• Graves is in his eighth season as an assistant at
his alma mater, the 2010 National Championship runner-up.
• Widely respected in the coaching fraternity, Graves was
recognized as one of the "Top 10" Mid-Major Assistants by
FoxSports.com in the spring of 2008 and also chosen No. 2 on the
CollegeInsider.com list of "Top 25" Mid-Major Assistants in
2009.
• During his playing days at Butler, Graves was a four-year
basketball letterwinner and the third leading scorer for the
Bulldogs in 1996-97, while helping Butler to a conference
championship and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 35
years.
NCDS: Matthew Graves, Assoc. Head Coach - Butler ("Control the Controllable")
What an exciting time of the year. As conference races come down the stretch and seeding is crucial for a tournament run it becomes a great challenge for us to keep the players focused on the task at hand. For example, in the Horizon League, the 1st and 2nd seeds will get a bye to the semi-finals with 3rd-6th getting to host 1st round games earlier in the week. Heading into the final week, there are 4 teams in our league that could finish in any variety of places 1-4. In addition to the conference tournament, we are in a position to vie for an at-large bid assuming the conference tournament doesn’t go in are favor so there are many variables that can take place over the next few weeks before selection Sunday. The truth of the matter is we have very little control over a lot of it but obviously it can be very consuming for everyone involved because you can’t turn on ESPN or read all the bracketologists without someone mentioning Butler. So the question remains, how do we minimize the distractions and focus on what is important?
The answer is simple; we talk to are players about controlling the controllable. We might hope/cheer for Team A to beat Team B but in all essence we have no control on how that game plays out. However, here are a list of things that we tell are guys they have control over and things that could make a difference when are opportunity happens.
- Are you getting plenty of sleep- try to sleep 15-30 minutes extra per day
- Are you eating 3 good meals a day- Go to Breakfast
- Are you keeping yourself hydrated- Its been a long season that you don’t want to end
- Are you keeping up academically- less stress if you are prepared
- Are you getting in extra shots or Free-Throws during the week.
There are certainly other things that can be done during this home stretch but obviously the point is to take the focus away from the many external factors and remind are players that there are things that you can control to help are team be as successful as possible heading into tournament play.
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