Joe’s Take: Nichols stoked about his Lewis County Minutemaids
Oh, that Joe Nichols! Good at loving his Lewis County girls’ basketball team, especially this year’s version. His excitement and elation for his Minutemaids could be sensed during his late-night phone call with this reporter. He was jazzed. He was…
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Continue ReadingOh, that Joe Nichols!
Good at loving his Lewis County girls’ basketball team, especially this year’s version. His excitement and elation for his Minutemaids could be sensed during his late-night phone call with this reporter. He was jazzed. He was elated. He was excited, and he was ecstatic.
Heck, if he was any giddier, the people of Weston might just send him for a brief stay in the Trans-Alleghany Lunatic Asylum.
You felt his infectious energy and hype when he talked about how far this team has come. Enthusiasm came spilling out of him faster than one of the Minutemaids’ fast break opportunities.
“In this day and age, it is very rare to have a lot of kids embrace their roles,” Nichols said. “There is a lot of entitlement in basketball and the focus is on score, score, score and that is not what these girls are about.”
Then, what exactly are these girls about? Maybe winning and team. “They are all about asking how we get better together,” he said. So, how exactly have they gotten better together?
Well, I pressed him on that question and got a response that was a bit lengthy, but the gist is this.
Even with one loss, they’re displaying the telltale signs of an overlooked fighter. The gloves are up. The mouthpiece is in. The chin is strong.
Yes, their game on the hard court never ceases to be ready.
They’re brushing off the lack of respect and recognition by outbattling everyone. Basically, facing them is a 32-minute exercise in hard knocks because you never actually have them beat.
Not even close.
Emma Pickney and company come roaring back with an unfamiliar ferocity, one unseen in any other Minutemaid group. Sometimes the sound comes on the offensive end, sometimes it’s defensively, and other times they overwhelm teams on the boards. Whatever they choose, it overpowers while it delights. It sinks game plans, while it raises their confidence. It exhausts you while it pumps them up.
When they are hustling, they are at home. When they are working, they are at peace. They relentlessly execute all manners of attack.
Even when they are executing at a high level, they are always finding ways to push themselves higher and higher. It just isn’t worth their time if they aren’t trying anything and everything to win. And you better believe that means they are throwing everything on the hardwood.
Taking them by surprise is impossible. Matching their unselfishness is unenviable. Trying to break their indomitable spirit just can’t be done. They don’t care how they win, and they don’t care where the scoring comes from in the scorebook.
You can try everything you like to beat them, but sooner or later you will learn a simple, but beautiful lesson – They need to outwork you more than you want to beat them in each and every game, during each and every minute, while sweating out each and every second.
In other words, all you end up getting for your efforts is an L. Meanwhile, they’re moving on to improve on the little things and preparing for their next opponent with the W. You, meanwhile, could be left wondering how that team with no 6-foot-0 post player and no star scorer, just beat you.
Try forgetting about them though, and you may just end up experiencing the whole show all over again.
As great a trait that may be to have, his energy didn’t just end when with a discussion of on-the-court performance. He couldn’t help but extend his praise and thanks to the people of Weston.
“The biggest thing when I got this job last year is I attacked the culture. We never really had the right mindset and were satisfied just going to the state tournament. But the team is changing the culture and we are seeing crowds bigger and people in this town are buying in,” he said.
That brings us to the last part of why you got the feeling Nichols could do a tap dance across the court during a halftime show.
“You always have to have that underdog,” Nichols said. “These girls don’t get the recognition and respect but they are just determined to earn it and earn that underdog status.
“There really isn’t one player who embodies this team, they all bring their own energy to the team and we embody each other. They don’t care who is sleeping on them they just need the 15 people in our room to believe.”
Contact Joe Albright at josephpalbright3@gmail.com.