[crackpot]

Mixing Metaphors: Football/Basketball
I’m concerned about the rough style of play that seems to characterizes a few of our opposing teams. Certainly, if one expects to win in competitive sports a team must play hard and aggressive, and not let up until the final buzzer. I’m not talking about simply playing hard.
Part of coaching is teaching skills and technique, the other part is to teach intensity and how to navigate through the rules of the game while avoiding injury to self and other.
Aggression in a game, however, lies between hard-nosed play and smash-mouth play. Judging from the level of play in the past few weeks of the PAC12, I’m concerned that some coaches might be encouraging too much of the latter.
Cori Close, in her attempts to get her players to stay upbeat and play their best, might be encouraging a level of play that could do more than lead to a win, it could also lead to injuries.
Personally I don’t think that any coach, including Close, is encouraging her players to injure anyone, I’m simply saying that an over-aggressive style of play may lead to injuries. And we have seen some pretty horrific injuries especially to Raegan Beers. We’ve also seen some that came close, as in last night’s game between UCLA and Utah where Utah’s phenomenal freshman, Ines Vieira, was thrashed about, bruised, and barely made it through the game!
Unfortunately, dangerous play can result from overemphasizing physicality over finesse by a coaching staff.
I’ve seen this demonstrated in a recent coaching session that went viral. In it, Close is seen talking to her team fully clothed in a UCLA football uniform flexing her muscles.

Her closing remarks were:
“Punch first! Punch often! Punch back! Or don’t get on the plane!”
Close addressed team in football attire
This is simply the wrong message for a basketball team, even if the words were clearly metaphorcal — and no one meant to harm anyone. Yet, we have seen at least one player severely injured and others helped off the court in recent games.

Why not adopt a much more sporting motto such as:
“Play hard, play fair, and no one gets hurt!”

...because if she says that, UCLA might not win. If you can disable your defender for the rest of the game--or a few weeks, even--she sees nothing wrong with that. Close has always underachieved with the talent she has, so now she likely has adopted a new strategy.

I miss the fun times of the Nikki Caldwell-coached Bruins...

[crackpot]

Mixing Metaphors: Football/Basketball
I’m concerned about the rough style of play that seems to characterizes a few of our opposing teams. Certainly, if one expects to win in competitive sports a team must play hard and aggressive, and not let up until the final buzzer. I’m not talking about simply playing hard.
Part of coaching is teaching skills and technique, the other part is to teach intensity and how to navigate through the rules of the game while avoiding injury to self and other.
Aggression in a game, however, lies between hard-nosed play and smash-mouth play. Judging from the level of play in the past few weeks of the PAC12, I’m concerned that some coaches might be encouraging too much of the latter.
Cori Close, in her attempts to get her players to stay upbeat and play their best, might be encouraging a level of play that could do more than lead to a win, it could also lead to injuries.
Personally I don’t think that any coach, including Close, is encouraging her players to injure anyone, I’m simply saying that an over-aggressive style of play may lead to injuries. And we have seen some pretty horrific injuries especially to Raegan Beers. We’ve also seen some that came close, as in last night’s game between UCLA and Utah where Utah’s phenomenal freshman, Ines Vieira, was thrashed about, bruised, and barely made it through the game!
Unfortunately, dangerous play can result from overemphasizing physicality over finesse by a coaching staff.
I’ve seen this demonstrated in a recent coaching session that went viral. In it, Close is seen talking to her team fully clothed in a UCLA football uniform flexing her muscles.

Her closing remarks were:
“Punch first! Punch often! Punch back! Or don’t get on the plane!”
Close addressed team in football attire
This is simply the wrong message for a basketball team, even if the words were clearly metaphorcal — and no one meant to harm anyone. Yet, we have seen at least one player severely injured and others helped off the court in recent games.

Why not adopt a much more sporting motto such as:
“Play hard, play fair, and no one gets hurt!”

...because if she says that, UCLA might not win. If you can disable your defender for the rest of the game--or a few weeks, even--she sees nothing wrong with that. Close has always underachieved with the talent she has, so now she likely has adopted a new strategy.

I miss the fun times of the Nikki Caldwell-coached Bruins...