"Your big dream always lies outside your comfort zone. You have to choose between your dream and comfort." -Bruce Wilkinson

Hey Matt!

It's time for another edition of the The Deep Three. Three thoughts, ideas, and motivations that will help you and your team be more successful. On tap this week:

• Saint Peter's Basketball: A Lesson on True Toughness
• Chris Paul on the Importance of Watching Film
• Level Up Your Game: Reddick 90-4 Shooting

Matt

I don't know about you, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVED watching #15 seed Saint Peter's men's basketball team upset #2 Kentucky and #7 Murray State in the NCAA tournament last weekend ... even if it did mean blowing up my bracket since I had predicted that UK would go all the way to the national championship game. 😂

After the Peacocks 🦚 (great mascot, right?!?!) beat Murray State, a reporter asked Saint Peter's head coach Shaheen Halloway how his team stayed calm when other teams tried to push them around. In his response, Halloway talked about the toughness of his team and how they practice and play with that same mentality, especially since their opponents are often the bigger, stronger looking team.

The soundbite of his response is definitely an all-time classic (you can hear it in its entirety by clicking here), and it really got me thinking, what is toughness, really?

So here's my working definition of what toughness really is ...

Toughness: Being willing to give your best effort,

even when you know failure is an option.

When you think about it, that's the exact attitude Saint Peter's has embodied so far in the NCAA tournament. They couldn't control their seeding, their opponents, the location of their games, the referees, etc. All they could control were things like their effort, their response to mistakes, their body language, how coachable they were going to be, etc.

That's a lesson that we can all learn from this team. Toughness is a mentality and a habit that we should all work on developing! If you're ready to level up your toughness, here are a couple areas to start focusing on:

• Control what you can control.
• Don't compare yourself with others, compete to be the best you can be.
• Stop whining, and start overcoming.
• Choose to be coachable in all situations. 👈🏼 This one applies to coaches, too!
• Find a way to sacrifice for someone else, every day.
• Value a growth mindset instead of a fixed one.

And as you begin to make these characteristics a daily habit, don't be surprised when you start winning games and overcoming obstacles that others thought you would never be able to do!

One of the best things that any coach or player can do this off-season is to spend time every day watching film. Whether it's reviewing game film from this past season, going to YouTube to learn from players/teams at higher levels, or filming training sessions/team workouts to watch back later; there are many valuable ways to watch film and learn this off-season.

I get it. Reading the words "watch film every day" can make it feel overwhelming. But think about it, even spending 5-10 minutes a day watching film for the next six months can completely transform who you are as a coach/player. And we can all create that much time in our days. It's actually pretty simple. Instead of scrolling through social media or playing mindless games on your phone, use that time to level up your game by watching film.

Don't just take my word for it. Listen in to what Chris Paul has to say about the importance of watching film. 👇🏼

If you want to level up as a shooter this spring, Redick 90-4 Shooting is one of my favorite all-time shooting drills. It's a tough workout, and over time it will help separate you/your team from the competition.

Looking for the gold standard in this drill? Work to raise your average to 45+ makes in four minutes. That's when you'll know you've unlocked your green light shooting status.

Click on the image below to learn more about Redick 90-4 Shooting.