Winning Championships

Why do some schools win more than others? Why are some programs always winning championships while others win once in their history? The answer is pure and simple: talent, hard work, execution and coaching. Can any team win on any given day without all these factors? Yes. Can any team win a championship without them? Absolutely not! Talent alone is not enough. During the recent NCAA tournament many talented teams were defeated early while others rose to prominence. What happened? Hard work, execution and excellent coaching sent those teams home.

Execution and hard work are crucial to winning a championship. Whether it is breaking a press in basketball, hitting the outside pitch to the opposite field or throwing the baseball across the diamond, one must be able to execute or lose. Remember, there are two ways of overcoming difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to overcome them. Teams that win consistently, find a way to execute a plan to overcome the difficulties, while others, find themselves watching those who do. Darren Collison, UCLA point guard puts it this way. “My job is to help my team win,” Collison said. “Regardless of what anybody else says, I’ve still got to go out and prove that we’re the best team. It’s not about individual performance or me trying to show someone up, it’s about the team.”

Finally, consistency in winning always comes down to coaching. The elite coaches have an instinct of always putting their teams and players in a position to be successful. The preparation is done ahead of time so there is no second thought come crunch time. Players believe they will win because they have been prepared for success and not set up for failure due to lack of anticipation or preparation. Ben Howland said of his teams win over Xavier, "That's a real credit to how good our players are and how well they perform under pressure. I think this is, by far, the best team in the last three years."

UCLA is only the third team to reach three consecutive Final Fours since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Xavier coach Sean Miller said of Ben Howland's team, “They really had a way about them, as if they had been there before. Very patient on offense, they don’t crack easily, or flinch."

Winning does take talent but winning Championships takes execution, hard work and good coaching!