Self's Motivational Tactics
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Have any of you noticed that Coach Self seems to have different ways of motivating the team when it comes to tournament games relative to conference games? Not sure if it’s my imagination or not, but when it comes to tournament time, Self spends a lot of time talking (publicly anyway) about how the team needs to “play loose and with a free mind”.
We rarely, if ever, hear him say something like that during the regular season. Instead, he says things like he did this week where he called out Vick and Bragg in the locker room before the game. During conference he prefers to put pressure on the players in a masterful way so that they are peaking for the difficult road games and turning down the intensity before easy home games. Sorry I don’t have more specific examples to cite here at the moment, but over the years I have noticed a definite shift in his coach-speak when the tournament starts up.
I don’t know if I would call it coddling and I also obviously don’t know if his “play loose” comments are just for the media/public while he is coaching them in the locker room and practice like they are going into Manhattan with the B12 championship on the line. Whichever, he doesn’t seem to be able to get the team anywhere close to the killer instinct that the team possesses both at home and on the road during the regular season.
If somehow Coach Self could get the team to believe that the jerseys on the opposite team read K-State, Baylor, or West Virginia, you can bet many of those disappointing losses in the first or second weekend of the NCAA tournament would have been W’s.
I’ve also noticed that his sideline demeanor changes and is more mild mannered during tournament games. He smiles more at the players and goes easier on them in the huddles. Again, maybe trying to get them to not play “tight” but actually sending the message that it’s OK to lose. During conference games, he almost never smiles and is always chewing someones butt, even if they are winning by 10 points.
Any Sports Psychologists out there?
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I think Self is personally nervous about the tournament and sometimes that tension spills over to the players. Jmo.
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Imagine putting all of your time and efforts during the day and spending many sleepless nights trying to put together a team. Then getting that team to come together and have some chemistry through practices. Next, make sure that they are all eligible to play and stay eligible to play in spite of family members and hangers on. Then play through a grueling season taking on all comers while playing home and home in the Big XII where every road game is the opponents biggest game of the year. On top of that, play in the XII Tournament knowing that a loss means instantaneous mention on every sports channel bottom line ticker. Not to mention earning a high seed for the NCAA Tournament. After all that, play in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament with the entire basketball world is waiting for your team to fall flat so they can “ha ha Kansas lost” for the rest of the tournament. Well that is the life of Bill Self. I don’t know how he does it? Hell yeah he should be nervous! All that hard work and it has to feel awful when they don’t win the whole thing. I for one could not do it. I am amazed by Coach Self’s many accomplishments. 12 Conference Championships in a row. Top 3 seeds in the tournament year after year. He has earned the right to be a little uptight. Wouldn’t you?
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@KansasComet hopefully he’s not as uptight as me!
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@BShark I’m having a hard time getting use to bob.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Probably not. But that’s okay!
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I could change it again.
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@BShark “Self talk”
