02-10-2023, 07:09 PM
I've been of the opinion for a while now that some coaches see bad loses as motivators because the coach gets to say very directly to the team that they didn't execute, or play hard enough, or pay attention to the scout, etc. I always thought that after a loss, Mike Montgomery seemed to be actually talking to the team when he would make his characteristically blunt post-game comments.
I've never thought that it's a realistic goal to win every game even if your goal is to win the last one.
Not to say that anyone wants to lose, but there really are different kinds of losses. For instance:
(1) You had no chance. It's 1973. Stanford (men) lose to UCLA at Maples 82-67 against Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes et al. Cumulative reaction in the locker room after the game is probably something like "wow they're good. I mean, really good." UCLA yawns and goes undefeated. Two of Stanford's losses to the unfairly stacked UMass teams in the tournament probably fall into this category.
(2) Your effort was lacking. It's January 17, 2020, and Stanford (women) lose to Colorado on the road, breaking a season-long winning streak. Kiana Williams goes 3-12 with no assists, Brink fouls out (thanks Chuck), and Stanford shoots 5-22 from 3. Hollingshed lights them up (32 pts including 4 three-pointers and 10 boards). Coach Tara says (actual quote): "We did not defend Hollingshed worth a darn...She had her way with whoever was guarding her." She also says: "I hold this really bothers people and gets under their skin and they decide we want to play basketball at a different level...It was really disappointing to me."
(3) Maybe your effort was there but you didn't execute. It's January 21, 2020 - Stanford (women) lose to UCLA in Santa Cruz. Coach Tara (actual quotes): "It was ridiculous some of the mistakes we had. They outhustled us and they were scrappier." Reaction: Brink goes into the starting lineup. In the February 5 rematch vs Colorado, Brink has 6 blocks, 8 boards, and 13 points. Hollingshed has 16 points, 6 rebounds, no 3's, and she fouls out. And we all know what happened for the rest of the season.
I'm sure we could come up with several other categories (e.g. we just lost two of our best players to season ending injuries...).
I put the South Carolina loss into the category of "on this night, they were better than we were but we didn't really play well." I put the USC loss into the category of "we aren't able to execute the new offense against a motivated, pressing team," and I was glad to see that the USC loss prompted some reflection and changes from the coaches. I suspect the Washington loss was a combo of a smart defensive scheme and the team not being ready to execute at a high level. What I saw from the Arizona game is a team that decided top to bottom to say "we don't like losing" and "it's time to go." It's hard to keep motivated to play at your very best over an entire season, but losing is sometimes a better motivator than winning. Brink says she hates losing more than winning.
Was I the only one who thought that the refs were on another planet for this game? One of the offensive foul calls against Brink was terrible, and Scofield called a turnover with about 5 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter that I still can't figure out even after replaying it about 50 times.
I've never thought that it's a realistic goal to win every game even if your goal is to win the last one.
Not to say that anyone wants to lose, but there really are different kinds of losses. For instance:
(1) You had no chance. It's 1973. Stanford (men) lose to UCLA at Maples 82-67 against Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes et al. Cumulative reaction in the locker room after the game is probably something like "wow they're good. I mean, really good." UCLA yawns and goes undefeated. Two of Stanford's losses to the unfairly stacked UMass teams in the tournament probably fall into this category.
(2) Your effort was lacking. It's January 17, 2020, and Stanford (women) lose to Colorado on the road, breaking a season-long winning streak. Kiana Williams goes 3-12 with no assists, Brink fouls out (thanks Chuck), and Stanford shoots 5-22 from 3. Hollingshed lights them up (32 pts including 4 three-pointers and 10 boards). Coach Tara says (actual quote): "We did not defend Hollingshed worth a darn...She had her way with whoever was guarding her." She also says: "I hold this really bothers people and gets under their skin and they decide we want to play basketball at a different level...It was really disappointing to me."
(3) Maybe your effort was there but you didn't execute. It's January 21, 2020 - Stanford (women) lose to UCLA in Santa Cruz. Coach Tara (actual quotes): "It was ridiculous some of the mistakes we had. They outhustled us and they were scrappier." Reaction: Brink goes into the starting lineup. In the February 5 rematch vs Colorado, Brink has 6 blocks, 8 boards, and 13 points. Hollingshed has 16 points, 6 rebounds, no 3's, and she fouls out. And we all know what happened for the rest of the season.
I'm sure we could come up with several other categories (e.g. we just lost two of our best players to season ending injuries...).
I put the South Carolina loss into the category of "on this night, they were better than we were but we didn't really play well." I put the USC loss into the category of "we aren't able to execute the new offense against a motivated, pressing team," and I was glad to see that the USC loss prompted some reflection and changes from the coaches. I suspect the Washington loss was a combo of a smart defensive scheme and the team not being ready to execute at a high level. What I saw from the Arizona game is a team that decided top to bottom to say "we don't like losing" and "it's time to go." It's hard to keep motivated to play at your very best over an entire season, but losing is sometimes a better motivator than winning. Brink says she hates losing more than winning.
Was I the only one who thought that the refs were on another planet for this game? One of the offensive foul calls against Brink was terrible, and Scofield called a turnover with about 5 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter that I still can't figure out even after replaying it about 50 times.