FGCU women鈥檚 basketball improving under coach Karl Smesko
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The culture of a team is dependent on the ethos of the coach and the reciprocation from the players. If the players don鈥檛 collectively buy in, the whole system will collapse. Which is why it鈥檚 important to have an established coach who has fortified foundations and a pedigree that will be respected by the collective. At Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), they have been with the same coach, Karl Smesko, for exactly 20 seasons. And the results speak for themselves.
Smesko鈥檚 FGCU Eagles are off to a flyer in the regular season by winning all the games they鈥檝e played apart from a recent narrow loss against the Princeton Tigers. But in those victories, they鈥檙e trouncing the opposition, winning by double-digits. Four of those first seven wins came on neutral ground so the Eagles didn鈥檛 even rely too heavily on the home field advantage.
While the team is getting wins, there seems to be a drop off and a slight concern when it comes to their shooting. The team field goal percentage is at 29.8% per game, which is relatively low considering they鈥檙e winning by a double-digit margin.
Coach Smesko remarked on their shooting.
鈥淵ou just keep shooting, because you鈥檙e a great shooter,鈥� he . 鈥淵ou understand that if you flip a coin 10 times, eight of them could be tails. You just understand that it鈥檚 a game of percentages. If you get your release right and you shoot it the way you want to shoot it, and they鈥檙e good shots, you know overall you鈥檒l end up shooting a good percentage.鈥�
The rationale inspires confidence and that鈥檚 what the coach is implying. If players begin to lose confidence in their shots, then there鈥檚 guaranteed to be a drop off in performance and game losses will be a regular occurrence. Coach Karl Smesko happens to agree with that sentiment.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be overly concerned over any one day shooting, or any couple of shots in a row, because when you start worrying about stuff like that, that鈥檚 when things can drag on for you,鈥� he .
Smesko has spent 20 of his 23 years of coaching with the FGCU Eagles and has the respect of the players for his longevity but also his success at this level. The Eagles women鈥檚 basketball team are nationally ranked in the top 25.
Under the leadership of Smesko, the Eagles have reached the NCAA Tournament nine times in total, four of which were in the last five years.
This season, there鈥檚 cause for optimism as the team looks to not only reach the tournament but to return to the title game like they did back in 2007 where they finished as runner鈥檚 up.
When asked about the secret to the team鈥檚 recent run of success, Smesko remarked with insight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just been consistently wanting to get better, continuing to learn and get better at coaching, and still achieving the desire to get better today,鈥� he .
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