I was a division I head coach for over thirty years
and I witnessed many changes. One could probably come up
with a lengthy list of the changes that have helped to
make the game of college basketball, the exciting sport
that it is today. But somewhere along the way one thing
has become less important.
Have you ever heard of the concept of fundamentals?
Somewhere during the course of my career, fundamentals
exited through the turnstiles. There are a number of
players that display excellent fundamental play, but there
are few “teams” that can boast a roster of these players.
It’s an entirely different brand of basketball today. It’s
a game fancy dribbling and high wire acts. That is what
the kids saw on television, growing up, so it became their
fabric.
The Sports Center showcase doesn’t focus on players that
take charges, diving on the floor for a lose ball or the
post player getting excellent position and then power
dribbling to the basket.
Instead it’s about the around-the-back through-the-legs
over-the-head pass or that nifty dunk. So many players
today are more concerned with creating and “naming” new
dunks then they are with executing an in-bounds play.
And how about all of this fancy dribbling? Any halfway
decent player can play Houdini with the basketball. In
fact a lot of kids can put on a dribbling exhibition, but
they don’t know how to pass or shoot the basketball. It’s
all about pizzazz today. You won’t find a lot of a crisp,
solid passes on YouTube, but you will find plenty of
basketball magicians.
Some will disagree with my assessment of today’s game, but
it is a fact that fundamentals are lacking in our game
today.
So who is to blame?
By no means can we lay this on the AAU coaches, as some
have implied over the years. The fact of the matter is
that the players are more physically developed and
seasoned because of the AAU coaches.
The fact that dunks and a fancy handle are sensationalized
on television and the Internet is a factor, but in my
opinion it’s the summer structure has greatly contributed
to the lack of fundamentals.
It wasn’t that long ago when players spent their summer
practicing with their high school teammates. But now kids
are playing 40 to 60 games over the summer, often with a
new team every week.
Players gain valuable game experience, but it’s difficult
to develop any type of chemistry and continuity when you
are playing with a number of different players. And
unfamiliarity breeds individualism.
It’s all about one-on-one or catch-and-shoot. This
environment eliminates the development of fundamentals.
Like any sport, college basketball has evolved into a
different game today. The tempo, intensity and excitement
level are at a higher level than ever before. But pure
athleticism has become the dominant force in the game.
Maybe I am just a throwback to a different era of
coaching, but I am sure even the youngest of coaches would
agree that something as simplistic as a good-solid pass
into the post has become a lost art.
When he retired in 2005, Hugh Durham ranked 8th
among active Division I coaches with 633 career wins and
was Durham was the 25th winningest DI coach in history. He
is the only coach in NCAA history to be the all-time
winningest coach at three different Division I schools and
is one of just eleven coaches to have led two different
teams to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State, 1972 &
Georgia, 1983). The Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year
Award was established in 2005.
