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BlueGoldAg
1.5kFrom the Davis Enterprise: https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/ucd-men-rally-to-top-william-jessup/
“I’m not comfortable with where we are and how we’re playing, and it has nothing to do with wins and losses,” Les said. “Our first goal always is to have a defensive intensity that leads to good things happening on offense. We haven’t brought that defensive intensity or effort or consistency that’s been a staple for us.”
“I don’t care who we play, we have to get this thing fixed. There’s no school this week, so we’re going to get some people’s attention. They’re going to have to listen to me 24/7, and they’re not going to like it,” said Les. “I’m in a miserable mood because we’re having to coach effort and that’s something you shouldn’t have to coach. We’re going to get it fixed and see what we’re made of. I don’t know if we’ll have anything left in the tank for Arizona, but we’re going to get it done this week.”
The Ags have struggled all season on both end of the floor against a tough schedule and entered Sunday's game against NAIA William Jessup with a disappointing 2-7 record. Les started an unusual line up of Damion Squire, Siler Schneider, Colin Russell, Joe Mooney and Garrison Goode and I wondered if Les was trying to send a message to his team by shaking up the line up. AJ John and Stefan Gonzalez were in street clothes and TJ Shorts, the Ags most consistent player this season, was dressed but on the bench also. The Ags looked unfocused and out of sync the whole first half and trailed the Warriors 38-31 and Les seemed beside himself. It looked like everyone was pressing. TJ made an immediate impact when he entered the game as did Rogers Printup.
Anyone who has followed Les' career at UCD knows that he is an extremely competitive, intense coach who spends most of each game standing, pacing and barking at his players and he was particularly vocal during the game with William Jessup. It didn't appear that anyone was escaping his wrath.
After the game my wife and I usually listen to the Scott Marsh post game interview with Coach Les during our drive home. Marsh waited for about a half hour for Les but he was a no show. It's not unusual for Marsh to wait quite a while for Les when the Ags have not played well and when Les does finally show up he usually has just a few terse comments about what he was disappointed with. So when he was a no show, we figured he was particularly upset and the Enterprise article confirms that this was the case.
Les has had success getting maximum effort from his teams who, by comparison, generally do not possess the most pure athletic talent in the league but his "intense" style of coaching doesn't seem to be working with this team. The Ags looked beleaguered, frustrated and somewhat demoralized during the game and now we hear that Les believes the team is underperforming and he's going to "get it fixed...and they're not going to like it."
I'm not a fan of the "drill sergeant" coaching style. I don't believe that teams perform well when they are playing under duress from the coach. It takes away the fun of playing the game and I think that may players do not play up to their potential when they feel like they are going to get barked at over and over again. Sochor, Hawkins and Biggs have had great success without that style of coaching.
I get it that Les if frustrated but I think there are better ways for him to get his team to play better than berating them so much. -
movielover
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Oldbanduhalum
641I'm surprised to see this in the paper, but not at all surprised at the coach's frustration. If you've followed this team back to when Les just started here, he would express his frustration during games by stomping his foot VERY loudly. That has mostly gone away over the last few years - not that he still doesn't express his feeling to his players during the game, just that the foot stomping seemed to be saved for the highest level of frustration. Well it came back during the first half on Sunday. Between that, and TJ not starting, you figured the coach was at his boiling point. It will be interesting to see how the team reacts. Band together and fight through it, or recoil into a ball of self doubt. -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kI'd forgotten about the foot stomping. Of course, the King of Foot Stomping was Bob Hamilton along with towel chewing and tossing!
The thing that concerns me about Les' ire is that it is not a productive way to communicate and his message can get lost because it's not easy for anyone to pay attention and listen well when someone is shouting at you. It's a non-productive form of communication because so many negative things can result from it.
For one, it and can lead to players being hesitant and being too much into their heads when they are on the floor. It's hard to play with spontaneity when you are playing "not to make a mistake" and overthinking everything in order to avoid the coach's anger. It can also be demoralizing and suck the joy out of playing the game. It's hard to be motivated when you are not having fun. A few of the players were hanging their heads in the WJU game as Les continued his barking throughout the game and often looked perplexed about what he was shouting about.
Les says he's frustrated because he's having to "coach effort" and he shouldn't have to do that. If that's the case, I think the first thing he needs to be exploring is what it is that he may be doing as a coach that could be adding to his perceived lack of effort by the team. If he wants his players to play with more intensity and effort and listen to what he wants them to do, then he needs to tone down his anger because trying to communicate with anger causes more problems than it solves. I don't think this is just a player problem; I think it's a coaching problem as well. -
69aggie
400Speaking of Ham, I recall one game where he got so frustrated with his [players that he threw down his towel, yelled to the players “OK, coach yourselves” and went up into the bleachers. Actually, the teamed played OK without a coach. Yes. Coach Les needs to calm down a bit to say the least. -
Oldbanduhalum
641Agree 100% with your post. I remember sitting at a game next to Clint Bozner the year after he left the team (2013 or so). Les lost it and started his foot stomp thing. You could actually see Boz flinch (when you're 6'8" and 250 lbs and flinch, it's pretty noticeable). Normally I don't talk to athletes that I see at games (he was busy scarfing down a foot long burrito...oh to be 20!) because I don't want to put them in any awkward position, but I couldn't help leaning over and asking if he missed the team. He said that he didn't miss that, referring to Les, at all. You can see that same body language a lot of different times throughout the years. Guys that have talent but lose the joy of playing.
On the other hand, I do clearly remember Lawrence White actually going up to Les and telling him to calm down, that the players new what to do. JT and Lemar could also do that. They weren't shutting down, or ignoring the coach, and they weren't shouting back, but they figured out how to deal with the outbursts and move the discussion into a more positive position. Seems that maybe this team doesn't have that person this year (talent wise, this is basically the same as last year but is performing so much worse). Michael, being a five year senior and going from walk on to starter, might have brought that calming influence. -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kI was at that game...remember it well...he just went up about 3 rows into the stands behind the Aggie bench in Hickey Gym and sat there with the fans. I've never seen a coach that agonized as much as Ham did but his antics never seemed to be personally directed at the players in a detrimental way. Ham was a classic...
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ucdavisaggie05
142Les stating that he has to coach effort sets off red flags for me. We don’t have the talent level to be able to half-blank it. -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kI remember Chima also saying that it was tough for him when he got here because he wasn't used to being told what he was doing wrong so much. The thing is I don't think Les is going to change. He's passionate and intense...that's who he is as a coach. Those can be useful qualities but, like just about anything, they can be abused also.
I hesitate to write things like this since I realize that this is my subjective observation. I'm not in the team huddle or at the team practices; I only see how he is during our games. The statements he made in the Enterprise article though made me take pause. It was just too much...over the top, in my opinion, in directing his anger at the team. I'm sure he made those statements in the heat of the moment but we see his anger spill over in just about every game at some point.
Coaches need to adjust to the personality of the team chemistry. You make a good point that this year's team may not be as thick skinned as some of the previous team's and his anger is not working well with them. Regardless, there are much better ways to coach and motivate without directing rants towards the team and the players. -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kIt sets off red flags for me too. I don't think it can be good for recruiting either. Potential recruits watch these games and some may not like what they see from the coach.
Not sure what you meant by, "We don’t have the talent level to be able to half-blank it." ?? -
ucdavisaggie05
142We just aren’t going to have the transfers etc. some schools down south can bring in.
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DrMike
971i was at the game on Saturday, sitting down above the Aggie bench, and I was kind of surprised that Les was as calm as he was in the first half. It looked like he was seething as WJU built up a lead, but I didn't see the foot-stomping or yelling that I remember from his first few seasons. I'm guessing the locker room 'discussion' was animated, but it should have been! -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kYou're right, Les seemed almost unengaged in the early stages of the first half. I didn't get a particularly good feeling about that though since he was obviously shaking up the line up and his body language looked like he was just barely tolerating what he was seeing. He got more animated as WJU built the lead.
I was observing the the body language of the players too. To me it looked like some players like Schneider and Mooney were visibly frustrated and Fuller seemed to be confused about what Les was upset about with him and, at times, looked tentative on the floor from it all. Other players more or less just walked by the coach without eye contact after Les had pulled them from the game. Les had a quick hook in the second half if a player got beat on defense also.
I think Les is an excellent tactician of the game and makes really good, strategic decisions in the heat of the moment during the game. I also think he needs to practice some self-control with his anger and find more positive ways to communicate with his players and to motivate his team. -
movielover
620Exactly. Ham could get wound up, but it wasn't personal. And he wasn't wound up or angry at practice - practice being open at Rec Hall for running, volleyball, etc. Sharp players also contributed to play calling at crucial points.
We recruit highly intelligent players, top 5% or 10% in the country. Then they get off season and in season practice to have every movement micro managed?
Ham well loved by many. -
69aggie
400Ham was the greatest. But to be true, he never had the pressure that Les has now. What I cant figure out is why with basically his entire team back this year the record is so poor. Injuries? Maybe Jim Sochor could arrive at Les’s home on Christmas eve as the “Ghost of Christmas past” and teach him some of the basic principals of Buddhist thought. “Suffering is enitvitable” and “do no harm to other living things” That would be the players. He should also be “Strong as a Mountain” (or big tree) and not be “too self involved” or “too prideful”. It just might not be the players IMHO.
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movielover
620Unfair comparison. Coach Hamilton had a minimal recruiting budget, laughable budget for all assistants (I was told under $10,000), so constant assistant turnover, a cubicle for 1 coach (himself), zero scholarships, taught classes, rare academic "exceptions", and frequently played the WCC teams, Kansas State, Berkeley, and others. Weekend roadtrip to Chico and Humboldt no joke, no marketing. He was highly competitive, and fun.
Coaches in all sports had different pressures. Football played in mud during the playoffs vs the Bison, the baseball outfield was horrible, several coaches coached multiple sports. -
BlueGoldAg
1.5kI think Les is a great coach in many ways also as I noted above. I just think he needs to step back and calm down once his anger builds up to the point that it's more detrimental than productive. We recruit high character, intelligent players who most likely do not respond well to angry outbursts or threats like he made in the Enterprise article.
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movielover
620UC Davis Coaching records
Overall
Bob Williams .675: 158-76
Brian Fogel .664: 89-45
Joe Carlson .589: 56-39
Bob Hamilton .508: 301-291
Jim Les: .478: 112-122
Lonnie Williams .407: 11-16
Gary Stewart .373: 88-148
League
Bob Williams .804: 90-22
Bob Hamilton .650: 178-96
Brian Fogel .636: 70-40
Joe Carlson .560: 28-22
Jim Les .518: 59-55
Lonnie Williams .500: 7-7
Gary Stewart .419: 36-50
Always tough comparing years apart, but league W-L against like opponents interesting.
- Gary Stewart had a mountain to climb, minimal budget.
- Brian Fogel inherited a turnkey operation, but things later went south.
- Coach Bob Hamilton had multiple playoff births, and 3 or so playoff wins with no scholarships. -
Toke69
426I have yet to see an Aggie basketball game but that will change when the Arizona game is on the PAC-12 network. I'm surprised that they are doing so poorly since they have so many veterans on the team. I can understand coach Les' frustration, but agree that he should not have gotten so public about it. As to his coaching style, I knew a lot of guys who played for Bob Hamilton (John Fryer, Mark Olson, Steve Turner, et al.) and none of them much liked him, but he always got results, so it's a style that works (see Knight, Bobby). John once told me that Ron McMillan actually hated Hamilton but learned to tune him out when he wasn't being instructive. -
movielover
620Coach Ham did well with talented players like Lien, Thomas, and Neumayer, and in his final campaign with a lot of drama and press, I think he won the league title with a number of coachable Freshman starting. There is zero comparison between Bobby Knight and Coach Hamilton. He was not authoritarian, spiteful, demeaning or angry. Old timers will tell you there was a change moving from packed Hickey Gym to Rec Hall.
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Toke69
426I'm so past being an old-timer that I was nowhere around when the Rec Hall opened, but I loved the games in Hickey. I can't recall going to a game where we didn't pack the place. (Plus, I didn't mean that Ham was like Knight, just that being a real @#&! didn't mean you were not a successful coach in terms of winning, if not in being a decent human being.)
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movielover
620You were fortunate. 1,000 people get lost in Rec Hall, let alone 200 during winter break. Earlier RH had upper bleachers that closed towards the court, helping bring some intimacy. Newer RH / post renovations make it even worse with upper stands pushed to the back wall, and huge sections of upper bleachers removed (also reducing capacity, ... as if 8-10 doors in each corner, and mid level doors, weren't enough).
A large crowd turned out for Hams' memorial, the Aggie Band played per his request (and bag pipes), and his last team from Yuba City College traveled down to honor their coach. He coached while fighting cancer. -
SochorField
424Les' attitude goes in the tank when he loses. He's done it before.
Its telling that when we don't have a Big West Player of the Year caliber player (Hawkins, Moneke) we don't win.
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