From the Desk of Stan Morrison:

Dear Highlander Fans,

“You have to play the cards you are dealt!” In coaching, that is the mantra and the challenge for any coach who must deal with the reality of that statement day after day, game after game, and season after season. Unlike poker, you don’t get to change your cards mid-hand. Sometimes, in sports, cards are taken from your hand and that is tough to deal with. Imagine having two aces then a third dealt to you. You’ve got “trips” and almost a sure winner. But then the dealer reaches over and takes back one of your aces.

That will never happen in Las Vegas or in Reno. But it does happen in athletics and I would like to share some thoughts with you when that happens.

The cards that any coach has are found the first day of classes when he/she has a full squad of excited and optimistic players ready for the new year and the upcoming season. Returning players join new recruits for the early strength training and conditioning. Optimism fills the halls, offices, and the venues where contests will be played in a few months. Schedule cards and posters are being produced and season tickets prepared for the upcoming season. Then the dealer reaches over and extracts an ace or two or three from your cards!!! Our men's basketball team experienced exactly this when an automobile accident on the 60 Freeway took the life of an athletically gifted, fine young man, Mark Hall. Injuries, in the accident, to Aaron Scott, B.J. Visman, and Michael Creppy further damaged the dealt hand. Now, two months later, the hand is further altered by the loss of starting forward, Benoit Bekono, who fell awkwardly in the waning moments of a game at San Diego State just before Thanksgiving. Bekono dislocated his knee and the damage is not yet fully diagnosed although it is possible that he will be out for the remainder of the season.

The average person will ask, “What are you going to do?” Any coach who is a true competitor, immediately starts calculating how to fill in this obvious gap and put the best possible team on the floor to compete. The anguish the coach feels when these terrible incidents occur cannot be described within the confines of a column like this. The brick in the stomach and the mental anguish are pushed aside in an effort to maintain some semblance of equilibrium for the team, the program and certainly the coaching staff.

Some coaches allow the “excuses” to surface any time someone asks. Great coaches keep looking ahead and working to “find a way.” Great coaches do not look for or accept excuses. Things happen. Injuries happen. John Madden sums it up with his often used statement, “The dog barks and the caravan moves on.” The next game will be played because it is on the schedule and that’s what coaches and teams do. It is a 24 hour a day proposition as the mental gymnastics of playing “what if” unfolds. The reality of this kind of situation plays out in a public arena where the world is watching to evaluate every step taken to scrutinize the program under the magnifying glass provided by television, the print media, and any audience that chooses to show up.

Team depth becomes a very visible item of concern and scrutiny. Is it quality depth or are people just filling seats on the bench? Can they play? Are they ready to play? What’s his/her name? Can he/she score? Can he/she defend? Will he/she rebound? The questions surface as quickly as the seconds pass during offensive possession in competition. And the answers come just as quickly. Young men and women are exposed to the notion of what it means to “Walk the walk” after all of the “Talk the talk” has been written in the Season Prospectus provided to conference institutions and the media. Coaches ask bluntly, “Can you play?” We’ll find out!

One player’s tragedy is another player’s opportunity. As unfair and callous as that sounds, it is very, very real. Paying attention in practice and going hard in every drill will, to some degree, prepare a youngster for “the moment of truth.” When they walk out on the court and shake hands with the opponent, usually a complete stranger, they are now going to deal with real world competition and find out more about themselves than at any time in their young lives. “Forty minutes of hell” is what former Arkansas Head Coach Nolan Richardson used to call it. It can be worse than that! Or, it can be heaven for a young player who absolutely refuses to give anything but a maximum effort, mentally under control, following directions, and relishing the opportunity to be as good as he/she can be.

There is no faking it. A player’s strengths and weaknesses will be completely exposed and captured by the video camera and the ability to be a valuable teammate, by contributing in areas often not seen on the statistics sheet, will be understood by very few . . . coaches and teammates will know, however. Screening, cutting, talking on defense, blocking out on the boards, passing to the outside shoulder (away from the defender), sprinting back on defense, taking the charge, helping out on defense, going to the offensive boards, making the free throw, attacking the basket, carrying out assignments, are areas under great scrutiny by the team and coaches on the sideline. Yes, those “coaches” in the bleachers are scrutinizing too and often more than willing to let the coach and players hear about what they see.

“PLAY HARD . . . PLAY SMART . . . PLAY TOGETHER!” You can find that poster in every locker room in America. Bob Knight was filmed by ESPN recently at a practice session and he loudly reminded his players, “Smart wins!” “It is the oldest and truest statement in sports!” “Smart wins!” When you evaluate the cards you are dealt, sometime you really learn how true it is . . . “Smart wins!” Great cards will win too. Great cards and playing smart bring trophies.

"Take Pride in R-side!"

Stan