I'm sorry Tony

Graddean · June 28, 2013

I hate to be "that guy" but I have a simple question that will more than likely involve a lot of people voting me down. Has any one of you actually had to coach collegiately in any sport? What about played a sport in college within the last 10 years or so? Things have changed radically, both within the NCAA, the coaching enviroment and socially that have put a major twist on how a coach can "coach". Coaching men's lacrosse at the college level was one of the hardest things I have ever done and most of those difficulties were driven by the players and not by the an abject lack of talent on a roster. If you combine the two, things get even worse. Throw in a healthy dose of restrictions of when, what, where, and, how you can interact, practice, or discipline a player and it makes coaching a much harder job than it really could be and a job I will probably not every pursue again.

It is not anywhere as easy or simple to "motivate" a player as people imply. It is not like it was in many people's high school days where the coach could demand that you play or you sit or I run you to death or punish you just because I am the all powerful coach and my word is law and I answer to no one. There are pretty lengthy restrictions on what a coach can or can't get away with and beyond that there is little that a coach can do long term to force someone to give 100% effort all the time. Think about your motivations or actions or mindset as a Freshman in college. How did you reacted to authority figures, how you were so sure that they just don't "get it" or that they "just don't care" about what you want. How do you coach and more importantly motivate those guys all the time? It is a true art form, and the real secret is that much of that motivation comes from within.

There are certain tasks or fostered environments or punishments or psychological games that a coach can use on a player, but when it all comes down to it, it is the player that provides the motivation. The coach can help strengthen the resolve, can help temper that motivation into excellence, help find something to be the fire to drive you forward, but the coach can't be your sole source of motivation. A coach can only pick you when you are down, can only try and help the player to understand that they need to dig deep within and find it within themselves a source of personal motivation. Some individuals use pride, some use hate, some have a lofty goal, or even an undeniable will to be the absolute best, but none use their coach as their sole source of motivation. Having a coach "force" you to be motivated is unsustainable and eventually the message is lost. To state it as anything other than "the long term motivation comes from within and is the responsibility of the player" is a massive disservice to all athletes. The will and drive to win or improve or to just work hard comes from within and it is something as an individual you have to address everyday. If you have to have a coach constantly push you, constantly monitor you, constantly makes sure that you are giving your all, then when people recognize that is in fact the case they are well within their right to question your drive or motivation. That is life. That fact is true in any discipline, any business, and to think that it does not apply to athletics is asinine. If you mentor at work has to constantly ride you to provide your best work, is it a bad thing when other departments question your motivation if you desire to transfer to their department?

A big part of this is that some players have more talent than others. Welcome to the real world. Some have unworldly gifts that make any game easy to grasp and provide such an athletic advantage that they can do much more than their teammates with much less effort. The problem with those types of gifts is that after a while it is easy for a player to develop apathy. Motivation can be hard to sustain because there is nothing to set your sights on in the near term that requires you to put in greater effort. With no unscalable mountain in the foreground and the titanic dreams of being an all-time great as a professional seeming so far away, it is fairly evident the TM sometimes lost his focus and sometimes did not put forth the effort he should. There is no real point in denying it and there is also no real need to justify why it did or did not happen.

Kids are kids and what he went through last year hopefully was a learning experience for him that he can use the rest of his life. Lets not forget that we are talking about young adults that are still finding themselves in life, much less are completely sure in their views and personal identities. Hopefully this now provides Tony with a constant "thing" to keep his motivation up and always going. Internal motivation is built in layers. Many have used the "jilted lover as a 2nd rounder" view as motivation to prove themselves that all 30 teams made a mistake. Some have used the fact that they are finally not the best player on the bus or the most gifted in the arena. Some have used their kids, spouses or even a personal relationship fostered with their coach or player or an influential mentor. Many have just refused to motivate themselves and ave seen their prodigious talents wasted. It is all up to TM and I have faith that he will do well.

People confuse the fact that many players used their love or respect or admiration for the previous staff as part of their individual motivation. That is radically different than to say that the former staff motivated the players and this one did not. Those things the players used with JJ, those relationships, are hard to build and take time and are generally started early on in their recruitment process. With JJ's departure and with many players wanting a familiar face in Forrest, Benford was not necessarily going to instantly provide those feelings that the players used as motivation with JJ. That is completely different than to state that this staff did not try to motivate them. They tried, and it looks like sometimes it failed to reach the players. I am not sure that the players ever trusted Benford last year and therefore some lacked one of the former cornerstones they used for their individual motivation. The question really falls to, did the new staff not push the right buttons or did the players just did not want to listen? Both are correctable and only one requires a new coach.

Something else to be mentioned is that most of the motivation that is not pided from within the individual is generally provided by and driven from the culture of the team. The coach can generally manipulate the culture of the team much easier than you can manipulate the players' individual desires or motivations. The tight-knit group that comes from being teammates and being around each other all the time, the cohesion it provides, is a much greater motivator than any coach. The great teams monitor their own, and police their actions among themselves to try and keep everyone on task and use each other and their common bond as motivation. I would like to think that the culture of the team did not radically change from JJ to Benford. The roster for the most part had many of the key faces. So what happened to the internal level of motivation provided by the teammates?

Lax

I hate your response. I am now having trouble blaming my math professor for that "C" in analytical geometry. It also caused me to think about the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is not as effective and is not sustainable. Intrinsic motivation is superior and and sustainable. As Lax says, different people develop intrinsic motivation different ways and some never develop it. In fact, if I remember my psychology correctly, extrinsic motivation has detrimental effects upon intrinsic motivation.

CMJ · June 28, 2013

It's nice to see that we are consistent in bashing our own player.

Jesus.

meangreener · June 28, 2013

Jesus.

A little overblown. The people on there are a little over the top, that's why I really stopped going over there. ECU fans suck, too. It's one thing to criticize his motor but not really acceptable to criticize his intelligence...especially when you know nothing about him personally.

Edited June 29, 2013 by meangreener

CMJ · June 29, 2013

A little overblown. The people on there are a little over the top, that's why I really stopped going over there. ECU fans suck. It's one thing to criticize his motor but not really acceptable to criticize his intelligence...especially when you know nothing about him personally.

Yeah, I found a Pistons board which referred to him as stupid after that press conference today. Some people are just jackasses.

Edited June 29, 2013 by CMJ

MeanMag · June 29, 2013

It's unreal that we have a guy go in the NBA draft for the first time in forever and instead of being happy and proud about it we are miserable and insufferable ricks with a P. If someone isn't a pure scorer or true point guard he sucks.

UNT90 · June 29, 2013

A little overblown. The people on there are a little over the top, that's why I really stopped going over there. ECU fans suck, too. It's one thing to criticize his motor but not really acceptable to criticize his intelligence...especially when you know nothing about him personally.

Thing is, it was our own fans trashing a former player.

Pretty sorry.

rcade · June 29, 2013

It'll never happen again because of Tony Mitchell.

If Tony Mitchell succeeds in the NBA, he'll be a recruiting goldmine for UNT.

rcade · June 29, 2013

They watched and they didn't like what they saw from TM the individual. That is why he had to be noble and acknowledge his shortcoming.

I think we're overestimating how much Mitchell hurt himself with his final season because we wanted him to succeed in college. If the scouts were truly down on him, he doesn't get drafted at all.

meangreener · June 29, 2013

If Tony Mitchell succeeds in the NBA, he'll be a recruiting goldmine for UNT.

Why? Then it would show how badly we misused him.

rcade · June 29, 2013

Why? Then it would show how badly we misused him.

No one who isn't a UNT alumnus will ever care how he did at UNT. All people will see is that a successful NBA player went here, which will elevate UNT in the eyes of recruits.

Imagine Tony's the rookie of the year. A recruit comes to UNT and sees photos of Mitchell all over the basketball facilities. You don't think that would make a difference?

These days, how many NBA rookies were successful in college anyway? It's just a place to park themselves for a while.

UNTLifer · June 30, 2013

Thing is, it was our own fans trashing a former player.
Pretty sorry.

BS. Expecting some of the blame to be shared or sharing the thoughts of an experienced NBA scout is far from bashing our player.

CMJ · June 30, 2013

BS. Expecting some of the blame to be shared or sharing the thoughts of an experienced NBA scout is far from bashing our player.

I think they are referring to the CUSA message board posts. Those were pretty sorry.

UNTLifer · June 30, 2013

I think they are referring to the CUSA message board posts. Those were pretty sorry.

Yes, those were classless.

greenminer · June 30, 2013

If Tony Mitchell succeeds in the NBA, he'll be a recruiting goldmine for UNT.

I hope you're right. We'll find out.

Is there a case of this happening to another school like us?

Harry · June 30, 2013

I hope you're right. We'll find out.

Is there a case of this happening to another school like us?

Right off hand I know Karl Malone had a positive impact on La. Tech but I am sure there are others.

CMJ · June 30, 2013

I think Kenneth Faried has had a positive impact on Morehead State.

UNT90 · July 1, 2013

It'll be used in recruitment, that is if we are ever considered by a top 20 talent again.

My guess is it won't matter because we won't be in on another top 20 talent for years to come.

MeanGreenTexan · July 1, 2013

I think Kenneth Faried has had a positive impact on Morehead State.

Yeah. SDSU will see an uptick with Leonard and Franklin going in the past 3 drafts too.

UNTLifer · July 1, 2013

Yep, and kids are drafted out of VCU and Butler every year and it just killa their program... oh, wait.

UNT Five&Dime · July 1, 2013

Yeah. SDSU will see an uptick with Leonard and Franklin going in the past 3 drafts too.

OT kind of, but speaking of SDSU. I rode on a plane with Winston Shepard (F-SDSU) on his way to the Kevin Durant Skills Academy this past Friday. My wife busted out our iPad (not a brag) with it's NT skin and NT backgrounds. He noticed it and said "North Texas? They just had someone drafted last night." So my wife and he talked about Tony a bit. I was on the row in front so was left out. We wished him good luck at the camp and next season.

Also saw UConn's DeAndre Daniels in the terminal at DCA. There was another player on our flight, but I couldn't figure out who it was - couldn't catch a team name on their bags. They are taller than me, but not certain if they are what they are listed. I know everyone wants to know.

Okay. back to bickering about the same old crap everyone...

Edited July 1, 2013 by UNT Five&Dime

Harry · July 1, 2013

OT kind of, but speaking of SDSU. I rode on a plane with Winston Shepard (F-SDSU) on his way to the Kevin Durant Skills Academy this past Friday. My wife busted out our iPad (not a brag) with it's NT skin and NT backgrounds. He noticed it and said "North Texsas? They just had someone drafted last night." So my wife and he talked about Tony a bit. I was on the row in front so was left out. We wished him good luck at the camp and next season.
Also saw UConn's DeAndre Daniels in the terminal at DCA. There was another player on our flight, but I couldn't figure out who it was - couldn't catch a team name on their bags. They are taller than me, but not certain if they are what they are listed. I know everyone wants to know.
Okay. back to bickering about the same old crap everyone...

Good post -- on a similar note we had a big crowd in here the night Tony got drafted...had over 820 on the site at one point...actually slowed my servers down and had me worried for a bit.

Quoner · July 1, 2013

Good post -- on a similar note we had a big crowd in here the night Tony got drafted...had over 820 on the site at one point...actually slowed my servers down and had me worried for a bit.

Pretty awesome that all these visitors and eyeballs got to see these great threads!