Thrown to the Wolves

     By Sean DeFrank
     View staff writer
      As an assistant boys basketball coach under Paul Aznarez at Valley High the past two years, Kurt Bailey got the opportunity to help mold a state championship squad.
      Now Bailey is hoping to continue his winning ways as the new coach at Basic High, a considerable challenge considering the Wolves' long history of less-than-outstanding seasons.
      But Bailey wants to change all that.
      And as the the Wolves gear up for their season opener against Bonanza on Dec. 2, Bailey said the first intangible he wants to improve on is the team's mental makeup.
      "One of the things I want to implement is for the kids to have a winning attitude," he said. "Even if the outcome of the game doesn't reflect that they won, they still need to feel like they were successful."
      Bailey takes over a Basic squad that finished 7-19 last year, 2-14 in the Sunrise Division, and figures to struggle for wins again this year.
      While Bailey may not have inherited an athletic crop of players from departing coach Mike Dye, who resigned to become the new coach at Rancho High, he said the team would compensate for its lack of talent by relying heavily on sound fundamentals.
      "You have to build discipline in your players," Bailey said. "If you're lacking in talent, then the kids need to play smart and under control. You really have to stress fundamentals if you don't have the athletes that can do the extraordinary things that athletes can do. You can't teach someone to out-rebound someone by jumping, but you can teach them how to block out for a rebound."
      Bailey, 28, played collegiate basketball for four years at Southern Utah University after attending Timpview High in Provo, Utah.
      He said he would adjust his coaching style to the type of players he has to work with, but definitely favors an up-tempo, full-court game.
      Even though he is coming to a perennial also-ran from the defending state champion, Bailey said he was looking forward to his first season as head coach, a goal he said he wanted to achieve by age 30.
      "I'm excited and I'm nervous about the upcoming season because everything is so new to me," he said. "As an assistant coach, I really didn't see all the other things that are involved in coaching, the paperwork, the stuff behind the scenes. It's not just coaching; there's more to it."
      One of the first things Bailey did after being named Basic's coach in May was meet with all the school's potential basketball players.
      He also opened the school's gym during the summer so he could evaluate all the players.
      These were just two of the steps Bailey has taken since his arrival at Basic to help change the Wolves from pretenders to contenders.
      "I think there's been kind of an attitude of `Well, I'm not going out for the basketball team because they don't win,' " he said. "The attitude is if you don't win, you can't be having fun. Well, yes you can have lots of fun as long as you do your very best."
      Bailey said he patterns his on-court persona after his high school coach, Tim Lewis, who made practices fun while still maintaining a competitive atmosphere.
      It is that environment that Bailey hopes to recreate at Basic.
      With virtually no expectations throughout the valley to succeed this year, Bailey said his personal goal is for the team to win half its games and make the playoffs.
      However, Bailey said, success can be measured in ways other than wins and losses.
      "Most people look at winning as being successful," he said. "I don't have that as part of my philosophy. I think being successful is continually improving. Yes, winning is important because it helps you measure a little bit about what you're doing on a scale of success, but it's not the most important thing. The most important thing, I think, is that these kids have a good experience."
     "I think there's been kind of an attitude of `Well, I'm not going out for the basketball team because they don't win. The attitude is if you don't win, you can't be having fun. Well, yes you can have lots of fun as long as you do your very best.
      " Kurt Bailey Basic boys basketball coach