Stepwise Thinking - Process

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 "Never multiply things beyond necessity." 

The Process

What do we have to do to become successful? 

Are we willing to do that (mental, physical, emotional)?

Commit daily to follow that process. 

Examples

"Chefs cook to nurture people." - Study cooking, assemble ingredients, optimize preparation, time, and temperature

Students - "Success is a choice." Learn how to learn. Pomodoro technique 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. Spaced repetition - learn over time, not by cramming. Self-testing. What are the key lessons from this chapter, author, course? 

Athletes - What do I have to do to improve my overall skillset (technique, tactics, physicality, resilience)? How specifically do I make the players around me better? How do my contributions impact winning? 

Opportunity Abounds

Impact blockers will earn front row playing time. 

Dynamic servers who can defend will get serve rotations.

Versatile attackers who can read blockers and execute will get more time in the middle or the pins. 

Ask yourself, "What is my MVB skill?" 

 

 

Armswing Dissected

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Coach Donnie breaks down the attack armswing:

You might use an mnemonic - 

A - archer (he calls it Nike position)

C - core engagement with high elbow

E - extension to elevate contact point 

No volleyball positions grow on trees. Learn the fundamentals and continually practice proper mechanics. Competence, execution, and confidence grow your game. 

NEX

Mindset

"Control what you can control." What does that mean for you?

Are you "on the team" or "for the team?" Players and families make incredible sacrifices in time and money for uncertain results. Make the experience special. 

Meyer's Wisdom

Legendary coach Don Meyer shared a lot of profound wisdom on his website and through his life. 

"Would you rather have two better players or two better plays?" 

"Most parents would rather have their son be All-State than have the team win States." 

Nothing Cheaper than Free Advice

Savor the MVB experience. Be a great teammate and make friends for life.

Every season ends in tears - tears of joy or tears of sadness. 

"Always do your best." That leaves the least regret. 

We make our habits and our habits make us. 

We can't control most of what happens to us, but we can control how we respond. Don't feel the pain of that 'second arrow'. 

Lagniappe. Resist temptation (like Growth Mindset cards?). The ads are out there. 

Lagniappe 2. A few more Don Meyer quotes:

"Complacency is the forerunner of mediocrity.  You can never work too hard on attitudes, effort and technique." ~ Don Meyer

"Recognize and reward players who put the team first, not just the gifted ones." ~ Don Meyer

"Positioning, anticipation and technique create quickness. Therefore, you can always get quicker" ~ Don Meyer

"Emergency" Cinnamon Rolls - Probably a Repost

It's a great day to bake. Every day is a great day for "min-min" rolls as the grandkids say.

The recipe reminds me of Nana Murphy's "triangle roll-ups" from left over pie crust (in the 1960's).

1. Start "mise en place" - gather ingredients and prep tools (I find a pastry scraper/cutter is helpful) 

2. Substitute? For the dough, instead of milk, half-and-half (richer) or oat milk?

3. Get underway.

The recipe: 

Why this works

• No yeast

• No rise time

• Soft, biscuit-like texture

• Cinnamon!

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• ¾ cup milk

• ¼ cup melted butter

Filling

• ½ cup brown sugar

• 2 tbsp cinnamon (don’t be shy)

• 2 tbsp softened butter

Optional glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1–2 tbsp milk

• Splash of vanilla

Steps (15 minutes prep)

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Mix dry dough ingredients, stir in milk + butter.

3. Roll into a rectangle.

4. Spread butter, sprinkle brown sugar + cinnamon.

5. Roll tight, slice.

6. Bake 20–25 min.

7. Glaze warm.

 As we say in our family, "Don't Waste It." 

Who Let the Dogs Out?

John Calipari during Arkansas’ practice:

“If you’re not a dog on this team, you won’t play. I feel bad for you; no one got promised anything. I’m playing the dogs, because if I put a bunch of dogs out there, we’re not losing.”

(🎥 @RazorbackMBB) | #WPS pic.twitter.com/YFDUAOvdLu

— Grayson Pierce (@GraysonPierce4) July 27, 2026

When coaches say, "she's a dog," that's praise. The dog gets after it and does not quit.

You may know the expression, "That dog don't hunt." That's not what you seek. 

And if you want maximum respect, "Be a dawg." 

Lagniappe. The "DiRaffaele" 

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MVB Culture Is a Choice

Your culture isn't something that's written on the walls. Your culture is what your people experience daily.

— Allistair McCaw (@AllistairMcCaw) July 28, 2026

MVB culture isn't "new" or "improved." It has existed for decades.

• Values hard work 
• Makes learning a priority
• Practices both the Golden Rule and the Silver Rule (the Silver Rule is "do not treat others as you would not want to be treated.") 
• Welcomes younger players
• Shares - older players teach younger players
• Encourages - reserve players are "in" the game

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

"You get the culture that you accept." 

"Fight for your culture every day." 

This is a quintessential example, a "signature play" in MVB history:

The 2022 team showed maximum resilience during a postseason match with Billerica. 

Set 4, Melrose leads 2-1, 23-22. Ruth Breen slows an attack, Emma Desmond makes a running one-handed save going out of bounds, and Chloe Gentile gets a kill with an athletic adjustment. Watch the bench. 

Earning Trust

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Earning trust is the primary way to get on and to stay on the court. To repeat, earning trust is the primary way to get on and to stay on the court.

No secret sauce earns trust. It's all "public domain." 

Work hard

Hard work is a skill.

Hard work includes focus and "playing present." 

Attention to detail 

Listen and learn. Make eye contact. 

Do it "the right way at the right time, every time."

Communication

Communication engages, energizes, and intimidates.

Regardless of your personality, talk on the court.

Consistency

Show good vision, good decisions, good execution. 

Be aggressive when opportunities present themselves. 

Leadership

Leadership is action not a title. Everyone can lead. 

Look for chances to lead, to mentor, to show mature excellence.  

Student-athletes don't see the game through "coaches' eyes." Coaches see through a problem-solving lens, as players answer questions:

• How does she impact everyone around her? 
• How does she impact winning? 
• How does she make the team better? 

Note that values and standards don't come with numbers attached - serve percentage, blocks, or digs.

Statistical excellence arises from "playing the right way" and understanding that "how you do anything is how you do everything." 

Lagniappe. Learn from your volleyball experience. 

 

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Lagniappe 2. Nobody but you can make you communicate. Communicate to help teammates make better decisions and to reduce errors. 

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Transactional or Transformational?

Players don’t quit teams.
They quit transactional coaches.

Saban breaks down why.

🎥 Watch. Bookmark. Share.pic.twitter.com/5uGMr5Dj3f

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) July 27, 2026

There's a saying that has merit, "People don't quit jobs. They quit people." 

Coach Saban discusses the difference between transactional and transformational coaching. He noted the moment when he switched to transformational.

MVB has been fortunate to have strong, consistent (27 years for Coach Scott Celli) leadership that emphasizes process.

The results speak for themselves both in terms of team but also in developing citizen-leaders in many different professions. 

As an outsider, I see elements that enrich the experience: 

• The people - without exception, MVB has good people as players and coaches
• Relationships - player-player, player-coach, coach-coach 
• The experience - practice is fun, purposeful, and development oriented...everything impacts performance. 
• Few agendas - one of the UNC Women's Soccer mottos under Anson Dorrance was: "Excellence is our only agenda." 
• Traditions - traditions help craft culture, whether it's brownies on the bus, pasta parties, or "Who Let the Dogs Out?" 

Happiness can't arise solely from the win-loss record, playing time, role, or recognition. We are all responsible for ownership of our processes and our happiness. The template is there for you to build upon. 

Example: Dr. Victoria Crovo, one of Melrose volleyball’s outstanding former players and leaders, earned her DVM from St. George’s University in 2026 and has begun her veterinary career at Banfield Pet Hospital in Woburn.

There Is Always Another Hill to Climb

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— Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11) July 27, 2026

Develop authors whom you admire for content and style. I'm a fan of Jon Gordon - The Positive Dog, Soup, Training Camp, The Hard Hat and more. 

Blood, sweat, and tears go into winning. Fans don't often see the "sweat equity" that goes into success - the offseason practices, weekend trips, video study, plyos, strength and conditioning.

And even with that work, successful players need something else. Belief. Belief in their teammates, in themselves, and the conviction that they have earned the right to succeed. 

This Will Be Hard to Read

Doc Rivers explains why friends and family can become the “peripheral opponents” every championship team must overcome:

“There are a lot of guys who say all they’re trying to do is win. I say, ‘Yeah, not really.’ You’re trying to win as long as you get to do whatever you want to… pic.twitter.com/dwBdoFmBOJ

— Josh Chambers (@JoshChambers) July 27, 2026

Sports teaches a lot of lessons, many enduring and exceptional and others valuable yet hard to hear. 

Everyone doesn't want you to succeed. Everyone cannot or will not put the team first. Sometimes it's selfishness and sometimes it's human nature. I call it WII - FM radio (What's in it for me?).

Hard conversations are, by definition, uncomfortable. Especially in basketball, some players are "stat hounds." They want stats because that earns them recognition, more minutes, and even more shots. They say they want to win, but they want themselves to win first. 

MVB has not had the same "Me, first" reputation as some sports. It's hard to win and harder to "win happy" when there are selfish players. Part of the reason people enjoy MVB is the culture. When teams radiate joy, it ripples. 

I've known multiple, multiple teams collapsing under "internal politics." I don't know if that was an issue with the Celtics. I doubt we'll ever know.

And if you watch sports, you will see players who don't succeed because they're more concerned about what goes on off the court than on it. 

Some stories can't be shared publicly...to protect the guilty. 

In "Why the Best Are the Best," Kevin Eastman shares some of the words that separate the best from the rest. 

The complete list is:

1. Truth
2. Action
3. Intentional
4. Preparation
5. Accountability
6. Trust
7. Sacrifice
8. Discipline
9. Commitment
10. Belief
11. Unrequired
12. Choices
13. Circles
14. Competition
15. Passion
16. Habits
17. Urgency
18. Standards
19. Courage
20. Curiosity
21. Respect
22. Adjustment
23. Humility
24. Investment
25. Talent

Here's what Chat GPT thought would appeal to me:

Eastman Word	Why it fits your philosophy
Truth	"Tell it. Live it. Take it." Coaches are truth tellers.
Preparation	"Outcomes are not predetermined, but preparation is."
Accountability	One of your three pillars: Teamwork, Improvement, Accountability.
Habits	Daily behaviors create long-term results.
Standards	"The standard is the standard."
Curiosity	Your reverse-engineering process, reading, Gardner, Housel, Go, military history.
Adjustment	Find answers for that match; don't miss twice.
Humility	Learn from history; ego blinds judgment.
Investment	Coaches invest in players; players invest in teammates.
Unrequired	Perhaps Eastman's signature idea: champions consistently do what is not required.

That last word—Unrequired—may be the most uniquely "Eastman." He argues that average performers do what is expected. The best look for the extra film session, the extra repetition, the handwritten thank-you note, the extra sprint, the difficult conversation, the attention to detail—things nobody can force them to do. Those "unrequired" actions compound over years.

The word from the list that appeals to me most is sacrifice. The teams that will sacrifice the most are those who share and care the most about each other. Be that type of team. 

Everyday Goal

A simple strategy says, “Do the work of improvement daily.” As Bill Walsh said, “Champions behave like champions before they are.”

Focus on our daily process. “How do I get better today?”

Sometimes it’s an intense workout. It could be watching video. Sometimes it’s a day off for physical and mental recovery.

Whether playing or coaching, it’s executing what makes the team better - nothing more, nothing less.

Coachspeak

Success isn't "normal." Coach Cignetti realizes that another word for "normal" is average.

Athletes don't aspire to be average. "We had a great year, we won half the games." Players and coaches consider that mediocre.

Success is hard. Success takes commitment, discipline, sacrifice. It means the ability to say "No" and to invest our time when others spend it. It means developing more skill, more volleyball IQ and instinct, more physicality, more resilience. 

The "unseen work," time in the gym, the weight room, film study, keeping your notebook, and mindfulness are the decisions that define destiny. 

Former Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer had a saying, "A to B, 4 to 6 seconds." Most volleyball points last longer. In basketball there's an expression, "Find POSSESSION ENDERS." Possession enders get scores and stops. They earn points or prevent them with great defense, rebounding, or plays that change possession like forcing turnovers, taking charges, or blocking shots.

The ability to "win possessions," to control the ball and control the play defines most sports. The best teams don't think about winning the game but winning this play. 

More Curt Cignetti Gold

“It’s a process. It’s a way you go about doing things. It’s a high standard, high expectation, it’s accountability. It’s discipline, commitment, toughness, work ethic, pride. It’s wanting to be great”

(Via @thewinningdiff1 🎥)

pic.twitter.com/lQ8x52hDhj

— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) January 2, 2026

Lagniappe. Watch at 1.5 speed. Take notes. Do it. 

Simplify

Everyone wants to be successful. To make that more likely:

• Have a plan
• Emphasize character and competence
• Get help
• Focus
• Choose these values

Every Role Matters

Your performance shapes and defines your role. Roles are dynamic - subject to evolution. 

Regardless of role, you matter. Don’t equate self worth with role.

“Do more to become more; become more to do more.” 

“Stay ready” players have key roles to challenge starters. Be valuable as part of the “red team” or the “white team.”

What's the Dream?

Every season presents with a spectrum of possibilities.  

If all teams were close to equal and we "played" an large number of seasons, then results might approach a "normal" distribution. Because teams have unequal talent, coach, traditions, and other sports, we would have a "skew" distribution with results shifted. 

The 'dream' or 'story' you want to write as a team is shifting 'wins' far to the right, beyond all others. 

Individual dreams differ. A player might imagine:

• A) Making the team and having a positive experience
• B) Contributing 
• C) Earning a starting role 
• D) Impacting winning 
• E) Recognition at the league level
• F) Recognition at the regional or state level

Moving up happens all the time. But the levels are uneven and require different inputs. Recognition comes with winning, because there is "always a straw that stirs the drink." 

Your dream is your choice. Some players dream of making the team and others dream for more. Aspirations of earning all-league or all-state honors are a cut above, different dreams. The path begins in the same place: today's habits. Goals may vary but today's work seldom does.

MVB has a lot of talented players. Dream big and do the work. 

Lagniappe. Coaches are invested in the players. 

Do you want know what coaching is really all about?

Watch Brad Underwood explain why coaches coach.

100% spot on. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/CDfmZCrAEf

— Greg Berge (@GregBerge) June 17, 2026

Getting an Extra Step (Important)

Reading plays supplies 'advantage'. 

CARE -> Concentration → Anticipation → Reaction → Execution 

Equivalent to: “See sooner → decide sooner → arrive sooner.” The reading progression is: Ball → passer → setter → hitter → contact → ball

The 'extra step' comes from the "Gretzky" approach, skating to where the puck is going to be. Read the server earlier, the pass, the setter, and the hitter. 

The goal for the video is to help you "get information early enough to act on."

Table created by ChatGPT Plus

Probability not Certainty

Imagine the opponent’s pass pulls the setter eight feet off the net. Immediately, several offensive options become less likely: the quick attack may disappear, combination tempo becomes difficult, and the outside or high-ball attack becomes more probable.

A bad serve-receive puts the setter in unfavorable position. Something wide makes both quick sets and setting across both less likely. More likely out of system and into free ball territory. 

Pass → setter → set → hitter.

The blocker shouldn't simply chase the ball. The pass predicts setter options; the setter narrows them via 'body lean' and tendencies; the hitter supplies the final information.

Reading creates apparent athleticism

This explains why some players seem “quicker” than their testing numbers suggest. In my opinion, Danni's early reading helped her defend short attacks at a "higher than expected" rate. 

A volleyball READ acronym

R - Recognize cues.
What information matters: pass, setter, hitter, block?

E - Eliminate possibilities.
What can no longer happen?

A - Anticipate probabilities.
Given the situation and tendencies, what is most likely?

D - Decide and move early.
Convert information into positional advantage.

As a player, you want to reduce the "what am I missing?" question to a more manageable number of possibilities.

Lagniappe. What happened last season is done. Move forward. 

Major cheat code for life: Stop dragging yesterday into today. The argument. The mistake. The missed chance. It’s already gone. Stop reliving it. Life happens in the direction you face.

— Blake Burge (@blakeaburge) July 19, 2026