Coaching legend John Wooden dies

[julius]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-06-04-john-wooden-obit_N.htm

 

[THE HCP]

RIP to a legend.

 

[speeds]

Yeah... heard the other day he was on his deathbed.

This picture sums it up.

 

[CelticKing]

RIP Mr. WOODEN!!!

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

He was a legend above all else.

 

[The Professional Fan]

A true legend. Very sad.

 

[Loyalty4Life]

Tremendously sad to hear. The guy was the pinnacle of a class act gentleman.

 

[oldmangrouch]

A sad day for basketball. RIP.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

He lived a good lengthy life, RIP

 

[Mamba]

:[

I've read stories that at the ripe age of 91 he used to walk 5 miles on the UCLA track. Amazing...

 

[Rodolfo]

"The" Legend, among legends .

 

[jlprk]

I read about 3 articles and I'll add what they don't have. He went straight from coaching high school to coaching at UCLA. He coached high school not only in Indiana, but in Kentucky too. He took UCLA to the Final Four FIVE times before he won an NCAA championship. He had 5 distinct championship teams--Walt Hazzard & Gail Goodrich, Alcindor & Lucious Allen & Vallely, Wicks & Rowe & Steve Patterson, Walton & Wilkes & Bibby & Nater & Meyers, Marques Johnson & Richard Washington. Here are 5 more things I don't see in articles.

1. fast break - layups
His plays sought layups. His second option was a layup. Outside shots were 3rd or 4th option, an admission the play had failed. After several games, I would read the opposing coach say, "I've never seen so many easy layups! We never had a chance!" He didn't allow forwards to dribble, guards to drive to the basket, or anyone to dribble around trying to create not in a set play. (I watched rookie Jamaal Wilkes in preseason for Golden State and he dribbled, after I had never seen him dribble at UCLA. I yelled in amazement, "Look at Wilkes dribble!" and strangers sitting there thought I was nuts. They hadn't watched him in college.) Wooden ruined (for the pros) many guards who had been great in high school but learned little in college since he kept them leashed in his big man-dominated offense.

2. fast break - conditioning
His players were in better shape than the opponents and wore them out. He popularized the uptempo style.

3. scouted for quickness
Other college coaches searched high schools for shooting, speed, and leaping. He looked primarily for quickness. The word quickness wasn't in many coaches vocabulary until he kept saying, "I look for quickness" after reporters asked him why he was winning championships. Then coaches copied him and use of the word spread. For years they continued to be confused over whether quickness meant speed.

4. disdain for NBA
He felt the pros were dirty. He had no intention of coaching there. He never motivated his players by mentioning an NBA future. He never classified players as "a future first-round pick." He never mentioned the NBA or ABA and shied away when a reporter would mention where his star would be going after college. He disliked the pro leagues.

5. poise and grace
A former high school English teacher, he was the most dignified coach I ever saw in interviews.

 

[MARIS61]

Be prepared and be honest. John Wooden

 

[lakeblazer]

A tremendous loss for all of basketball. A true class act and a legend.

 

[jlprk]

5 (continuation) He spoke in complete sentences, Other coaches spoke in emotional fragments in interviews, and were often seen yelling at players and cussing. Wooden spoke in complete sentences. Calmly. There are a few filmed scenes of him yelling at refs during games, but they are shown now exactly because they are so few. Almost always he just sat there, legs crossed, making no game adjustments. Everyone assumes he was a conservative because he was religious, but his demeanor was intellectual and liberal, not dominating and emotional. People assume he was conservative but no one really knows how he voted. He didn't scout the other team, didn't prepare his team for the other team specifically, and didn't make adjustments during the game. These are luxuries derived from having a lot more talent than the opponent.

I have a couple thousand odd basketball items in my hard drive, and here's one I just happened to see a minute ago. It's a rare criticism of Wooden.

http://www.slate.com/id/2155116

 

[SlyPokerDog]

5 (continuation) Everyone assumes he was a conservative because he was religious, but his demeanor was intellectual and liberal, not dominating and emotional. People assume he was conservative but no one really knows how he voted.

Say what?!? Man your post was going great. I enjoyed the first 4 parts but you go and end it with that? I've never seen anyone speculate or make assumptions on his politics. Why would you? It has nothing to do with anything.




Also you're whole point was off, you're saying conservatives are religious, dominating and emotional but liberals are intellectual?

 

[jlprk]

Writers always call him pious, pithy, the opposite of Walton, etc. --from the articles I've been reading after his death, as well as from before that.

The founder of the Wooden Award, 6 years younger than Wooden at age 93, died hours before Wooden. Coincidence? I think not.

http://www.woodenaward.com/

 

[MARIS61]

Also you're whole point was off, you're saying conservatives are religious, dominating and emotional but liberals are intellectual?

That's pretty much common knowledge, like what color the sky is.

 

[MARIS61]

I have a couple thousand odd basketball items in my hard drive, and here's one I just happened to see a minute ago. It's a rare criticism of Wooden.

http://www.slate.com/id/2155116

What sissies the Bruins were.

I haven't eaten Melba toast since I finished teething.

 

[Denny Crane]

6. Coach Kareem and Walton.

Sad day for hoops.

 

[jlprk]

He did ration out a tiny amount of dribbling and shooting, strictly planned for a few times per game. He thought that Henry Bibby (Walton's sophomore year) and Wilkes (junior and senior years) needed to shoot outside about 5 times per game to keep the defense honest. That was it for outside shots. I said those shots were 3rd or 4th option, but come to think of it, if the play failed, Wooden would just accept a turnover from the opponent's steal rather than shoot it outside.

One time Swen Nater (Walton's backup, later ABA rookie of the year on the Spurs, and if he'd been in the NBA he would have still won ROY--Ernie DiGregorio won it) dribbled the ball about 4 times because nobody came to help him. Wooden usually pulled a player for doing that, but this time he called, "Swen, you are not to dribble the ball !" Nater stopped in his tracks. That's also an example of how Wooden spoke in complete sentences, even when at his most emotional. Many other coaches seemed rougher than him. He wanted the ball moved via passes, not dribbles, which made all his players into good passers. Because his system was big man oriented, Walton led the team in assists despite being a center.

Wooden talked in idealistic terms, head in the clouds, which appealed to both liberals and conservatives. Many times I heard him say in an interview, "Goodness gracious." Articles now claim he said, "Goodness gracious sakes alive." No, he didn't go that far. Since UCLA is next to Hollywood, I don't know why no movie biography has ever been made, even a cheap one. Here is more negative stuff, about Sam Gilbert, who was seen as a harmless donor until Wooden retired. Some stars on other campuses drove cars of mysterious origin, but Bruin stars drove bicycles. Despite this article, I think Wooden was honest and kept Gilbert in check until Wooden retired. Gilbert grabbed more power from subsequent coaches.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-uclalegacy040206

 

[Denny Crane]

You misspelled Ernie iGregorio's name.

No D.

That goes for his much better teammate in Buffalo, Bob McAoo

 

[Mediocre Man]

Be prepared and be honest. John Wooden

Be prepared to cross your arms. Nate McMillan