OK, we are about halfway through the season and the rankings are starting to crystalize a bit. There’s still a number of un-answered questions for me on the rankings formula and calculations. There are some missed scores in Arbiter as well as some Out of State and One Off Opponents that aren’t included yet. Out of State and One Off Opponents Questions I have a tab on the Schedule of All Games and Scores spreadsheet below for Endowment Games and One Off Games. There’s a number of discrepancies between my data and the MIAA reported data. Examples include: Cathedral If you look at the Cathedral ..read more

The first MIAA Basketball Power Rankings from Boys and Girls will be out sometime today. You should be able to find the rankings on the MIAA Power Rankings website here. If you are interested in what goes into the rankings, check out my first Unofficial MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings post. January 18, 2023 MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings Predictions The first group of Power Rankings are out and we have a few differences from my rankings predictions. I went back and updated scores that I missed or had wrong and added games not on my schedules. While it’s close, it’s still not ex ..read more

Today is the day! The first MIAA Basketball Power Rankings from Boys and Girls will be out sometime today. You should be able to find the rankings on the MIAA Power Rankings website here. If you are interested in what goes into the rankings, check out my first Unofficial MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings post. January 13, 2023 MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings Predictions With the first power rankings coming out today, we get to see how close my predictions are. And my assumption is that it will be directionally accurate but may have some big differences. Here’s Why: Teams with One ..read more

Here is an update to the unofficial MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings for January 8, 2023. If you are interested in what goes into the ranking projections, check out the initial Unofficial MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings post. January 8, 2023 MIAA Girls Basketball Power Rankings Below you’ll find an update to both the Schedule and Scores sheet and the current projections. Schedule and Scores You can view the schedules and scores update here: A few things to note: Missing Games I’ve included any games that I know have been postponed, canceled or moved. For games that have “Check the S ..read more

Last month I spoke with Coach Jon DeMarco about one to one individual basketball workouts. Coach DeMarco is a skills trainer and works with a diverse group of players from the collegiate level down to the youth level. He spoke on a variety of important aspects of one to one individual basketball workouts including expectations, getting player buy-in, and the structure of workouts. Assess the Player First Very often coaches go into a workout without knowing anything about the player. Even for coaches that are already familiar with the player they will be working with, it is necessary to view th ..read more

Team building sometimes gets stuck in the clichés of the game. Very often they sound great in principle, but constraints get in the way. You run out of time, you do not want to sacrifice precious practice time, etc. For the past five seasons, Coach MacKay told me she is not really involved in team building. It is the captains job to determine what and when they will be doing. Her role is merely to step in occasionally and have some sort of team building activity for the next day ready to go. Having said that, Coach MacKay offered six ideas that do not detract from practice and can help the tea ..read more

This is a follow-up to a conversation with Burlington High girls basketball coach Pam MacKay. Coach MacKay offered several concrete examples of coaching with positivity. Here are five that can change the way that you coach in a meaningful way. Write a Message. Texting is effective, but it is also the norm. Coach MacKay at an adverse moment in a past season wrote an affirming message to each individual on the whiteboard before practice. For each player, the theme of the message was “The Reason I Love You.” Coaches can determine for themselves if they want the message to be on the court, off t ..read more

I recently spoke with Burlington High girls basketball coach Pam MacKay. Coach MacKay’s team is coming off an undefeated league championship season, which propelled them to the #6 team in The Boston Globe’s end of year rankings. I wanted to see what was in Burlington’s secret sauce. After speaking with Coach MacKay, I rediscovered the meaning and value of coaching through the lens of positive reinforcement. Or as Coach MacKay framed it, articulating your message to the team through your body language and verbal language. From Enthusiastic to Reflective Coach MacKay was thrust into the head coa ..read more

At the conclusion of each season, I ask the outgoing seniors five question. Here was an interview from two seasons ago (both players granted permission for me to post it). My goals in these interviews are to give them long-term advice and to get feedback on how I can improve in the big picture. Their answers are always surprising and leave me feeling incredibly thankful to be a coach. Questions to Ask To keep the interview short, I stick to five questions. Players know there are only five questions up front so they can offer more depth in their answers. Here are the five questions: If you wer ..read more

Over the weekend I met with each player to conduct exit interviews as our abbreviated season concluded. It was the first time we held exit interviews virtually, but it will not be the last. Finding mutually beneficial times created more focused conversation. If off-season in sports is like water to a plant, consider exit interviews the irrigation system. Coaches need to carefully consider not just how players are going to get better, but more hear directly from the players why they want to get better. Exit Interviews Question One: Give Open-Ended Questions Early The book Coaching Athletes to B ..read more