Marshall Seifert — colourful comic or basketball maestro?

Press, 6 July 1977, Page 26

Marshall Seifert — colourful comic or basketball maestro?

By

ROD DEW

Even if Otago University could feel disappointed with its two-point defeat by Jaks-High School Old Boys in the final of the South Island men’s basketball club championship last Sunday, it still produced the personality of the encounter — the controversial southern coach, Marshall Seifert.

A natural showman who delights in making outrageous comments from the bench and who never misses an opportunity to emphasise his pleasure or displeasure with his own brand of circus gymnastics on the sideline, he has become one of the great characters of the sport. At the same time, Mr Seifert is an outstanding coach.

Year after year he produces outstanding teams from Otago, often working with very ordinary material. He has taken over where Dave Sharp left off as Otago’s representative coach and he has continued to retain his coaching links with the top Otago club team, Otago University. Both teams have clearly profited from his ability.

Nobody can ever be really sure what his teams are up to on the court. He has been known to take an entire playing team of five off the court and replace it with a fresh five. There was another occasion recently when he brought about the downfall of a local team in a club qualifying tournament by playing an unusual triangle zone with two players as chasers. By the time the local team had worked out what the defence was. it was far too late to save the day:

But Mr Seifert has become even better known for his own performances on the side-line or in the stand. When Jaks were close to defeat by Y.M.C.A. last Friday, he was in the stand suggesting that the Jaks players might have to return their new tracksuits to their sponsor. It amused the crowd but did not endear him to the Jaks players, who made a mental note to make him eat his words in the final.

Nobody could ever doubt that the outspoken Mr Seifert is completely behind his teams and this must inspire them to greater effort. He never hesitates to chastise referees if he believes thev

are doing a poor job and this sometimes reacts against him. Referees are only human and do not take kindly to having weaknesses,’ imaginerv or otherwise, drawn to the attention of a full stadium by a protesting coach.

Mr Seifert is an extrovert — the despair of some and the delight of others. In many respects, he is like a brea'th of fresh air. He provides his own little private show for the spectators on the side-line and officials would be blind if they failed to recognise that he is a drawcard in his own right. Many frown upon his antics. And they cannot be blamed for this. Sometimes, Mr Seifert oversteps the mark. But there is always more than a grain of sense running through whatever he has to say. He will be remembered for one particularly direct comment in which he suggested that the New. Zealand Basketball Federation would rather spend monev on buying Mickey Mouse comics than .on building basketball backboards.

He draws attention to a certain situation by skilful exaggeration. Five years ago he said that the New Zealand federation should be spending more money on building outdoor basketball backboards and hoops. He even suggested that the money being put towards the salary of the new national director of coaching (Mr Lloyd Sanders)

buy backboards for various parks around the country. His “Mickey , Mouse’’ comment was designed to goad officials into action Most agreed with his opinion that more backboards were needed outdoors. but since that time the situation has not improved much. There is still a great need for back-

boards in local parks — areas where children can play whenever they have time on their hands. He has suggested that there should be a dozen backboards in Hagley Park. Nobody could argue with this. But nobody has done anything about it.

He has also accused national administrators of looking overseas for answers to problems in

that money would be better spent on' carpenters (to build backboards) than coaches. The problem, he says, is at the grass roots evel.

Bom in Australia but educated in New York at the University of Vermont, Mr Seifert came to New Zealand 10 years ago with his Danish wife and since that time has been passing on the knowledge he absorbed while playing in America. He chose New Zealand t,o settle in because his mother was a NewZealander and because he considers it to be "the most peaceful land in the world.” He was based in Christchurch at first, and for one season played A grade basketball for Y.M.C.A. He also represented Canterbury- at softball. Now he is a physical education specialist at the University of Otago. In Otago, he has also played representative softball and one season he was the province’s playercoach. It is still a sport for which he has a great love.

But it is as a basketball coach that he has made his greatest impact. He has been a former New Zealand junior coach and, in 1972, was a member of the panel which chose the New Zealand senior side. No doubt, he will make his presence felt at national level again. He has his enemies, but he also has his admirers. There is no doubt that he has the ability to coach teams at the highest levels. Mr Seifert is now 37.

as far as basketball coaches go. In Otago. Mr Seifert is doing a splendid job in basketball and this is recognised elsewhere. Whether this will lead to bigger things will largely depend on how many national officials he upsets witM his “close to the bone” comments. But whatever happens, Mr Seifert will be making his presence felt in basketball for a long time yet.

There are some who hate him; others who love him. But nobody can ignore him. He is a colourful character in a sporting world which encourages the orthodox. His refusal to conform to the accepted image of a top coach or administrator will always be received with mixed feelings wherever he might go. At the same time, he might well achieve things which cannot be tackled through norma! channels. And if a few feathers become ruffled in the process, that is too bad.

Nobody cgn doubt that he has the good of basketball at heart. The sport is certainly the richer for the presence of Marshall Seifert.