First-year Houston High School boys’ basketball coach Richard Rose says the technical aspect of the game can wait for now. His immediate focus for his program is a mental and culture change.
“When it comes to fight or flight, we’re in the flight mode every time,” said Rose, who inherited a team that went 4-19 last year. “When things are hard, a majority of us want to find a way to make it super easy or I’m going to quit. Whenever I see that, we address it immediately.
“There’s got to be a point when we hit the wall and break through it –– we don’t try to find a way around the wall or walk the other direction.”
The program desperately needs a break through. The Tigers last won a conference title in 1989. The last district championship came 28 years ago. Houston’s latest struggles include six coaches in seven years and seven combined wins the past two seasons.
Rose has spent the practices leading up to Tuesday’s season opener at Mansfield attempting to exorcise the struggles that have haunted the program.
“I think I’ve established in their heads that if you practice losing, you’re going to get pretty good at it,” Rose said. “You practice losing by giving 50 percent or pacing yourself during drills. We need to practice winning. Winners prepare to win. They know what they have to give to win a game, and they give it now.”
Rose, a 2012 Lindenwood University graduate, was a prolific scorer as a player. He became the fourth player in school history to surpass 1,500 points and helped lead Lindenwood to a school-record 29 wins his senior season and the program’s first-ever victory in the NAIA Division I National Tournament.
His foundation as a first-time coach, though, will be on the defensive end.
Rose’s practices begin with defensive drills. Lots of them. He preaches active feet, intensity, talking and being a teammate on defense.
Rose said the Tigers will play a “pack line defense.” It’s a man-to-man look that emphasizes helping each other. He wants to eliminate layups and points in the paint and force teams to take contested jump shots.
“There may be situations where we could go to a zone defense and win, but we want them to learn a zone isn’t going to bail them out,” Rose said. “We want to win ballgames playing man. If we want to win conference and district championships, a zone isn’t going to cut it.
“We’re going to stay in games because we can play defense. It will be an ongoing process year to year –– not just practice to practice.”
Houston returns three starters from last year’s team. Weston Walker, the team’s lone senior, will start at point guard. He is joined in the backcourt by junior Devin Coulter. He and fellow junior Aaron Cantrell, who will start in the frontcourt, have been varsity starters since their freshman seasons.
Tanner Smith, Devin Garrett, Nathaniel Alkire and Nathan Poynter will provide backcourt depth. Garrett and Alkire have both been dealing with injuries.
The frontcourt is anchored by sophomore Kolby Walker and Cantrell. Freshman Keegan Spurlin will come off the bench.
With little depth, Rose said conditioning will be a key, especially for his starters.
“I’d love for our first three or four guys to be conditioned enough to be on the floor a majority of the game if I need them,” he said.
Houston’s offensive approach will change under Rose. Last season, with Tom Brown at the helm, the Tigers took the first open shot. Many of them were 3-pointers.
Rose said the first option in his motion offense that features backscreens will be a layup. The second option is also a layup. The third is an open jumpshot.
“Something I’ve noticed we have struggled with since the first day is offensive discipline,” Rose said. “We take care of the ball for two minutes, which is great because we couldn’t do that when we started, then it turns into, ‘Well, I’ve had it for two minutes, so I’m going to shoot the ball.’ If we can take care of it for eight minutes and take the last shot, that’s what we’re going to do. It’s a mindset that’s very hard to get, but for a team like us, we need it.”
Rose said he hopes to develop a tradition in Houston similar to the one he grew up with in Troy. He said being part of the boys’ basketball team was ‘special’ and carried responsibilities off the court related to grades, the community and interacting with others. That transitioned to effort and focus on the floor.
“There’s a scenario I see where we don’t win a game and I see it as a successful season. And there’s a scenario where we win every game and state, and I see it as not successful at all,” Rose said. “It’s ultimately their mentality and how they go about doing things –– whether it’s on the court or in the classroom.
“If we’re preparing our best and going out and giving our best, that’s how I’m going to ultimately gauge our success. I’ll be able to tell if we’re doing our best.”
Nov. 27 at Mansfield
Dec. 3 Mansfield Tourn.
Dec. 10 Norwood JV Tourn.
Dec. 11 Stoutland
Dec. 14 at Plato
Dec. 17 Alton
Dec. 26 Cabool Tourn.
Jan. 10 at Summersville
Jan. 11 at Ava
Jan. 14 Liberty Tourn.
Jan. 22 Licking
Jan. 24 Seymour
Jan. 25 at Hartville
Jan. 28 Licking JV Tourn.
Jan. 29 at Willow Spgs
Feb. 1 at Salem
Feb. 5 Mtn. Grove
Feb. 8 Thayer
Feb. 12 Liberty
Feb. 15 Cabool
All regular-season games begin at 6 p.m.