December 26, 2006
Meet Lou Richie
Lou Richie, former Bishop O’Dowd standout, UCLA walk-on, Clemson starting point guard, Triple Threat Basketball Academy co-founder, Oakland Soldiers head coach, Bishop O’Dowd assistant coach and vice principal at St. Lawrence O’Toole School, is someone well worth engaging. So we did just that recently.
Q: You have a bit of a different take about what’ easier to teach, physical development or basketball skills development. You come down on the side of physical development. Can you elaborate?
Lou: When I was younger, there was Dr. J, David Thompson, Jordan a bit later, but just a few so-called human highlight film players. Now, there are six or seven guys on every NBA team who are extremely athletic, ones who can be featured nightly on ESPN’s SportsCenter highlights. Kids nowadays want to become more athletic and don’t particularly care about practicing how not to travel--but they are interested in how to dunk like LeBron James. Ask them to choose between learning the correct form on a jumpshot or how to windmill dunk and the choice will be the latter most of the time. Plus, with basketball skills, kids tune out coaches at some point--usually much, much earlier than they do if you’re working with them on how to improve their vertical. Increasing physical skills, like basketball skills, takes tremendous patience and discipline but it just appears easier for kids to be patient with this. Kids want to be more athletic where as how many of them really want to be more skilled or see the advantage of it? Take lifting, you feel the burn and have some muscle soreness the next day--it’s an immediate payoff--not so with working on mastering a drop step. Another factor is there are less people, especially in high school nowadays, who are qualified to teach basketball skills. Coach Phelps (Richie’s coach at Bishop O’Dowd) actually preferred non-athletic teams because those players would listen more.
Q: There sure seems to be a lot more transfers, especially in college basketball, than ever before. Why is that?
Lou: Recently, some people were talking about how former Northern California standouts DeMarcus Nelson (a junior at Duke) should transfer and Quentin Thomas (a junior at North Carolina) should depart Chapel Hill. Life is full of trials and tribulations but sticking things out, fulfilling a committment is important. It demonstrates character.
Q: What would you suggest that parents do to aid their children if the kids display early athletic promise?
Lou: First, map out a plan but be sure to make the kid part of it. Then find people you can trust who can help. It’s the same as locating a good teacher or mechanic or money manager--you want someone with integrity. Also, it’s a fine line but parents can become over-involved. The bottom line is all decisions need to be embraced by everyone. What kids should do is focus on their basketball skill development, hit the weights and run the track, seek out better competition and watch as much film as possible. I wish I had done more film when I was in college. To me, being successful is defined as opportunity and hard work divided by focus. There is always someone else who is bigger, better and faster and using this formula provides a way for continual improvement.
Q: We hear the term ‘basketball IQ’ thrown around. What’s that mean?
Lou: Nobody starts at a level playing field. Cory Higgins (a standout guard at Monte Vista High in Danville and son of former NBA player and current Golden State Warriors official Rod Higgins) has a high basketball IQ. USF’ Armondo Surratt (two relatives of his played college basketball) does too. Coaches sons typically are described this way. It involves immersing yourself in basketball, watching tape over and over, viewing instructional videos, playing against better players, picking up details by both playing and watching, and correcting errors so you commit them just once. It’s similar to court awareness--demonstrating anticipation, predicting what an opponent will do, understanding tendencies, knowing what will happen next before it takes place. It has nothing to do with physical skills--it’s mental, it’s awareness.
Q: What about going to a game and seeing the same error take place again and again?
Lou: Smart players learn from getting beaten. All players gets tired at some point and the first thing to go on the court is a players vision. Then it’s hearing. The brain just doesn’ process as usual when fatigue sets in. That’s why good practice habits are so important. After a miscue, you can make an excuse, or pout, or correct it. I always stress listen, interpret and apply. Put that into practice.
Q: How did you get to where you are today (when we were conducting this discussion, Richie received phone calls from recognizable professional, college and high school individuals)?
Lou: After leaving Clemson and working in the business world, I got involved with a relative and a friend to provide a place for kids to play at in the summer. It’s just grown from there. Tony Freccero (a friend and also a Bishop O’Dowd graduate) and I opened up The Triple Threat Academy to help kids develop their basketball skills and also deal with aspects of their lives (professionals from all walks of life are brought in as speakers). This past summer, I had 15 kids showing up at 7 am to run the lake (Lake Merritt). I work with college players from St. Mary’s, USF, Cal, Stanford, San Jose State, Merritt JC and Holy Names during the summer because their coaches know I don’t lie to the kids. I’m dependable and I’m not one of those guys telling the kids that they need to put up more shots. My dad always told me that coaches are the most important and influential people in the world. I want to do this until the day I die.