Mentality-Based Coaching

By: Greg Tonagel, Head Coach - Indiana Wesleyan University
2014 UPS NAIA Division II Coach

Originally Published - Time-Out Magazine - National Association of Basketball Coaches

In his 10th season as head coach at Indiana Wesleyan, Greg Tonagel was the 2014 UPS NAIA Division II Coach of the Year as he guided the Wildcats to a 31-6 record, a program record for wins in a season. IWU topped Midland (Neb.), 78-68, in the NAIA Division II championship game in March. Tonagel's coaching record in his nine seasons is 235-75, a winning percentage of .758.

Every year as a staff, we discuss what our offensive system will look like. And each year it becomes evident that although the system is important, the mentality behind it plays a larger role. Once you consistently teach mentalities, you can develop a culture. This culture then becomes larger than the ever-revolving talents that graduate each yew. Here at Indiana Wesleyan, we have two mentalities that we emphasize on the offensive end: our players we trained to "Catch Fearlessly' and "Create for a Teammate."

In doing so, regardless of the play, time, or situation, they we playing aggressively with an unselfish mentality.

With any drill we incorporate into our program, it must meet the criteria of the "three S's": Simple leads to Self-confidence, which leads to Speed.

Simple - The great teams do the ordinary things better than the rest. Keeping things simple frees up the mind. After all, fear and freedom cannot occupy a player's mind at the same time.

Self-confidence - Once things are simple, our players can find confidence in their abilities. A confident player can be a fearless player. One thing we tell our players daily is that greatness favors the fearless!

Speed - The name of the game is speed - ot just linear speed, but execution speed. The team that executes game time and game speed adjustments is the team that succeeds most often.