Teach sportsmanship and avoid unsportsmanlike 'tricks of the trade' used to gain advantage in the trenches. "Pulling the chair" to defend in the post is moral. Pulling an opponent down on you to draw an offense foul is not. Selling your program is moral. Buying players is not.
Where do we draw the line? Some coaches recruit a player as a backup, while creating other expectations for the player. I've seen a coach tell a player that an injury or illness won't cost the player his job, then cut him the next day. Moral or immoral?
Should gender matter in how we treat players? Allegations of abuse abound in women's basketball. "In the NCAA’s 2010 GOALS Report. That survey of almost 20,000 college athletes reported that only 39% of women’s basketball players “strongly agreed” that “my head coach can be trusted.”
Some coaches communicate with liberally sprinkle profanity. Coach John Wooden didn't curse, but famously got players attention with "goodness gracious sakes alive." The Midwestern oath warned players of the coming storm.
Coaching middle school girls, I see no place for vulgarity. Mom cautioned, "vulgarity is no substitute for vocabulary." Real displeasure gets expressed as "what was THAT?"
What some see as sarcasm others see as profanity. Would we want our children called hopeless, useless, or worthless? Separate correcting a bad play from labeling a child a bad player. Del Harris used five levels of communication - conversation, teaching, correction, disciplinary, and "go nuts". But he coached adults.
Coaching can frustrate us all. But do we message semantics or some antics?
What passed for acceptable once is "that dog don't hunt" today. Times change. Standards change. What offends depends on the recipient, not the messenger.
In the early 1970s, we shared pregame prayer. Spirituality has a place in society, but where it belongs amidst religious diversity is up for grabs. We don't cross that ground. What works in a private academy may not in other settings.
We don't need vulgarity to coach. Most parents would agree. Ask "how does it feel to be coached by me?"
Lagniappe:
Chris Oliver shares GSW using a Flexish action to get a shot in the paint.
Components of the flex offense are present in all levels of basketball. Golden State runs a lot of flex screen actions. Sometimes they lead to direct scores, & sometimes they lead to secondary actions & reads. pic.twitter.com/FZSHkxPm9d— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) April 27, 2018
