Getting inside the mind of a coach
By Matthew Wilder
When I first tried out for the CSU men’s club basketball team I was hit with reality right away. The truth is I can’t play basketball at the same level as the members of the team can. At first I felt I would only last the first day of tryouts and that was it. I wasn’t ready for the physical demands that were about to be put on me.
Then one of the players, John Lamar, noticed that I have the ability to teach the players what they have to do and how to do it. He also noticed that I really know how to motivate these guys.
He made a suggestion to the Head Coach, Efehi Osayamwen, that I be put on the coaching staff immediately. He agreed that I have the right mentality for a coach and I was offered a position as an assistant coach. Obviously, that’s a hard request to refuse.
During the first few practices I immediately saw things we needed to work on. They passed the ball out of bounds frequently. They were extremely slow because they got tired easily. They lacked solid communication; therefore they struggled as a team because they weren’t on the same page.
They even struggled when shooting the ball. There were just so many errors to correct. It was very stressful to deal with at first but I have been growing accustomed to dealing with these sorts of things.
Another weakness I was afraid that would be exploited was a lack of solid rebounding. I told the team that the best rebounders in the National Basketball Association elbow their opponents in the mouth and that on occasion, they may have to do the same thing.
I gave them several tips to turn things around. The first thing I told the team was that they can’t complain when other teams play rough. That’s just part of the game and they have to deal with it.
Another thing I told them is that they have to run faster in order to keep up with other teams across the nation. Yes, we will be on the road so we get the same experience as the Vikings.
I knew some of these guys probably didn’t play basketball for a while, which gave me more reason to get on their case about how slow they were running.
They also needed to make eye contact when they passed the ball. It became painfully obvious that they weren’t doing that because their passes were extremely sloppy and hardly ever went to their teammates.
They are running the floor better. The shooting has improved drastically. Our defense is looking much better. Our guys are also talking more to make sure everyone is on the same page. I am also proud because these guys are motivating each other. Maybe things really will go our way. I’m very optimistic about our team and I’m having fun as a coach.
Lately the team has responded very well to my criticism and that of two other coaches, Coach Osayamwen and Assistant Coach Vance Maurbury.
We are very tough coaches, easily compared to Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers or Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons.
There is a lot of yelling involved with coaching. All three of us have to be tough because if we coach soft, our team will play soft. That is the reality of the coaching.
We will travel to in-state universities including Ohio State, Ohio University, Miami of Ohio, and Ashland University. We will start playing out of state games next semester.
All members of the team are CSU students.
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