By: Mark Vanderslice, Asst. Coach - Furman

Improving Communication

In the words of the Captain in the infamous 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." Well, he's not the only one that has seen a breakdown in communication. After a 57-46 road loss to Wofford last Saturday it was apparent to us that something had to be done with our team to improve in this area. Was this the sole reason for our loss? Not necessarily. But, when you have to be 10 points better than your opponent on the road mistakes become magnified, and communication and effort tend to be the backbone of any teams success.

How do you improve communication amongst teams that are innately quiet as a whole? Let's be honest, anyone can talk and everyone can speak up whether it's on the court or in the locker room. However, there e is no arguing the fact that speaking up comes naturally to some who are extroverts by nature, while others feel uncomfortable and see it as more of a challenge. Just like in every walk of life certain individuals have specific strengths and weaknesses in this area. Yet, regardless of your predisposition or genetic makeup, one universal principal holds true. Everyone is capable of improvement regardless of circumstance.

We immediately began are quest for improved communication the following practice. It was decided that we were going to enact some rules throughout practice and games at the expense of sounding, what the players like to call, "cheesy"! We felt that the results would speak for themselves in the days following our initial discussion regarding the topic. In addition to not only emphasizing and verbally relaying our concerns on this issue in meetings and pre-practice huddles, we put the following tangible rules in place.

1) Everyone must point, or acknowledge directly to the teammate that gave them a pass that led to bucket.

2) When huddling after a dead ball or before a free-throw EVERYONE must speak and say  something even if it's as little as relaying who they are matched up with.

3) There is never a time on defense in practice or games that someone shouldn't be speaking. There is ALWAYS something to say. "Help, ball, ball screen right, flair, etc..."

4) If a negative action takes place with a teammate such as a turnover or foul, the remaining four teammates on the floor must have a positive reaction, such as a pat on the back, or "Don't worry about it."

5) In games, when time out is called, the bench must run, not walk out to meet the players with encouragement.

These are majority of the rules we set in place for the guys. We wanted to make it clear that this was by no means a punishment but strictly a way for us to take the next step towards establishing a strong foundation and a winning program. Also, that these were areas of the game that weren't necessarily poor but could definitely benefit us as a program if enhanced.

More importantly than the actual rules themselves, was the fact that we needed each individual to understand the importance of thinking outside of themselves and that just by communicating either through verbal or non verbal cues, it promotes not only clarity but acts of unselfishness. Our results have been unmistakable. So far for the short term we have seen a much higher level of energy because of their concerted effort to communicate in these areas. This in return has increased our competiveness in practice which hopefully will transfer to game time. Consequently, this short term progress must end up becoming a long term success through the consistency and discipline of these rules throughout the remainder of the season.

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