“Coaches have to
be better,” said Geno Auriemma..... “We have to teach the game better. We have
a lot of coaches in this country, but we don’t have a lot of teachers. The
players we’re getting need a lot of teaching. We have to work hard to make sure
we can do that.”
This is an excerpt
from the highly publicized "White Paper Summit", a gathering of the
leaders of the women's game in response to the Ackerman Report.
Coach Auriemma
did not specify what level of coaches he was speaking of but the implication
seemed to point at the usual suspects in grassroots basketball. The immediate paragraph
after his statement went on to say the following.
"One of the
critiques of the current format in summer basketball is that too much attention
is being paid to game competition and not enough on skill development."
I agree with both
Auriemma and the idea of potentially certifying skill development clinics to
emphasize what is needed in the game. If anyone can make this statement, it is Geno.
Last year around
this time, my child went on her unofficial visit to Connecticut. To keep the
story brief, we walked through the trophy case showing off seven national trophies(now
eight). It was very impressive to her
but what stuck out most to me besides the extraordinarily intense and detailed practice was what sat on
Geno's desk. As he invited us in his office, I could not help but to notice a
encyclopedia thick binder with the NBA logo on the side. After talking
recruitment stuff, I finally got around to asking what the binder contained.
Coach Auriemma went on to open up the binder and explain that he obtained it
from a NBA associated friend. The binder contained the main sets from every NBA
team. Again, the seven time national champion, a guy who turned a small farming
community into a basketball juggernaut, apparently continues to improve his
craft by studying the intricacies of the highest level of the game. Seven
titles and gold medals and the guy still is getting better! He is right. We
need better teachers. What we also need is college coaches to keep it real, be
100%, with every level of the game.
As a club coach,
I cannot count how many times a college coach has complained to me about how remedial
some high school practices are for the athletes they are recruiting. I rubbed some the wrong way with this blog about that subject.
Conversely, I can
count how many times I have heard high school coaches exclaim that college coaches
complain about how unorganized and lacking in skill set development club
basketball can be for recruits. I have addressed "rolling the ball out" and "chasing
trophies" in club ball on numerous occasions as well.
What club and
high school basketball coaches need, is for college coaches to LEAD us! Complaining
about the product you receive without assisting those that produce the product
is dishonest and counterproductive. And yes, I said product. These young women
help generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for college coaches every year
in salaries, fuel a lucrative grassroots tournament market and provide stipends
and prestige to high school coaches. We should all be honest in this as well
and stop making villains of one or more parties claiming that they are "in
it for the wrong reasons". How many women's programs generate revenue and
run in the black without being subsidized by men's football or basketball? Yet,
college coaches are compensated handsomely. To an accountant, examining the
bottom line, highly paid college coaches in a business that seldom produces a
return is bad business. Are they in it for the wrong reasons? No, they and the
players are the reason for the business and as business leaders, college
coaches should lead their manufacturers in producing better quality! How? Who
really knows?
Fundamentals are
easy but philosophy is where it gets tricky. Do you teach two handed passing as
a traditionalist or do you observe every elite guard in the NBA and WNBA and
teach what they do at times, which is throw one handed passes versus aggressive
defenses. Do you certify coaches to force ball handlers baseline or funnel to
the middle help. Dick Bennett's Pack Line man to man defense or ear in the chest
deny the next pass man defense. Matchup or traditional zone? Cross step or open
step? Jump stop or stride stop. I-2 pull up or bunny hop jump shot? Two feet
catch in order to determine pivot foot or permanent pivot. The contrasts are
endless and what certification program will address this? I begged for USA intervention before. That ticked some people off as well.
Whatever change
is implemented to teach coaches to be better, at every level of the game, it
must start with honesty and stopping the fear mongering. High school coaches
need to use their 3 hours a day to develop better players. Club coaches need to
learn to behave more like" traditional coaches" in practice planning
and stop yelling so much! And college coaches should be investing constructive criticism
and knowledge into both of the these areas, instead of ridiculing both behind
their back in fear of alienating them in the pursuit of recruits. Many college coaches are lamenting the lack of respect the current crop of players are exhibiting. Every generation seems to have this argument with the youngsters of the day but maybe the current disdain that these kids have is that adults are not "being 100 " with them. As my man Bunny Colvin says when addressing education and crime on the hit series 'The Wire' , " Whatever it is(in dealing with students), it can't be a lie"!
