Over the past two weeks, this is the question the coaching staff has been asking our newcomers -- over and over, and over again. Did college basketball become "real" the first day of practice? Did it become "real" the first half of our scrimmage at Bethany when a veteran team out-worked and out-hustled a group of scared freshmen? Did it become "real" when Casey stepped up and led our Bobcat squad to a great second half showing at Bethany?
Or, did it become "real" today, when Westminster put it to us on our home floor, and there was no second half comeback, no leadership, no fire? Maybe it became "real" when the coaching staff stripped the players of all their college-issued gear for a lack of effort, intensity, and GUTS.
In our office is a collage of old basketball advertisements, pictures, and quotes. We see our players look at it often. Some of them have found quotes they really like, and others just think it's "cool". Either way, I think we may want to take a harder look at two very important parts of the collage....
Commitment can be simply defined as a promise or a pledge. In athletics, it is an essential part of team success. If you are the team's best shooter, and your three ball has been off the mark, commitment to the team would mean you'd be in the gym tonight or tomorrow getting up shots. If you one of the team's top options at the "4", but you can only play four minutes in a row because of your level of fitness, commitment to the team would mean you'd be in the gym tomorrow running. If your coaching staff sees you as the team's leader and you didn't quite get the job done, commitment to the team would mean you'd stop by to watch film before the coaching staff asked you to. I could go on and on, but you get the point.
Part two of the collage that I find especially intriguing for our team is one of my favorite parts of the collage. It's from an advertisement an insurance company did years back that followed the theme: "What Little Girls Are Made Of" and aired and was printed during the NCAA tournament.
The eight above characteristics combine to create winners - they combine to form championship-caliber teams. At the NCAA Division III level, I think the three characteristics that matter the most are TOUGHNESS, HEART, and GUTS. I'm sure my team gets sick of hearing me say:
"There is no substitute for guts", but there really isn't. If there was, then the most talented players would always start, the most talented players would always be the all-conference performers,and the most talented teams would always be crowned champions.
In ten days, we will travel to Frostburg (Md.) for our first game. I'm hopeful that between now and then, college basketball will become "real"....
