Avoiding the trap of tailspin

There's an old saying: "Wins come in bunches." Of course, so do losses.

Which is why after his team's 12-game winning streak ended recently with a loss to ATL, Jerry Sloan "worries about what awaits."

So after the game at Atlanta on Wednesday night, Coach Sloan made it clear to his guys that he "wants to avoid the trap of tailspin."

"I just told them, 'Lots of times, you see a team after they've had a streak, they have one the other way,' "

According to Carlos Boozer, a seven-year NBA vet who played on the U.S. Olympic basketball team last summer, the next few games are a test for the Jazz.

"We'll see what kind of character we've got. I think if we're an elite team, we'll bounce right back. We won't just look at this thing and sulk and lose four or five in a row. We've got to bounce back from it."

How goal-setting can spark a turnaround

On January 24, nearly 20 games into the season, Kent State had an 8-11 record, losers of five of six.

So first-year coach Geno Ford brought his team together for a "major" meeting. As this article tells it, "something needed to be done or a season would disintegrate."

Coach Ford, who had his seniors run the meeting (there are four on the roster), asked the team to outline five "specific goals." He wanted goals that were quantifiable.

Not things like 'win the MAC' or 'win every road game.' He wanted the team to tell him how they were going to accomplish the big picture, what it would take in each game to win. Things dealing with opposing field-goal percentage, rebounding, turnovers.

''I didn't want to see 'win the MAC' because that really has no meaning,'' he said. ''That's a fine thing to say, but I felt this group spent all their time talking about winning 20 games, winning a championship, going to the NCAA. That's not going to happen unless we have an idea of how the hell that's going to go down. What's it going to take?''

The final product of the meeting was a list, "written on poster board." It's always nearby: In the team's huddle during timeouts, on the floor at practice, and in the locker room.

Since creating "the list" (which is confidential), the Golden Flashes have won eight straight heading into tonight's game at Bowling Green.

Coach Ford gives credit to his team for the turnaround.

"I'm certainly not going to insinuate we're on a winning streak because of anything I'm doing."

How a fear of losing differs from a fear of playing

As I type this, the Montreal Canadiens have lost seven of 10. Earlier this week, after losing to Calgary, Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said his team seemed anxious.

"I always say fear of losing is OK. It makes you play better. Fear of playing, I think that's where we're at right now. We're afraid to make a play, afraid to make a mistake, afraid to let down the other guy. A fear to lose is OK. But right now, we're afraid to play."

Even at 1-23, you find a way to compete

Sixteen games in, Loyola Marymount picked up its first win of the season. Without a doubt, the 1-23 Lions have experienced one of the toughest seasons in many years in college hoops.

First-year head coach Bill Bayno, who was hired last April, took medical leave in November, and ultimately resigned last month.

Assistant Max Good, who'd gone 132-86 at D2 Bryant University in Rhode Island, took over the team, which "lost three starters and a 6-foot-9-inch reserve to season-ending injuries" and "suits up eight players, only five of whom are on scholarship, including two former walk-ons who were put on aid for their senior seasons. The Lions start three freshmen who average at least 30 minutes each."

As this columnist puts it, "This isn't a project. It's a nightmare."

"It's hellish in some respects and rewarding in others," Good said. "These kids come to practice every day like we're undefeated. Their attitude is so positive. I have to be a little more patient than usual. I can't be as demonstrative, but that doesn't mean we're not demanding. But you motivate kids the best way you know how. I don't mind other teams trying to kill us. It's what I would do. It's my job to prepare our team. Someone said it's David vs. Goliath. It feels more like King Kong against Fred. What do you do? You find a way to compete. You deal with it. That's life."

A case of being too loyal

U of Washington offensive lineman Juan Garcia is considered by many to be one of the best centers in college football.

An All-Pac 10 selection in 2007 who is now in his sixth-year (due to injuries), Garcia has suffered through a miserable 0-9 season that saw his coach, Ty Willingham, fired.

With only three games remaining for the Huskies, Garcia said recently that the problem wasn't a lack of loyalty on the part of his former coach:

"Coach Willingham's downfall was he was too loyal to some guys on the team. He always wanted to give a guy an opportunity instead of cutting him loose. He always wanted to see people succeed, and some of that came back and bit him in the [backside]. Some of those guys didn't give that effort that he expected out of them."

If someone doesn't step up, things tend to sprial out of control

Last season, the University of Minnesota football team went 1-11.

This year, the Gophers won seven of their first eight games before dropping their last two games, including a Homecoming loss to Northwestern and a 29-6 home loss this past Saturday to Michigan.

But just as Antawn Jamison has come forward in Washington, UM quarterback Adam Weber (at left) is stepping up for the Gophers:

"When things go bad, things seem to get worse. And that's on any team I've been on, in any sport you play. If someone doesn't step up or man up and become a leader and make a play, things tend to spiral out of control. You can start getting some locker room politics. We've never had that before and we're not going to have it. That falls on our leaders in the locker room.

When things go bad, it's easy to start pointing fingers. It's easy to second-guess. What's hard is to own up and admit that we all played bad (Saturday) and own up that we're a team and we're not just individuals. I know we're not going to allow that to happen."