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- Going Close
Going close can break some teams. It can galvanize some others.
In 2004, having steadily progressed in each of their four seasons under Kim Mulkey, the Baylor Bears found themselves the furthest they’ve ever been in the NCAA Tournament — in the Sweet Sixteen against Pat Summitt’s all-conquering Tennessee.
Despite finding themselves in new territory, Mulkey’s Bears weren’t there to merely make up the numbers. The score was 69-69 with 0.2 second remaining when Tennessee forward Tasha Butts sunk two free throws to win the game.
Mulkey was crestfallen.
It rarely feels like this in the moment, but sometimes ‘going close’ can be the best thing that can happen to a team. Losing with your goal in sight leads to all sorts of feelings, but it’s feelings that you’re searching for:
Feeling your lungs and legs after competing at the absolute pinnacle of your sport.
Feeling what it’s like to work your tail off all year and still fall short.
Feeling what it’s like to get within a whisker of beating the era’s dominant team.
Feeling the standard of excellence and execution that’s required to win at the top level.
When harnessed, these feelings can focus energy and effort into a more determined and purposeful pursuit.
Going close might have been the best thing that happened to Baylor.
In 2005, they swept every competition they entered.
They won the Big 12 championship.
They won the Big 12 tournament.
They won the NCAA Tournament.
Even in the national tournament, the closest margin was 7 points. They won their Final Four game by 11. They won the national title game by 22.
“I think our championship season actually began the previous year when we lost in the Sweet 16 to Tennessee in such heartbreaking fashion,” Mulkey writes in her book Won’t Back Down.
She adds: “Many times I have been asked if that game had an impact on our program and me. It did. We were not about to forget what happened.”
They printed 00:02 t-shirts to wear at practice. They wrote ‘two-tenths’ on the whiteboard in their locker room.
But more than just using the Tennessee loss as a blunt force trauma motivational tool, Mulkey was more subtle, more crafty. Putting two-tenths on display wasn’t a reminder of the loss, it was a reminder of the feeling; it represented the level required.
“We never talked about it—and we didn’t have to,” she writes. “Experiencing it made us a better team. I wouldn’t say it was the motivating factor for us, but it certainly was a motivating factor.”
Everything clicked into gear. Here’s how the players responded, according to Mulkey:
“We had unbelievable chemistry. We had great leadership from the seniors. I never—not once—had to deal with any issues from my players that season. There were no problems with discipline, academics, missed classes, playing time, playing a certain role, or anything else. There were no incidents. The older players were mature beyond their years and they led the younger players. It felt like I was coaching a team of grown women that season.”
The result?
The team started to win the close games that they’d lost the season before. They didn’t let going close break them, instead it galvanized them.
Sometimes, going close is the best thing that can happen to a team.
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