Hmm, maybe this is why Billy Gillispie isn't coaching anymore

I love hard-ass, no nonsense coaches. You have to love a coach that can get a player to give everything he has every second he is on the court.

They will scream at you. They will yell at you. They will pull you off the court after 15 seconds if you aren't playing the way that they want you to play.

If you make a mistake, you'll pay for it. Miss a defensive assignment, and you're running an extra suicide in practice. Curse at a referee, and the whole team may run. Play lazy, uninspired basketball, and the next practice you might don football pads.

Billy Gillispie wasn't exactly the best motivator.
(photo credit: The Nasty Boys)

But players don't leave everything on the court because they are afraid of the coach. They don't dive on the floor or take a charge because they are worried about losing their spot in the rotation or that they are afraid to make a mistake. They do it because they believe it will help them win. They listen to the coach because they believe he will make them a better player.

Moreover, when a kid is playing not to make a mistake is when he will make the most mistakes. To succeed as a basketball player (and as an athlete in general, really) you must be able to make trained reactionary decisions.

The ball got swung to the other side of the court? Jump to the help side. That guy beat his man? Get to the charge spot. My defender's overplaying me? Cut backdoor.

These are all split second decisions made by players as taught to them by their coach and learned through hundreds (or thousands) of repetitions in practice. Because the best coaches not only tell you what they want you to do, they teach you the best way to it.

How does all of this involve Billy Gillispie?

On Tuesday, Kentucky.com posted an article chronicling an incident between Josh Harrellson and Billy Gillispie during the Wildcats trip to Vanderbilt. Apparently, Gillispie was not happy with the way that Kentucky, and specifically Harrellson, played during the first half. So as a punishment, Harrellson had to sit in a bathroom stall during the halftime speech. Then, Gillispie sat him for the entire second half of a 77-64 loss before making him ride home on the team's equipment truck as opposed to the team bus.

And if you believe some of the things floating around UK message boards, this is far from the only incident of Gillispie humiliating a player.

Personally, I do not believe that this is still a successful method of coaching (maybe there is a reason that Bobby Knight, Gillispie's idol, is now working at ESPN). For starters, this is not how you build a rapport with your team. After two season's worth of embarrassment, is it any wonder that the Wildcats finally quit on Gillispie at the end of last year?

As a coach, if you want to get a player's best effort, convince them that it will make them a better player and a more appealing pro prospect. Don't try to scare them into playing hard. Isn't the pressure of playing major college basketball enough? Should a coach really add to that by making his team worried about committing a turnover?

Josh Harrellson is prepared to run through a wall for Coach Cal.
(photo credit: Kentucky Sports Radio)

The biggest issue I have isn't with the actual punishment that Gillispie doled out. It wasn't illegal or an NCAA violation, so if that is what Gillispie felt was the method of motivating his team, well, to each their own. Look where it got him.

My biggest issue is with these quotes from Harrellson:

"I didn't play the way he wanted me to play."

And how did Gillispie want Harrellson to play?

"I don't know," [Harrellson] said. "He never told me. Just play stronger, I guess."

It is one thing to punish someone for not doing what you want them to do. It is another thing to punish a kid when he doesn't know what you want him to do. But to never explain to the kid what you looking for from him, even after the fact?

What did I say before?

"The best coaches not only tell you what they want you to do, they teach you the best way to it."

Maybe that is why Gillispie is currently unemployed.