The state of the Railers

[MAY 11, 2000]  Many people believe that boys high school basketball is a short season. To them the basketball year starts around Thanksgiving time and ends in the beginning of March. But to the initiated, the basketball season is much longer. Some argue that it is too long, while others say if you want to improve you have to be playing. I once asked current Illini head coach, Lon Kruger, what his thoughts were on the subject. I figured he’d be a reasonable voice on the matter because he has a son who plays high school basketball. So I stupidly asked Coach Kruger, don’t you think the basketball season is too long? And don’t you think all these summer leagues and tournaments are overkill, leading to kids getting burned out? His reply was, "No, I don’t think so. What do you think the kids in Indiana and Michigan are doing this summer. They’re getting better." Apparently Lincoln head coach Neil Alexander subscribes to Kruger’s theory, because he never seems to take a break. He’s always working, striving to make his Railers better. Maybe that’s why his teams have averaged 20 wins a year for an amazing 10 years straight. I caught up with Coach Alexander in his gym-side office to get his take on the current state of the Railers.

Q: The Railer program never sleeps. What's happening at this time of year?

A: It is about as active as it usually is in the spring. A lot of kids are doing other things. We do have some kids in the gym playing every day. We do have kids involved in weightlifting during their physical education classes, because I think they all know that it is important for them to get bigger and stronger. They also need to work on their game and to improve it as much as they can to allow us to compete at the level that we want to compete at.

Q: I know that this year is unique in that you are not losing as many people to graduation as you normally would. Tell us a little about that.

A: Well, you're right... We will have almost everyone back. We do lose a lone senior in Mike Lee. He was an important leader to our basketball team. He worked hard. Mike was in the gym all summer striving to get better. We will miss his leadership.

Q: In that case, Coach, you know who we're going to have back next year. What kinds of things do you want the players to be working on now?

A: Well, the kinds of things they need to be working on now are individual skills and individual moves. They need to be working on their shot, especially the mechanics of shooting, and on their footwork. They need to improve in all of these areas in order for the team to step up. Coach Eric Ewald and I have decided, rather than having them try to improve their overall game, that we would pick out four areas that need specific attention. We want to put an emphasis on these specific areas. We think if we can get that kind of focus, that we can really improve before next season gets here, and that will make us a better team.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish during the summer months?

A: Well, one of the things that the IHSA has done is to let the coaches coach during the summer. That rule has not been in effect in the past. That will help our program tremendously. It will help all teams who are involved in a summer program. You like to take a group – like, say, last year's sophomores – and make the summer almost like another season for them. They gain experience, they get a lot of playing time, and they learn to play defense and how to execute the offense. They learn the things that need to be done to make our team better. You really find out how hard kids want to work in situations like these. The ones who want to put in the time and the hard work are the ones you usually see playing come wintertime. I am not opposed to a kid playing more than one sport – some may even play two or three sports. It just takes so much time to be good at any one sport that society has forced changes in how kids approach their sports involvement. Some kids enjoy football, some kids enjoy basketball, and some kids enjoy baseball or track or whatever sport you want to name. Kids are now forced, if they want to compete at a high level, to spend a majority of their time in their sport of choice to make themselves better.

Q: Coach, tell us about your summer league.

A: We run a summer league here at the high school. We schedule it two nights a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It'll start on about May 30, and it will run until about July 13. We have approximately 20 different teams that will be playing a full schedule and there will be another eight to 10 teams that will come in to play from time to time. It is really a good league, and everyone usually has a pretty good time. Sometimes there are as many as 15 games a night out here. You can browse the summer league schedule on our Web site at www.railerbasketball.org. There is a link to click on that will give you the whole summer league schedule. You can see who's playing on a certain night and at what time. We encourage all basketball fans to come out and enjoy some summer hoops. There is no charge for the summer league games. Many come out and see how hard these kids work and how good the basketball is in the central part of our state. There are a few other leagues around the area, but not all that many. Up around Chicago and in the surrounding suburbs, they have the fall leagues, summer leagues and even the spring leagues. During the winter is when they just happen to play their regular schedule. I think they have a lot of kids who only play basketball up in that area.

Q: What about the tournaments that the Railers participate in?

A: We play in the tournament at Peoria Richwoods June 9-11. They will have about 32 teams in that tournament from all over the state of Illinois. In fact, all the tourneys that we play in are very competitive. On July 6 and 7 we will play in a tourney in Jacksonville, and on the 15th and 16th of July we will participate in the Morris Shootout. We will then go to Murray State University in Murray, Ky., to play in the Steamboat Classic. That tourney will be held from the 27th-30th of July, and it includes teams from across the country. There are many nationally ranked teams in that tourney and we have fared well against most of them. We have a lot of success down there with the type of defense that we play. Teams don't attack our defense if they haven't seen it before, and they just don't know what to do with it. It's a good checkpoint for us at that place in time to see how we are progressing. We see how far along the kids are with their skills. It just takes a lot of work to be a good basketball player or to be a good basketball team. I think the people of Lincoln expect to have a top-notch program. And the only way you're going to be at that level is to compete against those types of teams.

Q: Coach I know that next season's schedule is now final. How does it shape up for the Railers?

A: We had changes on it and it is not on our Web site as of yet, but it will be before too long. By the way, while we're on that subject, we will be adding a lot of new features to our site that will make it even more interesting than it already is. You might want to keep checking in on our site to see all the developments that are in store. As far as the schedule goes, we have added Lockport High School, and that game will be played on January 20, and it will be the only non-conference home game of the year. Non-conference games on the road will be played at Peoria Manual, Peoria Richwoods and at Centralia. As you can see, our non-conference schedule will be very strong. This year we will not play Jacksonville at home during Central State Eight conference play. We are adding an exciting new feature to the schedule. We will play them on January 23 at the convention center in Springfield. Once again, we will be playing in the Bloomington holiday tournament over the Christmas holidays. That tournament will feature All-American Eddie Curry and a host of other good players and great teams. Our tournament at the beginning of the year has changed a little bit. Over the years, it has been a very competitive and exciting tournament. This year we've invited Rockford Guilford, Rockford Jefferson, Danville, Pontiac, Bartonville-Limestone and ourselves. It will be a six-team round robin tournament. Games will be played on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving week.

Q: Coach, many people in the media said that your Railers were too young and too inexperienced last season. Most of that group now has a year of varsity competition under their belts. How will that be a factor?

A: As far as youth and inexperience goes, it definitely plays an important part of any team or game. We did gain of a lot of experience, and another year of maturity will definitely help. We also had a very successful sophomore team. We have a lot more kids that can play now. Sometimes that is good and sometimes that is bad. We do have a lot of kids who are very skilled and are very talented athletes. Unfortunately, once again, we will not be very big. We will just have to continue to work on and try to emphasize things that will help us get better. I felt we did a lot better job the last couple of weeks of the season as far as rebounding goes. That is definitely one of the areas that we need to improve in. To do the fundamentals of blocking out and rebounding are among the hardest things to do in the game of basketball. It takes so much energy to keep your feet moving while people are pushing and shoving you around. That makes it very difficult to excel in that area. We must improve in the area of rebounding if we want to advance in the post-season.

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Q: Since we are talking hoops, what is your coaching philosophy?

A: There are a lot of philosophies and a lot of different ways to play the game. If everybody played it the same it would be a very boring game. I think that basketball is one of the most exciting games around the country and around the world today. I realize that a lot of people do not agree with the way we play. There also are some people who do agree. I have played a lot of basketball and I've seen a lot of basketball and I'm constantly evaluating our talent. Fortunately for us, our system does not change. Our kids adapt and they come through the system believing in our defense, the ball press and the 1-2-2 zone. We try to do some different things, like running the floor in a fast break situation, but usually the kids are tired from playing good defense. They are more than happy to just take care of and hang onto the basketball. They can then make a few passes here and there to make sure we get a good shot. My philosophy has always been that if you can get a good shot every trip down the court, you're going to have a good opportunity to win. We want to keep our turnovers to a minimum, and I feel like we have done that the past few years. There have been years where we have averaged only seven or eight turnovers a game while the defense was taking 20 to 23 turnovers from our opponents. There is no doubt that I feel and believe that defense wins championships. If you play the good, solid defense and work extremely hard, you give yourself a good chance to win games. One thing I believe in strongly is that there is absolutely no excuse for not playing hard. It takes no skill or talent to play hard. It just takes heart and all-out effort. If we play as hard as we can and leave it all on the line, we're going to be successful. The kids in Lincoln believe that.

Q: What has it been like to coach your two sons in this program?

First of all, they are two different personalities. They also were two different kinds of players. Even though I felt Geoff had the skills to play the perimeter, I had to play him in the post. At that time, we had a few kids who shot the jump shot pretty well and we didn't have a big, bulky kid in the middle. Geoff got stuck playing in the paint. He was one of the better post players that I have ever coached. Gregg is more of a perimeter player. He is more of a shooter type of player. I wouldn't change anything. I guarantee you that I was much harder on those two then I've been on any other players. Both have played the game and love the game and have been in the gym since they started walking. They were there before and after practice and started doing a lot of different things. To become a great player, you have to work hard and spend time at it and they have done that.

Q: Geoff used his body well, had great footwork and position, and excellent post moves. Were those skills innate to him or did you teach him all that?

A. He was a player that you could show what to do and how to do it and then he would spend the time to learn how to do it right. He had a great first step. He was as quick as anybody getting around people. He was also a very strong individual. He was much more bulky than what Gregg is. They both possess the will to compete and the will to win. It's just always been there for the both of them. If anything, you watch those kids play, and you know that they play hard. They will get on the floor for loose balls, and they are willing to do the dirty work at both ends of the floor. They also have handled the critics and the criticism as you expect that they would. It has been a joy to coach them. They have been very successful in this sport, and now Geoff has the opportunity to coach at Western Illinois University.

Q: I've never seen a player that was mentally tougher than Gregg. Was that a part of his makeup or nature or did he get that from you?

A. It all starts with the instruction, but it has to end with his will and his desire to do the repetitions. He is willing to work on things over and over and over again. This spring he is taking 200 to 300 shots a night, and he also is playing with an AAU team down in St. Louis. By the end of the summer, he will have probably played between 90 and 100 games. But his will to win is probably his biggest asset. I definitely think that he is mentally tough. He enjoys playing and he enjoys competing. He has the ability to get and stay focused. You have to be pretty tough to play in our conference and play the kind of schedule that we play. He has always competed against his older brother, and playing better competition can only make you better. He is one of the toughest kids that I have ever dealt with. You are right when you say that nothing seems to bother him. When the going gets tough, the tough get going – that definition fits Gregg. He really responds when people back him into a corner.

Q: You always say that the season will start before we know it. When it does start how do you think the Railers will fare?

A: The summer seems to go by pretty fast, and when school starts the season is just around the corner. As far as the season goes, we are going to be playing a lot of very good teams this year. As always, we have a very strong schedule. We will come through it all, road-tested. Hopefully, our experience will be an asset to us. I felt that we competed well last year. We finished the season 19-8 and had the chance to be 25-4. We let a couple of games get loose here and I chalk that all up to a lack of experience. Now that we have a group of experienced kids and a group of young inexperienced kids, we have a nice mixture. The chance for a very good season is there. It will be a test for us. Our goal is the same that it always is, to compete for the conference championship. We also want to advance as far as we can in the state tournament. That is one of the reasons that we will play Jacksonville at the Springfield convention center. We hope that it will get us ready for post-season play. What I see as far as an outlook is that we're going to be very quick. We do need to be a little stronger on the boards. If we do those things, we should have a very good year.

Q: What does the public NOT know about the team or about you that you wish they did?
A: That you have to be a good, solid team to compete at this level. You must have unity within your team and your program to be successful. You have to be supportive of each other. There are so many influences that can affect a team. A team is so delicate, especially when you're working with different types of personalities. The teams that are really good are the teams that work together, play together, pull for each other and believe in each other. That is one of the things that we are striving for. Our coaches put in a lot of time to prepare our kids to do just that. The players put in two and a half hours a night. That is by far, not near as many hours as the coaches put in.

I am happy to serve as the head coach, but you have to have good assistant coaches to get the job done. Donnie Aeilts has done a great job with our sophomores. Eric Ewald and Darrin Worth have done an excellent job running our freshman program. I have been here 10 years, and I have always had good assistants. I haven't had a lot of assistants because the ones I have had have been loyal and solid. John Welsh and Larry Engel were with us for the longest time. Patrick Greathouse, Steve Barry and yourself also gave outstanding efforts. It is really important for the coaching staff to get along with each other and with the players. And our players respond well to our coaches. It takes hard work and the desire to win. We ask the kids every day to play as hard as they can. We don't talk about wins and losses. We always want our kids to play up to their potential. When they do that, everything else falls into place.

[Jeff Mayfield]

 

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