11 Habits Great Players do EVERYDAY!
1. BRING INFECTIOUS PASSION TO THE GAME EVERYDAY â Great players donât have âoffâ days. They may have off shooting nights, or have a bad game, but their energy and passion is always ON! Great players lift the energy of the entire team.
 2. LOOK THEIR COACHES AND TEAMMATES IN THE EYESâ If you have been to one of my workouts you may have heard me say, âGive me your eyes!â Great players do this every practice, every game, every walk-through and every film session. They look their coaches and teammates in the eye and give them their undivided attention. Â
 3.  CONTROL WHAT THEY CAN CONTROL â ATTITUDE/EFFORT/ENERGY - Too many players waste energy focusing on things out of their control: fans, referees, or mistakes they made in practice yesterday. Great players control what they can control: Their attitude, energy, and effort, and can accept any outcome knowing they gave all they had.
 4. PLAY PRESENT: Great players focus 100% of their mind and energy on the present play. Worrying about a mistake you made last play, a call you disagree with, or over-celebrating a big shot you just made takes away from your ability to focus on the next play. Great players have short memories and focus on the PRESENT!
 5. TRAIN MISTAKE DRIVEN â ARENâT AFRAID OF UNCOMFORTABLE - Soft players go half speed to avoid mistakes. Soft players worry about how they look and fear making a mistake. Great players embrace mistakes and know that when we are uncomfortable we grow!
 6. TAKE AND WANT CRITICSM âGreat players want to be coached! They seek out criticism because they are hungry to improve. Soft players ignore criticism or blame the coach for picking on them. Great players know that if a coach is criticizing them itâs because he wants them to get better! When the coach stops coaching you, thatâs when you need to worry.
 7. NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE â GET BETTER DAILY - 95 % of the players I see in the gym on their own waste their time. They donât go game speed, they donât take game shots, and waste a majority of the time goofing off and shooting shots they will never take in a game. Great players use every opportunity to improve! Before practice, during practice, after practice, great players make every rep count and have a goal to get better everyday!
 8.  COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE!! â Great players talk to their teammates. They talk on defense and are loud! Too many times I hear a player say, âBut coach, I called out the screen.â If I didnât hear it, then you didnât call it, so speak up! Great players are vocal leaders on offense and extensions of their head coach on the court. If you are not saying at least one positive thing per minute in practice you arenât talking enough.
 9. MAKE TEAMMATES BETTER : One of my angriest moments as a coach came when a player asked me how many points he had⊠After a loss. Great players understand that what they do to make those around them better matters. They value the success of the team as a whole and improvement above all else, not personal glory or stats.
 10. DO NOTHING TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT THEMSELVES OR THEIR TEAM -  Great players understand how they act on and off the court impacts their ability to compete and reflects on their team, coach and school. Great players take care of business in the classroom and donât do anything before considering how their actions will impact their team.
 11. TAKE CARE OF THEIR BODIES: Great players act as professionals in all facets, including diligently taking care of their body. They eat, sleep, drink, stretch, foam roll and behave in a manner that preserves their body for the grind of a long season.
















