We Are Talking about Practice

What people don’t see

I am going to go on a bit of a rant here. About practice.

Not an Allen Iverson rant, but it will be about practice.

Because, as a coach, it can be a little frustrating that the fans and members of the media who watch our games always think they see the entire picture, and imagine that we coaches base all of our decisions on what is happening in games only.

When, actually, we see and learn so much more in practice.

I was inspired to write this after watching a brief exchange in a post-game press conference at Boston College, when a bold young journalist asked a blunt question about a specific player to Eagles head coach Earl Grant after BC’s loss to Syracuse Saturday.

Here was the question: “Coach I want to ask about (player’s name). He has struggled this season, and he was in the game during that extended Syracuse 13-to-1 run. What do you still see in him, and why do you continue to play him over (other players)?”

Ouch. Wow. Now, look, I admire, in a way, that this journalist was so honest in his inquiry, although I would like to think he could have asked his question in a more tactful way. But I appreciated Grant’s measured response more.

Grant explained that the player is a one of his more experienced players, and that he likes to play his veteran players when he can, but he also talked about how he has several players competing for playing time at that position, and only so many minutes to parcel out. But the best thing he said came after a follow-up question about whether he makes his playing time decisions on a “game-to-game basis.”

“No, practice by practice,’’ answered Grant. “We practiced four times this week. So I learned a lot from practice. You guys see games. I see the practices. I see who wins in practice. I see who comes early to practice, who stays late. So I see everything. I see who gets banged up. I see who finishes the sprints first. I see everything. So you see the games. I see four practices, and I reward guys for what they do in practice.”

There it is. Now, don’t get me wrong, game play matters, probably more than practice play. But the fact is coaches see so much more of our players in practice, probably several times more if you count the hours and minutes over the course of a season, and those moments make an impression on us and inform our decisions.

Coaches are in a position where they are basically predicting the future - making countless educated guesses on what their teams and their individual players will do next. How they will react. How they will play. There are no guarantees, even if some observers may think there are.

It only makes sense that we make those decisions based on the greatest body of information we have, which, in most cases, is practice.

Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. Practice.