Post by TexasCat on Sept 18, 2008 19:41:17 GMT -5
The Value of Hard Work -- and Hard Practices
Bill Bayno talks about his goals for his inaugural season as men’s head basketball coach.
Bill Bayno, former assistant coach with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and former head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was hired as head coach of the men’s basketball team in April. He is known for his ability to improve his players’ skills and for teams with an up-tempo, hard-nosed style. Here Bayno talks with Joseph Wakelee-Lynch about the upcoming season and what it takes to win a lot of games.
As the new head coach, you will be starting a new era with a young team. This coming season will be challenging, but what goals will you set for your team?
The goals are to be the hardest-practicing, hardest-working team in the conference and to play unselfishly and together. If you are the most unselfish team, the hardest-practicing team, the hardest-playing team, I think you’re going to win a lot of games.
You’re not dealing with just one season but laying a new foundation for a program. How do you do that?
You have to set the tone and the culture, setting a culture of winning. It goes back to my goals — to be the hardest-practicing, hardest-playing and most unselfish team in the league. You build around those three basic premises. If we are out-working everybody, if we are really sharing the ball and being unselfish, then things are going to happen. Wins aren’t really as important right now. Being competitive and setting the tone and setting the culture are more important than wins, especially when you’re trying to rebuild.
Obviously, we want to compete for the league championship. That’s never going to change. How realistic is that next year with the situation we’re in? I don’t know. That’s going to be a goal. We want to compete for the regular season championship. It’s always been my goal, in any league where I’ve ever coached.
What do you need to win a championship at LMU?
Good players. It all starts with players. Recruiting is the backbone of any team. My plan is to get good local players, recruit nationally from areas where we have contacts, recruit international players and get transfers. You bring in quality kids from those four areas, and go from there.
You just have to make sure that you’re getting the right kids who fit your culture, who have high character — kids who can play and who are going to come in and sacrifice and play winning basketball for the good of the team.
Also, the university has made a commitment to winning. We have brand new offices, and we’re going to have a brand new weight room and a brand new locker room. In terms of the West Coast Conference, we have a really good arena. I think students will pack it when we put good players out there.
Do you think LMU has a competitive advantage in recruiting?
Yes, any school in L.A. does. We have a beautiful campus. We’re right on the ocean, and we’re in a beautiful area. We have a great academic institution; it’s well-known. You can get a great degree here, and we’re offering athletic scholarships that are worth a lot of money. Those are all recruiting advantages.
Also, my connections to the NBA are an advantage. A lot of NBA players live here in Los Angeles in the off-season. The players we bring in to play against our team — Baron Davis or Paul Pierce — will help them get better. That’s a huge recruiting advantage that not a lot of schools have.
We’ve had some good success already. Larry Davis, who transferred here from Seton Hall University, and Drew Viney, who transferred from the University of Oregon, are good examples of our recruiting potential. Both of those guys were top 70 players in the country in high school. They were recruited by the Big East, the ACC and the Pac-10. We also signed LaRon Armstead, who was a first-team All-City selection at Fremont High School in Los Angeles. These are the type of guys that we can get.
You’ve taken teams to the NCAA tournament twice. Obviously, a team needs talent to get there. But what other qualities does a team need?
Stability. Having players who come here and grow and develop through the program over four years is real important.
You also have to talk about chemistry. Look at the mid-majors that have been successful. On paper they’re not as talented, but they have great chemistry and they do the things we talk about: They play hard, they play unselfishly, they play together and they share the ball. Chemistry is a mix of all of those things. It starts, first and foremost, with unselfishness.
You’ve worked for several excellent coaches. What have you learned from them?
You have to stay true to yourself. You can’t try to be anybody else, but you take bits and pieces from all them: consistent effort, different techniques. I learned so much from John Calipari when he was at the University of Massachusetts. I spent seven years with him. I spent a year with P.J. Carlesimo when he was at Seton Hall University. I spent a year with Larry Brown when he was at Kansas University. During the year that I worked with Brown, Gregg Popovich, coach of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, also was on the staff. I worked with Nate McMillan, at Portland. So, whether it’s drill work, philosophy, communication or motivational techniques, you take all of that and you stay true to yourself. I think players see that. They want a coach who is honest and able to be himself. That’s something I’ve always tried to do.
Last season, three WCC teams were invited to the NCAA tournament. Do you think the WCC is on the rise?
Absolutely. The league is getting stronger and stronger. My hope is that there might be five 20-game winners in this league. You might “beat each other up” during conference play, but if you win the majority of your non-conference games, and even if you do beat each other up, you still have a chance to have multiple teams in the NCAA and to have multiple 20-win teams. I think the league is headed in that direction.
What attracted you to LMU apart from the opportunity to lead the basketball program?
I left a great job. I was in an unbelievable organization with the Portland Trail Blazers: great general manager, great organization and great players. But I always said if I’m going to go back to college coaching, it would have to be with good people. As head coach, you’re here so much, 60-70 hours a week, that I didn’t want to be in a place that wasn’t comfortable, where there wasn’t that family atmosphere.
After my interviews for this job, I thought LMU had a family feeling. It just felt right. This is a place I can see myself retiring, if we get it done and succeed on the basketball court at the level that I think we can.
Men’s Basketball Home Schedule
Nov. 3
Hope International
Nov. 21 Notre Dame
Dec. 6
Wyoming (homecoming)
Dec. 15 UC Riverside
Dec. 20 Tulsa
Dec. 22 Mercer
Jan. 4
Cal State Bakersfield
Jan. 22 Portland
Jan. 24 Gonzaga
Feb. 7 Pepperdine
Feb. 12 San Diego
Feb. 14 Santa Clara
Feb. 26
San Francisco
Feb. 28 Saint Mary’s
March 6–9
WCC Tournament, Las Vegas, Nev.
For game times or more information, go to www.lmulions.com.
Bill Bayno talks about his goals for his inaugural season as men’s head basketball coach.
Bill Bayno, former assistant coach with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and former head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was hired as head coach of the men’s basketball team in April. He is known for his ability to improve his players’ skills and for teams with an up-tempo, hard-nosed style. Here Bayno talks with Joseph Wakelee-Lynch about the upcoming season and what it takes to win a lot of games.
As the new head coach, you will be starting a new era with a young team. This coming season will be challenging, but what goals will you set for your team?
The goals are to be the hardest-practicing, hardest-working team in the conference and to play unselfishly and together. If you are the most unselfish team, the hardest-practicing team, the hardest-playing team, I think you’re going to win a lot of games.
You’re not dealing with just one season but laying a new foundation for a program. How do you do that?
You have to set the tone and the culture, setting a culture of winning. It goes back to my goals — to be the hardest-practicing, hardest-playing and most unselfish team in the league. You build around those three basic premises. If we are out-working everybody, if we are really sharing the ball and being unselfish, then things are going to happen. Wins aren’t really as important right now. Being competitive and setting the tone and setting the culture are more important than wins, especially when you’re trying to rebuild.
Obviously, we want to compete for the league championship. That’s never going to change. How realistic is that next year with the situation we’re in? I don’t know. That’s going to be a goal. We want to compete for the regular season championship. It’s always been my goal, in any league where I’ve ever coached.
What do you need to win a championship at LMU?
Good players. It all starts with players. Recruiting is the backbone of any team. My plan is to get good local players, recruit nationally from areas where we have contacts, recruit international players and get transfers. You bring in quality kids from those four areas, and go from there.
You just have to make sure that you’re getting the right kids who fit your culture, who have high character — kids who can play and who are going to come in and sacrifice and play winning basketball for the good of the team.
Also, the university has made a commitment to winning. We have brand new offices, and we’re going to have a brand new weight room and a brand new locker room. In terms of the West Coast Conference, we have a really good arena. I think students will pack it when we put good players out there.
Do you think LMU has a competitive advantage in recruiting?
Yes, any school in L.A. does. We have a beautiful campus. We’re right on the ocean, and we’re in a beautiful area. We have a great academic institution; it’s well-known. You can get a great degree here, and we’re offering athletic scholarships that are worth a lot of money. Those are all recruiting advantages.
Also, my connections to the NBA are an advantage. A lot of NBA players live here in Los Angeles in the off-season. The players we bring in to play against our team — Baron Davis or Paul Pierce — will help them get better. That’s a huge recruiting advantage that not a lot of schools have.
We’ve had some good success already. Larry Davis, who transferred here from Seton Hall University, and Drew Viney, who transferred from the University of Oregon, are good examples of our recruiting potential. Both of those guys were top 70 players in the country in high school. They were recruited by the Big East, the ACC and the Pac-10. We also signed LaRon Armstead, who was a first-team All-City selection at Fremont High School in Los Angeles. These are the type of guys that we can get.
You’ve taken teams to the NCAA tournament twice. Obviously, a team needs talent to get there. But what other qualities does a team need?
Stability. Having players who come here and grow and develop through the program over four years is real important.
You also have to talk about chemistry. Look at the mid-majors that have been successful. On paper they’re not as talented, but they have great chemistry and they do the things we talk about: They play hard, they play unselfishly, they play together and they share the ball. Chemistry is a mix of all of those things. It starts, first and foremost, with unselfishness.
You’ve worked for several excellent coaches. What have you learned from them?
You have to stay true to yourself. You can’t try to be anybody else, but you take bits and pieces from all them: consistent effort, different techniques. I learned so much from John Calipari when he was at the University of Massachusetts. I spent seven years with him. I spent a year with P.J. Carlesimo when he was at Seton Hall University. I spent a year with Larry Brown when he was at Kansas University. During the year that I worked with Brown, Gregg Popovich, coach of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, also was on the staff. I worked with Nate McMillan, at Portland. So, whether it’s drill work, philosophy, communication or motivational techniques, you take all of that and you stay true to yourself. I think players see that. They want a coach who is honest and able to be himself. That’s something I’ve always tried to do.
Last season, three WCC teams were invited to the NCAA tournament. Do you think the WCC is on the rise?
Absolutely. The league is getting stronger and stronger. My hope is that there might be five 20-game winners in this league. You might “beat each other up” during conference play, but if you win the majority of your non-conference games, and even if you do beat each other up, you still have a chance to have multiple teams in the NCAA and to have multiple 20-win teams. I think the league is headed in that direction.
What attracted you to LMU apart from the opportunity to lead the basketball program?
I left a great job. I was in an unbelievable organization with the Portland Trail Blazers: great general manager, great organization and great players. But I always said if I’m going to go back to college coaching, it would have to be with good people. As head coach, you’re here so much, 60-70 hours a week, that I didn’t want to be in a place that wasn’t comfortable, where there wasn’t that family atmosphere.
After my interviews for this job, I thought LMU had a family feeling. It just felt right. This is a place I can see myself retiring, if we get it done and succeed on the basketball court at the level that I think we can.
Men’s Basketball Home Schedule
Nov. 3
Hope International
Nov. 21 Notre Dame
Dec. 6
Wyoming (homecoming)
Dec. 15 UC Riverside
Dec. 20 Tulsa
Dec. 22 Mercer
Jan. 4
Cal State Bakersfield
Jan. 22 Portland
Jan. 24 Gonzaga
Feb. 7 Pepperdine
Feb. 12 San Diego
Feb. 14 Santa Clara
Feb. 26
San Francisco
Feb. 28 Saint Mary’s
March 6–9
WCC Tournament, Las Vegas, Nev.
For game times or more information, go to www.lmulions.com.
