Pure basketball coaching.

The primary concern of almost every coach on the high school and college level is victory and defeat. It may be sad and it is often unfair, but victory is usually the criterion for employment. Needless to say, the realistic coach has to do everything within reason to enhance his chances of winning.

When a basketball game is on the line, it's easy for a coach to stay intense, to feel razor-sharp at crunch time. It becomes a lot harder when the game is decided early. We've all had those nights when we've gone ahead or fallen behind by 20 in the middle of the third quarter. What do we do to keep the team focused for the next 12 minutes?

It's time for "pure coaching"-- the kind you do when the scoreboard no longer counts. "Pure" is defined as untainted, simple, spotless. A coach is defined as a tutor, a trainer. So, basically, "pure coaching" is untainted, simple tutoring. Coaches, as teachers first and foremost, have to keep teaching, no matter what the score of the game. But what do you teach a team that is 20 points behind in the third quarter? You can teach them the things they will need in the next game.

If your team has been behind by 20 points almost every night, you will have to closely examine your philosophy, coaching methods, and style of play. If your team is winning most of their games by double digits, you may assume you have great personnel, your team is really executing, or you simply are a great coach!

These are pretty basic assumptions, but you have to be aware of them and to synthesize them into your coaching philosophy.

When I was a rookie basketball coach, I didn't know how to control the subtle aspects of my coaching philosophy. Over the next 16 years, I had to learn the facts of coaching life.

I learned how important it is to go into a game with two offensive and two defensive goals. Winning is not one of them. Neither is scoring a certain number of points.