TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2022, COACHING - DAY 1

 APRIL 5, 2022 COACHING

This week Coach K (Krzyzewski ), head men’s basketball coach for Duke University retired.  

Michael William Krzyzewski is an American college basketball coach. He has served as the head coach at Duke University since 1980, where he has led the Blue Devils to five national titles, 13 Final Fours, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular-season titles.

Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski has set the record for most Final Four appearances by a coach with thirteen, breaking John Wooden's long-standing record of twelve. The Blue Devils took down Arkansas 78-69 in the Elite Eight, winning the West Regional for the first time ever in Coach K's career.

Krzyzewski has now won 101 NCAA Tournament games, also a record, in his Hall of Fame career. He has won 1,202 games overall, another record. He also has a 76% 1,202-367 winning percentage.

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Today’s Question - How important is coaching in basketball?

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Geno Auriemma - An Incomparable LegacySince Geno's arrival in 1985, his success, and the success of the UConn women's basketball team, has been unmatched. Auriemma's cumulative record at UConn is 955-134—87% - the best winning percentage in the history of the sport.

(Aside - both of these fabled coaches' teams lost in the semi-final games of the NCAA tournament - men and women)

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Winners follow winners.  Okay, so when these two legendary coaches started winning, it was easier to recruit players - but they needed to get to be winners on the floor first.  

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Scene:  This is KTV and we are talking to outstanding high school basketball player James Thomas from Emmitsburg Maryland.

TV:  So James, are you going on to college and going to play Division I basketball?

James:  Yes, I’m still evaluating my options.  I have a full-ride basketball scholarship to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark NJ, or I’ve been offered a walk-on basketball spot at Penn State University.

TV:  So, you are going to take the offer of a full ride - all tuition and fees paid for four years provided you stay healthy.  That would make sense.

James:  I don’t know.  The highlanders (NJIT’s team) are currently riding the longest losing streak in Division-I basketball history. They are 0-16 this season and have lost over 40 games in a row dating back to last season. They are 14-17 this season.  The coach was pretty sure that I could be a redshirt freshman, play and practice with the team and probably get a partial scholarship for the next four years.

TV: So you will give up on a full-ride scholarship at a noted technology school to be a walk-on - with no scholarship at a Big 10 University in the same league as Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, and others.  Plus, it would take you five years to graduate at Penn State - assuming you could play some basketball.

James:  Yeah, but if I played at NJIT, I’d be playing with the biggest bunch of losers ever.  I’m not a loser- why would I want to give up good basketball skills and abilities to play at NJIT.

Plus, if I played at Penn State, all of my games would be on the Big-Ten network.  Even if I was on the bench, grandma and grandpa could see me and see my team play.  I don’t think any NJIT games get broadcast unless they are playing somebody good.  I don’t want to be a doormat. 

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You have to understand that in the scenario above, you have a 17 or 18-year-old kid talk about playing college basketball, not getting a good degree, and making basketball his priority instead of getting a good job upon graduation.

Most college basketball players don’t play in the NBA - and James hasn’t been all that well recruited.  The odds are that he might get a little scholarship in his second year at Penn State but may never be a starter, might not see much playing time, and yet would have to go through all the things a starting basketball player does (practices, road trips, and weight room).  

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So, winners attract winners.  If Duke tells a kid he is getting a full-ride scholarship for basketball, that indirectly means that they think he is one of the top 50 high school basketball players in the country - and will probably play in the NCAA tournament, have a good chance to go to the Final Four and be on TV every game.  Duke (and other top schools) can attract the top players - and many will go on to the NBA.  

So, great coaches can attract very strong players - but that’s not the end of the story.  That great coach will help mode and train the players into being top college players.  

Note - college men’s football and basketball make money for colleges (football even more than basketball).  Colleges want winners, alumni want winners.  Football and basketball pay for cross-country and track (and other lesser sports).  

If Coach K was to take the job of coach for the NJIT basketball team for four years (he would need to recruit players he wanted), I believe that the NJIT basketball team would have an amazing turnaround.  

I believe that if Coach Auriemma was to coach the Fire Ant Granny Basketball team, we could be national champions (he definitely would have to recruit better players than me!!)

To me - great teams need great coaches and good players.

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An old adage:

“An army of strong healthy lions led by a rabbit would lose to an army of rabbits led by a strong healthy lion!!!”

More on coaching tomorrow!!!

LOVE WINS!!

Karen

April 5, 2022