NCDS: Steve Robinson, Asst. Coach - North Carolina
By: Steve Robinson, Asst. Coach - North Carolina
Welcome to 2010! Okay, so you start the season on such a high, winning the national championship and celebrating the 100th year of basketball at the University of North Carolina. Things are going great. But wait, we all have forgotten that we lost Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. I think Carolina Nation forgot as well until game days began. What a hard slap in the face reality can be at times. Who would have thought that we would lose 3 of our first 4 games in Jan. Wow!
So we have some concerns, okay how do we fix the problems? How do we manage the team? How do we get better? From the coaches' perspective it will lead to many restless nights, many ideas bouncing around in your head. Do you have a legal pad? I have filled up all of mine. I guess I will have to reorder. Fast forward, rewind the tape, look for a clue, something to build on.
Have you walked into that room after a tough loss and faced your team and try to find the right words to say to them? You want to build them up, you have to correct the mistakes, but you can't beat them down. It is an intense and quiet mood that at times can save or wreck your season.
At practice the next day, the mood is quiet. Many guys are in deep thought over the past game. We review last night at the team meeting, talk about the move forward and how we have to manage today and the next day. As coaches we all are competitors, you have to get back up when you have been knocked down. We have faced the world the next day, after a tough loss, a disappointing loss or a shocking loss. On the other hand some of your players have never been in this situation before and they are trying to manage new territory. I've always felt that guys will start the practice a little slow, still feeling the effects of the game that started at 9 pm and was over around 11 pm. They have class the following morning and practice at 3. What a short turnaround time, but players' best therapy is usually found on the court. Coach Williams is great at managing the team and giving them a focal point, something to grab hold of. Whether it is mental or physical.
The bottom line is work hard enough to improve, compete on every possession and play up to your potential. When you have a young team you have to keep pushing and teaching in hope that the guys "get it." Do they understand the importance of every possession getting shots instead of turnovers, of getting to the right spot on offense and defense?
Well, the stomach still churns another bitter defeat at home against Virginia. We didn't play well and they were super in executing the game plan. We started slow turning the ball over early. It will be a long restless night trying to figure out why and what is the next step we have to take. It's the life of a coach and the many ups and downs you go through during the season.
So until next month, we continue to work hard everyday trying to find the correct path for this team to travel.
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