What do you value most in a head coach?

[Bad Gopher]

I would concur with what Selection Sunday said. A coach who values consistency of effort.

Medium and old timers, do this thought experiment. Clem Haskins is the coach. Think of the lazy-assed passes that Gach and Carr have made recently. Do you think they would see the court again for the rest of the game?

There is a built-in tension for a coach when trying to create a culture. Players need to be developed, (mostly in practice), and then pushed to execute during the game. If someone continues to step outside the plan, or the values of the new culture, it should affect their playing time. The other side of the coin, the player shouldn't be looking over their shoulder, expecting to get pulled after a stupid foul or a traveling call. There's the tension; lettem play, or pullem after a mistake. If a player consistently chooses to force up contested shots when there is an open man, he sits. If he travels, or misses an open shot.... play on. The coach that can't tell the difference shouldn't be our coach.

I remember a game around 1994--pre-season tournament. I can't remember what the player might have done (or not done) out there, but when he got back to the bench, Clem turned his back on the game and gave that player his undivided attention, talking to him for what must have been the better part of a minute. Totally ignored the game that was being played because he wanted to take that opportunity to coach that guy. He wanted to deliver the message immediately rather than wait til practice or whenever--because, who knows, it might make a difference in that game (which they won, over a top-ranked team).

That contrasts with what I see coaches do too often: yank the guy off the court and angrily ignore him.

 

[restovich]

I remember a game around 1994--pre-season tournament. I can't remember what the player might have done (or not done) out there, but when he got back to the bench, Clem turned his back on the game and gave that player his undivided attention, talking to him for what must have been the better part of a minute. Totally ignored the game that was being played because he wanted to take that opportunity to coach that guy. He wanted to deliver the message immediately rather than wait til practice or whenever--because, who knows, it might make a difference in that game (which they won, over a top-ranked team).

That contrasts with what I see coaches do too often: yank the guy off the court and angrily ignore him.

I've lived in the Des Moines area for about 37 years , since my time at the -U-. Seen a lot of U. of Iowa games. Dr. Tom Davis used to do that a lot. His son, who was at Drake briefly and now at Central Michigan, does that. I don't know how much Richard Pitino has as far as the luxury of coaching that way, or pulling out his start player (e.g., Carr). I do have a vision of a coach from childhood, Bobby Knight, who certinly had his warts. But I do not imaginehim putting up with lazy passes.

 

[WhoFellDownTheGopherHole?]

It's all been covered so i'll just pick one specific thing - i want a coach who can get a consistent emphatic effort out of their players. I want a coach who coaches a scrappy, fighting team that does whatever hard and unglamorous work that it takes to win (I feel like Clem had this). Every game, not for just a few in a row and then disappear. We've seen time and time again that effort and determination often trump lazy talent and if we're never going to be able to get many 4 (and certainly not 5 stars) here, that's the kind of coach Minnesota needs here to win.

 

[PMWinSTP]

A winning conference record.