The lowdown on what goes into coaching

Longtime Houston Coach Guy V. Lewis is often 'credited' with rolling the ball out there and letting his guys play yet his Cougar teams reached as many Final Fours as the squads of Bobby Knight.

So yes, sometimes coaches can't win, metaphorically speaking, despite being successful. Fans form opinions, too often based on their own or some sportswriter's unchecked ego while simultaneously bereft of the background or knowledge on which to truly offer or evaluate a critique.

Fans really have no sense of what coaches do in terms of acquiring players, helping them get better and preparing them for an opponent yet that doesn't stop anyone from making or repeating glib condemnations.

So in an educational attempt or at least the beginning of such, a chat with Cosumnes River College (CRC) Assistant Coach Nicholas Podesta about recruiting, coaching, game preparation and in-game adjustments took place to shed light on what at least one program does.

"We're a small campus in south Sacramento and our players are all from the valley. We don't have seven DI guys on our roster... we do things a little differently than a lot of teams do," Podesta offered. "We're really big on statistical analysis. Heading into the season, we determine this particular team's identity and our formula for success. It takes determining what our strengths and weaknesses are, maximizing [the former] and minimizing [the latter] and what are our keys to victory."

Some years CRC will have sweet-shooting bigs who can score from outside a la a Jaycob Velasco or outside/inside with Tony Gill. Other years, it will be a more backcourt-oriented squad.

What does Podesta see of CRC so far in this season's practices and exhibitions? "We're a lot longer than last year, more athletic and deeper." The coaching staff is thus developing plans accordingly.

As to the annual makeup of the team, he explained, "The starting point is at least a year ahead of time and having a vision of what each prospect will contribute to the program. We will bypass some guys who will be scholarship players if they aren't the right fit for our system here. A player is never bigger than the program and if an ego is greater than the commitment, we won't bring that person in. It's never worth it to compromise the integrity of the program."

He continued, "we do homework on everyone we recruit, like how does he respond to teaching? to criticism? is he willing to do the extra work to become a better player?"

Specific game preparation

"Early on [in the season], it's like walking in blind because there usually isn't any new tape." One element the CRC coaching staff relies on is knowing particular strengths and weaknesses of individual players on opposing teams because they also recruited them.

Later on in the year, "we do film exchange trying to get two or three game tapes and we also contact other coaches who we have a common opponent, and learn from them. Game to game requires an assessment of how are we measuring up, and what do our advanced metrics say. There is also identifying what opposing teams are trying to do against us, plus do we have the particular players to exploit their weaknesses?"

Another element is boxscore analysis. "It's hit and miss in junior college because some teams do a good job reporting statistics, but some don't."

Yet another tactic for learning is watching games live in order to make determinations.

Podesta added that there may not be a lot of surprises because "some teams will always play a certain defense despite personnel changes. Some coaches are very keen on their system and are reluctant to change."

In game analysis and modifications

So coaches have a good idea what both they and opponents are going to do but what if what you are running offensively and/or defensively isn't working or at least not enough? "That requires in-game adjustments, tweaking this or that. [CRC] Coach [James] Giacomazzi and [Diablo Valley College Coach] Steve Coccimiglio are two of the best at making adjustments on the fly. Their basketball IQs are off the charts. Coccimiglio is especially good at putting in wrinkles and making adjustments on the offensive end of the floor. It's not necessarily abandoning a game plan, but making the necessary adjustments and getting to the point of executing offensively and getting stops at the defensive end. Gio is terrific in that respect; since I've been here I've never felt as if we were ever 'out coached' in a contest."  

"Some coaches are dynamic recruiters, great at fostering relationships and some are wizards at Xs-and-Os. Others are adept at in-game adjustments, of finding ways to win. But very rarely at our level does a team just dominate an opponent. There's too much parity."

Podesta also noted "[former Foothill College Coach] Shannon Rosenberg was outstanding with how he utilized his players. "Some of his guys didn't pass the eye test, but he got the most out of them, and they could play with anybody."

Teaching

"The best coaches are the best teachers because, first and foremost, we are educators and teachers and the lab is the basketball court." But Podesta noted, "you can't just have one method of instruction. Some guys just need to see it one time, others need to have it drawn out, some need individual attention to learn assignments. Demoriaye Hart-Spikes (a CRC freshman guard out of Fairfield High) can see something one time and know the assignment for every position 1-5. We also do individual film study to identify areas for improvement, and maintain an open line of communication with our players to share information."

Podesta concluded, "like with any student, if a coach doesn't adjust and make a connection, the player will be left behind. Our job is to get them the tools to help them reach their potential. It's about developing a personal relationship, a trust, because it's the backbone of that relationship."