(originally published on March 27, 2012)From March 10-20, I spent time serving on the NAIA National Tournament Committee. It was a bittersweet experience. Meeting all the coaches, watching all the games, observing many practices and helping the tournament run smoothly was great. However, it was difficult watching the teams play knowing that we had been fairly close to qualifying ourselves. If only we’d won 1-2 more games, we might have been one of the 32-teams that earned a bid. I must say that Rob Edmission’s Oklahoma City University team was extremely impressive throughout the entire tournament. They beat Union University in the championship game, which is no small feat. As I watched the games and thought about how to get my team to the tournament, I came up with some observations. In no particular order, I have listed them below.
- “Want to” is not the same as “committed to”. Everyone wants to win, but these teams were committed to winning. They were committed to the process. They were willing to do extra. They invested a great deal into achieving their goals.
- Your roster, talent or “potential” are not as important as the way you actually play.
- You have to have a point guard that is legit.
- Whether you have a team of stars or a star with special role players, they must be the hardest workers. The Final Four teams were some of the hardest working teams I have seen. Prima-donnas and entitled players don’t work at the national tournament.
- You can’t let distractions sidetrack you. Coach yelling at you…not getting enough shots…don’t like playing at 8:30am. Doesn’t matter. Dysfunction doesn’t work. Drama doesn’t win. Distractions are not acceptable.
- Many of the same teams go to nationals. It is not always because of politics. Rather, I think it has to do with culture. Those teams have a culture of winning. It permeates what they do year in and year out. They expect to win but they don’t take it for granted. The go out and earn what they get.
- All-Americans are legit. I saw talented players not named First-Team All-American. However, the players that were on the First-Team were very deserving. They impacted the games they were in. They earned what they got. They were not just talented, but they played like they were the best. They made a difference on nearly every play.
- There is a fine line between winning and losing at the national tournament. Upsets are likely. Unlike the “Big Dance”, there are only 32 teams in the NAIA tourney. 25 ranked teams and then 7 others. That means there are very few gimmees, if any. One bracket saw the 5-8 seeds beat the 1-4 seeds. Outside of the best two teams (Union and Oklahoma City), there was very little differences.
- Scoring is important, but you NEED a strong defense to win. Defenses were varied, but no team with only an offense made it very far in the tournament. In fact, one of the #1 seeds (Freed Hardeman) had one of the top defenses in the nation coming into the tourney. For some reason, their defense (and their rebounding) was not in attendance in their first round double-overtime upset loss.
- Pressure defense and trapping are very effective (even against skilled offensive players) provided, the players work hard, don’t foul, are athletic and rotate quickly and effectively.