Coach Knight (Case Study Sample)

Born on 25th Oct 1940, Robert Montgomery famously known by his nickname "Coach Knight" is retired basketball coach in the United States of America. Before his retirement coach knight had taken the opportunity to coach several university teams such as the Army, Indiana Hoosiers, and Texas tech. At the time Knight coached Indiana he got the chance to lead the team to three National Collegiate Athletic Association championships, eleven big ten conference championships, and one national invitation championship. This is a great deal in the sporting community and for that he was awarded the national coach of the year awards and other awards. Knight was one of the most successful college basketball coaches after making it to the hall of fame and popularizing his career. Having had a clean record on his team members made him more popular since most of his players always graduated with a clean records and none of them ever got a violation record. However, on the other side he was once arrested for throwing a chair across the field during a game, but his actions never affected his team’s performance.
In this case study, we will be able to see how coach knight influenced his students and how his advices got to change their lives in different ways. One of the reasons why coach Knight was such a success id because of how he used to put his trust in his team members and no matter what he knew that the final decision of the game was to be made by the effort and teamwork of his players. Unlike most coaches who only force the team to do what they want without regarding what the team thinks, is right. As a leader knight knew the face and tone he was supposed to use on his team, being harsh and strict to the player does not mean that they will perform well on their game. As a matter of fact before a coach gets to shout to his players or giving them advice they should know that also the players are watching them and judging them even if they will not be in a position to point out the mistakes the coach does from time to time. According to Mike Krzyzewski who was one of the coach Knights favorite students and friend, he explains how being a team is more than just having the pleasure of playing together and saying that for people to actually be able to play together and fully trust each other they must first be able to take each other as a family and put each other’s trust as if they were family bound by blood. In this is evident that it is the reason Coach Knight and Mike Krzyzewski had so much success in their coaching skills since they all believed in the brotherhood when it came to coaching and running a team.
In this case study, both Coach Knight and Mike Krzyzewski had the chance to go pro and work for big companies and also have a chance to coach the NBA but they all declined the offer. Mike Krzyzewski was offered $40 million for him to go and coach Lakers of which he denied the mind blowing offer. However, he had his own reasons for denying the offer since he knew that was a job which required great power and with great power comes great responsibilities, for Coach Mike Krzyzewski these responsibilities were too much for him and he was a bit afraid of becoming a disappointment to the NBA society. According to Mike Krzyzewski most players in the NBA do not go through the necessary training they need before going pro and that is one of the biggest issues which he thinks will affect the NBA since many players just come from the street and play for the money and not for the passion they have for the game unlike the players who are taken through the right procedure and taught all about making a perfect team. Mike Krzyzewski being mentored by Knight had to follow what he was taught since everyone knew Knight to be one of the most talked about coach in basketball and for one to have been coached by him was a big deal.
After analyzing this case, there are various changes that I strongly see would be done to make coaching more efficient. First, for Coach Mike Krzyzewski to be successful in the big leagues that is NBA he should have first looked at the achievements he has done and the people he has mentored from universities and see if he had the power to bring the same impact to other people who already had made it in NBA. For one to be successful in anything they are doing they must be able to set up a long-term goal make sure they make a list of the things they should be doing every day until they get to the point they want. This is one of the best ways Coach Mike Krzyzewski would have used to influence his players and make them have the right focus and getting them ready to face all obstacles that would come to them in the future. The main reason for coming up with this long term goal for the team is to give them the right attitude and to make them believe in themselves and the team. According to Mike Krzyzewski view of making a great team the coach does not have to be uptight for people to know that he is doing his job but be open to his team and listen to them and opinions and make sure he does all he can to give the players what they request for so as they can play better in future.
Marketing is one essential way to come up with a successful business. However, sports cannot be termed as business but for them to be successful and get the votes, fans and supporters they need to sustain their players needs they need to market their team for them to get all that. In the case of basketball, they have to prove themselves worth in the field for donors to come forward and invest their money on them. In this case we can say that sportsmanship is the key product which investors are supports to consider before making a move. Many investors look at how good the players of a team are and the popularity of their coach, since they know even after making a big investment on a team with good players and coach they money is guaranteed to come back with profits if the team does well in tournaments. In this case the coach has to make sure that his team shines, above all, other rival teams and that their players behave appropriately since behavior is the key feature most sponsors will for before looking at the talent. Bad behavior means giving a bad image for both the team and the sponsors who are supporting the team’s financials. Mike Krzyzewski mission for the team is to see that university students and players are recognized and given the respect they deserve when joining NBA. This mission statement should not be revised since its simplicity makes it clear and straight to the point. Playing is all about the money and leisure if it were not for the money then many players would rather do something else rather than playing. However, for coach Mike Krzyzewski to deny the offer he had got from Lakers of $40million it does not mean that where he worked he never got paid as a matter of fact his pay added up to several million and this is evident that the teams financial status was not bad.
As a team, there are things expected from you by both the sponsors and your fans. Everything that the team does will affect many people and therefore they should always think of the consequences their actions can cause to the community. Most players give hope and courage to people who want to be like them and maybe think they cannot since they are afraid or maybe they have financial problems and for that they end up downgrading themselves. Apart from hope and courage as a team there are things they can offer to the market and the community such as creating awareness of people who have talents and the way to go to make their dreams come to life. They can also come up with groups that deal with donations and fund raising to help on hunger stricken people or people affected by natural disasters. However, for this big teams not everyone can be their client since they have to deal with rich corporates for support and funds. Expansion of a team is all up to the coach and the sponsors who have to give out the money for new players. But since buying of new players can be very expensive, the coach has to access the player to be bought and make sure that they are worth the money and time before being bought. For a team to also get new players, it should be ready to cater for all the equipment’s needed for the new player. In this case the equipment’s can be taken care of within the shortest time possible as long as the issues is tabled.
The team has all required training equipment’s and workforce to implement the training. Training can be a bit costly since it will require new equipment’s and a training ground which will be of good standards for the players. A team without training is not a team, it is just a bunch of players running on the field without any routine and discipline. So when it comes to finances and spending it is good to spend huge on a good coach rather than making small investments on a coach who will not bring out the potential of the players out. Having Mike Krzyzewski as the team coach is evidently that the team is on the right track and all its future targets are in good hands. The management of the team is basically what all players dream of, in situation whereby the coach has the time to listen to the players ideas and does not push them to a point where they break out of pressure or for being given positions they cannot be able to manage. The management should always be in an agreeable situation and not be making different decisions from each other or else the team will be confused on who to follow and what to do. The team also has to have the latest equipment’s for better performance and motivation to the players. Technology having taken over on almost all sectors and business it has also affected sports, the performance of players can highly be influenced by technology such as getting new trending shoes or high performance cameras for filming ...