RE: basketball intelligence

[Holdheide, Brad]

<snip> ".  It aggravates me as a fan to see a team with so much talent not
give it 110% regardless if they're up by 20 or down by 20.  The saddest
thing is that I don't know that the thirst for success can't be taught, it
is a decision from within."

I completely agree and this is what I fear the most.  Playing hard all the
time is not easy to do and cannot be taught.  Most times players think
they're playing hard when in reality they are not.  Recent quotes by Hicks
and Whaley make me even more nervous that this may be the case.  You can see
the guys who have an innate will to win, they are the ones diving after
loose balls and hustling for rebounds.  Unfortunately I haven't seen a lot
of that this year.  I just hope either the light turns on for a few of these
guys or the exceptional talent overcomes this deficiency.


 
-----Original Message-----
From: Steffen, Brian [mailto:address@hidden 
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 1:52 PM
To: address@hidden
Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] basketball intelligence

I also heard Nelson's comments.  I couldn't agree more.  The teams from
the early 90's seemed to have so much drive and excitement.  You just
always knew that no matter how much they were up or down, they were
always in games because they were so focused.  This year's team is MUCH
more talented than the final four team was, but seems to lack that
focus.  I understand Hugg's frustration as to why they don't seem to
have it.  It aggravates me as a fan to see a team with so much talent
not give it 110% regardless if they're up by 20 or down by 20.  The
saddest thing is that I don't know that the thirst for success can't be
taught, it is a decision from within.  OK, off my soapbox now!!!

Brian Steffen
Sr. QA Systems Analyst
Yum Brands, Inc.
address@hidden


-----Original Message-----
From: bob [mailto:address@hidden 
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 1:31 PM
To: basketball
Subject: [UC Basketball] basketball intelligence


I recently heard Terry Nelson on the radio talking about the final 4
team of '91-92 and how they had a better (in his opinion) grasp of what
they were supposed to do on the court.  He compared this year's edition
unfavorably with that team's "basketball intelligence".  I can agree
with that - I would guess that Huggins would concur.  The player Nelson
used as an example was Tarrance Gibson (I still think he was one of UC's
best-ever defenders).  His point was that that team knew how to defend,
knew the reasoning behind what was happening, and did the little things
and finer points of defense better than this team today - so far, I'd
say he is 100% correct - maybe this team will get there before March -
maybe not - I just know that you never saw that team get torched for 93
(Louisville) or 86 (on their home floor) points.


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