NEWSLETTER #9 - 2005-06 BASKETBALL THOUGHTS PACKLINE DEFENSE ISIAH THOMAS Prior to Thanksgiving, I sent a link to a recent Cincinnati "When dealing with a high maintenance Enquirer article outlining Xavier's new "Packline Defense". It player, confront him. When dealing with is interesting to see that as of 12/6/05, the nation's top 3 Ron Artest I tried to deal directly with defensive teams are all "Packline" teams. him. In the NBA, coaches sometimes don't coach the "superstar". A superstar Please refer to the Xavier section of www.enquirer.com for is the loneliest guy in the league. That's more information about our Packline defense. one reason why I believe "posse's" develop." "I had a lot of private coaching with Ron Artest. I confronted him behind closed 1. N.C. STATE 32.9% doors in a one on one environment as opposed to confronting him in front of his teammates and fans." "An NBA superstar is sensitive. Their 2. XAVIER 33.0% emotion gives them a great feel for the game. They are no different than an artist." "How do I involve my assistant 3. WASH. STATE 33.6% coaches? I trust them. I delegate a lot. However, I make sure that they understand my philosophy and vision as the head coach. If you trust your assistant coaches, your players will. If 2006 SEAN MILLER TEAM CAMP the players sense a "lack of respect" Each summer, Xavier's team camp is one of the strongest in the between the head coach and an Midwest. This year our team camp will be held on Thursday and assistant coach, the players will also become disrespectful." Friday, June 29 and 30. PAST TEAM CAMP CHAMPIONS: "A head coach's presence is more For information contact: 2001 - Winton Woods High School (OH) important than his voice at times. I let Xavier Assistant Coach 2002 - Pike High School (IN) Chris Mack 2003 - Pike High School (IN) assistant coaches talk and coach. The 2004 - Muncie Central High School (IN) (513) 745-2851 more the players hear the head coach, 2005 - Hughes High School the more they tune him out." [email protected] "I treat my players as if their mom, wife, kids are watching them. I treat them If any member of our staff can be of any help, with respect. I'll react behind closed please feel free to contact us. We look forward to doors when necessary. But, I don't want any and all feedback and questions! to be disrespectful to my players in a Mario Mercurio [email protected] public forum." Xavier University - Men's Basketball - 3800 Victory Parkway - Cintas Center - Cincinnati, OH 45207 - (513) 745-3417 - (887) WE ARE XU NEWSLETTER #9 - 2005-06 XAVIER'S 4 MINUTE WAR At Xavier, we want our players to play with great passion. We are constantly looking for ways to motivate our players to commit to our system and reach their maximum potential. One way in which we have challenged them is with the concept of the 4-minute war. We want our players to play with energy and intensity for the entire game. We motivate our players to put forth maximum effort for a focused period of time. With the 4-minute war, we divide the game into ten four- minute segments. After each segment, there is a media timeout (approximately every four minutes) in which the team has an opportunity to rest for a minute and refocus on the next segment. Each segment is a "mini-game" within the game, and it is referred to as a "war" to characterize the type of effort that is required to excel at the highest level. Our goal is to win each 4-minute war. We chart the results on the bench, and we communicate them with our team at every timeout. The 4-minute wars allow us to provide some measurable feedback about our execution and effort over each segment of the game. Throughout the course of the season, we can evaluate the tendencies of which segments our team plays well and which segments we have lapses. We use the 4-minute war concept as a way to focus our team on playing the "Xavier Way." We want to improve the execution of our system in every game. We want our players to play with the mentality that every possession counts, and that every possession needs to be played with a high level of intensity. Furthermore, we want to play our way regardless of the score at any particular time in a game. If we are winning by several points, we do not want to let down and allow our opponent back into the game. We want to dominate by continuing to develop proper habits. If we are struggling in a game, our disposition is not to change what we do. Rather, we believe in trusting the system, and our challenge is to get our players to play harder with what we do. By breaking the game into 4-minute wars, we focus on the process of playing our system throughout the entire game. There are a number of ways that we incorporate the 4-minute war concept into our practices. First, scrimmage segments are played as 4-minute wars. We want our players to compete every second at a high intensity, and we want them to be conditioned in a way where they play in game-like conditions (i.e., play for four minutes, rest for a minute, and play again). These scrimmage segments also enable us to cover a variety of situations in our practices. A second practice idea is that we play "One Possession Games" in practice. We will have a jump ball to begin the game, and the first team to score wins (losers run). The purpose of this drill is to emphasize the importance of each possession and the value of the ball. We might spread a few of these games in throughout a given practice. As a coaching staff, our job is to help our players (and team) get to places where they could not go on their own. A cornerstone of our program is that we compete with toughness at all times. We use the idea of breaking the game into 4-minute wars as a way of challenging our players to commit to our system - THE XAVIER WAY! Xavier University - Men's Basketball - 3800 Victory Parkway - Cintas Center - Cincinnati, OH 45207 - (513) 745-3417 - (887) WE ARE XU Hard work finally paying off for Polk KRISTIE RIEKEN Associated Press HOUSTON - After years of toiling as a backup linebacker and playing on special teams, DaShon Polk is having the best season of his six-year NFL career. Polk is playing regularly and broke the Houston Texans' single-game record with 2 1/2 sacks against St. Louis last Sunday. But for Polk, any individual success he's had this season is overshadowed by the Texans' 1-10 record. "I just wanted to win a game so bad," Polk said of the overtime loss to St. Louis. "We were so desperate for a win. I didn't care if I had no tackles. As long as we got that win, it would be good." For Polk, this season has been one of mixed emotions. He only got the chance to start when Kailee Wong was lost for the season with a knee injury. It was the same story last year, when he got the first four starts of his career filling in for the injured Jay Foreman. The misfortune of the players starting before him made him question if he was a bad luck charm. Polk, who spent four seasons at Buffalo, hates that someone had to get injured in order for him to make the starting lineup. But as a player who has been working so long for a chance to start, he's embracing the opportunity. "I've just been waiting for this, and I'm not going to let this slip away from me," Polk said. "You've got to prove yourself in this league before you can get that trust factor. Obviously, I'm trying to prove to everybody that ... I'm not just a special teamer. I can play in this league." So far he's done a good job of backing up his claim. Since filling in for Wong on Oct. 16 against Seattle, Polk has 58 tackles and a team-high 3 1/2 sacks. He's tied with cornerback Dunta Robinson as Houston's second- leading tackler. With five games to go, he's already set career highs for tackles and sacks, and has had three games with 10 or more tackles. One of his sacks against the Rams was a big hit on quarterback Jamie Martin that forced him out of the game. "He's done a good job," coach Dom Capers said. "He's an intense guy. He comes to work every day and prepares and gives you everything that he has." Capers thinks the experience Polk gained last year by starting a few games made things easier for him this season. "He's doing a lot more things this year," Capers said. "Last year, he was basically a first- and second-down player, where he's been playing every down most of the times this year." Now that he's become more comfortable with the defense, he's also assumed Wong's role of calling the defensive signals. Capers has been impressed with how he's handled that responsibility. Polk said it will be tough to get over the loss to St.