GOOD BASKETBALL

Play good basketball! That is the formula for success at the mid-major level. You cannot always guarantee the level of talent you will have, but you can make them play good, smart ball – the type of ball where they don’t beat themselves. Butler and Southern Illinois are two examples of programs which, over the last decade, have enjoyed considerable success at a high level by installing a system of good basketball, and, at least some of the time, getting the talent to make it work better than most. Good basketball can to some degree make up for a lack of talent – but only to a certain extent. You can be good, maybe even consistently good, but you will never be really good without some degree of talent. However, the odds of building a winning program over an extended period of time are better by installing a class culture in the program and close attention to playing good, mistake-free ball than it is by rolling the dice on getting overwhelming talent – which rarely happens at our level.