NCDS: Jeremy Ballard, Asst. Coach - Tulsa
By: Jeremy Ballard, Asst. Coach - Tulsa
The New Year marks a fresh beginning for countless people around the country, and this also rings true for the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane. We ended 2009 with two disappointing losses to Nebraska and Nevada in the Las Vegas Classic. While both teams are very talented and will go on to win many games, our staff was not at all pleased with our performances and felt that we did not play "Tulsa Basketball". "Tulsa Basketball" can be loosely defined as defending and rebounding at a high level, pushing the basketball, and playing with all-out effort. Those two losses left a bitter taste in everyone's mouths going into the Christmas Holidays.
After a nice, lengthy break, our players and staff returned to practice, intensely determined to get better and to start the New Year off with a bang. While we definitely had our sights set on Colorado, who happened to be the next opponent and last game before Conference USA play begins, our main focus was on getting back to our "staples". This meant an increased focus on improving our defensive principles, rebounding, and offensive execution. With that being said, probably the most important factor was the mindset of our players - would they be determined to get back on the right track? Did they work hard on their skills and conditioning while at home? Do they understand that we must improve on all the little things in order to win big? While these questions are ultimately answered in the actual games, as coaches we get the answers early through our performance in practice. On both fronts, the answer was an emphatic, "Yes".
It is difficult to prepare for Colorado, a well-coached Big 12 team, because they play what is commonly referred to as the "Princeton Offense". This offense is an intricate system based on a number of reads, screens, 3-point shooting, and most notably, back-door cuts. Players in this system must possess a high Basketball IQ because the offense relies heavily on reading the defense and reacting. Planning a defense for such a system is similar to preparing for the Triple Option or Wishbone offense in football. Not many teams run the offense, so your team is not used to playing against it and must be patient and disciplined to defend it properly.
Due to the outstanding scouting and game-planning of our Head Coach Doug Wojcik and Associate Head Coach David Cason, we were effectively able to break down the major nuances of the Princeton Offense and show them to our team through video and with our Scout Team. Our Scout Team, which is comprised of 3 walk-ons, 2 redshirt transfers, and a redshirting freshman, did a great job of learning the basics of Colorado's offense and running it against our defense in practice. Although often ignored by most fans, the Scout Team's tireless work in practice is a major key to winning games. Without the Scout Team giving us a great "look", meaning running the opponent's offense well, our team would not be thoroughly prepared once the actual game takes place.
After four hard days of practice, we were finally ready for our game against Colorado. Our players showed little rust in racing to a seven point halftime lead and winning by a final score of 84-59. We accomplished our goal of playing "Tulsa Basketball", but our players fully realize that it was only one game and that we must now prepare for Conference play.
We are excited to be entering our Conference USA schedule and we know that every game will be important. Hopefully, we can play the rest of the season in the same manner that we played the first game of 2010 and accomplish all of our goals in the process.
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