defense wins titles, and nowhere has that been more apparent than in this ncaa tournament. i remember when we had illusions of winning the orlando tournament last november, but one of the teams in that tournament was southern illinois, and there was no way we were going to beat them the way they played defense (and we didn't). our defensive posture in that sac state game still rankles.
and reminds me that in the heydey of the chicago bulls, phil jackson had an offensive coordinator (tex winter) and a defensive coordinator (though i can't remember who it was.) which raises the question: if you have a handsome gq guy for a head coach who is a great recruiter and good with big men, why couldn't you bring in a defensive specialist with dirt under his fingernails and floorburns on his knees who could teach the tough tenacious scrappy kind of defense that i'm seeing on tv in almost every game of this tournament?
butler and southern illinois have proved yet again, you don't have to have the top talent to compete, but you do have to play defense. it may take a tough assistant coach to get that message through to our kids.
and reminds me that in the heydey of the chicago bulls, phil jackson had an offensive coordinator (tex winter) and a defensive coordinator (though i can't remember who it was.) which raises the question: if you have a handsome gq guy for a head coach who is a great recruiter and good with big men, why couldn't you bring in a defensive specialist with dirt under his fingernails and floorburns on his knees who could teach the tough tenacious scrappy kind of defense that i'm seeing on tv in almost every game of this tournament?
butler and southern illinois have proved yet again, you don't have to have the top talent to compete, but you do have to play defense. it may take a tough assistant coach to get that message through to our kids.
