March Madness? Actually, the madness really begins in February. I think keeping their teams in present time is a BIG challenge for coaches. This is not true in all cases, but worth paying attention to. Let’s take a minute to look at the various situations that can become distractions.

 

THE SUREFIRE “INs”

These are the team with two or three losses, leading their respective conferences and just can’t wait to find out where they will be seeded and who they will play first. The problem here is stability. Say what? Isn’t that what you want? Yes and No!

The problem with stability is that boredom can settle in. In boredom, teams can lose the sharpness of their execution. They don’t want to just be “in the playoffs.” They want to have a shot at winning it all. The coach’s antidote for this—attention to detail. This is the time for the coach to be “picky” about every aspect of performance. It keeps the team in present time.

THE HIGH PROBABILITY CHOICES

They, too, need to be aware of the boredom of stability. A losing streak of two or three games could take them out of contention or put them “on the bubble” as the “bracketeers” love to say. The majority of teams that get in the tournament are in this group. They definitely need to play “one game at a time.’

THE LONG SHOTS

These are the teams that probably have enough talent, but play a soft schedule, suffered injuries or lost key games somewhere. They need to make a run in February and through their conference tourney. In order to do this, they need to do what I said about the other two groups … they need to RELAX. The key to that is having a relaxed coach. He/she needs to be confident with the team and let them know he/she is proud of them. He/she literally becomes their biggest cheerleader.

Enjoy March. It is a great month. Let the “Little Old Lady from Pasadena” fill out your brackets. She will do just as well as you might. Trust me.

Don’t forget …

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