To begin, Happy Veteran’s Day. Hope everyone took just a moment today to think about and thank everyone who has served, is currently serving, and will serve. As one of my favorite college professors, Prof. Joe Miller, a Vietnam vet, said: “Honor the warrior, not the war.”
I wrote a post a while back about how I believed doing things the right way helps build winning programs, and how that culture is a result of a dual effort between the players and the coaches.
Especially now that there’s all this stuff going on about the shady recruitment of guys like Anthony Davis and Cam Newton, it’s refreshing to read about coaches and teams recruiting and building their programs the right way. (Speaking of which, Calipari, I’m not shedding any tears for ya over Enes Kanter. Tough for the kid, but you take the money and you get what’s coming to you. Both of you should have known that going into it. Sorry I’m not sorry.) I read an article today that reminded me of why I respect the Illinois volleyball program so much — both the players and the coaches are committed to building a winning program, and for them, that means recruiting well-rounded players and well-rounded people who are committed to the team and committed to achieving excellence.
One quote from Coach Kevin Hambly that I particularly liked: “The way we do things doesn’t fit for everybody. Just because they’re a good player doesn’t mean we want them to be a part of it.” That quote speaks volumes to me about the quality of the kids that Hambly and his staff are trying to bring to Illinois. They want kids that will work hard and kids who want the team to be successful. Even though so many of the players they bring in are great players, they’re all just so humble about it. When Hillary Haen was named MVP of the State Farm Illini Classic, she joked that it was probably because Illinois has so many good hitters they couldn’t decide who to give it to, so they just gave it to the setter. I’m normally not a big fan of sports radio, but I always try to listen to Kevin Hambly’s bit on Illini Drive @ 5, just because you can really tell that he’s just committed to getting the team to work hard and win. While they’re cognizant of their larger goal, their immediate focus is always the next game and the next opponent, no matter who it is. It’s great to hear a coach that demands so much out of his players.
Now, you know I can’t talk about demanding coaches without mentioning the one and only Geno Auriemma, head coach of the UConn women’s basketball team. I can’t find the exact quote now, but one of my favorite things that Geno has ever said has been about his goal when he recruits kids to UConn. He said he wants his players to leave UConn with a good education, and he wants them to go on to become “quality members of society”, and basketball is secondary. I’ve already talked a lot about why I love Geno and his team and his coaching style in my first “Winning is a Culture” post, so I won’t go beating a dead topic here, but I love that quote from him. The kids who graduate from UConn leave as better players and better people, and kids who didn’t think they could stick with the way Geno and his staff does things choose to find other programs. I’m not saying that the kids who decided to leave the program aren’t also great players and great people, but it just goes to show that, like Kevin Hambly said, the UConn way or the Illinois way isn’t always the “right” way for every kid — you have to find something that suits you. And that’s why these coaches go out and find the kids who will fit their program, regardless of whether they’re ranked as the #1 recruit in their class or the #60 kid in their class.
Kevin Hambly, Geno Auriemma — those are guys I can stand behind. Girls want to play for Illinois and Connecticut, and their parents want them to play for these coaches for a reason.
And on a related note, a little saying I’ve always believed in: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I was just thinking about this while watching the Heat/Celtics game (because the Bulls pretty clearly had the Warriors game in the bag). I only watched the first half, but it just looked like the Heat weren’t playing hard at all. Maybe they changed things up in the second half, but you gotta play two halves of a game if you want to win (unless you’re UConn in the National Championship game last year, I guess, although to be fair neither team played that well in the first half). Miami, it just goes to show you, the NBA title is not yours just because you assembled a squad of really, really talented players. It doesn’t mean anything if they’re not willing to work hard and work together. I’m not a Celtics fan (Bulls4vr), but I like the way they play. I like the way they play team defense, I like how they trust each other, and I like how much they hustle — they don’t give up on plays. For now, the East runs through Boston, so the NBA title is not a guarantee for you. You’re gonna have to WORK for it.
