Yelling (can't think of a better title)

[ronald]

Hawk Coach,

In my post, what I wanted to convey was the unsportsmanlike behaviour of the defensive player. It does not really matter what the player is yelling, it is the act of one player putting his or her face within an inch or two of another player's face and YELLING. (imagine a drill sergeant with his face in his soldiers face yelling and barking. That was what the girl was doing in the situation that I gave a T). That to me is unsportsmanlike. The act is meant to intimidate or frustrate the player. There is no intention to play defense within the spirit or intent of the game.

I did talk to the clinician earlier in the day but did not bring up my situation from the past. His advice (limited version) ranged first going to the player, then the coach and then a T if needed for unsporting behavior. That is how he said to handle the ball, ball, ball talk. By gosh, had a JVB player do it tonight and followed his approach and it worked.

Hawk has well reasoned thoughts on the game and rules and hopefully (I believe he doesn't) he does not teach his players to "value winning above the value instilling the highest ideals of character" as it appears Pat Summit does and those who copied her.


When I see or judge a player's actions to be unsportsmanlike, I almost always assess a T automatically. I'm sure I've missed some but not when I see it for the second time.