The Kee to Coaching: March Madness!!
The best time of year has finally arrived! Tonight at 6:40, the NCAA Tournament officially begins. New Orleans and Mount St. Mary's kick off this year's tournament, and I couldn't be more excited. It's every coaches dream to be playing basketball in March, and since I came up a bit short this year, I'll have to live vicariously through my friends who are still coaching!
The last two weeks, I have been glued to my TV, flipping between the NCAA D3 Tournament and all of the various Division 1 Conference Tournaments. I got the opportunity to attend the Big 10 Tournament last week in Washington DC. It was my first time attending a high-major conference tournament, and it was a tremendous experience. I have tickets to the Final 4 games this year in Phoenix, and I am ecstatic for the opportunity to attend the various coaching clinics.
Seeing the Big 10 games in person, really helped me realize that I take for granted just how good teams at that level are. For one, the level of physicality and athleticism is incredible. Those guys make very few mistakes on the defensive end, and almost every shot is challenged. You have to be extremely talented and smart to find a way to put the ball in the basket, and it was fun watching all of the various coaching adjustments. Each team had their own style, and it was cool seeing coaches and players competing to keep their season and NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
My biggest take-a-way from the tournament, was a reminder of how good a coach John Beilein is. His Michigan Wolverine basketball team, eliminated all excuses and overcame a countless amount of adversity, and won the Big 10 Tournament. They got into a plane accident the day before they were supposed to play, showed up two hours before a noon tip-off, and absolutely took it to Illinois and the rest of the teams in their path. In life, so many of us make excuses and allow outside factors to negatively impact us. Michigan didn't allow that to happen and they found a way to be champions. That resiliency is something that we can all appreciate and respect.
