A Coach's Diary

Below are a couple of quotes about Coach K and Steve Lavin before their teams, Duke and UCLA, faced off in 1997: "I'd see those Duke teams play and I think we were both--and especially Steve--enamored of just the quality of his team's execution, how his teams played so hard, and how positive he was toward his players," said UCLA assistant Jim Saia, a close friend of Lavin's from college. "He could not have done too much of a better job in transition," Krzyzewski said. "It appears that his team has adapted well to him. They're as talented a team as we can play, and I think they're playing so well together and they seem to be enjoying it. And to me, that's good coaching if you can do that." Full article here:  http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/stjo/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2014-15/misc_non_event/newscliparchive.pdf

The exerpt below is from an article at Bruin Report Online where UCLA coach at the time, Steve Lavin, talks about his plan for his team in the upcoming season.  What I really wanted to archive for my notes is the following passage where he talks about the importance of the face break in the mid-90's. Lavin:  "And the fast break is such a key weapon, it has to be a key part of your game if you want to win the National Championship. Look at Duke and Arizona, look at Kentucky, look at our '95 team. We broke down that team and figured that 1/3 of our offense came off the break, whether you are counting on baskets generated by defensive rebounds or by the defense off of turnovers. The last 3 years, with Baron and Earl, we are talking at maybe 10-15% of our offense off of breaks." You can read the article in its entirety here:  http://www.scout.com/college/ucla/story/31671-interview-with-steve-lavin-part-1