Richard Justice weighs in on Yates

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

Judge Yates on more than point total
by Richard Justice, Chron.com

He grew up in the Third Ward, a few miles from Yates High School. Basketball opened doors. “It got me an education,” Greg Wise said. “I couldn't afford college without basketball. After college, I wanted to stay involved. Coaching was a natural progression.”

He loves his job as the boys basketball coach at Yates High School in a way we'd all like to love our jobs. He loves winning, loves practice, loves it all.

But he also loves the part that has nothing to do with basketball.

“I feel like I'm as good as anybody in terms of preparing them for life,” he said.

He and his brother Billy were raised by a single mom who taught school and emphasized school work, responsibility and discipline.

“The first thing I want for our kids is to be able to go to college, if not on a basketball scholarship, on an academic ride, or we'll find whatever avenue we can to get them in,” he said.

He ticks off the three players — Darius Gardner, Joseph Young and Brandon Peters — that already have scholarships and goes through three or four more — Elton Roy, Alex Davis, etc. — he believes will land them.

“I want them to go there prepared for the things they have to do to graduate,” he said. “They're not going to quit. They understand the things they have to do. My guys realize that hard work is an avenue to succeed.”

He played at Houston Baptist when the Rockets used it as a practice facility and has vivid memories of Calvin Murphy and Robert Reid, Moses Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich.

“Work ethic,” he said. “Those guys had amazing talent, but what I remember is how hard they worked.”

Other NBA teams practiced there, too.

“It's funny the things you remember,” he said. “I can still see John Havlicek running in place while the coach was talking. He had so much energy he couldn't stand still.”

And Julius Erving.

“When you see the best players in the world work as hard as those guys worked, it stays with you,” he said. “It teaches you what it's supposed to be about.”

That's why his practices are so fast, so intense. That's why he pushes his teams to smother opponents on both ends of the floor.

When they're playing well — and they're 55-1 the last two seasons — they're a thing of beauty.

“Let me tell you what I do two of three times a week,” Yates principal Ronald Mumphery said. “For my relaxation, I go watch them practice. The best way to watch is get in the corner and look. You get to see what he's doing. He's coaching lanes. He's teaching kids where to be. And that's where they are.”

Wise smiles upon hearing this.

“It took two years for us to get to moving on our press the way we need to,” he said. “Right now, our guys don't have think when we're fastbreaking. We just know what to do.”

Maybe you heard Yates beat Lee 170-35 a few weeks ago. Maybe you've heard some unkind things about Greg Wise and his program.

Maybe you've heard Wise lacks class, that while he may be teaching his kids basketball, he's not teaching them much about sportsmanship.
‘Could have scored 250'

At Yates, they're furious at how they've been portrayed around the country. They feel like people have focused on one score without understanding the circumstances.

He used 15 players in the first quarter of the 170-point game, but early in the second half, there was a hard foul, and words were exchanged.

Referees ordered all the bench players into the stands and told the two coaches to finish the game with the players they had on the floor.

“Believe me, we could have scored 250 points that night,” he said. “We didn't run up the score.”

His boss is steadfast in his defense of his coach.

“We didn't run up the score,” Mumphery said. “We've gotten hate mail from all over the United States. I got one this morning indicting me because he works for me. I've heard that our kids are degenerates, that our coach is a moron.

“He's a man of character, and that's something you can see him passing onto the young men. He expects his kids to follow the rules and be good students. Four of those kids have over 3.0 averages. But no one is talking about that.”

Yes, but 170 points is unusual.

“This is an unusual team,” he said.

Wise said he has done a lot of thinking about 170-35, and if he had it to do all over again, he might do things differently. Considering Yates beat Austin 147-57 on Tuesday, he wouldn't do things that much differently.

“That game cast the kids in a negative light, and they've done two years of great things,” he said. “To have them presented that way bothers me. They're about hard work and winning. People that watch us love the way we play, love the way we behave. From my standpoint, all of Houston should be behind them.”

Still …

“I feel like in hindsight there may have been things we could have done,” he said. “But they were fouling hard, and our kids are not going to back down.”

That's as close to an apol-ogy as you're going to get.
Team's behavior lauded

Winning by 170-35 has distorted what Wise sees as the real story of basketball at Yates.

“After we flew to Hawaii, I got a letter from a teacher on the plane,” Wise said. “She said we were the best behaved group of young men she'd ever been around. We heard from the Continental flight grew. They said our kids were great. One of the Nike executives said he was proud of the way we play, but he was more proud of the way we handle ourselves.”

His problem is that four of the seven teams in his district can't compete with Yates, and the scores are going to get out of hand. But he can't prepare his team for the playoffs if the starters don't play deep into games.

“Against Davis, no starter played more than 17 minutes,” he said. “I don't feel our kids are in the shape they should be because of the minutes they're playing.

“In our mind, we want to prove we're the best team in the country. People say teams are going to be coming at us. We see to it that we're the ones coming at them.”

[westend1]

blah, blah,..  4 kids have B averages.  Blah, blah,... could have scored 250.  Blah, blah,...  Nike.  Blah, blah blah...     

[BLUEDOVE3]

[quote name="westend1" post="750520" timestamp="1264624746"]
blah, blah,..  4 kids have B averages.   Blah, blah,... could have scored 250.  Blah, blah,...  Nike.  Blah, blah blah...       
[/quote]Unbelievable, you guys in S.E.Texas have no clue what is going on. Most of you feeling like this probably  been on average Class 2A teams and have no idea. You have never had Nike in your backdoor. You have no clue and will never accept their accomplishments. You have no idea of what it takes to maintain a mental edge playing against inferior teams with your biddyball matality.

[westend1]

[quote name="BLUEDOVE3" post="750541" timestamp="1264627931"]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=65274.msg750520#msg750520 date=1264624746]
blah, blah,..  4 kids have B averages.   Blah, blah,... could have scored 250.  Blah, blah,...  Nike.  Blah, blah blah...       
[/quote]Unbelievable, you guys in S.E.Texas have no clue what is going on. Most of you feeling like this probably  been on average Class 2A teams and have no idea. You have never had Nike in your backdoor. You have no clue and will never accept their accomplishments. You have no idea of what it takes to maintain a mental edge playing against inferior teams with your biddyball matality.
[/quote]

LOL!  Aren't you the enlightened world traveler?  But you do have me nailed.  I played on an average 2A team, I have Nike's in my closet, not at my backdoor, and I will never accept Yates accomplishments as anything other than a good high school basketball team with a classless coach.

[BLUEDOVE3]

[quote name="westend1" post="750543" timestamp="1264628664"]
[quote author=BLUEDOVE3 link=topic=65274.msg750541#msg750541 date=1264627931]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=65274.msg750520#msg750520 date=1264624746]
blah, blah,..  4 kids have B averages.   Blah, blah,... could have scored 250.  Blah, blah,...  Nike.  Blah, blah blah...       
[/quote]Unbelievable, you guys in S.E.Texas have no clue what is going on. Most of you feeling like this probably  been on average Class 2A teams and have no idea. You have never had Nike in your backdoor. You have no clue and will never accept their accomplishments. You have no idea of what it takes to maintain a mental edge playing against inferior teams with your biddyball matality.
[/quote]

LOL!   Aren't you the enlightened world traveler?  But you do have me nailed.  I played on an average 2A team, I have Nike's in my closet, not at my backdoor, and I will never accept Yates accomplishments as anything other than a good high school basketball team with a classless coach.
[/quote] ;)

[oilerman21]

[quote name="westend1" post="750543" timestamp="1264628664"]
[quote author=BLUEDOVE3 link=topic=65274.msg750541#msg750541 date=1264627931]
[quote author=westend1 link=topic=65274.msg750520#msg750520 date=1264624746]
blah, blah,..  4 kids have B averages.   Blah, blah,... could have scored 250.  Blah, blah,...  Nike.  Blah, blah blah...       
[/quote]Unbelievable, you guys in S.E.Texas have no clue what is going on. Most of you feeling like this probably  been on average Class 2A teams and have no idea. You have never had Nike in your backdoor. You have no clue and will never accept their accomplishments. You have no idea of what it takes to maintain a mental edge playing against inferior teams with your biddyball matality.
[/quote]

LOL!   Aren't you the enlightened world traveler?  But you do have me nailed.  I played on an average 2A team, I have Nike's in my closet, not at my backdoor, and I will never accept Yates accomplishments as anything other than a good high school basketball team with a classless coach.
[/quote] Hahahaha oh wow thats funny

[real eyes realize real li]

westend would it be considered classless if the westbrook football team was up by a large margin and instead of running the ball coach stump elected to leave his starting qb in to throw passes...im pretty sure you will say that he is polishing up for the playoffs and every pass completed wld u boo the call or cheer. paying attention to what yates is doing is really pointless unless you play r coach in 4a.....

[westend1]

[quote name="real eyes realize real li" post="751030" timestamp="1264704992"]
westend would it be considered classless if the westbrook football team was up by a large margin and instead of running the ball coach stump elected to leave his starting qb in to throw passes...im pretty sure you will say that he is polishing up for the playoffs and every pass completed wld u boo the call or cheer. paying attention to what yates is doing is really pointless unless you play r coach in 4a.....
[/quote]

Well Real eyes,  If Brook were up by 40 with two minutes left and he started taking time outs so we could score again, I would be deeply embarrassed.    And if he kept his starter in and kept throwing bombs with little time left, I again would be embarrassed.  So, does this answer your question?

And, if I choose to pay attention to a 4A district out of Houston, I don't think it's up to you decide whether that is pointless or not.  I probably should pay no attention to Lake travis, Longview or Brenham under your way of thinking, but they entertain me.

[CThoops]

Great article. This team has put in hard work to become the team they are today. They have set out on a mission to be the best and won't let people who don't know their story tear them down. If this team continues to show character off the court and ethics to work hard on the court, they deserve to win, and win by as much as they want to.

[BLUEDOVE3]

[quote name="dogs1218" post="751079" timestamp="1264712489"]
Great article. This team has put in hard work to become the team they are today. They have set out on a mission to be the best and won't let people who don't know their story tear them down. If this team continues to show character off the court and ethics to work hard on the court, they deserve to win, and win by as much as they want to.
[/quote] This is refreshing!

[FanintheStands]

[quote name="dogs1218" post="751079" timestamp="1264712489"]
Great article. This team has put in hard work to become the team they are today. They have set out on a mission to be the best and won't let people who don't know their story tear them down. If this team continues to show character off the court and ethics to work hard on the court, they deserve to win, and win by as much as they want to.
[/quote]I second that.  Although I wouldn't run up the score like Yates did, that's my business.  The Coach's focus on the kids' futures and the accolades they got for their behavior (I'm assuming that was true because I have no reason to disbelieve it) is refreshing.  And if a team can land seven athletic scholarships, that's unbelievable!

Kudos to the Coach!

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

I cant hate on Yates. the team that they're facing just needs to D up and land their shots if they dont wanna get beat. Nobody was saying anything when in '94 Nolan Richardson and the Hogs were pressing teams being up sometimes 30 in the second half of games.

[bees85]

[quote name="scooter!" post="751275" timestamp="1264740245"]
I cant hate on Yates. the team that they're facing just needs to D up and land their shots if they dont wanna get beat. Nobody was saying anything when in '94 Nolan Richardson and the Hogs were pressing teams being up sometimes 30 in the second half of games.
[/quote]

Just like the 91 UNLV team.....

[ozensfinest]

I think that score just tell you how good this team really is...he said he played 15 players in the first quarter! What else do you want the guy to do? Not play his starters at all? They will definetly run through the playoffs this year very easily

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

he could play his second string players and win state

[bullets13]

[quote name="scooter!" post="751275" timestamp="1264740245"]
I cant hate on Yates. the team that they're facing just needs to D up and land their shots if they dont wanna get beat. Nobody was saying anything when in '94 Nolan Richardson and the Hogs were pressing teams being up sometimes 30 in the second half of games.
[/quote]

ehh...    30 < 130

[CatFan81]

It appears to me a lot of people on this board are just plain jealous of the success at Yates. After doing a little online research, the comments about the character  of this team and coach being topnotch is well deserved.  The object is to win, and to get your starters ready for the playoffs.  Playing 15 players in the 1st looks to me to be a coach attempting to control things, but he cannot and should not ask his players to play bad.  That is more insulting to the opposing team that a lopsided loss.  Been there done that.  It is unfortunate that a team that works hard to get to this level of play has to put up with all the classless losers who want to complain about the scores. Who knows, maybe 170 was holding back, looks to me like they could have easily scored 250.  This is high school sports, and it is your job on defense to keep the other team from scoring.  If you cant do it, it is not their job to quit playing hard.  People really need to look a little further than the score, and see exactly what these young men are accomplishing.  How many of our local schools will have 3 scholarship players, much less 7 or 8?  Hard work pays off, and these young men at Yates deserve a hand for manning up and putting all the distractions behind them.  Good luck Yates on your playoff run.

[bullets13]

i personally have no reason to be jealous of them.  i just don't like what they're doing, and i wouldn't want my kid in a program that taught that running up the score is good sportsmanship.  170 may have been holding back, and they may have been able to score 250, but they could have just as easily scored 120 and called it a game.