Quote:
Originally posted by rainmaker
Rita, that coach did lose the game for his kids, but not in the way you mean it. He lost the game by not helping them play their best. If he'd been coaching the players instead of the refs, they'd have learned some basketball and played well enough to win. Instead, he is teaching them that they don't have to take responsibilities for their own weaknesses. That kind of coaching should never be acceptable.
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I'm going to give a maybe you're both right in this case but I really want to point something out. At the risk of a royal flaming I want to point out that, as distasteful as a howler coach may be, his/her ability to teach and coach is not necessarily mutually exclusive with these actions.
I will use the example of my original mentor whose lack of social depth and warmth, I'm convinced, is the only thing that kept him from being one of those quirky D! underdog coaches like Pete Carill or Dick Bennett. The guy was a respected genius (w/ some impressive mentors himself) who could be an absolute bear. He tended to get a long leash from officials (I guess because of his reputation) and he would sometimes look like he was about to pop a vein only to turn around and wink at someone in the crowd. He commanded player respect, some fear but a lot of awe. His game and clock management was second to none. Any players who lost focus or spoke to officials were reamed (to the point where I cringed sometimes). This guy was on top of games like no one I've ever seen and he was a howler to boot.
He never passed up a chance to exploit a rule to gain even a minor psychological advantage. One time we were playing a rival on the road and they were celebrating senior night. The opponent wanted an extra 10 minutes to honor seniors and their parents. Our coach cited some league rule that required 10 days prior notice and refused and everyone kind of laughed and thought he was joking. After 10 minutes of halftime, the opposing seniors were lined up with their parents and our coach demanded our team go out and warm up. The kids were horrified but he screamed, "warm up!" They dribbled out on the court. I can't remember the resolution because I was cringing in the corner, but I think coach pitched a fit and our team came off and senior night carried on.
Anyway, you can argue whatever negatives you want about this guy but he was teaching more basketball than anyone I have seen and he actually was teaching a lot about life. He was unconventional, rude, sometimes unprincipled sometimes generous as hell but his teams were prepared and everyone was mentally present. To this day I don't know exactly what he was doing or if he was a little crazy. I couldn't even tell you if I liked him or not. But I'll tell you he was the best damn coach I have ever seen and the kids who still have lunch with him 15 - 20 years later agree. He even has lunch with a kid from an opposing team who went on to win a state championship beating opponents by an average of nearly 30 points. He beat our team by an average of less than three and developed an unlikely respect for coach before moving on to play for Pete Carill at Princeton.
Disagree with coaches who talk to officials but don't totally dismiss the possibility that they may be coaching and teaching as well.
Long walk for short trip.