June 26, 2023 - TRUST THE COACH ENOUGH TO SEEK THE COACH!

 “If I am through learning, I am through.” John Wooden

You don’t have top spend a lot of time in the huddle with me to know that I take a lot of stock in what Coach Wooden had to say… Recently my daughter bought me an audio book for Father’s Day and I decided to give it a listen on a long drive I had between ministry engagements. As I listened to the author narrate the book, I was reminded that this “Ole Ball Coach” - (name I was referred to as a camp I was serving at last week) – still has a lot to learn… I am not through yet!

The author of the book made some great observations from The Playbook (Scriptures); I won’t try to unpack it here (or you’ll get the long-winded coach the church I was at yesterday heard…) But there was one simple truth that came to mind for this week’s game plan…

As I listened to the book, my mind went to a game I was coaching in probably the 2007-2008 season… my young point guard came to the sideline and proclaimed in an exasperated tone, “Coach, they know what we’re going to do!” Translation: Coach, your plan is not working!!!

I wonder what tone Gideon used in Judges 6 when he was questioning The Coach?

13 Gideon said to Him, “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?...” Obviously, the game plan was not going as Gideon envisioned it… He even went as far as stating, “But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

My point guard was indirectly stating to me that he thought my plan was delivering him right into the hands of the opponent… So, how do you think I responded as the coach? I could have benched that boy for what I could have taken as disrespect or insubordination… BUT I DIDN’T… I was so thankful my point guard trusted me!

You see that young man had some choices in how to handle his frustration and his confusion. He could have just kept playing and facing a defense he realized was ready for us… and thus continued making turnovers; he could have shared his frustrations and confusion about my game plan with others… and maybe even about my ability to lead the team… or he could do what he chose to do, take his frustrations and questions to the source… which ultimately, even though he was frustrated, said, “I may not understand but I’m trusting you to clarify what needs to happen!”

When Gideon questioned God, he had some choices: He could have just kept right on going with things the way they were and kept his mouth shut… he could have grumbled to those around him (maybe jumped on Facebook and started a group chat complaining about the coach)… or, as he chose, gone to the source. Was God angry that Gideon questioned? Well His answers to Gideon throughout the passage revolve around things like, 16 And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you…’” Or in verse 23, “…’Peace be with you; do not fear…’” God wasn’t offended by questions, He was glad Gideon came to Him so He could give him direction and comfort.

With my player it was as simple as pointing out that he was running the same play to the same side every time down, and needed to mix it up a bit… yet, as a human coach, sometimes I had to simply alter the game plan because I wasn’t infallible… BUT GOD IS INFALLIBLE and we can always trust Him, even when we don’t understand the game plan… even when things don’t seem to be going the way we wanted. TRUST THE COACH ENOUGH TO SEEK THE COACH!

The book I listened to drew reference to Jonah trying to flee from God when he didn’t like the instructions… or even Adam, who when he had questions asked for clarification from the snake instead of asking God… Moral: be careful how you handle questions and even doubts… Ask the Source!

(The book I received as a gift is Disobedient God: Trusting a God Who Goes Off Script by Albert Tate)

June 19, 2023 - Playing Philosophy (and coaches I differed from)

Over the years of coaching/training I found that not only were there different styles of play, but the style preference of many coaches and trainers became way more than a preference and much more a “legalistic” approach to the game…

Legalism is by definition a strict adherence to a prescription… and a prescription is the idea of laying down set authoritative rules and directions… this is when the philosophy becomes the only way to do things…

I’ll give a couple of examples from my years:

One was very early on with my “coaching” when I volunteered to help out a coach for an upstart Christian school. I was a young guy, only a couple years out of high school… with one year as a head coach of a jr. high team under my belt. The new school’s coach was an old-school, diehard fan of Bobby Knight… and thus was married to Knight’s philosophies. As practices began the coach quickly shared that the team would play ONLY man-to-man defense; this raised a bit of concern because any time I see the word ONLY it eliminates other options that may serve the team better. Then as the “training” began, I found that he didn’t teach the principles of man-to-man the same way I did, not allowing for the help defense that would be needed. And on top of it all, let’s just say the personnel of the team did not, in my opinion, match the philosophy…

Fast forward many years down the road, and I am being utilized in some circles as a trainer; I often hosted camps and clinics. In this particular scenario I was asked to host a clinic at a local church for some of middle/high school talent in the area… and the “exciting” thing was that it was to be a co-lead clinic with an older coach that had been the head coach of a division 1 college program. What I found quickly was that this gentleman’s philosophy was very different than mine. That in and of itself was not a problem because we both had the same end goals in mind, and I believe players can learn a lot by sitting under different philosophies. It didn’t take long to realize that the “partnership” was not going to work, as I had the boys warming up in lay-up lines and the older coach immediately blew his whistle and chewed them out for not doing lay-ups the way he preferred… (and man did he hate it if I had them drill with dribbling between their legs or behind their backs!)  

Something to note from these examples… what these other coaches and I had in common were the rules of the game… i.e., what is a foul… what is travel… what is double dribble… etc. And we had in common that we were required as coaches to make sure our players understood these things. We all agreed that we were trying to stop the other team from putting the ball in the basket, while equipping our team to put the ball in the basket! THESE THINGS REMAIN CONSTANT FOR ANY PHILOSPHY OF HOOPS!

But style of play is not a CONSTANT and, I believe, needs to fit the personnel… needs to fit their skillset… needs to keep them engaged in training/playing… etc.

As I am typing this, it is hard not to go into long discourses, but the impetus for this weeks game plan came from the MANY times I see social media posts SLAMMING any philosophy of ministry that differs from the author of the post. Usually, these posts revolve around music styles and presentation styles… and seldom do they mention the CONSTANTS…

So maybe you don’t like style of music… did the Gospel get shared? Was the Word taught?

Maybe you don’t like a chorus being repeated over and over… maybe you don’t like looking at a hymnal and singing parts… did the Gospel get shared? Was the Word taught?

Maybe you don’t like the fog machine blowing… did the Gospel get shared? Was the Word taught?

Maybe you think there needs to be more than a piano playing… did the Gospel get shared? Was the Word taught?

Maybe you think choirs are a thing of the past… did the Gospel get shared? Was the Word taught?

If the MESSAGE is absent, then it is wrong… the MESSAGE is to be a CONSTANT!

But don’t make the mistake of making the MESSAGE and the METHOD synonyms… style of play should fit the personnel, as long as it doesn’t go against the “rules of the game!”

I’m perfectly fine with being against a false Gospel! I’m perfectly fine with the expectation that the Word of God (The Playbook) be taught in its inerrancy and its authority! But, to put it simply, I don’t care about the “style of play!” In fact, because I believe the whole counsel of the Word, and I believe, if anything, that it is falling short to not consider/adapt the style of play… (the where and the how… not the what.)

When Paul was faced with an opportunity to share the MESSAGE with the philosophers of Athens, he didn’t change the MESSAGE but did change the location (METHOD) as he “stood in the midst of the Areopagus” (Acts 17:22)… When Paul was faced with sharing the CONSTANT MESSAGE with different cultures, he adapted his style of play... the METHOD (not the MESSAGE) to fit the situations…

“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all MEANS (literally: in any and every way) save some. Now this I do for the Gospel’s (MESSAGE) sake…” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)

(TOTAL SIDE NOTE: I observed that, in the midst of discussing the location and means of Paul, the verse numbers used were 22 and 23… these were m home and away numbers as a player in high school… I laced up the shoes in different places and had to adapt style of play to different teams… YET STILL FOUND A WAY TO PUT THE BALL IN THE HOLE!)

June 12, 2023 - EXTRAORDINARY PLAYERS

Throughout my many years of coaching and training, I have implemented some maxims/philosophies… and I often will share them during camps and clinics as the “thought of the day.” One of the most often used philosophies is my “Abraham Lincoln Rule” --- based off of Lincoln stating, “If you give me 6 hours to chop down a tree, I’ll spend 4 of the hours sharpening my axe.” (Note: I’ve read this quote with different numbers but the idea remains the same…) The point being that one is more effective chopping with a sharp axe… yet sharpening an axe isn’t near as exciting as chopping wood! Likewise, doing drills is not near as exciting as scrimmaging or playing a game… This led to a maxim I chant throughout drills… “Get better… or get bored… it is your choice how you look at it!”

This thought came up again in my mind recently due to an old interview I saw with former NBA player Kenny Smith. He was talking about a coach in high school being honest with him… in essence the coach asked Kenny what he wanted to do with his life and Kenny responded that he wanted to play in the NBA. The coach was taken aback a bit, stating he had no idea that was Kenny’s goal because he didn’t ever see him working hard enough to accomplish that goal… Kenny then decided to dedicate his time to the goal and during his senior year of high school went from being a kid that had one scholarship offer to a kid that was ranked top 5 in the country and could choose his college (which ended up being North Carolina)… and then the number 6 pick in the 1987 NBA draft. So how did this EXTRAORDINARY player get to this point?

Typically, the word EXTRAORDINARY indicates someone or something that is very unusual or remarkable… it is typically tagged on someone that is extra-gifted athletically or in size… Kenny is a really good athlete but was not known for extreme athleticism… and he is only 6’3”, so not a short man but not tall by NBA standards. So again, the question is how? According to Kenny, he simply spent EXTRA time doing the ORDINARY things… he chose to get better, not bored… he sharpened his game!

Proverbs 12:24 states that “The hand of the DILIGENT will RULE, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor.”

Let’s start with the word RULE: has the connotation of DOMINION… control or dominance. In other words the answer to being EXTRAORDIONARY… beyond the norm…

The word DILIGENT: I love this as the word literally means sharp… diligence/repetition sharpens the axe!

You want to be EXTRAORDINARY? Try spending some EXTRA time doing the ORDINARY things of serving/loving God by serving/loving others!

June 5, 2023 - Pounding With A Purpose (Lessons from Jokic)

Over the years I have used the analogy of dribbling the basketball on quite a few occasions… As a player and a coach, I often heard/taught the warnings of not over-dribbling… not wasting the dribble…

It was always a bad idea for a point guard to pick up his dribble as soon as he came into the front court….

It was always a bad idea for a player to catch a pass and immediately start dribbling before having somewhere to go…

As I have been watching the NBA playoffs, it amazes me how long Nikola Jokic will spend dribbling the basketball. Most of the time my observation would be that a player doing that was “pounding the air out of the ball”… in other words taking the air out of the offense. It can appear that the play is stagnant, and that type of dribbling does often cause teammates to stand still… BUT NOT THE DENVER NUGGETS! They know that with every dribble of the basketball by Nikola, that he is allowing them to move to get open, or for the defender(s) guarding him to grow impatient and leave an opening for him to score. Every dribble… EVERY POUNDING OF THE BALL... IS WITH A PURPOSE... is with an eye on the goal!

One YouTuber that does impressions of players called him “slow and lazy.” Early scouting reports called him “unathletic” – with one report equating him to “bottom-tier athleticism.” Most believed him to be a long-shot to make it in the NBA…

The reality of being a good player is not found in one’s athleticism… in fact, I would suggest that sometimes athleticism allows a player to become wasteful with his movement because he feels he can turn it on whenever he needs… he figures he can use just a portion of his dribbles with intent to get to the goal. (Maybe we can call that a “dribbling tithe”) BUT being a good player is ultimately based upon production that helps the team. We don’t have a statistician counting how many times a player has dribbled the ball…

I would call Jokic “deliberate and frugal” --- he is “INVESTed” with every action… no wasted movement! With every bounce of the ball, he is surveying how to help his team get to the goal. You seldom see him celebrate personal accomplishments, but pumps the fist when the team achieves.

As I look at giving (of not only our finances but also our time) in the Scripture, I see a call to being “deliberate and frugal” -or- in an “INVESTment” model. We should “dribble” (spend our time and finances) with a team goal of increasing evangelism and discipleship (the Great Commission and Game Plan.)

Some will say they give when feel led or when their hearts feel moved… some teachers will say, “show me a mans checkbook and I’ll show you where his heart is.” BUT I think we tend to attack this problem incorrectly as “coaches” by thinking that the heart needs to be changed for giving to change. I think that is the opposite of how it happens… attention and allegiance to the game plan with lead to the heart following as results are obtained. It is not about how one feels, but about listening to the Coach! Has God told us (LED US) to give of our time and energy for the good of the team? I suggest we should be deliberate and frugal in doing so…

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Notice that when we play the game for the right reasons, our hearts will fall in line! I guarantee that if you give to (INVEST in) to those in need, you will start to love those in need… Jesus didn’t say to give/INVEST where your heart is but instead to give/INVEST in the game plan and your heart will follow!

For some fun view: https://youtu.be/lWfuHmoV3cM