Coaching Style and Philosophy
Rupp was an early innovator of the fast break and set offense. His offense consisted of 10-15 set plays (with variations for each), complete with extensive offensive movement and screening. Early basketball innovations such as the "guard around" play and inside screen were first developed by Rupp in the 1930's. Likewise, he was an very early proponent of the fast break, which his Kentucky teams utilized at every opportunity for throughout his entire career. In addition, for most of his coaching career Rupp's defensive philosophy was largely exclusive, as he preferred only a tight man-to-man defense. However, during the 1963-64 season, Rupp became one of the first coaches to begin experimenting with the trapping 1-3-1 zone defense, and his Kentucky teams utilized this defense at times for the remainder of his career. Throughout his time at Kentucky, Rupp's recruiting focused largely on local and regional talent. In fact, over 80% of Rupp's Kentucky players came from the state of Kentucky.
Rupp strongly emphasized the fundamentals of basketball, both on offense and defense, and overall discipline. Rupp believed that excellence was achieved only through repetition, and his practices stressed individual instruction, precision, and continuity. Rupp was very demanding of his players, constantly putting extreme pressure on them in practice, and mercilessly berating them for any mistakes. Rupp was also extremely competitive, and he made it a point to ingrain this trait in all of his teams.
Rupp had the reputation for being arrogant and gruff, obsessed with winning games, a taskmaster, and detesting to lose. Rupp took the game of basketball very seriously, often making statements such as, "We want to win, we just have to win. Lord knows, no one wants to win more than we do." and, "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then what in the hell is that scoreboard doing up there?" and finally, "We here at the University of Kentucky do not wish to merely participate in sports. Rather, we wish to be successful in sports. Basketball without victory has little meaning."
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