A new feature at Outside the Huddle during basketball season, we will connect with area coaches on occasion to get their takes on big wins, huge matchups upcoming and more.
This week, we tracked down Warsaw girls coach Lenny Krebs.
Q: As a coach, how do you balance a roster like this? There are a lot of scorers and lot of people who need to get touches.
In my opinion, balancing a roster with multiple scorers starts with getting the girls to truly get to know and care about each other. We have worked hard since last season on the culture of our program. One of the things we have stressed is selfless devotion…having “dirty shoulders” because you allowed a teammate to stand on your shoulders and look good today. This group has done that. All year long they have been selfless and tried to make their teammates more successful. I also think last year’s sectional loss has stayed with them and they understand that they need each other to be successful. During the course of a game, the girls do a great job of finding and exploiting the mismatch that can best benefit our team at that time.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your philosophy of player development. Lately, Warsaw seems to just reload with strong classes. How do you balance and maintain all of their development in your program?
We offer many camps throughout the year for girls in Warsaw including Finishing School, Shooting Camp, Fundamental Camp, Middle School Elite Camp and 3 on 3 Leagues. We also just had tryouts for our travel teams that will play in 5-6 tournaments between now and the end of March. We try to put our kids in a position where they are always being forced to expand their role and do more things on the court. Additionally, many of these kids put in time outside of Warsaw Basketball. They play AAU and work with other trainers to hone their skills. We have some kids on our JV that could go elsewhere and start, yet those who stay improve tremendously as they are going against players like Brooke Winchester, Brooke Zartman, Joslyn Bricker and Alexis Neely on a daily basis.
Q: What is the biggest change you have seen in your years coaching with the game and/or with players?
I think the biggest thing that has changed is the willingness for players to transfer. When I first started coaching, it did not happen as often as it does today. It used to be about being a part of your community and playing with a group of friends or teammates from your town/school. Parents and players seem much more willing to transfer today. A kid like Braylie Chastain is a rarity…she played JV as a sophomore and didn’t start the first part of her junior year. Yet here she is starting and playing a key role in what we do. Many players may have either quit or transferred if they were in her shoes. So proud of Braylie, she is an example for all to see.
Q: How big is it for your program and the players individually to have two players surpass 1,000 career points last week in the same week?
I have heard of teams having multiple players from the same team achieve this before. I have never seen two players from the same team accomplish it in back to back games. While the path they have traveled to get there is very different, they have pushed each other to be better on a daily basis. To watch Joslyn [Bricker] and Brooke [Zartman] compete with each other in drills is so much fun to watch. They used to compete against each other, but now they realize they are competing with each other and they need each other to be the best they can be. It was good to get these milestones out of the way before we got to the state tournament. Now we can focus on winning basketball games.
These two would also tell you that it was a total team effort to make this happen. We have so many unselfish kids on this team that were genuinely happy for these two girls when they reached 1000 points.
Q: Your schedule has featured some big blowouts this season, what are some words of wisdom for your players to keep them dialed in with those games?
We are constantly talking about the process and being the best we can be every single day. We also talk about the fact that we only have a limited number of days together as a team and we need to make sure we cherish every moment we have. We also talk to the girls about the fact that we are using every game to prepare for the state tournament and how everything matters. They understand that as we lost to Northridge by one basket in the sectional last year. They have embraced all of these things. It truly is a special group.
Q: Hand in hand with the last question, a big part of those blowouts is because of your defense. What makes Warsaw’s defense so special when the offense gets the most press?
“Defensive intensity leads to offensive confidence”.
Despite what people may think, we really spend a lot of time in practice on defense. Coach Speicher does a great job of calling defenses and keeping teams off balance with what defense we are in. When we are struggling offensively, we often talk about turning up the defensive intensity to generate some easy baskets which will allow us to be more confident on the offensive end of the court. We feel by constantly putting defensive pressure on you that you will wear down which also leads to success on the offensive end for us.
Q: How do you build a positive team culture?
You live it, you model it, you emphasize it and then you take care of it on a daily basis. This starts with us as coaches being vulnerable and real. I don’t know about you but I cannot relate to a leader that has it all together because I most certainly do not have it all together and the same is true with the girls. They want to see us in situations where we struggle and fail, they need to see us make mistakes and take ownership of them. We create an environment where we do not have to say, “Do as I say, not as I do” instead we strive to simply say, “Follow my lead.”
We also take time every week to emphasize and reward the behaviors that align with our culture. Our culture this year is based on “A cord of three strands…” The three strands are accountability, authenticity and selfless devotion. Let me give you a perfect example…Brooke Winchester had an opportunity the last game to score on a steal and a layup…she chose instead to give the ball to Joslyn Bricker to help her get to 1000 points. Brooke had every right to shoot that shot herself but instead she chose to be selfless…that type of behavior is going to be recognized and rewarded.
Q: Talk about the community support in Warsaw, how important is the backing of your fan base during the season?
We are blessed with an amazing support system. Businesses in the community are always willing to help in any way they can. Other teams are so supportive as we have seen the boys basketball team attend several games of ours as a team and we do the same for them. The fans have been awesome and we have great support from our parents and school administration. It has truly been a total community effort to get to where we are.
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