The Basketball Podcast: EP439 with Eric Konkol on Attitude, Commitment, Class

Eric Konkol Quotes:

“We’ve had great continuity on our staff . . and I look during the 4 years that we had been here, so many seeds had been planted in those early days, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to be harvested till much later down the road.”

“We want guys that are energy givers, guys that know how to handle adversity. Second, we want guys that are totally and unconditionally committed to the program. But then also their own development. We want guys that are passionate about doing this. This can’t just be a job. This has got to be a life that we’re all just so excited about waking up and doing every day. And then third, we want to do things in a first-class manner. It’s hard enough to beat the other team. We don’t want to beat ourselves with distractions, things like that. It’s really knowing that we represent something so much bigger than ourselves.”

“We want to play the game as much as we possibly can. One-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. We played a lot of four-on-four this summer with some of the injuries we had. We like to play a lot of advantage basketball, put guys in random decision-making situations. We work on different structures, but we want to play the game as much as possible.”

“I think the best part is when you’ve worked on some things for a little bit and it’s the players that will help correct each other. That’s when you know you’ve got some things going, where you’re building a connection among your team, is when they’re starting to teach each other.”

“We have a number of drills, a lot of contests, a number of ways to keep raising the expectations and challenge of the guys. When you recruit competitive guys, they enjoy those types of measures. We have the 5-minute 3s drill. Just line them up, one rebounder, one shooter, and shoot as many as you can. And if you can get over 50 consistently, you’ve got the green light to shoot open 3s.”

“Maybe we’re looking to introduce something and we have video to introduce that before we hit it, or maybe something that we are trying to adjust, but it’s immediately before we dive into it on the floor. And so that could be a clip or two. We’ll also do some things where we’ll have some offensive or defensive or other types of video on a loop in the locker room.”

“I have a saying, ‘Let’s make sure that we don’t become dinosaurs in our field.’  We’ve had enough changeover in some of our younger staff members, and I’m very intentional of going out and finding guys from other places and getting some new ideas. “

“We also do a lot of research and a lot of listening. An after-action report after every season to get feedback from every single guy and have honest communication about, these are the things that we felt we did well, these are the things that we’ve got to get better at. We also encourage everybody to talk to their network and find out new ideas and think of ways that we can evolve. How we scout, how we play offense, defense, the way we fundraise. We spent a lot of time talking to European GMs about how they put a team together.”

“We play a lot in the summer, not just to work on the game, but I think it’s a way to fast-track your relationships with your teammates where you get to learn how a guy plays, learn how a guy is wired.”

“There’s a part of the recruiting process where we’ll guarantee and promise three things: opportunity, the very best from our coaching staff, and then third, absolutely promise and guarantee that it’s going to be hard. There’s going to be adversity. And I make sure to say those things in the recruiting process and couple it with the commitment that we expect from everybody.”

“I want guys that are able to elevate and advance, if that’s after 1 year or 5 years, whatever it might be. I’m very grateful for all those guys . . We still try to figure what are some things that we might feel can be developed? We spend a lot of time in he weight room in the summer, and we measure everything.”

Eric Konkol Breakdown:

Eric Konkol Selected Links from the Podcast: