Just a thought...

Hey, is there any of those experts -- at least those posting on them nefarious message boards -- who is happy with 'their' current head basketball coach?

Geesh, one would think Beelzebub himself has multiplied and assumed head coaching status throughout the WAC.

Heck, even Stew Morrill was drawing his detractors after the first two games of the season. That's one for Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

Sports passion is great, if not an exercise in even-keelness.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint. Sometimes, we're not happy with our spouses or significant others (and vice versa) but dumping or being dumped sure doesn't pop up as often as changing a coach --in order to rectify what is often a number of 'problems' within a specific program not always connected to coaching -- does.

But that's the nature of the so-called beast.

Another take on responsibility

So who is ultimately responsible when a fumble/interception/error occurs? Or can 'blame' be solely placed on any individual? Conventional wisdom says it's with the coach or coaching staff. We're not so sure about that but here's another article about this subject.

If mistakes are made, the teaching process is the only answer
Eric Musselman
December 24, 2008

Chuck Knox was an NFL head coach for more than 20 years with the Rams, Bills, and Seahawks, leading his teams to seven division titles.

In the book "The Game-Makers," he outlined his "principles of coaching," which I've listed here:

Inspire learning: "Create within the player a desire to do what is demanded, regardless of what technique is being taught. Enthusiasm is a must."

Concentration: "Learning [a sport] is not a matter of intelligence. It's a question of concentration. Any... player can learn if a coach gets him to concentrate and when a coach finds the secret of how that's done, he'll be a great coach..."

Go here for the remainder.

He who has the gold ... rules

We're not going to get carried away with it but we will from now on be posting non-WAC-related articles -- but with a basketball focus -- that we find interesting. Here's our introductory post, one that lays bare the fickleness of sportswriters and sports talkers.

We do recall that Doc Rivers was being trashed by many as not up to the task as the head coach of the Celtics -- that is, until the Boston talent base exponentially expanded and suddenly Rivers became the toast of the town -- as silly a transformation in the minds of the public as his earlier derogatory-laden rep. Always keep in mind this nuggest from Damon Runyon: "The race is not always to the swiftest, nor the battle to the strongest, but that is the way to bet."

Cheering Section
In Coaching Universe, Genius Wears Sneakers
Vincent M. Mallozzi
New York Times
July 27, 2008

Am I a genius, or what?

The past two seasons, my teams of 7- and 8-year-olds have dominated the basketball competition in the St. Joseph Elementary School league in Keyport, N.J.

I enjoy strolling the sideline and watching my big three — Matthew Fitzsimmons, a mini Bill Walton; and Shane Keenan and Ryan Knoeller, the league’s most dynamic backcourt — wreak havoc on the hardwood.

“You’re the Red Auerbach of recreation basketball,” Matthew’s father, Tom Fitzsimmons, recently said to me.

That is high praise, considering that Auerbach is largely viewed as having been a coaching genius, as was Red Holzman. Pat Riley and Phil Jackson top the list of modern-day geniuses.

One day last month, I had an interesting conversation with Kevin Loughery on the subject of basketball brilliance. Loughery, the former coach of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association, seemed to have a hoops I.Q. as high as Julius Erving’s Afro when Dr. J was leading his Nets to two titles in the 1970s.

Just before the 1976-77 season — the first season after the A.B.A. merged with the N.B.A. — the financially troubled Nets sold Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers. Without Erving, Loughery’s defending champions fell from the A.B.A. throne to the N.B.A. cellar with a 22-60 record.

“Suddenly,” Loughery said with a sad chuckle, “I got dumb overnight.....”

Go here for the remainder.