The Star Talks To Sidney Green: Runnin' Colonials' Coach
While undoubtedly he wishes this season's win-loss record were better, Sidney Green, the former N.B.A. power forward who began a basketball coaching career at Southampton College last year, is well pleased with his Runnin' Colonials.
"I teach not only basketball," he said during a conversation the other day, "but things outside the realm of basketball - things like responsibility, discipline, respect for yourself and others, how to prioritize your life."
"In other words, they've got to realize they're not here to play first and to study second. They're here to receive an education - that's number one," he said.
Off-Court Smarts
Last year's team, which, at 16-13, had the most wins in 23 years, was also a winner in the classroom, the imposing, affable Mr. Green pointed out, finishing with an aggregate 3.0 grade point average.
John Burke, the seven-foot, two-inch center, whose game soared under Mr. Green's tutelage, not only led the nation in blocked shots and was second in rebounds, but graduated with a 3.7. Kwane Thomas, the point guard, graduated with a 3.5.
Mr. Burke is now playing professionally in Germany, and, according to Mr. Green, "doing exceptionally well. I'm hoping to get him some tryouts with N.B.A. teams." Mr. Green has opened a dialogue between the N.B.A. and Mr. Thomas concerning a marketing position.
The Drive To Strive
This year's squad, which, at 6-11 in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference and 9-12 overall, is fighting to make the conference playoffs, "is a bunch of wonderful kids - very coachable," said Mr. Green. "I enjoy being around them - they're a joy to coach and teach."
Moreover, they sport an aggregate 2.7, and five players - Kevin Fleming, Paul and Nick Warywoda, Andrew Francis, and Noel Diaz - are on the honor roll, the coach was happy to report.
Mr. Green, who grew up on the mean streets of East New York, had, he said, "always been driven to be the best I could be," despite all. He expects his players give their all, as well, on and off the court.
Road Not Taken
"I could have gone either way," he said, recounting, apparently for the first time publicly, that his oldest brother, a disabled veteran, who had been like a father to him, had been murdered at the age of 29 when Mr. Green, then 17, was about to enter his senior year at Thomas Jefferson High School.
"He was set up - they thought he was carrying a government check. He wasn't - he was just minding his own business, going to the store. And the thing is," he said, shaking his head, "my brother was a person who would have given you his last dollar."
"I knew who they were," he continued, in reply to a question. "I wanted to kill the person who killed my brother. It's natural."
No Excuses
The three who had done it are now serving life sentences. "My brother's buried at Calverton cemetery," Mr. Green said. It's where I go when I want to get away. I go there and talk with him . . . he lives in me."
Given his brother's murder, his father's death the year before, and the fact that one of his brothers died of AIDS when Mr. Green was playing in the N.B.A., "When I hear people say they've got problems as a way of excusing themselves, it doesn't cut it with me. I've had a whole book of problems, but it didn't stop me from trying to reach my goals."
'The mind and body go hand in hand: If you're disciplined off the court, if you're learning and show up for class, you'll show up for practice.'
Mere ambition wasn't enough, he said, in answer to a question. "You must be willing to pay the price . . . . If you're a player, are you the last one to leave the gym? Are you the first one to arrive? In the summertime do you practice on improving your skills in the gym, or do you hang out, instead, at the beach? If we all were like that," he said, with a smile, "we'd all be all-Americans."
Better Opportunity
The "doubters," he added, simply fueled his fire. "To this day when I see them I shake their hands and thank them."
He hastened to add that he had at times fallen short of accomplishing the goals he had set for himself. In the N.B.A. he wasn't an all-star, nor had he played for a championship team. Nevertheless, "I kept working as hard as I could to be an all-star and to win a championship ring. I didn't put my head in the sand."
His brother's murder and the vengeful anger that it had stirred in him impelled Mr. Green, New York City's top player in 1979, to get far away from Brooklyn when it came time to pick a college. While John Thompson, who was beginning to build a program at Georgetown, had recruited him, Mr. Green saw "a better opportunity" with Jerry Tarkanian at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Until last year, when it was joined by the jerseys of Larry Johnson and Stacy Augmon, his had been the only number retired there.
Starting From Scratch
"U.N.L.V. was coming off probation, starting from scratch, when I got there - I like to think I paved the way for players like Larry Johnson, Stacy Augmon, and Armon Gilliam. It was the start of something really good, similar to what's going on here now."
"People thought I was nuts, crazy when I came here to take over a program that had been 6-21 the year before, that had no support in the community, and that was on a shoestring budget. But I knew what I was getting into. I hoped people would recognize my work ethic and my commitment to build a program."
As a coach, he said, he had been "very fortunate" to have played for some of the best, including Tarkanian, Rick Pitino, Tex Winter, Stan Albeck, and Chuck Daly.
Sponge's Sponge
Consequently, just as his players have been soaking up what he's imparted to them, he's been availing himself of the wisdom of Gil Reynolds, one of his assistants, the mentor of every great player to come out of Brooklyn, and Ken Hunter, who coached Southampton in its glory years.
He had invited Mr. Hunter aboard as a consultant at around the mid-season, said Mr. Green. "He loves the game and is full of knowledge. My players are like sponges when I'm coaching and teaching them - I wanted to be Ken Hunter's sponge."
He didn't want to imitate any particular coach, he added, but rather to assimilate the methods, strategies, and thoughts that resonated with him. "The Bulls wouldn't be where they are today if Phil Jackson didn't have Tex Winter as his assistant," Mr. Green noted. "I've been in basketball for 25 years and you'll never know it all."
Five P's
It is at the daily afternoon practice sessions that his philosophy and the team's response to it are most visible, said the 35-year-old coach, whose bonhomie, according to one campus observer, "is so infectious that even grumpy types respond warmly to him."
"If you really want to see how hard this team plays, come to one of our practices," said the coach. "They're open - just give us a call in advance."
He never talks about winning, he said. "Instead, I have four things I ask. One) Go out and play hard. Two) Play smart and together. Three) Show and prove to yourselves that you're the better-conditioned team, and Four) Go out and have fun. If you meet these criteria, the wins will come. Also, there are the four P's - five P's: pride, in your team, school, and in yourselves; passion; poise; preparation, which we do emphatically, and persistence."
Believe It
"Whenever you see our team, you can believe we'll play hard. You'll see a team that rebounds emphatically, that plays tough, tenacious defense, that cares for each other on and off the court, and shows loyalty, to each other and to the coaches."
Assuming they win all five of their remaining regular-season games, the Runnin' Colonials will finish at .500. In retrospect, had some of the players been overconfident in predicting when the season began a conference championship and even a trip to Louisville [for Division II's elite eight tournament]?
Mr. Green replied, "If people saw how hard these kids work in practice, they would not think they were being over-confident. We still believe that we can go to Louisville. That's been our goal, and is our goal. And it's a realistic goal because they've worked so hard."
On A Roll
All told, considering the progress that had been made in the past two years, "no matter what our record is this season, the program is still 110 percent better than what it was. We have an active booster club now, under Alan Ornstein, and the support of the community, the faculty, the administration, the students. . . . The money we've been raising is not only for basketball, but for the volleyball program, the soccer program, the softball program, and the women's program."
"We're going in the right direction. Teams are scouting us now. I guess we're doing something good. They never scouted us before, I've been told," he said with a smile.
John Stevens, the six-foot, eight-inch senior center/forward, the team leader in scoring (17 points per game) and rebounding (11 per game) had, although half a foot shorter, been "doing exactly what John [Burke] did for us last year," Mr. Green said. "He's started every game and has improved in every phase of it. He's able to carry us."
Work Ethic
Wally Midgley, an older sophomore, from Hawaii, a particular crowd favorite because of his fiery play, was "the heart of this team because of his work ethic. He plays with reckless abandon and is a full team player. He does the little things, boxes out, gets a lot of rebounds . . . he's a coach's joy."
"And don't forget Isaiah Russell [the senior six-four power forward]," Mr. Green said. "He's shooting close to 70 percent from the field" - one of the top percentages in the nation.
"He's unstoppable underneath. He's also very much of a team player. He's a good example of what I've been talking about: Work ethic and discipline were brand new to him [when he transferred to Southampton from Mercer Junior College in Trenton, N.J.]."
"He's so much different off the court now. His grades have improved tremendously. The mind and body go hand in hand: If you're disciplined off the court, if you're learning and show up for class, you'll show up for practice. That discipline will be reflected not only in your game, but in everything you do."