Description of Villanova Basketball

Villanova senior forward Shane Clark was asked recently to describe his thoughts on what 'Villanova Basketball' is:

"Just doing al the little things, making tough plays. Diving on the floor, getting the rebound. Doing whatever it takes."

It is always great when the players and coaches are on the same page in terms of what they expect out of each other. Coach Wright, who is a Villanova alumnist, has a no-nonsense style when it comes to giving a maximum effort as stated in the Philadelphia Daily News:

They know what makes Wright the angriest: showboating, moping, missing a defensive assignment, not giving 100 percent.

"If there's a loose ball and you're in that area and you're not diving on it, that would make him the maddest," Dante Cunningham said.

"He feels a responsibility to everybody that came before us and before him to lead this great tradition in the right direction," Scottie Reynolds said, "and the only way he feels he can do that and take full responsibility of that is us playing hard and playing together, playing smart and playing with pride. . . . If he sees that you're not doing that, then he has to make some changes."

Trying to find and identity

The young Memphis Grizzlies are off to a 11-30 start and just had their head coach fired last night. Here is what center Marc Gasol has to say:

"We don't have an identity. We don't have one. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off. Youth can be a good thing, but we use it as an excuse. We're always making excuses. We make excuses to the referees and to our teammates. We make excuses in practice. That's all some people want to do is make excuses. You're never going to get anywhere like that."

Find out what someone wants and give it to them

Bobcats guard Raja Bell has made a career out of figuring out what coaches need, and delivering it. This article talks about the need early in his to find his niche:

"Coach (Larry Brown, who signed Bell to a 10-day contract as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 and is Bell's current coach with the Bobcats) was going to play anyone who could lock someone down,” Bell said. “I was on a 10-day (contract) and just looking for another 10-day. If that's how I was going to eat, then that's what I was going to do.''

It speaks to Bell's savvy and willingness to please that he gave himself over so fully to defense. He'd constantly give up his body fighting through screens or taking charges.

Buc Ball

Tampa Bay Bucs defensive cordinator Monte Kiffin has created a defense over the last 13 years that has dominated the NFL known as 'Buc Ball'.

"Buc Ball isn't for everybody," said Kiffin, a native of Lexington, Neb., who played in the defensive line at Nebraska and later served as the Huskers' defensive coordinator in the 1970s. "You have to buy in to what we do. I think Brooks says it best."

Kiffin is referring to future Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks. What Brooks is saying could be said for every single sport when it comes to defense. Says Brooks:

"Buc Ball is more of a state of mind," Brooks said. "It's believing what we do, buying into it. It's maxing out every play - whatever your maximum ability is. For instance, if you run a 4.6, you run a 4.6 every play. If you run a 5.0, you run a 5.0 every single play. Max out."

If your job is to take on the fullback and turn the play in to a strong safety, that's what you do, and trust that the strong safety does what he's supposed to do. Not try to turn back the fullback and make the tackle. That might mess up everybody."Buc Ball also is about accountability.

That's the one word that hasn't wavered my entire career here, no matter who you are or where you come from. When you become a Buc, you buy into accountability. That goes beyond football."

"If it's not your style of football or the way you carry yourself, you won't be here long," Brooks said. "You won't get the chance to play Buc Ball."

Buying into defense

"When you're playing defense, everybody has to buy into it. You can't just have two or three guys saying that they're going to play defense. Everybody has to wholeheartedly, 100 percent believe in it. I can honestly say that everybody on our team, when they step on the floor, knows their assignments. Knows they're either going to have to get on the floor, get dirty or do some things they don't necessarily want to do. But it's all in the character of what we are, and we carry it out from the first man on the roster to the 12th and 13th men.''

"It's like harmony when we get it right, and when one or two guys slack off, it shows. We've embraced the defense, but I don't think teams in this league embrace the defense. Everybody wants to score, score, score. They think, I guess, that offense gets you limelight. But it's defense that gets you wins.''

-Kevin Garnett

"The Rock"

Tulsa's football team brings this with them everywhere they go. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Here is a great article on a Tulsa football player's fight with cancer and his inspirational story. Also, here is an all-access look into the Golden Hurrican program.