Thorpe on Suffering, Lynx and Suffering

#1 posting 5.29.2006
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THORPE ON A SOAP BOX: Tough Losses
Here Coach Thorpe reflects on painful losses and healing

Kevin asked me a question the other day on the phone. What was your toughest loss and how did you deal with it??

I thought for a while and I had many tough losses . As coaches I think we all did. Unless you are a State Champion, most teams lose a tough one at the end of the season. Teams are disappointed but it’s over. You have an empty feeling but you try to say some positive things and get ready for the banquet.

In the middle of the season its more difficult. You have to try and heal and keep the team upbeat because another game is coming. I remember one of the hardest losses. It was in 1991 against Little Falls. Always a good rivalry. We had beaten them in a close game in ‘89 for the State Championship and Jerry Cool would have his team ready. As usual they had there gym packed. We were way ahead in the 4th quarter with about 5 or 6 minutes to go. We had taken a long weekend trip and I saw a chance to play a lot of kids. My second string could play. I thought we would be OK. I was wrong. It was a combination of everything falling apart for us and everything going right for them. I think they pulled within about 4 or 5 with about 3 minutes to go and I put my starters back in. They had cooled down and had already congratulated themselves for beating a good team on the road. They hurried and laced their shoes up and got back in for the last 3 minutes. By this time the gym was rocking and we were not ready to stop their attack. We lost. I felt anger everywhere: assistants because I subbed to early; players that worked so hard and had it taken away; and of course parents.

As I got on the bus one of my assistants said “OK Now what are you going to say?”
I didn’t know what to do so just stood up and decided to talk about how I was feeling. I asked, “Have anyone of you ever played a very bad game . How did you feel? Did you feel you let down your team, coach fans etc.”

It was silent.

“Well,” I said, “I just did a very poor job of coaching and I want to apologize. I am sorry.”
I sat down. It was quiet for a long time. I think they were expecting anger, speech about the things we did wrong. Etc. After a few minutes my captain came up to me and sat down. I was sitting alone. You know the feeling after a tough loss. She said “coach, it was not your fault. This game is just going to motivate us to get to State.”

I felt the anger on the bus disappear and I felt we were still a team. The slogan "Its better to lose a game than lose your team is so true"

That year we did get to State. My point is this: I think kids really appreciate adults being human. When you share your mistakes and insecurities it only makes them trust you more and they are easier to motivate. They see you more approachable. Young people are often very insecure and they respect adults that don’t try and come off as perfect human beings. When I said I was sorry I was sincere. I didn’t do it to manipulate a group of young people .Kids are good at spotting phonies. That was a tough loss and I think we did benefit from it and made us closer as a team.

Sometimes it fine to forget about all the motivational techniques you have read about or picked up at workshops. Just be honest and tell your team how you feel is enough.

Dave Thorpe

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AAU ROSTERS

COACHING OPENINGS

VERBALS

A LOOK AT THE LYNX
Washington vs Minnesota 5.27.2006
NUMBERS EXPLAINED

player, points, possessions, pp100, floor %
PLAYER EVALUATIONS
MINNESOTA
STARTERS
Amber Jacobs, 13, 10, 130.0, .500
Simone Augustus 23, 21, 109.5, .524
Nicole Ohlde, 2, 5, 40.0, .200
Krista Mann, 6, 7, 85.7, .286
Timika Williams 5, 10, 50.0, .200
BENCH
Adrian Williams 8, 9, 88.9, .556
Svetlana Abrisimova 9, 8, 112.5, .500
Meghan Duffy 7, 7, 100.0, .714
Tynesha Lewis 2, 2, 100.0, .500
Vanessa Hayden no possessions
Team 0, 2, 0.0, .000

WASHINGTON
STARTERS
Nikki Teasley 11, 10, 110.0, .400
Alana Beard, 25, 13, 192.3, .846
Crystal Robinson 0, 3, 0.0, .000
DeLisha Milton-Jones 12, 11, 109.1, .455
Chasity Melvin 4, 6, .667, .333
BENCH
Latasha Byears, 20, 18, 111.1, .556
Nakia Sanford 8, 8, 100.0, .500
Nikki Blue 4, 5, 80.0, .400
Coco Miller 3, 5, 60.0, .400
Laurie Koehn 3, 1, 300.0, 1.000

BY THE NUMBERS
Washington 90, 80, 112.5, .525
Minnesota 75, 81, 92.6, .432
The fact is MN's Defense in three games has not held any team under .500 floor %. They have not held any team to less than 105 pp100.
The offense has been very consistent with a range of 92.6 to 94.5 pp100, The floor % is a floor of .432 (this game) and a ceiling of .466.
The front line starters (Mann, Ohlde, TWilliams) have a combined pp100 in this game of 59.1 and a miserable floor % of .227.
In order for the Lynx to get one in the right hand column they need to
1. Get better production out of the front line. Shooting below freezing (.320) is not acceptable for those so near the hoop.
2. Tighten up the defense. It all comes down to six possessions in the game right now.

6 ON 6 BALL
IA
Iowa will be bringing back 6 on 6 basketball for their state summer games. Games will start on July 13. Here is the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier with more on the old school ball.

HAWAIIAN AWARDS
Brittney Carvalho, Kapa'a, was named player of the year in the KIF (Kauai Interscholstic Federation). Here is more on the honor from the Kauai Garden Island.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
MI
Here is a refreshing take--a school will be adding basketball at the JC level. Jackson Community College in Michigan will be adding a team in 2007. Here is more from the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Next up: tonight with the first of the Out & Abouts: game #1: CWCC vs Team WI Red 16.