College basketball's top coaches sound off on the season ahead
August 1, 2012 1:32 PM
The Big Ten has a well-earned reputation for playing stodgy basketball, but Groce is going to help change that. He already generated buzz with the revelation that he instructed his players to use a 24-second shot clock during their informal pickup games, but he told me that is only one method in his madness. "We want pace and tempo to everything we do," he said. "Open gym, skills, weight room. Everything has to have pace."
If you look at the list of coaches whom Groce has worked with and for (Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, Herb Sendek, Sean Miller, Brad Stevens), you don't see names associated with frantic, up-tempo basketball. Groce told me he adopted this philosophy after he became the head coach at Ohio four years ago. "I just thought it was important to be myself," he said. "What do you believe? What do you teach the best? Where are your convictions? This just fits who I am."
Seth Davis
If you look at the list of coaches whom Groce has worked with and for (Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, Herb Sendek, Sean Miller, Brad Stevens), you don't see names associated with frantic, up-tempo basketball. Groce told me he adopted this philosophy after he became the head coach at Ohio four years ago. "I just thought it was important to be myself," he said. "What do you believe? What do you teach the best? Where are your convictions? This just fits who I am."
Seth Davis
Filed under: Illini Basketball
