TWO QUESTIONS I NEED TO ANSWER

1) What's with The Sports Jacket? I have been asked by quite a few people why I wear the same sports jacket to just about every game. First let me start by saying I think the proper attire for coaching would be a staff shirt and dress pants. During a game, you perspire, your players perspire on you in huddles, Powerade is spilled on seats you sit on, and yes even a good deal of saliva is expelled during time outs. Seems to me not a situation that warrants getting particularly dressed up for. Coaches should get dressed up AFTER games when addressing the media or alumni. That being said ,someone started this tradition so most coaches follow the tradition (though I loved Looie Conneseca's sweaters). Which brings me to my Jacket.

I bought it about 7 years ago on sale ,reduced from 250.00 to 89.00. I didn't particularly like it ,but it fit well and what a bargain. At first I didn't wear it all the time but after wearing it on a winning streak I got the strange feeling IT may have had something to do with me making a few right decisions. Then it happened I wore another jacket and we lost. From that point on I always felt better when I wore THE JACKET and win or lose you need to feel comfortable when you compete. Plus I always believed that during games the players should be the focus of attention not coaches, so who cares (other than the wife and now grown children) what I wear.

However I have received emails and letters from some people who do. To them I say that The JACKET, after about 100 dry cleanings, now has a value of about 800.00, and besides that , being 100% patterned wool ,it really absorbs sweat, Powerade and saliva very well and hides it even better.

2) Which team has been your favorite team at HC? The answer to that question is simple. The one I am coaching when the question is asked. I have been fortunate to coach young people with great heart during my tenure at HC. The first team did much to lay the foundation for winning by playing with great perseverance through difficult injuries and never surrendering. The second team built on that foundation and bought into the philosophy of winning. The third team struggled early but kept working to get better and did ,dramatically by the end of the year. The fourth team became the #1fg% defensive team in the country and was relentless in pursuit of victory. Last years team played their hearts out every night and though they lost 9 games by six points or less, primarily do to ft shooting, their effort and togetherness was tremendous. This year's team has built on those struggles and has continued to get better and better as the year has gone on.

The one constant in all the teams have been the quality of the young men who have worn the HC uniform. Some people have said that last year was disappointing. Not in the things that really matter to me as a coach and alumnus. At this level there is a very fine line between winning and losing and you are not going to win every year (look at Manhattan's struggles this year after their fans were calling it the next Gonzaga after two straight trips to the NCAA's and their win vs. Florida last year). We don't recruit JUCO's, we don't get high profile recruits, and we don't have great facilities. What we do have is great kids, who work really hard at getting better, are part of and respected by the student body, and who represent on the court the qualities this school and its alumni care about. That's why all the teams i have been fortunate enough to coach here have been my favorite.


AN OVERWHELMING RESPONSE

Question from DT- "How is your new staff working out and how do you answer some people questioning the consistent turnover in your staff."

DT- Our new staff is working out fine. Anytime you hire new people there is a learning and adjustment period. That's why it is extremely important to hire talented, motivated ,people of good character. Daryl, Andy and Mark have the work ethic ,personal character and talent, that has made the transition pretty smooth. Our recruiting went well in the fall ,signing four players, and they have picked up the individual and team teaching concepts very well. Mark ,having played for me and having spent a year in Louisville has been a big plus, and Daryl and Andy brought experience in both recruiting and coaching.

Which brings us to the second part of your question about turnover. I firmly believe that I have a responsibility to move my assistants along their career path. I try to hire people I believe have the talent, drive , and integrity to become head coaches. I tell them when I hire them that they will work harder than they ever have in their lives. That I will demand a very high standard in everything they do. That I will give them responsibility in all areas of coaching , in order to help prepare them and make them marketable, but I will also hold their feet to the fire. Attention to detail will be demanded in all their responsibilities, and I want them to think as if they were the head coach. On our staff the assistants don't work at a job, they work to get really good at their profession. This means doing much more than what you're told to do. It means anticipating what needs to be done and preparing for all eventualities. It means that every day ,you will be under pressure to cover every base and do it with ride, enthusiasm and professionalism.

When I hire my assistants I tell them that the reward for their superior effort will be that I will move them to their next step. I tell them that I expect they will be gone in two or three years if they approach their work in the manner I have described. I let them know when I hire them that if they are here after 3 years they have not lived up to the the stated expectations. They also understand very clearly that I will get them their next step if they worry only about the program they are in now.

The reality of our profession is that it is very hard for an assistant to to survive financially at our level , especially if he has a family or wants to start one. It is also virtually impossible to go from our level to a head coaching position. To move up the ladder in coaching you must be exposed to different AD's, assistant AD's etc. The only way to do this is to change jobs and conferences. Because of the quality of people I've been fortunate enough to hire during my career and the responsibilities they have in the program my assistants have been easy for me to move. I have given Tom Crean (Marquette) ,Bobby Jones (St Francis) , Jim Christian (Kent State) and Sean Doherty (Salem State), Troy Weaver (head scout Utah Jazz), their first coaching jobs at the D1 level. They all had no Div. 1 coaching experience when I hired them but had all the qualities to make their success. I have also been able to move experienced assistants like, Tony Newsom , and Kevin Nickelberry (who has already had several head caching interviews) to other programs to help advance their careers. Because of the success of the assistants who come from our program other head coaches seek people from our program. I wouldn't want it any other way and am very proud of the success of people I've been fortunate enough to have in our program.

So DT if you see Daryl, Andy, and Mark here in four years I will be very disappointed. Just don't count on that happening.


WHAT A RESPONSE

I've received about a dozen emails since the second scheduling column was posted.

Please everyone understand that this column was meant to inform not to depress our fans or indict our league. This is a situation that occurs in all one bid conferences and sometimes in an occasional two bid conference (see Butler 2 yrs. ago). It is primarily the result of leagues having losing non conference records because of the imbalance of away vs. home games.

There are 9 consistent 2 bid or more conferences and all the rest fit into our category. The geography of some of our member schools make getting home games more difficult. If our league was able to have a better balance of home and away games you would see an improvement in the RPI of all our members, but again because of venues and geography this is extremely unlikely to happen. This year out of 104 non conference games our league is playing only 37 at home vs. Div.1 opponents. Likewise if you saw the "majors" playing more away games their RPI would drop, but this is not going to happen because of revenue generated in the major conferences by home games and the need for that revenue to help support the non revenue sports.

The purpose of writing the column was to explain the reality of scheduling at this level and in our league. I was attempting to explain why playing Northeastern, BU, Harvard ,Iona, Brown, Vermont, Dartmouth, URI, Marist, etc. etc. makes more sense than trying to get a game in Dayton or Cincinnati or Charlotte, that would not impact our RPI in any significant way and would not be seen by students, parents, fans ,or alumni.

Every game we have left will present a real challenge to our team. I hope you support our guys because I know the games will be extremely competitive and that they will lay their hearts out on the floor every night. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, with your family and friends. Thanks for your support and your caring about the program.


PRESSING STYLE

Several fans have asked why we didn't press more in the Princeton game and why we don't press more in general.

First Princeton. We pressed 21 times in the Princeton game .That amounted to roughly 40% of the possessions. We caused 1 turnover, which resulted in a layup and they scored 6 times for 11pts.Very unproductive and after watching the film I definitely feel it hurt us rather than helped us. Pressing a patient team like Princeton is often more difficult than pressing a team that plays quick and is likely to get out of control.

Pressing in general. When I was at Western Kentucky we had 10 or 11 good players who were also good athletes. My tallest starter was 6'8" and we wanted to become the best pressing team in the country to negate our lack of size and to become a special preparation. Every day in practice we dedicated at least three 15 minute segments of our practice to pressing. My philosophy as a coach is, to be a consistently good team that has a chance to overachieve, you have to become the best at something. Every night you have that to count on no matter what else goes right or wrong.

At Holy Cross we have been able to recruit some big people but not as many good athletes. Therefore when I came back to HC I decided that we would try to become one of the best half-court defensive teams in the country. This would make us a special preparation and allow us to use our size to full advantage. In addition at HC because of only having one practice floor that we must share with the girls, and because of class schedules we only have 2 hrs a day to practice. There is no way we could become a really good pressing team because we can't devote the time necessary without sacrificing our half court defense. Plus several of our better athletes have back and knee issues which practicing the press every day would make only worse.

Finally we were 7th in the country in steals last year BECAUSE of the way we defend in the half court with our rotations, switches and traps . If we had been first we would have avg. only1.6 steals more per game. Plus when you press your fg% defense drops dramatically and we have been one of the best in the country at fg% defense the last four years. last year we pressed Bucknell just about the whole game - we forced 28 to's but they shot 62% from the floor and we lost by 6. We had beaten them the week before by 12 and didn't press at all but held them to 38%FG. The point I am trying to make , is that we will use full court pressure, but judiciously, and always rely on one of the best half court defenses in the country to be our staple, because that's what we have to do to win consistently.