Keys to a Great Season

John Goebel, Head Coach at Jasper High School, Jasper, IN

As coaches, we all strive for great seasons. But how do we get there and what does this entail?

Coach John Goebel has outlined 9 focal points for the Jasper Wildcats. These are emphasized from day one with his team.

“It’s simply a list of ideas that I believe are essential for a successful program. We keep this posted in our locker room and work hard to teach our players the meaning of each one of them throughout the year.  In my experience, the things on the list end up being more important than the X’s and O’s.” – John Goebel 

Here is the list:

1. Attitude: Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Demand respect by your actions on and off the court. 

2. Don’t complain outside of the locker room: Complaining to family and friends about a coach or teammate tears down the team. Being loyal is difficult but absolutely necessary for success. 

3. Know and accept your role: Sacrifice for the good of the team. Teams are successful when players embrace their roles and flourish in them. 

4. Play team defense: Scoring points is secondary to preventing points on the other end. Great teams take it personal when the other team scores on them. 

5. Take care of the ball: Great teams hate careless turnovers. It is impossible to have confidence in a player that does not take care of the ball. 

6. Accept and learn from criticism: Players who act on the recommendations of their coaches improve and will be noticed. 

7. Put your teammates first: Players who go out of their way to encourage and help their teammates make the program fire on all cylinders. Players who worry about their own needs and stats think they are better than the team and drain the team’s energy. 

8. Make others better: Set other players up with good screens and passes. A player with a 2:1 assist-turnover ratio is more valuable than a double digit scorer. 

9. Hustle Plays: Draw charges, dive for loose balls, block out, deflect passes, contain the ball, run the floor, help early. These items do not all show up on a stat page, but they are the most important aspects of the game.