Let's Take 2

If you've not seen this, Mick Cronin, the head coach for the UCLA Men's Basketball team ejected one of his athletes during a game against Michigan State for what he deemed an unsafe play/unsportsmanlike foul on an opposing player. The referees called it a flagrant foul, and Coach Cronin told him to get gone in a rather animated way. 

Before going much further, there was a previous head coach who called out their players in the media. Coach Jerome Tang talked about a lack of pride and effort in his Kansas State team and that several of the athletes would not be representing the team much longer. That did not go well and they were fired a few days after. I have a far different view on this incident than the Coach Cronin one I'm getting into. I won't get into depth on this. While I do understand what Coach Tang is saying, this one doesn't sit well with me. You've recruited those athletes. This is your culture. To call them out, the entire team out? You and your staff need to take a hard look at yourselves, the culture and practices, and then a detailed deep dive into your recruiting process and talent identification process. I would imagine there are some holes there. 

Should you be fired for saying that? Absolutely not. I don't support K State's decision to fire the coach. A conversation in private, yes. Firing, no. That doesn't fix any issues, that's simply punitive. 

But I digress. 

There's been quite a few takes on this reaction and outcome. Many takes say the initial call, a flagrant 1 is a bit harsh while most agree that Coach Cronin's reaction was unjustified, over-the-top, a reactionary...reaction to his team being blown out for the second straight game, and other genuinely not good things. Some have applauded him for taking a stand, but most question the decision. The main pushback against the move:

- He's called for his team to be more physical during the games in the past and now when a player is following his call, he's ejected sending mixed messages.

- He's embarrassing a player on national television.

- This reaction is due to frustration of UCLA being blown out for the second straight game after losing by 30 points to Michigan a few nights earlier.

My initial reaction to seeing the foul and the blow up? It's hard being a coach because no matter what call you make, 50 percent of the population are going to like it, and 50 percent are going to dislike it. And that percentage will be skewed depending on your win/loss record at the program and for the season. If UCLA is 24-2 instead of 17-9, if his overall record is more reflective of the team record in 2022-2023 when they went 31-6, or in 2020-2021 when UCLA was in the Final Four, the critics would still exist, but you'd likely see more of them supporting his decision. Reactionary, certainly, but it would be a tough nosed coach holding an athlete accountable. 

Let's not forget that both the Michigan and Michigan State basketball coaches just had a war of words in the media over hard or dirty fouls that took place during their game with coaches defending their players, and criticizing the other. Coach Izzo of MSU called out his own player in the media for his rough play as well, threatening to bench him after he kicked an opposing player in the groin. 

Reading through more articles and looking at the replay, and knowing that the closest I came to playing competitive basketball was making the quarterfinals of a college 3v3 tournament to raise money for charity, my new take is...I don't know.

I can certainly applaud a coach for taking a stand when they feel an athlete has crossed the line. Compete yes. Play dirty? No. And typically a flagrant foul is one where the player making the contact is going well beyond a simple basketball play. 

I can also understand that sports are highly emotional, for fans, for athletes, and for coaches, and often we see writers and armchair quarterbacks demanding that coaches show emotion - Bill Belichick in almost all instances - and then chide them for being overly emotional - Mike Gundy's infamous "I'm a man" moment - in games, or during the post game interview or presser. 

For the record, I hate the post game interviews. I find them tacky and pointless and too often used as fodder by armchair quarterbacks who think that these moments during halftime or after a loss should be thoughtful, detailed, and highly composed. It's ridiculous. I coach rowing, not football, and I still get highly emotional because I'm an extremely competitive person - I can turn work into a competition - who hates losing. I hate losing more than I love winning. I can't stand losing even if it's a good loss. A good fight, a loss against a far superior opponent, it doesn't matter, I hate it and will stew on it. I've had an SID for a school in my face the second I had a boat struggle across the finish asking what my thoughts were. My response? Pushed right by them and ignored them for the week. 

So I get the emotion.

However, there are hills we die on and hills we shouldn't, and I would bet anything that Coach Cronin is looking at his reaction and gritting his teeth over it. The message might be a good one, but in that moment, in that manner, how it was delivered does not matter. The message is lost, in my opinion, not because of the context - television, public, etc. - but because of how it was delivered. Did it embarrass that athlete? Likely. Did that athlete deserve to be embarrassed? No. What's the better way to handle that? Sit him down on the end of the bench, give yourself a few, and then go talk with him. 

Now, easier said than done, right? Of course it is especially under the hot spotlight that is basketball where spectators are mere inches from you. Football is rough but you have sidelines. Basketball you are in the arena with the fans. 

Taking a step back, these emotional reactions are why I coach the way I do. Four instances in my athletics and coaching career have influenced this, but I've been this way from the start. 

- My high school soccer coach, still the best coach I've ever had, was stoic. He would get angry, but his approach was calm, to the point, blunt but never personal. The most demonstrative I saw him get in four years was him dropping a clipboard, once, when we were playing like ass. Usually one or two sharp words got our attention. A "HEY," or "WHAT ARE WE DOING," was enough for 18 high school boys to know this was happening, and then pointed, calm, blunt criticism and way forward - the key is the second part, he never left us in the deep end, alone - was delivered. 

- I screwed up once and allowed emotions to get to me. I had a kid who had incredible potential, but I wasn't reaching him. I made him stay on land once and complete two 5ks. He left practice, his mother called me and was upset, and rightly so. We talked for about forty minutes, and I realized I'd made a dumb emotional mistake. As if that weren't enough, after we hashed it out and everyone was good, that summer I watched him row a 1x and realized he rowed beautifully. But he was doing that not because I helped him, but because he was as talented as thought. I realized that I'd let this kid down all season by being stuck on one aspect of his training - more effort over winter - and missed the forest for the trees. 

- Dean Smith's excellent autobiography. He talks about a game early in his career where the UNC basketball team played an awful game. So he thought, and he told them so. When they arrived back at Chapel Hill and he watched the tape of the game, he realized his team had played exceptionally well; they'd just run into a far superior team. On that alone he decided that he would never address anything without knowing what he was talking about first.

- Early in my career as an assistant, the head coach was gone for the day and the other assistant and I took on the practice for the day. It wasn't a good practice. I can't recall what exactly the practice was but the assistant told the team that this was a complete waste of their time to show up. This assistant didn't show up that much to begin with - they weren't officially an assistant - and they left. The team looked defeated because the comment was that they'd wasted the other assistant's time. They didn't need to show up if that's the effort given. I talked with the team afterward, said my piece, but made it clear that we have bad days. It's not a fault, it's life and that it's not a waste of time but a learning opportunity. We can't, as coaches, only want to be around when it's good or when it's "fun." Speed days are more fun than LSD days, but both are important.

I'm not going to criticize Coach Cronin. There's plenty of that happening. I've said my piece. I don't know what the standard or expectations in the program are, so I don't know if the message was warranted or not. I have no doubt that today he likely doesn't feel great about that reaction, and there will likely be some discussions behind the scenes. 

Ultimately for me, these episodes reinforce the need to maintain composure as much as possible. Put into place practices and an approach that helps prevent - not stop, because we're all human and we have emotions - these things from happening. Sometimes, shit happens. But generally I believe we can find a way, and build up enough speed bumps that keep things in house, keep emotions in check, keep us from reacting in the moment and keep our message on point.