Episode 074: I'm almost back!  Thanks to everyone who called, texted, DM'd me on social media, and kept me in their prayers.  This is just a short episode to give you heart updates and let you know I've got 4 great episodes lined up at the end of the month.  

I'll see you in a couple weeks!

Mike

Episode 073: Ali Kershner is the sports performance coach for Stanford’s Women’s Basketball.  They spent 6 weeks as the #1 ranked team in the nation until finally being knocked off this past weekend. 

Ali has a master’s degree in Exercise physiology from Kansas, where she was an assistant sports performance coach.  She’s also the host of a great podcast called, Ride the Grey, which is an exploration of lateral thinking. 

What’s lateral thinking you might be asking...  well, we’re gonna dig into that today, along with the pros and cons of being a specialist vs. a generalist.

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Episode 072: Brett Bartholomew is a keynote speaker, performance coach & consultant, best-selling author, and Founder of Art of Coaching™. His experience includes working with athletes both in the team environment and private sector along with members of the United States Special Forces and members of Fortune 500 companies.

Brett is also a self-published, best-selling, author of Conscious Coaching: The Art & Science of Building Buy-in. 

Taken together, Brett has coached a diverse range of athletes from across 23 sports worldwide, at levels ranging from youth athletes to Olympians. He’s supported numerous Super Bowl and World Series Champions, along with several professional fighters in both professional boxing as well as the UFC.

Brett was kind enough to join me on the podcast and talk about the art of coaching basketball players.  Here's what we discussed:

• How to define your coaching philosophy
• Why you need to make an emotional connection with athletes
• The different athlete archetypes and how to coach them
• What's wrong with coaches who look down on selling and marketing

If you want to learn more about coaching leadership in a team environment, check out my FREE Leadership Course

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Episode 071:  John Stockton has assisted more teammates than anyone in the history of basketball.  He's a Hall of Famer, Dream Teamer, and is the NBA's all time leader in steals and assists.

But in his book, Assisted, he talks about the coaches, family and friends that have assisted him along the way.

And today’s interview was no different.  He talks about people like his grade school coach and college athletic trainer, and shares how even to this day, the game of basketball continues to teach him life lessons.  

I was lucky enough to play with John Stockton every preseason while I was in college at Gonzaga.  He'd ride his 10-speed bike to the gym to play pick-up with the team & prepare himself for training camp.  Even though he was the only NBA player in the gym, no one ever worked as hard as John.  Theres not a doubt that his influence has helped shape of the program.

Shortly after I finished my playing career in Germany, Stockton started a weekly Sunday run that's been going on for over 15 years.  We play on Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Easter.  The only Sunday we don't play is Hoopfest weekend, which is the world's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament. The highlight of my week is watching him continually assist his friends on and off the court.

Listen to John Stockton's interview and learn:

• Why servant leadership isn't always soft and friendly
• How nutrition is more than just fuel
• What he does every Sunday to keep his competitive edge
• Why he's hesitant to take drugs without exploring natural remedies first
• Why he titled his book, Assisted

If you want to learn more about John Stockton's leadership style, read my article, 6 Ways John Stockton Assists.

Click here you want purchase a copy of his autobiography, Assisted.

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Episode 070:  Are you planning for The Dip in 2021?  If you are, you're already ahead of the game.

On January 1, everyone is excited to start their New Years Resolution, but we know that most people won't make it through The Dip.  Author Seth Godin defines The Dip as the long grind between starting and mastery.

When you first start something, it’s fun and exciting. It feels good when you tell people that you’re learning a new language, and people will congratulate you for starting a workout routine. Just telling people what you’re doing is rewarding.  And whatever your new thing is, it’s easy to stay engaged because it’s fresh and the progress comes fast and easy. And then The Dip happens.

I’ve experienced The Dip every single year I’ve made a commitment.  I start out the year so excited with all the new books I’ve purchased and the courses I’ve signed up for.  There’s something about buying a new book that just makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something already.

It’s the same feeling I get with buying new workout shoes.  It’s almost like putting on the new shoes and walking out of the store already makes me feel like I’ve started my workout routine.  And for me, the feeling always lasts the first month or two.  But somewhere after four months or six months or eight months, I realize that whatever I’m studying can’t be mastered in a short amount of time and I get a little discouraged.

And that’s about the time when other shiny objects start grabbing my attention.  It might be popular book that my friends are all reading or a training technique that another strength coach is using with their athletes.  It really doesn’t matter what it is, it’s just that it starts to seem a little more interesting than my commitment, or it might seem more pressing at the moment.  That’s The Dip that everyone hits and this is where almost everyone fails… but not you!  Because you know The Dip is coming.

You see, The Dip is the exact worst moment to quit.  You’ve already done so much of the hard work, and invested money and time, but you haven’t reaped the real benefit yet.  And If you can just hold on & make it through the rest of the year, it will all be worth it.  But if you quit when The Dip comes, it would’ve been better to not start at all and you would’ve saved your time and money.  Seth Godin says, if you can’t make it through the dip, don’t start.

If you want to ensure the 2021 is the most impactful year of your life, listen to this episode and follow my Top 3 Things to get you through The Dip!

If you're looking for even more motivation on creating a New Year's Resolution, check out my article, New Years Commitment.

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Episode 069: Do you know how to train to become a better defender?  I brought on the strength & conditioning coach for Jerusalem Basketball to talk about the mobility, strength, agility and conditioning drills that he does to help players become lock-down defenders.

Roberto Iezzi is currently the strength coach of Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball and is responsible for player performance and rehabilitation.

Previously he worked with several professional teams (Veroli BC, Pallacanestro Verona, Pallacanestro Moncalieri) as well as some of the best youth programs in Italy (Stella Azzurra Roma, Pallacanestro Moncalieri).

In 2018, Roberto was also the strength coach of the Italian under 18 national team which competed in the European Championship in Latvia.

In addition to his full-time post, Roberto is the host of the Sport Vitamins podcast, sharing experience of leading experts from around the world in the sports performance field.

Today I picked his brain on how to become a better defender for basketball.  Listen to the show and learn...

• How to teach close-outs on defense
• Why progression is so important
• How to structure your pre-season training blocks
• When to do mobility work
• How to adjust your agility drills to become conditioning drills
  
  

If you want to learn more about becoming a better athlete on the court, check out the article, Get Quicker For Defense

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Episode 068:  Before you can help basketball players in the weight room, you need a movement assessment that will quickly show a player's strengths and deficits. Dr. Gary Gray, founder of the Gray Institute and creator of 3DMAPS, joined me on the podcast to share how in just 6 movements you can assess 66 vital motions of the human body.  

Dr. Gary Gray is the smartest movement scientist in the world and I'm grateful to call him a friend and mentor.  I remember when I first got exposed to Dr. Gray's work… It was 2004 and we’d just started U-District Physical Therapy.  My business partners told me that I had to watch this series called the Functional Video Digest, so I went home and popped the tape into the VCR.

I was immediately in awe of Gary's ability to see and explain how the body was one big chain reaction.  He effortlessly described how the foot influenced the knee and the hip and the spine, and how the spine can influence the foot.  That one moment started my journey of studying the Gray Institute. 

Since then I’ve completed their 40-week fellowship programs and was lucky enough to be a facilitator for the GIFT program the last couple years.  I’ve also taken their Functional Soft Tissue Transformation course, their Foot/Ankle Specialization and completed their Certification in Applied Functional Science. 

Today I got to pick Gary’s brain on how to do movement assessments with basketball players.  Now you know I’m a little biased, but I can’t say enough good things about their 3DMAPS certification, which stands for Three-Dimensional Movement Assessment and Performance System. 

Please know I’m not part of any affiliate program and don’t make any money if you sign up for 3DMAPS.  I’m just promoting it because I use some form of the assessment or performance system every single week with my players.  I can confidently say that Gary and his work has made the single biggest impact on my training philosophy as a strength & conditioning coach. 

Listen to this week's podcast on Movement Assessment for Basketball Players and learn:

• The test is the exercise and the exercise is the test
• How to quickly assess your athletes every week
• What makes a movement assessment functional
• Why assigning players a number or score isn't helpful

Click HERE to listen to his son, Doug Gray, talk about Movement For Basketball

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Episode 067: Donny Daniels begins his second season as the Director of Basketball Player Development with the University of Utah's men's basketball program.

Daniels makes his way back to the U following coaching stops at Cal State Fullerton, UCLA and, most recently, Gonzaga. In his nine seasons in Spokane, Daniels was instrumental in helping lead the Bulldogs to an overall record of 277-49, eight West Coach Conference regular-season championships, and nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including five Sweet Sixteen's, three Elite Eights and a NCAA runner-up finish in 2017.

Daniels served as an assistant coach for the Runnin' Utes under head coach Rick Majerus from 1990-2000. During Daniels' 11 seasons at Utah, the Utes reached the NCAA Tournament eight times and were the national runner-ups in 1998. Daniels was also the chief recruiter of Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn to Salt Lake City.

"Donny brings a wealth of experience and value to our program," Krystkowiak noted. "His basketball knowledge, his life experiences and his community impact alone will go far in connecting our program's past with the present."

Today I picked Donny's brain on basketball player development and what it takes to be successful on and off the court.  Listen to this week's podcast and learn...

• Why every basketball program should work on player development
• How the game keeps evolving
• What he looks for on recruiting visits
• Advice he gives to young coaches

Are you prepared for 2021?  Listen to New Year's Resolution vs Commitment and make 2021 the best year of your life!

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Episode 066:  Former Zag and professional actor, Eric Edelstein, joined me on the podcast to share how the lessons he learned in sports helped him succeed in LA.   He was my college roomate and GU TV’s play-by-play announcer for Gonzaga’s basketball games, and thanks to his great wisdom and insights, not one turn over, foul or missed shot was ever my fault.

It’s actually a little embarrassing to think how biased his announcing was towards his friends.  But that just goes to show the kind of person his is.   He is the funniest and the most loyal friend I could every ask for.

Today I got to pick his brain about how the lessons he learned in sports helped him make it in the competitive field of acting for the last 20 years.  And for all of you Big Ed fans, don’t worry, he’s gives a great Bill Walton impersonation and tells his favorite coach Few story.

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Episode 065: Killian Tillie's attitude of gratitude and silky jump shot has made him a Zag legend.  His tireless work ethic helped lift Gonzaga to its first ever Final Four and National Championship game, but it's his big smile that has made him a fan favorite.

He was named First Team All-WCC his senior year and just signed a 2-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.  One of my favorite basketball memories is watching Tillie make 12 consecutive 3-pointers over the course of a few games.

But what I'll remember most about Tillie is his attitude of gratitude.  He walks around the locker room, campus, weight room and the court with a smile and he's never too busy to give a kid or fan a high-5.

Today I picked his brain on how he prepared for the NBA draft and why he has such a positive outlook on life.  Here's a few of the questions I asked:

• What does it feel like to be in the zone?
• How do you stay positive when your shots aren't falling?
• What are some of the life lessons your parents taught you?
• How many shots do you get up a day
• What is does a typical training day look like?

With gyms and fitness clubs around the world being shut down, it's more challenging to get your workout in.  But one of my favorite quote tells us, "You can make gains, or you can make excuses... but you can't make both."

Instead of making excuses, make gains by committing to workout everyday for at least 5 minutes.  Click here to get FREE access to 5-minute ball handling routines and bodyweight workouts

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