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Doc Rivers On Mistakes

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Doc Rivers (@DocRivers) is the Head Coach for the Milwaukee Bucks and a PCA National Advisory Board Member. He had a stellar playing career with Marquette University and several NBA teams before moving on to coach the Orlando Magic and then the Celtics, whom he led to the 2008 NBA Championship. Rivers is also a prominent sports parent, most notably as father of Austin Rivers, who played at Duke University before joining the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012.

As Rivers mentions in this video clip, basketball is a game of mistakes. Therefore, the best thing coaches can do for their players is to teach them to feel comfortable making mistakes and feel confident moving forward once they happen.

Coaches should talk about this a lot with their teams so that athletes don’t worry or feel burdened by inevitable errors. The approach Rivers takes is that because players don’t intentionally make mistakes, coaches should understand they happen and instead of getting mad they should teach the team how to refocus quickly. The most important play is the next play, so the coaching and playing emphasis should be always looking forward.

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