by Wayne23 » Fri May 13, 2016 4:43 pm
1/1/’36: Ray Ratso, San Francisco Examiner: And a happy New Year to all of you out there in the Bay Area. As you know we have been following the story of the first woman to coach a men’s team in a major Division I sport. Rhoda Chayne Cox has exceeded all expectations so far. She has the Cornell Big Red at 10-3 going into Ivy League play. The “experts” would probably have had it at 3-10. Cornell was predicted to finish 7th in the 8 team Ivy. I’m guessing they will contend for the title. Just as an aside we are saddened that the first woman coach, etc., etc., etc., is coaching for a team with the nickname Big Red. How unfortunate!
Coach Cox (Speaking of unfortunate!) will not be at Cornell for more than 2-3 seasons before some genius A. D. at a mid-major will snap her up. 3-5 years after that we predict she will be coaching at an elite program. You heard it here first.
1/4: Rhoda: We open Ivy play at home with Harvard. A back and forth 1st half ended 33-30. 6 points was the most that ever separated the two teams. +5 RBs, +4 TOs. Jay had 11, Cris West 9, and they combined for 2 TOs. Teams have been doubling Rob Rain down low. Kip Hill took advantage, but none of our other bigs did.
At the half we talked about how to make Harvard pay for the inside double on Rain, and we made the usual decision to play tougher D and use a more pressure.
Harvard wouldn’t go away. 61-58 at the buzzer. And yes, for the entire game there was never a time when more than 6 points separated the two teams. The crowd was a factor. They were LOUD!
+5 TOs, +4 RBs. Team effort, West and Alan had 13 each, Rain had 12. Kip Hill probably had the best game, 11 and 10. Craig Tice was our only contributor from the bench. We need more from there.
On the road with 8-6 Penn next. They’re as good as anybody in the league.
“Gary Gray, EPSN sports. We are remote with Jay Alan and Rob Rain of the 11-3 Big Red of Cornell after a gutsy win over Harvard in front of a crazy home crowd. Guys, both of you were here last year when the crowds averaged about 350. How does it feel to play in front of a crowd like that, 4500 screaming fans cheering everything you do. Jay?”
“It’s a dream come true. I’m a junior. Playing here last eyar and the year before was NOT fun. This year it’s awesome.”
“Rob Rain. Coach Cox kind of discovered you, maybe reinvented you. Tell us about that.”
“She made me believe in myself. At the beginning of the summer, and right into early fall, I was still struggling. She’d say things like, ‘You can do this, Rain,’ and, ‘Work harder. Some beautiful things are about to happen.’”
“And?”
“And I trusted her, and I worked harder than I thought I could work, and some beautiful things have happened.”
“Jay, does she call all of you by your last name?”
“Unless she’ pissed at us, yeah.”
(laughter) “How is that?”
“She explained that it’s easier. Unless you have two guys with the same last name it’s just easier. There are a lot of Jays and Robs, not so many Rains and Alans. It’s cool.”
“So here’s the question you knew was coming. What’s it like playing for a woman? Rob?”
“She taught me so much, practically from day one, that I really never gave it much thought. She’s the coach. She kicks butt, asks for a lot, yells sometimes- that’s what coaches do. BUT, she knows how to make you believe in yourself and believe in her.”
“Jay?”
“I was skeptical at first. Tell you the truth my bags were packed. But man, she sold me. And it didn’t take long. It was clear early on that she knew her stuff. She was a great communicator. She didn’t just kick your butt, she explained what you were doing wrong and demonstrated how to fix it. She is easily the best coach I’ve ever played for.”
“I hear not everyone is on board. Jay”
“There are two guys. They didn’t play last year. They aren’t playing this year. They complain, and frankly, they don’t work very hard. I’m guessing she cuts them in the spring.”
“I hope she does. They’re trouble.”
“Everybody else is with the program?”
“I think so. I haven’t heard a word about her except the usual stuff guys say about every coach. What about you, Jay.”
“That’s right, Rob.”
“Guys, I appreciate it. Continued success ahead!”
1/7: Rhoda: 34-24 at the half. +7 RBs, -4 TOs. Held them to 31% from the field, 0-9 on threes. Great bench play from Tice and Mills. Inside starters each have 3 fouls. But, you know the drill!
70-61. Big win! We led for the last 38 ½ minutes. -8 TOs, but +14 RBs. 25, 10, 5 from the bench. It’s been a focus at practice.
Jay Alan is a frustration. He and Rob are our most consistent scorers, but Jay is terrible with the ball. I’ve worked the lineup so that he is never at PG but he’s still averaging 5.1 TOs per game. No clue how to fix it without taking away from his 13.7 PPG, and Ivy leading 4.7 assists PG. Maybe we just need to let it be.
We’re at 12-3. The last time Cornell won 12, and it was exactly 12, was 2029-’30. The time before that? 2022-’23? The last time we won more than 12? 2017-’18. RPI is #45.
At 10-5 Columbia next.
1/11: Rhoda: A battle! 30-33 at the half. 13 lead changes, never more than 6 points between us. Stats are pretty even.
At the beginning of the half we give guys a chance to rehydrate, and to pee if they need to, while my bench coach, Ken Maso and I, and Dee and Ted too, if they’re here (Dee almost always is. With Ted it depends on whether he’s on the road recruiting.) discuss what adjustments we’re going to make. Then we spend 5-7 minutes talking to the guys, and send them back out to shoot. It is counterproductive to tell them too much. It becomes a blur to them. This is NOT because they’re stupid, which they are NOT. It’s because basketball is about reaction. I don’t want too many things on their minds; just the things that need to be there.
Teams are doubling Rob when he gets the ball and it’s working. We’ve been working on him kicking it back out quickly so we can then find the open guy on the opposite side of the blocks. It’s getting better but we’re not there yet; Rob is tending to foul when he’s doubled. We’ll fix it.
Basketball is a chess game. One coach does something, the other reacts, and it’s back and forth. I’m going to do this one thing ‘til the other coach figures how to stop it; then I’ll do something else.
Back and forth, back and forth, and they hit a 3 at the buzzer to send it to OT. We have two guys who have fouled out; they have three.
Jay Alan hit a 3 at the OT buzzer to send it to a 2nd OT. Both sides are running out of players due to fouls.
They outlasted us, 87-79. Our shots didn’t drop in the 2nd OT; theirs did.
+12 RBs, but -13 TOs. Iron man work for Hill, West (46 min.!), Kraft and Mills. We lost Rain, Kraft, and Tice to fouls and it was too much to overcome. Hill led us with 16 and 10. Mick Bird got some minutes and he looked good.
The babies are staring to do a little more than sleep, cry, and poop. They smile, seem to recognize us. In a couple of months they’ll be doing lots of stuff, but every day is a good day. Daisy and I do NOT like being away from them, but nothing can be done about that. Sandy is doing a terrific job.
So we lost in double OT, on the road, to the only undefeated team in the Ivy.
6-10 Princeton next, here.
1/14: Rhoda: Another sellout crowd, behind us all the way. 52-39 at the half and the crowd was WILD!!! +12 RBs and only 6 TOs. 18 for Rob Rain. At the half I told them I wanted more D but I couldn’t fault the O.
92-74 at the end. It was never a contest. +15 RBs. 25 and 7 for Rob; his best in a while. 16, 12, 3, 2 for Tice, 15, 3, 5, 1, 3 for Alan.
Columbia lost so we’re in a 4 way tie for 1st.
At 7-10, 3-1 Yale next.
1/18: Rhoda: 32-40 at the half, and I am NOT pleased! Our D was for sh*t and we didn’t rebound. I let my guys know how I felt before sending them to pee and eat oranges.
Cris West had 13, but he picked up his 4th foul on a reach in, in the last minute. Stupid! We showed no inside game. We’re going inside in the 2nd half and we’d damn well better rebound!
I told Mick Bird that I needed good minutes from him with West in foul trouble.
Nothing worked for a good part of the 2nd half.
64-70 at the end. We came back, but not enough. RBs were definitely better; TOs were not. We lost the game at the line. Rain had 16, 8, Tice 9, 5, 1, 4. No one else did much.
Practice will be … intense for the next few days.
1/21: Rhoda: Brown is next, here. Worst team in the Ivy. 43-31 at the half. We’re committing too many fouls, which has been an issue lately.
72-56, but it wasn’t that close. +12 RBs. 8 and 13 for Jed Kraft, 12, 6, 2 for Kip Hill.
At 12-7, 4-2 Dartmouth next. This is the toughest remaining road game.
1/25: Rhoda: 29-29 at the half. +10 RBs, -3 TOs. Tice and West are leading us.
Tighter D in the 2nd half did the trick, 72-62. +27 RBs, which is pretty amazing! 13, 11 for Tice, 12, 11 for Kraft, 11, 6, 2 for West, 8, 9 for Rain. Good bench play.
15-5, 5-2. Jed Kraft stubbed a toe. He’ll be a little bit hobbled for about a week.
At 8-12 Harvard. We won by only 3 at our place. 3 point D hurt us.
1/28: Rhoda: 41-37 at the half. Stats very similar. We shot a little better.
Horrible 2nd half. 68-83. 13 TOs in the 2nd half. The D was all but non-existent.
1/29: Rhoda. Yep, Ryan Tens didn’t hit our score. Missed it by 20 points. Arrrggghhh! We offer to a PF.
Hannah Rice, our A. D., called me into her office. She told me that after this year I could only go after jucos and transfers with a 2.8 GPA or better. I get that. I’m glad I had one year to get the best players I could though.
Oh, I haven’t talked about endorsement opportunities. EVERYBODY wanted me to endorse their product or service. I could have made millions. I DID make millions, but I only took on two endorsements: 1. Toyota Talon Hybrid, because I actually drive one and love it. Good size car and 88 mpg. 2. Planned Parenthood spokesperson, because why wouldn’t I? The former made me a very rich woman. The second was just because it was the right thing to do.
“Gary Gray, EPSN Sportschat. Rhoda Cox and her Cornell men’s hoop team are sitting one game back of first in the Ivy League, at 15-6, 5-3, and with a very favorable schedule for their last 6 regular season games. Here’s retired men’s Hall of Fame coach Artie Arnett. Artie, what about the job Rhoda’s doing?”
“Hard to find fault. Everybody knew she could coach but man, what a turnaround for the team.”
“Can she recruit, Artie?”
“Remains to be seen. She had two great looking guys but one of them didn’t hit the SAT score. She seems to be in the running for three guys, and rumor has it that she’s going to open two more spots. She needs to land some guys to keep this good start coming.”
“Has her gender hurt her?”
“You know, I thought it would. I don’t see that it has. Refs seem to treat her the way they treat the men. She can be in the ref’s face, but she’s always known how far to push. I think she’s only been T’d up twice all season. Hell, that was a week’s worth for me!”
“Bobby Knight III said there’s no place for a woman coach in men’s hoops.”
“Consider the source- and the family history.”