Entering his 23rd year of coaching, the Varsity Reds men’s basketball coach has been around the block a few times.
In only his third year with the Reds, Baker brings a wealth of knowledge to a program in the rebuilding stage.
After 18 years as a high school coach, he moved on to be an assistant coach with men’s program at StFX and then took over the head coach position for women’s team before coming here.
Baker discusses his experiences, his team and what some of his coaching techniques are in this week’s Behind the Bench.
Brunswickan: What do you look for in a player when deciding on your roster?
Brent Baker: The type of player we want here is the one that is going to represent the school well, do well in the classroom and be a very good basketball player.
B: What experience do you have as a basketball player yourself? Where did you play and for how long?
BB: I played five years at StFX. We won an Eastern Regional Championship and were in the championship game three out of my five years there in the AUS. I played for Canada’s national team, a big east tour and the World Student Games team.
B: What is your fondest memory so far as a V-Red coach?
BB: I would have to say a couple wins have stuck out. Beating SMU here at home and beating Acadia on the road are two of the biggest things that have stuck out. I would have to say though that the fondest memories I have are watching the guys improve from year to year. Those are the things that really stick out with me.
B: Prior to the weekend matches what do you do to prepare the team?
BB: Most of the preparation is done at the first of the week. I’m not a big rah-rah guy. I find it is better to show the guys in practice what the other team is doing in practice early in the week and show some video in there. Before we play a team we like to have three simple themes. For example, this is a team we need to 1. Box out against 2. Take care of the ball 3. Make sure we execute at the offensive end.
B: Going into a season do you set a goal for yourself and if so how do you determine it?
BB: I think if you don’t reevaluate yourself you are not going to get better. There are certain things that I have to get better at or whatever. One thing I have really turned it over to is I am not a strength and conditioning coach. I finally realized that. I’m a tyrant that way and I wear things out. Having someone there this year doing that for us is probably better for me and the guys so I can focus on the basketball side of things.
B: How do you gauge the success of your season aside from wins and losses?
BB: Well there’s the old saying is ‘how good is your team? Well let’s wait 20 years.’ Who’s a doctor, who’s a geologist, who’s an engineer? What have they given back? You can have two really good players by the end of the year, but you have to focus on the improvement of the players. Are they getting better and do they understand what is going on. You can sit back and use wins and losses as a measure, but if you focus on that alone you will not be able to focus on the positive growth of a player both on and off the court.