Illini Basketball

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#526      
I'm a millennial too. And you're right "candid feedback" is the perfect way to say what we expect and need from authority figures, which seems just obvious to us but isn't always natural to older people who came of age when different leadership styles were more common.

I think BU connects with players on that level in a way that, to choose an example, Bruce Weber often struggled to.

But I've also had football coaches who thought it was "tough love" to flip their lid over every little thing and that just sucked and made the game less fun and didn't really develop us as players at all. I dunno. The question isn't about coddling or whether "being a man" means you need to be able to "handle it", it's about what gets the most out of people in a competitive environment.


This is a microaggression. I'm offended. You're canceled.
But are you triggered?
 
#527      
It's a hard balance to strike, but my line with kids is that we're friendly, but not friends. I have a job to do and that comes first. Period.

People like boundaries and consistency at any age. As long as you're fair and don't play favorites, kids will fall in line and they'll usually like you too. At least in my experience
A message more parents should portray. I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to raise you to be a good person, to be happy, to be healthy, and to contribute in some way to our society in a mutually beneficial way to both yourself and society in general.
 
#528      
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#529      
Living in STL and listening to STL sports station (101.1) I heard an interesting interview a couple hours ago.

Jerry Brewer of the Washington Post
“Missouri Coach Dennis Gates Could Transform College Basketball”

Google: Jerry Brewer Washington Post if you’re interested in the take. (Or you can probably hear the interview on 101.1 online) Worthwhile perspective that is timely in light of this boards opposing views re BU. (Too disrespectful to players vs all is fair because tough love is what they need)

Summation of the interview:
He has a very interesting, though not necessarily new, point of view. He believes the next wave of generational coaches will be those that treat players differently than the current group of old school coaches. He believes more and more players will gravitate to schools based on how coaches “connect “ with players, and that even coaches that aren’t getting the one and done caliber players will do better long term because of player buy-in and lack of mass exodus.

These coaches, according to Brewer, get to know their players in a deeper way, give them encouragement while also giving tough love. But more than anything, they figure out how each player needs to be coached and communicated with, and fits his communication style to that persons needs. (Not a new concept in corporate America)

Brewer spoke at length about a transition to coaches, specifically Gates and Jerome Tang of K St were his examples, that are able to control their emotions and, in turn, this connects the coach and player through emotional intelligence and forms a unique bond that plays in todays world. He believes this will be the direction coaching will go versus the in your face, my way or the Highway mentality. Coaches will adapt their communication style to the players individual needs as opposed to the coach making players adapt to how the coach wants to communicate with them. Brewer believes this style will tap into the most potential from players, teams, etc. It is what makes players buy into offensive sets and execute the plan, they adopt the culture seamlessly, and it builds trust and a bond that is stronger than normal, and the results on the court will evident.

He says it’s why Dennis Gates turned Cleveland State so quickly, and why Mizzou is on the trajectory they are on in year one of a train wreck. Gates has created a bond that goes beyond I’m the coach and you’ll do what I say. He’s taken mid level talent and adopted a communication style and bond with players that is so much stronger than the typical player/coach relationship.

Hey, it’s not for everyone….but it was an interesting interview at an opportune time to get my interest.
I admittedly agree with much of what Brewer talked about. As an anecdote I will provide my opinion:

Like it or not, the world that has changed and continues to change and evolve at a rapid rate. More than ever, it seems all we hear and read anymore is to be inclusive of other views and perspectives. To treat one another, regardless of differences pertaining to faith, race, gender, sexual orientation, neuro-typical vs neuro-diverse minds, etc, with respect and acceptance. The momentum of the inclusion/diversity movement cannot be stopped. (Nor should it be)

To this end, those who believe we shouldn’t want kids here who can’t accept tough love or disrespectful, in your face screaming and mother-effing from BU simply are missing the point, in my opinion. All people should be treated with respect. Tough love is great, but it is a subjective opinion regarding what’s too much. That, my friends, varies from person to person.

One example: It’s been fairly apparent all season that Jayden Epps is neither too high, nor too low, as a person and as a basketball player. (I believe we can agree on that) We’ve all seen his body language when BU is 3 inches from his face and screaming obscenities at him. Seriously, for a kid who is very even keeled - does anyone think that style of coaching will be a motivating factor to him? I don’t believe it would be. Now we are worrying JE may be looking for another landing spot. The kid is tough as nails and very talented. I hope JE stays the course, though I cannot blame him should he leave because the BU communication style is not what he’s looking for. Would it not be more beneficial for BU to amend his approach as needed? It’s potentially archaic to believe that players need to be screamed at and humiliated on national tv in order to make a point. Perhaps for some….but shouldn’t it be what communication style is most effective for that particular player?

For me, what Brewer says makes a lot of sense. Common sense to be honest. No, it isn’t a be all end all….but I bet we see this evolution occurring at a much more rapid pace in the next number of years and the data (wins, losses, etc) will support the theory.

Long post, I know. Hopefully someone will enjoy reading Brewer’ take as I found the interview quite engaging and interesting.
Either way….much love to Illini nation regardless where you stand on this topic.

I L L . . . .
An incident in a game near the end of the year but before the concussion worried me then and now: During a time out on the sideline BU was trying to talk directly to Epps who didn't want to look at him. BU tried to get Epps to make eye contact with him but Epps kept turning his face away so he didn't have to look dirctly at BU who seemed to be talking forcefully at him with their faces not more than 2 feet apart. I can't say for sure that BU was yelling at him, but it certainly looked like a tense moment. At one point it looked like BU may have put his hand on Epps' face to force Epps to look at him but I couldn't say if that happened for sure. The body language certainly wasn't good.
 
#530      
An incident in a game near the end of the year but before the concussion worried me then and now: During a time out on the sideline BU was trying to talk directly to Epps who didn't want to look at him.
Yep. That was the moment where I resigned myself to the likelihood of Epps being gone after the season. It wasn't a good look for either of them, but it was especially concerning to have a freshman player refusing to even acknowledge his coach. If that's Ayo in year three, you just shrug it off, but not when it's a freshman player with a lot to learn.
 
#531      
My experience of Zoomers is that they are extremely and unusually responsive to concrete incentives, more than their predecessors.

Zoomers will work all night if they have genuine stakes in something and will blow off just about anything if they don't.

Whereas I think my generation is more show up, do your bit, go home.

Humans are humans and human nature never changes, but the experience of entry into the world of work and the norms of adulthood has changed a lot and continues to change.
And boy does it make corporate life a treat
 
#535      
Your personal experience is not sufficient to generalize an entire generation of people.

But if we are on the topic of personal experience, I’m not a zoomer, but as a millennial I can assure you there were plenty of people not paying attention in class when I was in high school and at U of I.
Does me skipping class to sleep count as not paying attention if I was very attentive to my dream?
 
#536      

IlliniKat91

Chicago, IL
A message more parents should portray. I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to raise you to be a good person, to be happy, to be healthy, and to contribute in some way to our society in a mutually beneficial way to both yourself and society in general.
If I could get all my students' parents on board with this, I'm not sure I'd have any job security as a school counselor 😂

Oddly enough, I was talking about this just before I left for the day
 
#537      
I don't think this is just "young people." They learn it from their elders, and society as a whole has rebelled against authority and experts in recent years.
meh, sounds to me like a "young people of today" complaint like I used to hear from my great grandfather talking about the kids of his day
 
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#540      
A message more parents should portray. I'm not here to be your friend, I'm here to raise you to be a good person, to be happy, to be healthy, and to contribute in some way to our society in a mutually beneficial way to both yourself and society in general.

Every successive generation wants to be different from the last. That’s just normal and a way to find and establish your own identity. That’s been going on for ages.

The difference today is that there has been a general lack of respect and civility in general. And younger people have not been immune to that and are exhibiting their own forms of acting out. And that trend sees little evidence of changing.

When a coach is talking to you and you refuse to give him the respect of listening... that’s not being yourself but just being rude and disrespectful. And we can all kind of laugh at how older generations sometimes portray young ones... but when there is a loss of civility in society that should concern everyone.

And if a player wants ‘special treatment’ of some kind... does he realize what kind of a bind he’s putting the coach in?

And what about the other members of team who sees a player publicly diss a coach? Do they empathize with the coach or do they begin to lose respect for him? And once a team loses respect for a coach that’s Game Over. In more ways than one.

Guys like Ayo and Kofi and Trent are not just great ball players but they are great human beings. They live with joy in Life and they honor and appreciate the great fortune they have to play ball at high levels. They respect their coaches and they work at their craft. The problem today is that they might be becoming the exception and not the norm.

By the time these players get to college they are men. Pretty much developed as to their personality. And what can a coach do with that? Doesn’t a coach already have enough to worry about?
 
#541      
Every successive generation wants to be different from the last. That’s just normal and a way to find and establish your own identity. That’s been going on for ages.

The difference today is that there has been a general lack of respect and civility in general. And younger people have not been immune to that and are exhibiting their own forms of acting out. And that trend sees little evidence of changing.

When a coach is talking to you and you refuse to give him the respect of listening... that’s not being yourself but just being rude and disrespectful. And we can all kind of laugh at how older generations sometimes portray young ones... but when there is a loss of civility in society that should concern everyone.

And if a player wants ‘special treatment’ of some kind... does he realize what kind of a bind he’s putting the coach in?

And what about the other members of team who sees a player publicly diss a coach? Do they empathize with the coach or do they begin to lose respect for him? And once a team loses respect for a coach that’s Game Over. In more ways than one.

Guys like Ayo and Kofi and Trent are not just great ball players but they are great human beings. They live with joy in Life and they honor and appreciate the great fortune they have to play ball at high levels. They respect their coaches and they work at their craft. The problem today is that they might be becoming the exception and not the norm.

By the time these players get to college they are men. Pretty much developed as to their personality. And what can a coach do with that? Doesn’t a coach already have enough to worry about?
I wonder how many posters would allow their child to ignore them like Epps was doing Underwood ? I believe most would raise their voice.
 
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