Winning with Less Talent

John Wooden is well-known for saying, "don't whine, don't complain, and don't make excuses." He was also famous for having a lot of great basketball players, leading to ten NCAA titles.

Many coaches don't have the luxury of great talent. As coaches, our task is to get the most from our players, not to whine about not having enough talent.

If a team plays well enough to defeat a team with superior talent, it probably won't be by a large margin. That necessitates a commitment to another Wooden adage, "little things make big things happen."

Less talented teams must:

Take QUALITY SHOTS

Limit TURNOVERS

Maximize possessions by REBOUNDING

Excel at FREE THROWS

Inferior talent has to play hard, limit both physical and mental mistakes, and communicate (teamwork) at both ends of the court.


Sometimes you need something extraordinary to happen as well. Villanova took only ten shots in the second half but made nine en route to its historic upset over Georgetown.  About the only area where Villanova didn't excel was in committing 17 turnovers against the ferocious Georgetown press. They overcame that with exceptional shooting efficiency in the pre-shot clock and pre-three point goal era.

Villanova shot almost 79 percent, made 16 more free throws, held Patrick Ewing to two offensive rebounds,

The bottom line is that the same qualities that can help a good team overachieve can help an excellent team become great.