so much respect and admiration for coach Knight and have been a huge fan. It was really neat to see him talk. He's the best clinician I've ever seen. He spoke for two hours in Tunica, Mississippi. First of all, he gave away two dozens of coaching soundbites and nuggets that I know every coach really valued. He probably presented twenty different drills that were very easy to implement and can be done at a variety of different levels. The coaches left with roughly twenty nuggets and then they left with twenty drills. He does it all with a great sense of humor. I think the quality that I most respect about coach Knight is his authenticity. When you look back at some of the antics and things he's done over time, certainly not endorsing all of those, but the man is true to who he is. He doesn't change the way that he is for anybody else. There may be people that don't like that, or don't care for his style, but that's ok. He doesn't care about that. He's there to be who he is and coach the way that he believes and I really respect that authenticity about him. I did notice from watching him that he's extremely detail-oriented and very meticulous with everything that goes on. He believes that everything that happens on the court is important. So it's not one of those things where, if the kids are doing a drill at 80%, on cruise control, he accepts. Even in a clinic format that's unacceptable. He really held the kids accountable. His attention to the mental side was remarkable. Every drill that he did required some level of focus and attention and communication. He didn't just play 5 on 5. He would play 5 on offense, 4 on defense; the defense has to do this on a certain possession; he would give out a handful of rules of things that the players had to remember and communicate throughout the entire drill which really shows that basketball is a very cerebral game. If you want to play at the level that coach Knight has coached, and he coached in the olympics, coached at the major division I college level, certainly had opportunities to coach in the pros if he wanted to, in order to play at those type of levels, you can't just play the game. You have to think the game. He required that in every single drill and i was really, really impressed with that.

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