by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

Basketball is here again. For Ohio men’s basketball assistant coaches John Rhodes and Gary Manchel, the season signifies a serious dent to social life.

Rhodes and Manchel are responsible for prepping Ohio for their games each week. Ohio plays two games a week, so instead of enjoying a nice evening at home, the coaches spend their nights watching game film.

"We all have different ways of how we do it," Rhodes said. "Gary is a night owl, but I am a family man, so I usually take my stuff home. That way I can put the kids to bed before I have a late night."

With six to eight tapes to watch for games that are three days away, time is a premium. Coach Tim O’Shea said his assistants develop a schedule so each one focused on one game at a time.

"It is not hard to keep up because we think so far ahead," he said. "Someone always has already scouted our very next game, and somebody is already scouting the next two games after that. I just split it up so one assistant is only focusing on his game, nothing else."

Each week a coach prepares about two or three 15 to 20 minute tape sessions for the Bobcats. These sessions focus on the opponent’s personnel, out of bounds plays and offensive and defensive sets.

"The kids just cannot absorb having too much thrown at them at once," Manchel said. "So we just throw them two or three specific things that we think are important for them to know. As coaches, we also believe if you focus too much on what the other team does, players lose track of what they do."

Manchel, Rhodes or assistant coach Kevin Kuwik runs the team through a tape session. The tempo is quite upbeat. The coaches give rundowns, tendencies and ways to defend each player.

In a personnel session the coaches involve the team, making each player relay information back to them. This pop quizzing keeps the player’s attention, Rhodes said.

"With coach Manchel’s teaching past he knows how to reach kids," he said. "His quizzing helps see who is listening, and I have incorporated this style into my scouting report as well.”

Although each assistant coach is only supposed to focus on their assigned game, Rhodes said teamwork among the staff factors into pregame preparation. The coaches meet and discuss how Ohio will play a team with the head assistant for that game and O’Shea.

This gives each staff member a chance to provide a point of view on how to play a team. O’Shea has final say on everything though, Manchel said. O’Shea watches tape for long hours in preparation for every opponent, and he adds pieces of advice to the assistant coach’s lecture.

O’Shea said Ohio shows a high basketball IQ.

“We just have good open communication between the staff and the team," O’Shea said. "The players have seen what we do works and we are very credible. They know that if we do what we show them they will get the win."

Coaches have to be wary of burning their players out. Manchel said O’Shea makes sure players do not watch film too much film.

"(O’Shea) always plays movies on bus trips and makes sure the players get plenty of time to relax," he said. "This helps guys not come into a game all uptight and focused on only what the other team is going to do. The key is to be focused on what we are going to do that night."