A Million Ways to Skin a Cat

Looking through the new April issue of ESPN the Magazine and came across an article that discusses five successful college basketball assistants and what makes them special. The article speaks about Cameron Dollar (U. of Washington), Bernie Fine (Syracuse U.), Andy Enfield (Florida State U.), Vince Taylor (university of Minnesota) , and Jeff Battle (Wake Forest) . The one thing that came to mind when reading the article is that all five assistants have different ways that they make themselves so valuable to their programs but all of them are different. A coach that I have a great deal of respect for and had the pleasure of working under would always say to me when speaking on the game of basketball, “There are a million ways to skin a cat and there is no right or wrong way.” In reading this article you will see that these coaches have found numerous different ways to benefit their teams with the one common denominator, of giving their team’s the best chance of winning! Here are some of the teaching points that stood out in my mind when reading this article:

"He's a great motivator," says Washington alum and current Blazers star Brandon Roy. "He makes you believe you can achieve everything you really never believed you could do." (Cameron Dollar)

"Rony thanked me. Knocking him around prepared him for the physical NBA."

(Bernie Fine)

"Only fingertips and base—not the palm—touch the ball, and the index and middle fingers should be directly in its center. Where they point determines the ball's spin." (Andy Enfield)

"How do you get a California guy to come to Kentucky? Tell him Rick Pitino wants him. Players know the successful coaches. Crum, Pitino, Smith—those names get your foot in a lot of doors." (Vince Taylor)

"We pushed Josh to dedicate himself. I told him, 'You want to be a pro? Be a 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. guy, not a 3-to-6er.' We worked him hard. " (Jeff Battle)