UNT Coach Bart Lundy Article

[Harry]

posted by UNTHOOPS on twitter

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The Language of Your Basketball Program

This article was written by Bart Lundy who is an assistant men’s basketball coach at North Texas University. He was previously on the coaching staff at Marquette University under Buzz Williams and before the was the head coach at High Point University. Coach Lundy has 211 career wins as a head coach and has picked up a lot of basketball coaching experience over the years.

Let’s “Green” the ball screen! Guard him as a “Rondo”! “On the line, up the line!” “Be white line committed!” “Flip the screen!” He can shoot and drive, guard him as a “Wade”!

These are phrases that you may or may not understand but they are often said in our program. These are a few examples and we could come up with hundreds more. The terminology you use in your program is unique and ever changing. But do you document it? Do you put it on paper for your young players and your new staff members to learn?

As an assistant coach, are you speaking the same language as the head coach? Having your own language is crucial putting your stamp on the mentality of your players and staff. Language is a powerful tool in establishing your culture, defining your core beliefs, and making sure staff and players are all on the same page.

As a head coach at the age of 25, I never got the luxury of seeing how a lot of other coaches ran their programs. After 11 years as a head coach, I was fortunate to have the opportunity work for Buzz Williams at Marquette. One of the aspects of organizing the program that was important at Marquette (and one that I had never given much thought to) was the language used in the program.

We are not talking about four letter words but rather the language we used to communicate our basketball knowledge and even the emotional aspects of the program. It was very important at Marquette and we have followed the same route here at North Texas to document the language we use. At Marquette we called it the “Words We Use”. This seems like a simple concept but it made a profound impact on

how I look at organization in the program and made me pay attention to how we were communicating to our players and to each other.

Young players are quickly overwhelmed with the physical and time demands that are placed upon them after leaving high school to become a collegiate player. Learning the language quickly is key for new players in your program to become successful and make an early impact in their careers. As a veteran player in your program, they will know exactly what you are talking about in all situations and will perpetuate the language as it becomes part of who they are as a player.

Read more: http://www.basketballhq.com/the-language-of-your-basketball-program/

[RAGEMASTER5000]

Cue the "feed your babies" jokes.

[KRAM1]

The Mean Green is fortunate to have an assistant coach with the knowledge and experience of Coach Lundy. Spend any time with him at all and you will know exactly what I mean.

[UNT90]

The Mean Green is fortunate to have an assistant coach with the knowledge and experience of Coach Lundy. Spend any time with him at all and you will know exactly what I mean.

I don't want to spend time with coaches. I want them to produce on the field/court.

That's all I need them to do.