Thoughts On Hall of Fame Coach Ralph Miller

Cut From A Different Mold

Wednesday morning this week I woke up to hear the sad news of the passing of Hall of Fame Coach Ralph Miller (read his biography).  For those of you who never knew Coach Miller, you missed a great treasure in the game of basketball.  Ralph and his lovely wife Jean were a special couple who treated those around them with respect and who really loved the game of basketball.  It was my good fortunate to have been an Women's Assistant Coach at Oregon State during some of Ralph's best years at OSU during the Gary Payton, Eric Knox, Jose Ortiz, and Earl Martin years and a couple of Pac10 Championships.

I say fortunate because nearly every day over four years I had the opportunity to listen to Coach Miller as our offices were next door to each other, and observe his practices.  He was a special man.  Many people thought this aging coach was past his prime, but in all honesty he was a tough, fair, hard-nose and very generous man who knew how to coach the game like few others. He was good to the very end, maybe even better.  In 38 years he only had 3 losing seasons.  He won 657 games (retiring as the the 6th all-time winningest coach in NCAA history) at Wichita State, Iowa and 19 years at Oregon State.  That is an average of nearly 20 wins a season for a lifetime.  Let me tell you, he might have retired in 1990 but Ralph never stopped coaching.  You ca still see his impact in players like Gary Payton, A.C. Green, and one of Puerto Rico's best player's ever Olympian Jose "Piculin" Ortiz.  The legacy of this great coach will live on.

Coach Miller was a man of few words.  But when he did say something the point was made, and you listened. I don't know if I have ever met someone who said so much with so few words. In fact he taught you a lot by what he didn't say.  His gravelly firm voice could be heard echoing across Gill Coliseum.  As an observer you could not help but smile and chuckle when he stopped action to paternally remind Gary Payton "I thought I told you to take care of the ball!!!"  While some coaches can go on a tirade to make a point, with Ralph is was a stare, a glare, a short comment, each enough to get your attention in a hurry.

While most people only saw Ralph's competitive side and rough exterior, he was a very kind and generous person in many ways.  More than a few times I entered his office needing some assistance and tepidly expecting his firm fatherly voice to ask "what do you want?" only to be the recipient of his kind heart.  He was the grandfather you all wished you had.  Firm, tough, honest, wise, and there for you, yet challenging you not to accept mediocrity.

I am taking a moment out of my schedule to pause and reflect and honor Coach Miller because he was a positive influence in my coaching career.  I cannot recall all the stories Ralph shared on occasion about his  days at Kansas (1938-42) where he played for and captained a team lead by the legendary Phog Allen.  Dr. James Naismith was one of his physical education teacher at Kansas.  Naismith started the program at Kansas and turned it over to his former player, another Hall of Fame Coach Phog Allen.  Adolph Rupp (1923) and Dean Smith (1953) were also Kansas graduates influenced by this basketball hotbed.  It was truly an amazing time to sit and talk with Coach Miller, a man who knew much about of the man who invented the game.  His insight into how the game developed, yet remained so unchanged in many ways reflected the way Ralph coached the game.

Of all the things I learned from him, simplicity and execution were keys to success.  Great defense based upon the simple concept of pressuring the ball at all times from advancing up the court, help weak side and stopping penetration, and on offense excellent passing and cutting from his famous 1-4 offense were his teams trademark's.  Ralph's teams played up tempo, but unlike many of today's teams his up tempo teams had the discipline to take care of the ball.  One season they averaged only 10 turnovers a game, almost unheard of in the modern game.  In fact it was not uncommon to watch a game where they only turned the ball over only 5 or 6 times.  I suppose the point I'd like to make is that with great talent, his teams won because they were well schooled and executed.  His record speaks for itself, but that is only half the story.  He was even better off the court.

Personally, he helped in the early day's of the Basketball Highway by providing us one of our first articles on Implementing the Ralph Miller Pressure Defense.  I cannot count the number times he help me, and the images that will forever be imprinted on my mind of his practices and methods were a priceless gift.  I wish you all could have known him like I did.  The game is missing one of it's greats today and I hope each of us in the coaching community will reflect back on those who have helped us grow along the way and remind them for the lessons and investments they have made in us who follow.  To Jean and his family, thanks for sharing Ralph with the basketball world, our thoughts and prayers are with you.  We are all better off for what he left us.

Alan Lambert
President/CEO
The Basketball Highway