Seven Keys To Late Game Situations

Show the face your team needs to see. One of the best lines from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s book, Leading with the Heart, is, “A leader must show the face his team needs to see.” As one of the top coaches during March, Coach K reminds you to manage your own emotions under pressure if you expect your players to do the same.
Reframe pressure. Even though North Carolina was down in several situations, the players remembered that former coach Dean Smith always conveyed that the team was right where they wanted to be. He often remarked in the pressure-packed situation, “Isn’t this fun?” or “Wouldn’t it be great to come back and win this one?” Take the pressure off your players and reframe the situation as a fun challenge.
The eyes have it. Pay particular attention to your athletes’ eyes in pressure situations. Checking their eyes is one of the best ways to tell if a player is focused and hearing what you are saying. A player’s eyes give you a good indication of what is going on in his head. If you see the dreaded “deer in the headlights” look, do your best to refocus them quickly or consider getting a sub in the game if possible.
Know your players. Know which of your players want to step up in pressure situations and which ones are afraid. As former Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt says, “When we are trying to decide who should take our last-second shot, we need to know who wants the ball.”

Go with what they know. The late, legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach said, “With my teams, when we’d be down to the end of a game and we’d have a timeout, I wouldn’t make my players nervous. I wouldn’t pull out a clipboard and give them a new play. To me that makes them nervous. Why can’t you come down with 20 seconds to go and say, ‘Hey, run the four play. Execute it right.’”
Focus your players on what you want them to do. How many times have we heard a coach say, “Whatever you do, don’t foul,” “Don’t fumble,” “No wild pitches” etc. Focusing your players on the things you want them to avoid only plants the seed of doubt in their minds. Instead, talk more in terms of what you want your players to do—“We need to take care of the ball” or “Trust yourself.”
Do not over-coach. Focus your players on the two to three key things you want them to execute and leave it at that. Too much information only overwhelms and confuses them. Keep in mind a psychological principle called the “primacy and recency effect,” which means that athletes are most likely to remember the first and last things you tell them in a huddle or timeout. All the other stuff in between is more likely to be forgotten.

—The Coaching and :Leadership Journal

The Team Leadership Report