My apologies for editing your response in quote. I did it to emphasize the huge points that you made..... Mainly, the first line of your quote above. If I am watching a top notch coach develop a team and he says "that's good enough" I know to pack a lunch if I have to face him/her. For what it's worth, that's over 10 years of tourney trail experience, just in recent history alone, that I'm speaking from. That coach will not have the strongest or the fastest team in the mix. But I assure you they will often beat many teams who are obviously stronger and/or faster. Why? Because they have learned to make the most out of what some perceive as less. Learning to coach a team of consistent players who work well together is usually more rewarding (pays bigger dividends) than coaching a lot of very strong, fast players who do not work as well together. Learning how to overcome getting pushed around while still moving the chains on the ground will make you a better coach down the road. If you can learn to be successful with "less than" then being successful with personnel upgrades is going to be easy.... Almost like stealing.

Shabby J - I don't think anyone is or ever will belittle how important tweaking is. As The Tweak Freak I will defend you and it to the bitter end. But it is what it is. That being it is a very important PART of the puzzle to solve. Not the ONLY or most important part on its own. It's obvious that even the best coaches among us will have severe problems coaching a lot of crap players. What I am saying is, using that same crap team, those same coaches will be more successful than those who do not coach as well.

In short, two things.... You can't coach no talent very well. And tweaking is one of the legs that holds up the table. If it were the be all, end all for success... (1) The best tweakers among us would rarely ever lose when their fine china hit the field. (2) I've rarely witnessed the strongest or the fastest team win a championship in the bigger venues. And when they do it is almost always by a coach who coulda woulda done it with or without... they've won in the past when they were not the fastest, strongest team amongst the field.

Things to consider are, most of us already had a play book in mind somewhere along the line before we started utilizing the pliers. Most of us are already doing, to some degree or another, what I described.... Even if we don't realize it or perceive it that way. Lastly, and probably most important, learning to use "lesser talent" (not no talent) forces you to do things you would overlook if you just bullied or swept your way down the field. You are forced to be creative to overcome your team's "deficits." Short term, you WILL take some lumps. Long term, you WILL become a more well-rounded and knowledgeable coach. Later, when you add a few or more well fit superstars to that team, you will find it easier to execute what you have learned.

I have a million and one analogies that support and help explain this. But this post is beyond long enough already. So I'll spare y'all the additional eye strain for now.

-Mike Pratt