I was curious why Golwire wasn’t named captain, he seemed like an obvious choice. Maybe he wasn’t completely happy at Duke? If so, nothing wrong with that necessarily. You want every player to be happy obviously, but it’s not easy to have a roster of 12 or so players and have them all completely happy with playing time, roles, etc. even if they all buy in to the coaches vision.
Yup, I asked Nate about it during the season and he said, "the team knows who the captains are," which struck me as sorta odd. I asked K about it on a press conference late in the year and he talked about the "leadership teams" which he said is something that is fairly common in the business world. He is not incorrect about that, but it still strikes me as odd. I will be very interested in seeing if we see something like that again this year with no announced captains. If so, then it would appear that K has chosen a different way of handling the captain roles. But, if we see a return to announced captains then I think we can infer there was something about the upperclassmen on this year's team that did not lend itself to being acknowledged leaders.
As I said on the podcast when discussing this, there is nothing wrong with someone not being the type of person who is a leader. It is simply not part of the DNA and personality of everyone. I think this was the case with Goldwire in particular as his time in the program and role on the team would otherwise really lend itself to being named a captain.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Interesting issue. I had wondered all season about why no captains were appointed. IMO, it was because no one player fully met Coach K's team captain criteria and expectations.
Coach K's response confuses the issue. In industry, there are often multiple leaders, but the issue here is does management make one or more team member's leadership "official" by some title, such as captain. In the heat of battle leaders are empowered by having an official endorsement of their leadership.
And in multiple leadership situations, more often than not, some are more equal than others. Explicit or implicit hierarchies develop which determine relative authority when there is disagreement and/or urgent situations.
“I love it. Coach, when we came here, we had a three-hour meeting about the core values. If you really represent the core values, it means diving on the floor, sacrificing your body for your teammates, no matter how much you’re up by or how much you’re down by, always playing hard.” -- Zion
Also interesting is that I think in the military, there are well-defined "leaders" beginning at the top... not "leaders by committee" or "leadership teams". Seems out of step with this
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
I think I missed the memo. We didn’t have captains this year? Has this happened before?
Right, it doesn’t bestow executive authority, but it bestows personal leadership authority,which, though intangible, is real and powerful.
Those of us who have played team sports, and who have been captains, know that being a captain is not a trivial thing. Team members look up to you for guidance, correction and inspiration—IF they feel that you have earned it.
Also, it may be that Coach K does in fact bestow some tangible authority to his team captains.
“I love it. Coach, when we came here, we had a three-hour meeting about the core values. If you really represent the core values, it means diving on the floor, sacrificing your body for your teammates, no matter how much you’re up by or how much you’re down by, always playing hard.” -- Zion
Well, K is probably more astute than the players who chose captains when I played. We had captains, but when it was time for a player to take charge, as in "Coaches, will you leave the dressing room so the players can talk," it actually wasn't the captains who took over.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Dude, you need to listen to the DBR podcast. I discussed this extensively over the course of the season and frequently asked questions about it of Duke coaches during press conferences that I then played on the podcast.
I believe it was unprecedented at Duke to not have anyone formally named captain. Late in the season, K began referring to all the non-freshmen who were Duke returnees (Goldwire, Baker, Moore, Hurt) as the "leadership team" but none of them were formally named a team captain.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
“I love it. Coach, when we came here, we had a three-hour meeting about the core values. If you really represent the core values, it means diving on the floor, sacrificing your body for your teammates, no matter how much you’re up by or how much you’re down by, always playing hard.” -- Zion
Goldwire commits to Oklahoma. Good luck to him.
https://twitter.com/247Sports/status...65764526379012
"This is the best of all possible worlds."
Dr. Pangloss - Candide
Oklahoma is transfer central... they just got the Groves brothers over the weekend.
OU has a pair of PGs who could come back but probably won't.
Austin Reeves is in the NBA draft after averaging PTS 18.3, REB 5.5, and AST 4.6. His draft stock ain't too high but it seems like he wants to turn pro.
De'Vion Harmon was more of a combo guard but wants to go somewhere that he can play with the ball in his hands more. There's been talk linking him to Kentucky and he is also thinking about the NBA draft. He averaged 12.9 PTS, 3.4 REB, and 2.1 AST.
If either returns, then Jordan is likely looking at a backup kinda role but I think both are likely going elsewhere.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Thanks, Jordan, and best of luck in the future!
I have had some small business interests in Oklahoma. When we went to meet the people and close the deal about a decade ago we brought some managers, a lawyer and an accountant or two. No one except me and my majority partner had ever set foot inside the state. My partner was Air Force Academy and there's a lot of Air Force stuff in the state (Tinker AFB). I had family in the state (in-laws in Oklahoma City and Norman), but I wanted extra credit for having lived in Lawton OK -- on a farm, by God -- when Dad was stationed at Fort Sill. I got no credit because I was only 2 YO at the time -- but I tell you I remember many things clearly -- the only time I ever lived anywhere near a farm... cisterns. windmills, cornfields, pig sty, Guinea hens, plus "Calfie," my friend who I let out of the barnyard and my Dad had to chase down the highway.
It's a pretty different place. Good luck, Jordan!
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013