By Parker Myers
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The relationship between coach and athlete is a controversial aspect of sports today. In Washington, Jim Zorn recently lost his play-calling duties and then his job as the Washington Redskins’ head coach when his West Coast offense ruined quarterback Jason Campbell, a Vince Young type scrambler.  Mike Dunleavy Sr., the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, has continued year after year to waste lottery picks in his flawed system of offense.

But as a senior and starting guard for the Hounds’ varsity basketball team, Robert Kitzinger said he has found quite the opposite during his time at this school. According to Kitzinger, Mark Galloway, Carmel’s varsity basketball head coach for the past eight years, emphasizes matching the system to the players.

“Being in the program for four years with Coach Galloway, I have a pretty good relationship with him,” Kitzinger said. “Some days you love him, some days you don’t, but it is key to have a trusting bond between him and I. He needs to have a coach on the floor, and I try to bring that to the table as (the) leader.”

This relationship results from the coaching system that Galloway said he employs year after year. Each year, the team is founded on certain defensive principles, but the offense is adjusted to fit the players on the court. 

“The team is always defensive-oriented,” Galloway said. “We are a team that wants to defend, likes to defend. Teams that have been able to cut down the net, they’ve had to be able to hang their hat on defense. On the offensive side, you do have to look at your team and cater to what your strengths are.”

Kitzinger said he regards himself as an ideal player for this type of system. While Kitzinger certainly emphasizes defense, his size (six feet, six inches) allows him to fit into a lot of different systems.

“I’m a big guard, kind of a team player. We work off each other in a way offensively, we don’t run a set offense; we use our own abilities to create and get good shots for other guys. So it’s kind of spontaneous,” Kitzinger said. “As a returning senior, (the coaches) have talked to me about being the leader of the team, which is needed to be successful.”

Such a system, based on the players on the team, can work only with a versatile coach. And while Galloway said he is defense oriented (“Our goal is to hold teams to 55 points a game”), he said he understands the offense needs to adapt every year.

For Scott Bowen, the women’s varsity basketball coach, the principles are the same. “We really preach the defensive end,” Bowen said. “Shooting and making shots can come and go, but we feel like we can always defend.”

On the other side of the ball, however, the system has been radically adapted for this year’s team.

“We’re making some changes offensively and defensively to fit our kids. You don’t have the luxury that college coaches have in recruiting the types of kids we want,” Bowen said. “Right now, we’re not a very big or physical team. If you come to a game, you’re going to see us shoot a lot of perimeter shots. Having the system fit them is something we have to do.”

This year, the women’s team returns only one senior from last year’s team, Annie Rubendunst. However, junior Torrie Thornton also returned this year after leading the team in scoring last year.

One tendency is to build an offense around the team’s leading scorer. Bowen said he is cautious, though, to not lose a team approach to the game.

“You can kind of get trapped if you start running a lot of plays for people because people scout. And all of the sudden they come up with a game plan to take that kid out of the game. You have to make sure you’re developing the whole team,” Bowen said.

Galloway said he preaches the same concepts for the men’s team. “I don’t think you can replace a guy like Morgan (Newton ’09) with just one guy; it’s got to be a collective effort,” Galloway said. “Leadership is plural. When you think of leadership, you think of one guy, but it has to be more than just one guy.”

It’s a new start every year for the basketball teams. But because of Galloway’s emphasis on a tried-and-true defensive focus combined with a flexible offense, players like Kitzinger said they are able to work off a system that they know will be the best for the team each year.

“(Galloway) adjusts well to the team we have,” Kitzinger said. “Sometimes we have a superstar like (Newton), and sometimes the superstar is the team, all five guys.”