On the way home from a tournament in Pittsburgh Saturday evening, I was talking to a couple of our 6th grade travel team's players in the backseat. We were talking about Bobby Huggins and his reputation for not always being the nicest guy in coaching. One of the players responded that people who are nice all of the time don't make great coaches. It's true. Sometimes a great coach has to play mind games. Sometimes they have to be gruff and abrasive. However that alone will not get those players to run through a wall for you. They have to know that behind the occasional yelling that the coach cares, not just about winning, not just about basketball, but about the player as a person.
Bobby Huggins' team did not beat Duke the other night. They came out slightly flat, lacking the emotion that helped them win so many games against the best teams in the country. Duke shot the ball better than they had all season long. However, Huggins and his team emerged from the floor winners in a different way.
West Virginia's basketball team has a bond with themselves and their coach that will last a lifetime. Love, commitment, passion, teamwork pervades this team and it flows from the man that patiently worked to bring them together. When star guard Da'Sean Butler hit the floor with a knee injury, ending his team's chance at a national title, we saw the growling coach grasp his stricken player by the head and hand and talk him through the crushing sorrow evident all over Butler's face.
Huggins had to do this once before. At Cincinnati, star player Kenyon Martin's injury ended a run at the national title. Huggins talks occasionally about that player being upset over letting his team down. Emotion fills the coach's voice when he speaks of that incident.
Huggins talks about being special. Definitely getting to the Final Four is special. The adoration of fans who will remember every name on this team forever is special. Even more special is the personal bond between coach and player and the players with each other. As the disappointment fades, the bonds remain cemented in place forever.
We saw Saturday night why Bobby Huggins is a great coach. Beyond the screaming and the scheming is a human being that cares about his players, a figure cared about by the young men he leads. Plenty of nice guys are out there that are very pleasant to be around, but neither feel nor inspire a great depth of emotion from most people. Huggins has legions that admire and despise him. Those who dislike him need to revisit that minute or two when the coach guided his young star emotionally before helping him off the floor.
No comments:
Post a Comment