Trojans basketball coach Marc Urban: Altered approach to coaching forced by in-season addition of Bradly Basila ‘a blessing in disguise’

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Late basketball great Bill Walton’s meanderings to Grateful Dead talk while announcing college basketball games didn’t float everybody’s boat, but those who kept their hands off the remote eventually were treated to insight on the methods of the consensus choice as the greatest basketball coach of all-time.
John Wooden, who grew up on a farm in Hall, 30 minutes southwest of Indianapolis, was an All-American basketball player at Purdue and coached UCLA to 10 national championships.
During at least one broadcast, probably more than one because he wasn’t bashful about telling Wooden stories, Walton said that while dressing for games the players would send a team manager to buy a program so that they could find out what team they were playing.
Walton was exaggerating to make a point, but even Wooden himself said that to his knowledge he spent less time scouting opponents than any other coach. He believed that practice time was better spent making his team a little better every day.
“I wanted our team to concentrate on what we could do,” Wooden was quoted as saying.
Chesterton ninth-year coach Marc Urban and his assistant coaches still scout the opposition, but not as much time has been devoted to that aspect of preparing for an opponent as in years past.
That didn’t happen because of any desire on Urban’s part to become more like Wooden. It happened out of necessity.
For the first time in his coaching career, Urban had to figure out how to best blend a 15-year-old, French-speaking, midseason addition. Belaboring every potential breath taken by the next opponent wouldn’t leave enough time for that, so Urban learned he needed to alter his approach at some point after 6-foot-7 freshman Bradly Basila arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sometimes coaches need to coach themselves, and not all coaches are too stubborn to realize that.
“We’ve put a lot more focus on us than our opponents these last couple of weeks and I think that has helped us grow,” Urban said. “We’ve had to get Bradly up to speed and have been teaching him things, so we’ve had to focus on us, but I think that it’s been kind of a blessing in disguise. I think it’s made us better each day by going about it that way.”
Tracking Basila’s steady progress since he made his debut in a home loss to Lake Central on Jan. 31 has made for a fascinating subplot to a Chesterton season that continues Friday in a sectional semifinal vs. Portage at Valparaiso for a 6 p.m. tip.
Intriguing pieces, such as a leaping ability, speed, quick feet and dribbling skill, were evident in Basila from the start, but initially he looked like what he was, a newcomer trying to figure out where he should be when. He still can look sped up at times, but from game to game, his improvement is noticeable.
So far, his two best contributions have been in areas that the Trojans needed to upgrade before his arrival: rebounding and drawing fouls. Basila’s leaping ability, quickness and non-stop motor make him a prolific rebounder. His quick footwork leaves defenders out of place and leads to fouls. He seems to get slapped a lot on his long arms when going up for shots. His 3.4 free throws attempted per game ranks first on the team.
Basila has worked his way into the starting lineup, has started four of his eight games, and leads the team in rebounding (5.1) despite playing limited minutes in early games. His 8.1 scoring average ranks third on the team behind Logan Pokorney (15.2) and Jaylon Watts (10.4).
“I think he’s understanding more and more of what we’re doing, and I think us watching film individually really helps him because we can kind of slow it down,” Urban said. “I think the guys are understanding how to play with him as well, where early there was a newness to it, and we just had to keep playing through it. I think he’s done a really good job of picking up on a lot of stuff that we’ve done.”
Urban consistently has praised Basila’s attitude and teammates marvel at his ability to learn at such a rapid rate in a second language.
“To come in and not know a lot of English, to come in and do what he’s done, he’s been doing very well,” Watts said. “And he’s only 15. It’s crazy.”
Urban has a similar take on Basila.
“Bradly’s been great,” Urban said. “He keeps getting better by the day. We’re going to need a lot out of him, but we’re going to need a lot out of everybody Friday if we’re going to have a chance to win it.”