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There's an attention to detail that you learn in the video room that, I don't want to say you can't get anywhere else, but it's a huge part of their foundation.
The thing Pop did for me and did for a lot of coaches is - he let me coach. It seems really simple, and that's the beauty of being with Pop and being around Pop.
It is always the great challenge when you have a good team and you have good players and you find a way to keep those players with you, then how do you add around the edges?
That's where your defense starts. If you are not good in transition, you probably aren't going to be good. Or you'll be taking it out of the net and playing a lot of offense.
Sometimes coaching is being hard on them, but there's a balance. I'm fine with the word nurturing. It's teaching in a positive way. You have to find what works for each group.
As coaches, whether we're making personnel decisions or not, we're all critical of ourselves. We always want to get better. We push our players to do that. But nobody bats 1.000.
On a lot of teams that bottom guy, that weakside defender, is critical if something happens and you're broken down off the dribble or you're beat. That person has got to be there.
I think going on the road for a couple games, I always feel it's better to go out for a couple games than just one game and come back. The out-and-backs, to me, are not my favorites.
As a head coach you have to think about the entire group with every decision you make. Up and down the line, front and back, it has to be about the entire group and the bigger picture.
One of the great things about working for Pop, not just me but everybody, is he wants you to give your opinions. He almost wants you to disagree with him. It's part of the whole process.
For coaches, we always look for those examples of guys who put in a lot of time and effort during the summer and really work and it carries over for them to take their game to the next level.
The really great players, I think embrace playing unselfishly and embrace playing in a system that ultimately kind of lifts up their teammates or their role players and guys who are around them.
A lot of times continuity is your best hope for taking that next step. Can you have a balance of continuity and some additions and bolster it and walk that fine line of adding and embracing continuity?
If you're conscientious of where your team is, and the opportunities and what's available to them, I think you'd be naive - I don't think anyone would believe you - if you said that you weren't aware of it.
I've got all these memories of guys just trying to get steals and not being very solid or very good defensively. They have all these steals so they must be a great defender. I usually find it to be the opposite.
Each of us can play a role in eradicating hunger in our communities, and together with Feeding Wisconsin we look forward to raising awareness and having a positive impact on the work to help this important cause.
My mom, raising seven children, was such a steady and firm influence. You did not mess around with my mom. Nobody in the neighborhood or whole town did. She had that steadiness and firmness but love at the same time.
If you are just focused on the end result, you are probably going to have a frustrating year. But if you embrace on what you go through every day and how you work every day, there's a lot that can be taken from that.
The great Chicago teams when Tex Winter and Phil Jackson were there - the triangle was just amazing. I know Michael Jordan was great, but everybody touched the ball, everybody cut, everybody moved. It was just so hard to guard.
My dad was a huge influence on me. He taught me how to play and a lot about the game. He was very passionate and intense. As I started coaching, he wanted to tell me about all of the presses and man-to-man coverages and big philosophical things.
I love what my dad taught me and modeled for me - not just with coaching but as a husband, as a father, as a teacher, as someone in our community that cared and worked to make things better. I watched my dad and learned a lot about a lot of things, not just basketball.
I remember as a really young child, watching his energy on the sideline and watching him get excited, his body movement, the way he reacted. It's fun to hear other people tell stories about my dad and the things he did in games and the way he'd get upset with officials.
My father, he's meant so much to me. He's always on me to be thankful and humble to everyone who's helped me and helped the team be successful. There were many things that he said and preached throughout my life that are now part of my mindset. It's a big part of who I am.
We talk a lot about having high-character guys and high-IQ guys, and I think that's one of the characteristics of those types of people or players that if and when something doesn't go their way, their reaction usually is to come back and fight harder, dig deeper, do more.
There's no doubt that having some guys on the bench that have been through things, and that are older and experienced, understand not just the highs but the lows of losing a game. Winning and keeping a steadiness throughout a game, their voice in timeouts, it's really valuable.
It's just hard in our league to see somebody who has had that much sucess, that's done that well, that's that well-respected, not just among coaches but the whole basketball world has great respect for David Blatt. That's hard anytime you see a coach go when they make a change.
Those teams that really trust each other, really communicate with each other, really hold each other accountable and do it in a good way, in a respectful way, and just genuinely enjoy and like each other, I think that can be something that helps you separate when talent is equal.
As an assistant you have lots of ideas and suggestions that might be perfect for that moment and time, but you don't think through all of the ramifications down the road. As a head coach it's about being conscious of the whole group and what's best for us long term. And that's on and off the court.
I think days like Wiffle ball and other things that we do throughout the year to hopefully get guys to maybe take a breath and enjoy each other and enjoy this process and enjoy the season. I would argue that it helps you heighten your focus when it's needed. You never know; us coaches will try anything.
When you make that transition to being a head coach, there's so much more you have to think of and consider. You're constantly thinking, 'How does this impact our culture? How does this impact us two, three steps down the road?' It's thinking big picture, and all of those things come with time. It's a great challenge.