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Just finished watching this Leadership Conference that was televised from the Pentagon. A panel of basketball coaches -- (seated alphabetically) Geno, Boeheim, Jamie Dixon, Tom Izzo, KO, Tubby Smith, and Jay Wright -- with Jay Bilas as moderator, talked about how their various coaching philosophies teach leadership to their players. Unfortunately I came into it late and only saw the last 1/2 hour. But what I saw was great; it made me realize how much I've been missing basketball (after only 1 month)!
KO was asked by a member of the audience about "multiculturalism" -- how he handled having different players from different countries on his team. He answered basically that it's really all about the school: that "we are all one," that the team is a bunch of brothers that play together for one cause, and that even though there might be different nationalities, religions, etc., as long as they all know they are brothers and play for UConn, then they all have the same goal.
On another question (I forget what it was exactly), KO expounded on the "ten toes in" philosophy. He said, "I hate lukewarm. If you're lukewarm, I'll spit you out." He used the FF game against Florida as an example, saying how when they were down by so much in the first half, he looked at Ryan Boatright, and Boatright said, "Coach, we got this"; he looked at the other UConn players, and realized that they were all "together in spirit"; and he then knew that as long as they played together in spirit, they would win.
KO mentioned taking the team to the AT&T center after they lost those two games in Texas. He talked about how loyalty to the university was extremely important; how everyone thinks UConn won after the confetti fell in the National Championship game, but the confetti actually fell 18 months prior, when those who were loyal to UConn chose to stay and battle things out.
On the humorous side, when asked about what difficult exercises he has the team do in practice, KO mentioned how they have a drill where they have to make 17 free throws in a row, and if they miss, they have to do sprints. KO observed that this drill works -- as evidenced in the game against Michigan State in the tourney -- zinging Tom Izzo! Izzo took it well and laughed along.
Geno got his share of questions as well. Don't know if they were plants or not, but most of the people that Bilas picked from the audience to ask questions were proud UConn fans!
This conference was broadcast live online at http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/livestream.aspx . I'm wondering if this web site might have replays available . . .
KO was asked by a member of the audience about "multiculturalism" -- how he handled having different players from different countries on his team. He answered basically that it's really all about the school: that "we are all one," that the team is a bunch of brothers that play together for one cause, and that even though there might be different nationalities, religions, etc., as long as they all know they are brothers and play for UConn, then they all have the same goal.
On another question (I forget what it was exactly), KO expounded on the "ten toes in" philosophy. He said, "I hate lukewarm. If you're lukewarm, I'll spit you out." He used the FF game against Florida as an example, saying how when they were down by so much in the first half, he looked at Ryan Boatright, and Boatright said, "Coach, we got this"; he looked at the other UConn players, and realized that they were all "together in spirit"; and he then knew that as long as they played together in spirit, they would win.
KO mentioned taking the team to the AT&T center after they lost those two games in Texas. He talked about how loyalty to the university was extremely important; how everyone thinks UConn won after the confetti fell in the National Championship game, but the confetti actually fell 18 months prior, when those who were loyal to UConn chose to stay and battle things out.
On the humorous side, when asked about what difficult exercises he has the team do in practice, KO mentioned how they have a drill where they have to make 17 free throws in a row, and if they miss, they have to do sprints. KO observed that this drill works -- as evidenced in the game against Michigan State in the tourney -- zinging Tom Izzo! Izzo took it well and laughed along.
Geno got his share of questions as well. Don't know if they were plants or not, but most of the people that Bilas picked from the audience to ask questions were proud UConn fans!
This conference was broadcast live online at http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/livestream.aspx . I'm wondering if this web site might have replays available . . .
