Friday, November 12, 1999
Bearcats learn to form bonds
Roundtable puts all eyes on word 'team'
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Kenyon Martin was skeptical. Kenny Satterfield was uncomfortable. Bob Huggins was worn out from an all-night flight. This is how the Cincinnati Bearcats arrived at the Mid-Court Roundtable: wishing to be anywhere else.
If someone asked the UC
players at that moment whether they'd rather talk about team issues or run suicide drills, they'd have had their Air Jordans laced up in an instant.
“We had our mindset that we didn't want to be there,” Martin said, “but once we got in there, it was cool. It lasted kind of long, but we made the best of it.”
UC is one of nearly a dozen college basketball teams — including UNLV, Clemson and California — that took part this fall in an innovative program constructed by sports psychologist Joseph Carr to help college players better understand themselves, their teammates and coaches and the pressures that could stand in the way of success.
Before practice began last month, the Bearcats went through several sessions through two and a half days. The goal was for team to conclude with a bond that hadn't existed.
“It was worth it, because you could see after that, we all came together as a team,” Satterfield said. “He just tried to make us get to know each other a little better before we started the season.”
Carr asked the Bearcats to consider a variety of different subjects and their consequences to the program:
• The pedestal. Athletes have to react to being viewed as celebrities. “Sometimes, these kids don't understand how big they are,” Carr said. “In a group setting, the veterans can share with the freshmen what it's like.”
• The family. Some players who are not accustomed to being in nuclear families are uncomfortable joining teams where the coaches apply rules and discipline.
• Sabotage. One of the more interesting exercises was
a “sabotage” fantasy, in which players were asked how they would go about undermining the team. The idea is to help players recognize behavior that might be damaging and avoid it.
• Predators. It's not uncommon for players to be approached by people who suddenly want to be their friends.
An adjunct to that category is “girlfriends and agents,” Carr said. “Some kids don't know about agents, and some don't know how girls may come at them.”
• Playing time. “Some kids come into the college arena having been the best players on their team, and some of these guys are not going to be starters,” Carr said.
Forward Pete Mickeal, who spent two seasons as a junior college star before joining the Bearcats, admits, “I've never not played.” But he presented a compelling theory on how to cope with that eventuality.
“What I told him was, you've got to find out what the coaches need, and then you have to be able to go out there and do that,” Mickeal said.
The coaches are asked to attend because they may learn from what they hear. For instance, the coaches may perceive a player to be a natural leader but discover his teammates don't trust him.
“Players bring roadblocks into programs,” Carr said. “If the coaches can see the roadblocks in the roundtable, they might be able to tap into the kid in a way they otherwise might not.”
The UC athletic department frequently brings in speakers to address the Bearcats on subjects such as drugs, alcohol, gambling.
“But it's more of a lecture,” Huggins said. “You don't get the interaction he was able to bring out. He's really big on trust, depending on each other.”
Based in Newark, Del., Carr played at Sacramento State and earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Washington State. Carr specialized in sports psychology and eventually, with Oscar Robertson and Bob Dandridge, helped develop a player support program for the NBA in the mid-1980s.
He developed this program for colleges only recently.
“We keep it simple, keep it practical, but at the same time keeping it close to where they live,” Carr said.
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