Viking Coach

When it comes to the some basketball fans here is a coaching reality. . .When your team wins it is because you have "players making plays” and they are good enough to survive a coach who doesn't play the right players, run the right offense, play the right defense, etc. . . when your team loses its because. . .well. . its because the coach never could coach (or) the coach all of a sudden lost his coaching abilities.

I know this sounds like a “poor – poor me” type of statement but I’m not even talking about me. . .

Not that I couldn’t be!

Here is the REALITY. . .

Non Athletes + Poor Skills = Bad
Athletes + Poor Skills = Average
Athletes + Game Skills = Good
Athletes + Game Skills + Positive Attitude = Better
Athletes + Game Skills + Positive Attitude + Coaching = Best

Here is my varsity coaching career for Pelican Rapids:

1998-99= 15 & 9
1999-00= 20 & 4 - HOL CHAMPS
2000-01= 22 & 4 - SECTION 8AA CHAMPS
2001-02= 15 & 11
2002-03= 22 & 6 - Sect. 8AA Run-Up (loss to DGF)
2003-04= 24 & 4 - Sub-Sec 8AA Run-Up (loss to Hawley)
2004-05= 15 & 12

Wow! Not to brag too much but these were some great years! A conference championship, a section championship, a school record in wins in a season, four 20+ win seasons, a winning percentage of .700. . . Dang, I had some great teams who had some great players. . .

But then WHAM! 2005-06= 1 Win & 24 Losses. I couldn’t coach a bobcat out of a wet paper bag. . .

During years like the 2005 - 06 and the current season, a common fan might feel that a coach has, somehow, lost his ability to coach. . . or just stops coaching period. But perception is not reality.

You wouldn’t believe how hard a coach is coaching when the talent level dips and the talent on teams that you compete against stays the same or increases. I don’t know if you can put a multiplication figure on how much harder or creative a coach must be when they don’t have the “players”.

It is amazing how much I have learned in the last two years. I feel that I am teaching the game of basketball along with the fundamentals of the game better than I ever have. However, some will still see the losing records as proof of my inability to coach. I guess it is just easier to blame a coach when a team doesn’t perform to the expected level.

I, again, remind people that I am not looking for sympathy. . . that is not the point of this blog site. This blog is all about giving you a first hand look at a coaches thoughts. I decided to coach because I feel I have a lot to offer the players I coach. I understand that I will be second guessed and that there will always be people that feel I am a poor coach but that's just the way it is and somethings will never change.

To that end, I know that I am not perfect and I know I make mistakes and misjudgements along the way. All coaches do. But to soley blame a coach for the failure of a team is really unfair. Imagine if we blamed a dentist for the cavities we get and say if he was a better dentist he would get his patients to brush better and if he was really good they would be flossing after every meal!!!

I have an inner peace about what I do as a coach because at the end of the day I truly believe that I ultimately care about and love the players I coach. That is the only way in which a coach can survive the second guessing and the disbelief that parents, fans and sometimes players have in their ability to coach.