Dumb or Blind??

No, I'm not talking about the officials. It would be natural to think that but I am not against officials nor do I think they intentionally make poor calls. The next assumption might be I am talking about my players. Some coaches do this--blame their players for not being good enough, for not handling pressure, for not running the offense or defense correctly. It can be an "us" versus "them" mentality.

I'm the sort of coach who thinks in terms of unity, of a group of people coming together rather than a separation of coaches and players. So who I am talking about being dumb or blind? It is a little bit of a description of me, of what I missed and of my moments of not being present.

On Wednesdays, I meet with our two team leaders, Lindsey Kentner and Tarenna Dixon to discuss the team and to study a leadership manual together. Usually, I start the discussion asking them if there are any team issues which should concern me. They are good about being frank and honest, telling me what they see and what needs to change.

On this particular Wednesday, they brought up the issue of playing more 5-on-5 during practice. I must say I am a fundamentalist coach, one who loves doing drills. This stems from my experience as a player when I was RARELY coached and all we did was scrimmage. I want to teach. I want my players to have the opportunity to get better which I think comes from breakdown drills.

Yet, when I listened to them I heard them. They are, after all, two excellent players who understand the game and who love the game. They are on the court, not me. They are going through practices, not me. They are the ones who have a better feel for the game.

Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to change our practice before the next game against West Liberty. I didn't want to fatigue the team on the day before a game.

During the West Liberty game, I was frustrated and disappointed at how we played. I knew we were so much better but we simply weren't performing at a very good level.

I watched the game film the next day and again I thought we looked shackled, chained, unable to play freely. When I planned Friday's practice, I thought about all we needed to do in terms of breaking down our skills to get better at passing to the post. I dreamt up a hundred breakdown drills and put none of them on paper. I heard the voices of Tarenna and Lindsey and I made up a short practice with 15 minutes of breakdown drills and thirty minutes of 5-on-5.

I swallowed my needs and allowed the team to play simply utilizing the rule the post had to touch the ball before the guards could shoot. WOW! I watched them play with skills I didn't know they possessed. I was thrilled at their "new moves" and athleticism, and I knew I had been dumb and blind.

The good news is I can hear. I wasn't deaf. I heard them. Now, if I can keep my hands out of it and teach while allowing them to play, I think we can be really good. I mean exceptionally good.

Lindsey asked me after practice if we were going to continue to practice like this. I smiled. She said, "Thanks for listening."

No, Lindsey and Tarenna. Thank you for sharing.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.