SteveDanley
Sophomore
Posts: 102
Age: 39
Reg: 02-25-12
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03-13-17 03:03 PM - Post#226787
In response to Jeff2sf
steve, could you elaborate on what being out of it for most of the season have to do with running more that year than all 4 years combined?
are you talking about pushing the pace or Dunphy making you do sprints?
Without getting too far into details, coaches are competitive, and when you lose, you run wind sprints / have a lot more grinding practices.
This has been true at every level I played, but coaches are generally constrained by the need to save a players legs. That's less true in the Ivies where teams have little to play for after being eliminated.
Our program rule was that if we were in 1st place in the Ivies we got Sundays and Tuesdays off (as opposed to just Sundays). That was heaven. Anything less was hell. Losing without a coach thinking he needs to save your legs was a 7th level (Freshman year, we had a few practices after Ivy season was over while we waited to hear about the NIT -- but the coaches heard through the grapevine we likely weren't getting a bid -- we didn't even get through 3-man weave without being on the line for wind sprints. Hardest practices of my life, and we still talk about them over drinks when teammates get together).
In talking to other Ivy players, I think it's generally true that once eliminated, things go haywire. More running, tougher to be mentally into it, the crowds are sparse, and little things (like the much debated on this board issue of playing younger guys) can be brutal for individuals players.
Some of this stuff has gotten better, as there is more research on back-to-backs and rest. The old school stories of getting off the plane and practicing upon landing at 1 in the morning after a bad loss seem to be happening less.
But 7am practices before class as punishment for losing, and scheduling mandatory 7am lifting in the offseason after a poor season, remain common "motivational" techniques. And it doesn't make for a fun February of your spring semester when you're juggling classes (even good students struggle and fall behind in season), falling asleep in classes b/c of am workouts, playing at Dartmouth in front of 800 people, and you can no longer dunk because your legs are so wooden from running wind sprints instead of playing the game (there's surprisingly little "playing" of basketball if you're not playing big minutes -- lots of walking through sets, some teaching, drills etc).
I do think this year gave a little more life to teams in the mid/bottom of the division, and that struck me as more important and valuable than I expected, as someone who was a tourney skeptic.
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