Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Saturday, January 28, 2006

TO BE LIKE RICK

I was reading and laughing out loud at the Rick Reilly column in Sports Illustrated yesterday.  Like many Americans, albeit printed on the last page of the magazine, his column is always what I read first.  He gets to write about whatever he wants.  I'm not sure how much they at Sports Illustrated care if it has anything to do with sports week to week for that matter.  This time he was chronicling his ride in a Navy fighter jet, and how many times he threw up during it. 

It must be cool to think up what you want to do, call SI, and before you can say, "Boy aren't I funny?" they set it all up for you.  Rick can also use and write phrases like, "Nail Nicole Kidman" in his nationally read prose, no problem.  I daresay I could not make mention of such things in here without getting a jingle on my cell.  It must be great to be him.

WHAT HAPPENS THERE STAYS THERE

I'm not sure what the following piece of patter says about me, or modern society for that matter.  I can't really say that my marriage is anywhere near normal, but wife Ada and the 2 small children (ages 6.0 and 2.7) left me alone to go away for a weekend of partying with others in Las Vegas.  So, as the husband left at home did I get lonely quick? Yes I did actually.  After that, though, did I get out the very old black book?  I don't really have one, so no on that.   Did I rethink the possibility of exploring anew some or all of my old and dangerous ways?  I can barely remember what they were, but hell no to that, too.  No, instead I spent last night cleaning out and reorganizing the pantry.  Sometimes I do crack myself up.  This was no joke, however.  It made spring-cleaning the garage seem like a piece of cake.  I used the coffee 'whip' all evening I'm sorry to say, but I finished the job.

COFFEE, TEA, OR ME?

Meanwhile I've also been pouring over my personal lacrosse philosophies in my mind with some of the extra quiet time.  It is amazing how peaceful it is without Jordan (actually all 3 of them) here. 

Anyway, is it (my mind and philosophy) sound with this team and modern game?  I think so, but we shall see soon enough.  I definitely have some new tactical thoughts concerning the fact that many teams (not just "us") play good or even great defense now.  It is harder to score than ever, and that is certainly evident in match-up/dodging/one on one, and also other settled types of offensive situations. 

CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR

The defense has been busy and believing here for years.  In my mind we have the quality and experience in our people that can keep that going.

I still don't want to play games with a final score of 5-4, whether or not we win.  These games are not aesthetically pleasing to me. Whether I will have to endure some or many of them or not is a whole different deal.  In the wake of the wave that seems to be breaking, I seek aggressive team offense.  I want our offense to look and play like our defense does in many ways.  With that approach there is always a connection to be further riveted, and a complimentary style of play to be evolved even more.

I'm working on getting the whole 'believer' thing going right now with offense and our approach to it.  It's similar to team defensive tactics in that until everyone sort of buys in to the philosophy it is just a bunch of guys running around.  I think we have a lot of offensive believers already. I like working with this team because it gets better daily.  I also think there might be two or three that "believe" they already know most of everything, and truthfully that can slow the whole process down a tad. Just play hard and read the board. That's all I ask.

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