*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used in a factitious manor. Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental. All character's involved in sexual activity are 18 or older.*
I sighed as I looked over the notes I had written on my notepad. I thought of something and quickly scribbled it down before thinking again. The door squeaked open as Donte walked in.
"You all right, Jake?" he asked.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Just giving some final thoughts as to what I want to say tomorrow before the game."
"Did you remember the part about the press saying we weren't good enough?" he asked.
"I do," I sighed. "I think I want to leave that part out for now. Maybe I'll add it in, I don't know. I want to say something different, something they haven't heard or maybe they aren't expecting from me. Remember, Evan has heard just about everything there is to say at this point."
Donte smiled now. "Go with the classic speech then just roll into cussing them out like you did to me that one time."
I looked at him questioningly for a moment. "Which time? I did it so many times they kind of run together."
We both chuckled before he motioned to me to pass him the notepad. I slid it across the table as he sat down to see what I had. I watched him glance over my notes as I thought back to the cuss out incident he must be referring to so many years ago.
*
I remember the first time I met Donte. It was way back when I got my very first college coaching job down in Commerce. He was the hot shot, top recruit of the team in his senior year. His college career had not gone the way he had hoped. He knew coming in that he wasn't going to be competing for a national championship here but he had hoped to be competitive and maybe leave the school for a bigger school once his grades improved. He had the talent to play at a bigger program but his bad attitude and poor grades left him with limited options.
I sat each player down before we started team activities that fall and told all of them what I expected from them. He was the last player to come into my office that day and I knew after the brief meeting that we were going to bang heads. I had spoken to all his teachers from last year and the tutors that he had had as well. They all painted a picture of him as a deva who thought the world owed him something. I was not about to put up with it.
I flat out told him that if his grades and attitude didn't improve before the start of the season I would suspend him and look at pulling his scholarship. I was not the coach of old and I wouldn't be putting up with the bullshit of the past. We were changing directions with or without him. Hopefully with him but we, as a team, would get by without him if he so chose.
I knew he wasn't happy when he walked out of my office. It was the first time since he had been here that somebody was actually going to hold him accountable for his actions and follow through. He was used to getting away with things because he would make up for it on the court. I had enough on my plate that first season with a system change, parents wondering about their kids, the players themselves unsure about what was to come, and the school as a whole wondering who Jake Tillman was and why did we hire him again. I didn't need him undermining me.
The big incident he was referring to happened a few days before we were going to play Tech. Tech, back then, was a decent division one school that made the tournament each year. They weren't one of the big time schools but they were a big name to us to play against and a win against them would get people looking at us. It was going to be a tall task to beat them but it wasn't impossible.
At that point in the season we were rolling. We lost the first three games, not badly, a few mistakes here and a few there costs us games. The guys were learning my new system and in the key moments they were falling just a little short. Then we had a break through and continued on a roll after that going on to win nine straight games. My system finally clicked with them and they started playing well in the system.
I had sat them down in the meeting room and went over some film then started with a game plan. I wanted them to do this and work on that and change this so we would have a chance at winning. I knew they could do it if they worked hard, I just had to get them to believe they could do it. Once we left the meeting room we headed out to the floor to practice. That's where the incident started and changed our relationship for the better.
I forgot something in my office so I had to make a quick stop to grab it. Donte and Rich didn't see me turn the opposite way after we left the meeting room. They must have thought I was at the front of the line going to the floor. After I grabbed what I needed from my office I headed out and ended up at the end of the line right behind them.
"Man," Donte said to Rich as they walked out. "Coach is crazy, ain't no way this is going to work. We might as well not even show up on Friday."
Rich didn't respond, he just shook his head.
"Gonna be the same thing as last year," Donte continued. "20 point smack down. Coach gotta know we ain't got the same skill as them."
"Maybe you," Rich joked. "I got a teardrop jumper that will make you cry."
He pretended to shoot a shot and made the swish noise as Donte pushed him a little. It was then they realized I was walking behind them.
"Oh, hey coach," Donte said.
I held my tongue for the moment. "Y'all ready to get to work?"
"Oh, yes sir," Rich replied.
"Good," I smiled.
We reached the floor. That's where I exploded.
"A few of your teammates think the rest of you don't have the skill to beat Tech on Friday. They think we should just forfeit the game and look to the next game."
"That's not what I said," Donte cried.
"I was right there," I retorted quickly. "I have ears and they do work."
"Let me refresh your memory," I continued. "20 point smack down, coach is crazy, we don't have the skill to compete."
I looked at him and Rich both. "Sound familiar?"
They were both quiet for the moment.
"It's not about skill anyway. It's about being fundamentally sound and doing all the small things right that win you games. It's about who makes fewer mistakes. Look at the three losses we have this year. In the key moments you guys made small mistakes that lost games."
"We missed shots at the end," Donte offered.
I paused and was actually taken aback that he was talking over me. It pissed me off more than I was already. It took me a second before I refocused and continued.
"You're right, we did miss shots. We missed them because we took bad shots in the final minutes. Shots that weren't there and we shouldn't have taken them. That's a mistake, that's part of not being fundamentally sound. Instead of resetting and working the play again, you just threw up a bad shot."
"Me?" he questioned.
"Yes you!" I yelled now. "You are the point guard, the leader of the offense. It begins with you and resets with you at the top if nothing is there. Do you think that happens by mistake? No, it's by design. You have to be smart enough to reset it if it's not there."
