Just went back and watched Bruce's press conference from yesterday. I found it to be absolutely mesmerizing. Here Bruce was, coming off the most embarrassing loss of his career, and the worst loss in program history, a loss so bad that it had become a national story before he even began speaking. And he opens with this:
Forget basketball. Is there another coach - college or pro - who would begin this press conference the same way? Contextualizing everything so plainly for the furious and humiliated fan base? As if they don't know what you've done in the past? As if they had forgotten? As if their evaluation of you would be based entirely on what happened on Dec 8, 2020? Bruce displays his insecurities often for all to see, and he's been that way for years. He doesn't tell you what he's going to do. He tells you what he hopes will happen. What might happen. What is possible—as long as a few things break the right way, a few calls go your way, a few 50/50 balls, on and on. It's always maybe, possibly, hopefully. These are not the words of a self assured, confident coach. And he has never been a self assured, confident coach, aside from maybe in 2003 when he had Deron Williams and Dee Brown in his backcourt at Illinois and had yet to face any real adversity as a coach. But man. This was sad. Even for Bruce. In the face of a brutal loss to a D2 school, you begin the presser by reciting career highlights off your resume. How insecure must he be. If we can see it so clearly, imagine the players.
Forget basketball. Is there another coach - college or pro - who would begin this press conference the same way? Contextualizing everything so plainly for the furious and humiliated fan base? As if they don't know what you've done in the past? As if they had forgotten? As if their evaluation of you would be based entirely on what happened on Dec 8, 2020? Bruce displays his insecurities often for all to see, and he's been that way for years. He doesn't tell you what he's going to do. He tells you what he hopes will happen. What might happen. What is possible—as long as a few things break the right way, a few calls go your way, a few 50/50 balls, on and on. It's always maybe, possibly, hopefully. These are not the words of a self assured, confident coach. And he has never been a self assured, confident coach, aside from maybe in 2003 when he had Deron Williams and Dee Brown in his backcourt at Illinois and had yet to face any real adversity as a coach. But man. This was sad. Even for Bruce. In the face of a brutal loss to a D2 school, you begin the presser by reciting career highlights off your resume. How insecure must he be. If we can see it so clearly, imagine the players.
