12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
I have been receiving a lot of emails about topics
ranging from recruiting, to scheduling, to injuries, to
the state of the league, etc. etc.. so during the
Christmas break I will address a different topic each
day in order to give as much insight into the program as
possible. These updates will start on Tuesday the 16th
and appear regularly through New Years Day. I hope you
will enjoy.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 12 DAYS OF
CHRISTMAS
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July 3, 2009
FINAL POSTING
The announcement today of Sean Kearney as the new Head
Men's Basketball Coach at Holy Cross gives me the
impetus for my final posting on this site.
Dick Regan's selection of Coach Kearney has put the
program and the young men in it, in terrific hands. Sean
is a teacher, coach, father, of great character,
demonstrated again and again throughout his life and
career. He will be the demanding, caring leader that
will serve our school and the outstanding young men in
the basketball program very well. Just as important his
character and leadership will allow us to continue to
attract the quality of young men into the program that
have been such a source of pride and success.
When Dick called me yesterday with the choice, I
immediately sent out a text to our guys assuring them
that they will have a great coach to play for. They are
all excited about the choice and can't wait for next
year. As alums and or fans, we should all be excited and
eager to give Coach our support and enthusiastic
welcome. Sean Kearney is a morally centered man, who
holds dear all the values our alma mater espouses, and
will be a great representative of our school. (Must be a
product of that Jesuit education).
When Coach first got involved in the interview process,
he called me and said Holy Cross, was a job he had been
waiting for his whole career, and that he would walk
from South Bend to Worcester (obviously through the
unending rain) for the opportunity. Sean is not a person
who tends towards exaggeration and I felt the sincerity
and enthusiasm in that statement. It should give the
Holy Cross community a sense of his commitment.
Finally I think Dick Regan deserves a special mention.
Finding the right fit for coaching at our alma mater is
not an easy task. There has to be a special
understanding of all the academic and other requirements
that make coaching at, and recruiting to, Holy Cross, a
unique challenge. It takes finding a person who not only
has that understanding, but also embraces the values
that make Holy Cross unique. If you look at Dick's
hires, he has been able to identify and attract those
type of individuals. I know Dick had a group of quality
candidates and making a choice is never easy. I am
confident that in choosing Coach Kearney, he once again
made a choice that will make us proud in every area that
we all care about. Go Cross Go!
June 10, 2009
For the past decade I
have had the privilege to teach and coach, year after
year, teams of good players and, most importantly,
outstanding young men at my alma mater. I am so proud of
the way they played with pride, passion, dignity, and
humility in victory or defeat. They represented
themselves, their families and our school on and off the
court in a manner that we all take pride in. They have
achieved a continuity of success, which brought about
five post season appearances (4 NCAA, 1 NIT) and seven
conference final appearances, in the last nine years.
They accomplished this while getting a great education
in a very challenging academic environment, with
everyone of them graduating in four years. They
accomplished this from a starting point of the program
having an RPI in the 300's.
With this continuity of success has come challenges in
scheduling all successful mid-majors face. Two factors
have magnified this problem for us. We are in what is
considered a low major conference, with only 14
conference games, that requires us to go out and
schedule 15 non conference games. We also play a
so-called match-up defense, that requires a special
preparation, that teams would rather not play against in
the non conference schedule. I say so-called match-up,
because for the last four years it has basically been a
2-3 zone, that varies slightly with each opponent, and a
switching man to man. However the fact that in our four
NCAA and one NIT appearance we have been able to largely
negate any opponents physical superiority, by causing
them to think on offense, the defense has taken on a
life of its own. This spring we called 131 BCS and mid
major schools for games that said no. To be fair, some
just didn't have matching open dates, but the vast
majority simply did not want to play against the
match-up. When George Blaney, a Holy Cross alum and head
coach for 22 years, told me at a charity golf tournament
we were both at, that "we (UCONN) will never schedule
you", I guess that crystallizes the problem. It is a
perception that creates a reality that I don't see an
answer for. It is untenable going forward.
All of this is kind of ironic, because for really the
first time in my tenure, we have the depth and
athleticism, to play a pressing style, like I did during
my tenure at Western Kentucky. Which brings me to my
next reality. We have four starters, and eight players
returning, from a team that after injuries, went to the
conference finals. We also have an excellent recruiting
class coming in, that as I said will, with the
returnees, constitute (barring injuries) our deepest and
potentially most talented team in the last decade.
However, I have reached the chronological age of 63
(despite the fact that my wife says I often think and
act like a 17 year old), that as a head coach puts you
in a box. In my first two recruiting phone calls this
spring, it was the first thing brought up by the
parents. I now realize it will be a recurring tactic in
people recruiting against us. This will be more
difficult to overcome with each passing year. It is
untenable going forward.
It is difficult to come to terms with the realization
that your time at a particular place, where you have
shared success with great people you really care about,
has come to an end. Challenge and competition in my life
is what I live for. The fire to teach, coach, and
compete burn inside me, as strong as ever. I have come
to the realization that I have an opportunity at
Louisville, with my best friend, to take on another
challenge, without the artificial limitation of
chronological age. That realization and the new
challenges I will experience there excite me greatly. I
realize that another chronologically younger coach, can
come to Holy Cross and continue the growth of the
program now, better than I can. A better schedule, a new
style of play, and a fresh set of new eyes and lips to
address some critical procedural issues at the school,
will help open up new opportunities for the players and
the program. It is not a conclusion I even contemplated
two months ago, but one I now know as true. I have
always told Dick Regan, that my goal was to leave the
program in the best shape possible, and I realize now is
the time to do that.
I have been blessed throughout my life with a great
family that I love and am very proud of. Holy Cross
represents another family I am very proud of, and in
particular the young men I have been fortunate to coach
here, and the dedicated coaches I have worked with on
our staff. I want to thank Dick Regan and the
administration for the opportunity, and I am confident
they will make a choice that will be great for our guys
and great for the school. Finally I want to thank
everyone for the emails and calls. The sentiments are
truly appreciated and very humbling. Go Cross Go!
May
21, 2009
SPRING UPDATE
May has rolled around and it's time for a spring update.
Recruiting finished up with the signing of Dee Goens of
Atlanta's Marist High School. Dee is an outstanding
leader both on and off the court, and possesses the
skills, understanding, and mentality to become an
outstanding point guard in the program. Dee completes a
class that will enable the program to have the deepest
and most versatile group in the last ten years. This
class has demonstrated the skills and tenacity to
contribute right away, and also to have tremendous
upside potential. Along with the eight returnees (four
starters), next years team has the opportunity to
develop into a very deep group, if they can stay
healthy.
This brings us to a health update. Everyone is in good
shape except for Andrew Keister, who is still rehabbing
his torn shoulder labrum, and now has been diagnosed
with a "sports hernia". He has received an injection and
will be reevaluated after four weeks. He is due for some
good luck, but as of right now is restricted from all
activity.
The second annual Men's Basketball Golf Outing went off
last Sunday, May 17th, and the group that played was a
fun group of great supporters. I want to thank everyone
who played and give special thanks to Whitey Moynihan,
who really has done tremendous work over the past two
years, donating and organizing, and Bill Doran, who has
supported the event, and has given so much support for
the program over the past thirty years. Bill was given a
plaque recognizing his many years of contributions. The
winners of the event were four classmates of mine, Jay
Mclaughlin, Jim Hyman, George Finley, and Charlie "Vito"
Cangemi. All four travelled great distances to
participate, and are great friends. I also have to
mention the many past players who sponsored holes, and
showed their support of the program. One everyone might
remember, Torey Thomas, got off a plane from Europe, in
New York, and drove up, and also sponsored a hole to
show his support. Togo and Greg Kinsey were also there,
as well as several of the players from last years team.
All the proceeds will be used to get equipment to
enhance the program.
The five seniors from this past year graduate on Friday,
the 22nd. The class arrived with much potential, had
many fine moments, but unfortunately had their full
potential blunted with serious injuries. They did not
however, have their potential as leaders and outstanding
representatives of Holy Cross blunted. It was a
privilege to coach them and I know they will join the
other graduates from the program, and go on to be very
successful people in their life after basketball. I know
if I ran a business I would hire them in a heartbeat.
The schedule for next year is still a long way from being
completed. It is a continuing source of great
frustration, and gets more difficult every year. It is
one of the primary reasons, that for the good of the
game, I, and many other coaches strongly support
expanding the NCAA field, by one more day. The paranoia
about scheduling wins, has reached a level, that is very
damaging to the game. Since every season is now solely
judged by making the post season, expanding the post
season is the only way to mitigate the reluctance of
teams to schedule challenging out of conference games.
The avoidance of even one "bad loss" is now a major
driver in scheduling at the major conference level.
Regular season games now only have meaning, as a way to
get to the post season, and that has led to games of
regional interest and tradition, to be abandoned. Teams
at the mid major level also now try to avoid difficult
games against other mid majors, because of built in buy
game losses and the need to get to a magic number of
wins. I know that our "match-up" defense has taken on a
life of it's own and has become a primary deterrent in
us getting games, even though in reality we don't play a
match-up. Perception, enhanced by some recent televised
games, that we run "a too complex match-up" as one
coaching friend put it, has trumped reality. The Ivies
we played last year had no trouble with it, but that has
not changed perception going forward.
If something is not done real soon, we are headed towards
a football model with divisions, and that would be
tragic. The cry for a model like that gets louder each
year, and with so many teams having good players that
are capable of competing at a high level, the
frustration of being "left out" is growing. Coaches are
evaluated now almost solely on making the NCAA. Since
only 65 out of 330 make the field each year, coaching
Div 1 basketball has become a very insecure profession.
Since each year many things may be out of a coaches
control, the turnover in Div 1 has become large and is
often not based on the job the coach did "under the
circumstances". AD's who don't have "successful"
football and basketball programs are now also on a short
leash. Really this has become a complex situation that
should be addressed in a thoughtful manner. After 19
years as a head coach I hope it will be addressed for
the good of the game, but can't say I'm overly
optimistic.
Right now we have only five non conference home games, out
of 15 games we must schedule. This is an untenable
situation going forward. The schedule will probably not
be complete till late summer, so there will be no
release on scheduling till August at the earliest.
April 29, 2009
Time to take down the
Christmas tree and put the ornaments away till next
year. The 12th Day of Christmas is now posted in that
section. However I will continue to answer questions
during the time when school is out starting in May.
April 16, 2009
Sitting in church last
Sunday I realized that Easter Sunday probably means the
twelve days of Christmas are nearing an end. So with
that in mind, I am embarking on finishing the 12
Questions this week with number 10 appearing today in
the Twelve Days section. It covers how we arrive at our
schedule each year.
March 25, 2009
Every year from a
planning perspective you try to develop strategies and a
yearly game plan that will maximize the strengths of
your team, both returning and new members. The one thing
you can't prepare for are debilitating long term
injuries, like the ones we experienced the past two
years. At the mid-major level you generally have six to
eight players, that need to play the majority of minutes
for your team to be successful. You also have two to
four players that are absolutely essential for your team
to reach its potential.
Going into last year we were optimistic that both Alex and
Pat, based on medical reports would be able to
contribute at near their pre-injury, 2007 level. When
October arrived we had to start to face the reality that
both players would have to be "managed" both in practice
and games. Unfortunately it became obvious in November
that both would be unable to compete at anywhere near
their pre-injury level, with Pat having to be kept out
until the start of the league season. In addition both
Colin, and Greg , were fighting back problems that were
limiting their effectiveness in both games and practice.
After the Sacred Heart and St Joe's games, Alex's health
really went down hill, and Colin, Greg, and Lawrence,
started to have recurring problems. We were put into a
situation where our two frosh had to play a lot of
minutes, and in Devin's case at the point guard spot, a
position he had never played before. The on the job
training, and the constantly recurring injury issues,
resulted in a team that was turning the ball over an
average of 20 times per game, and in areas that led to
other teams getting a significant number of transition
baskets. Colin's injury was really unsettling because he
was the only senior able to provide on the floor
leadership. There were games during our six game losing
streak where I would look down the bench and see Alex,
Pat, and Colin unable to play and for a quick second
think of what if.
The six game losing streak really took a toll on the
team's confidence, but not its work ethic. I realized
early on that teaching and creating a great practice
work ethic were going to be the tools that would be
essential if we were to get our confidence back,
eliminate the turnovers and have a chance at turning the
season around. I also challenged, Pat , Alex, and
Lawrence to show leadership despite their limited
physical contributions. I can't say enough about the job
they did despite their personal disappointments. Without
the seniors leadership, the turnaround never would have
happened. The one constant I am really proud of as a
coach, is the pride our guys, past and present, take in
playing in the program, and really caring about
maintaining the values and attitude that have enabled it
to be successful.
Everyone knew going into the season that American, with
basically their whole team back would be the team to
beat in the league. They certainly lived up to
expectations. They were a senior dominated team and it
showed in their toughness. However, having earned the
right to meet them in the championship game, I was
hoping that we would have the mental toughness, and
confidence, having split with them during the year, to
compete and have an opportunity to challenge them at the
end of the game. Unfortunately, though we had played
great defense in our wins over Bucknell, and Colgate in
the playoffs, it just didn't happen. The loss of our
first team all league player, Andrew Keister, who
suffered a concussion before the regular season game at
Colgate, tore his labrum in his shoulder during the
game, and then got a viral infection the week after it,
really hurt our low post play and rebounding. Though he
tried to play it was obvious after 8 minutes that he
could not go. American played really well on both ends,
and unfortunately we missed 9 shots within 8 feet of the
basket, in addition to some free throws, and were down
10 at the half.
We had shot 18% and had one assist. I felt somewhat
fortunate to be down only ten. However at the start of
the half Carr came out and banged four threes. We missed
some more good looks, and American got separation.
Though we kept battling, we never could make the big
play to really put the pressure back on them. It was a
disappointing way to end the season, but we lost to a
very good team, that had played well all year, and then
played well against Villanova, in the NCAA's.
Looking back on the year, I have feelings of frustration,
pride and anticipation . Frustration for the injured
seniors and what might have been. Pride in the team for
the way they battled adversity all year and turned the
season around and for the seniors leadership.
Anticipation for next year and building on the
development of our younger players. Though we will have
only two seniors, I believe the experience the younger
players got this year will be a real good base to build
on. I am very optimistic, that along with the addition
of our frosh, and Mike C we will have a versatile team
with real solid potential. We have great kids in this
program who I couldn't be prouder of, as both a coach
and an alum.
I also want to thank all the past players who called,
emailed, and came to games, and continue to take great
pride in the program and work ethic they helped build.
March 17, 2009
Now that the season is
over I will continue to answer email questions during
the off season. I will try to give a recap of the season
next week, as recruiting travels allow.
Though we were invited to play in a post season
tournament, we just didn't have enough healthy bodies to
compete. With Andrew Keister's injuries, along with
those of our seniors, just getting enough guys to
practice the last 10 days was a real iffy proposition.
If the situation had been otherwise we would have jumped
at the opportunity, because it would do nothing but help
our younger guys. However it was time to recoup, recover
and get back to an academic routine.
I met with the guys today and we've mapped out an off
season game plan for each player. It will be good to get
back to individual improvement to keep moving our guys'
skills moving forward.
In the meantime Happy St Patrick's Day.
March 12, 2009
I have received a lot of
emails taking me out back to the woodshed for not
updating the blog. I never really understood what
writer's block was until this year. Every time I went to
update the site I came down with a bout of guilt,
centering on the premise that I may not have watched
enough film on an upcoming opponent, and therefore may
have missed something of critical importance. Like a lot
of coaches I am especially neurotic during the season
and this fed into my case of writer's block.
Anyway I have posted the Ninth day of Christmas (I wanted
to make it last because it's such a wonderful time of
the year, and the weather has certainly cooperated).
We are heading down to Bender, and a usual spirited,
hostile environment, to play a very good, well coached,
American team on Friday at 4:45 pm. I encourage all the
alums and students that can make it down to do so,( your
presence can make a difference), and those that can't,
to root us on through your spirit, by gathering with
friends at any of the watering holes that HC Clubs have
set up.
I want to thank everyone who has emailed and called to
wish us well. I have not been able to answer them all,
but want you to know your support has been passed on to
the team, and is very much appreciated.
February 5, 2009
THE SECOND HALF
As we approach Saturday's game with Lafayette and the
start of the second half of league play we have been
trying to impress a few things on our team. Yes the
first half has put us in a good position, tied with
American at 6-1, in first place. However the six
victories and the one defeat, all came in games that
could have gone either way. Focus this time of year is
what separates victory from defeat. Every team knows
each other very well and games come down to who can
execute better. Practices play an important part in
preparing to play focused and follow a game plan, and in
candor, it is this time of year, when practices tend to
get stale.
I have always shortened practice once we enter league
play, but try to keep the intensity at a high level.
This year, as was the case last year, we have tried to
massage our way through practice because of our injury
situation, and a lack of healthy bodies. We were
fortunate to have Alex and Pat available for league
games, even in a very diminished capacity, during the
first half. Their leadership and experience was a
critical part of our first half league success. If we
are to build on that success we have to find a way to
utilize them in a similar way in the second half. Also
getting Eric Meister back healthy, and keeping him
there, is also critical. So the "live" portion of
practice has been reduced to two running time, 15 minute
segments. Pat and Alex , will participate as tolerated
day to day, and the rest of practice will be individual
work, and special situations as well as individual game
prep.
Pat and Alex have reluctantly accepted the fact that they
are not the same players they were at the start of last
year, and never will be. Being the competitors they are,
this has not been easy to accept. However, they are
winners, and are going along with a diminished, yet
critical role, for the team's opportunity to succeed. No
one knows what Pat, Alex, and also Lawrence Dixon, go
through every day, in terms of treatment, and rehab,
just to suit up every day. The word character is too
often used in sports, but watching every day what these
young men go through, is really an insight into their
true character.
It is certainly not an ideal situation. I am always
worried about losing "game shape", and the mental
toughness edge, that our normal practices develop.
However, this is the path we have to follow, and the one
that gives us the best chance for success. As we enter
the dog days of February, we will do all we can in an
attempt to make it work.
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