Blog Post #49, April 9, 2009

Jack and Will

Category: Philosophy

Those of us who witnessed Sidney Wicks play basketball for UCLA in the early 1970s all agree; this dude was one of the great athletes of all time. At 6’9”, he was quicker and faster than most guards; had the ball-handling skills of a guard; could get his head even with the rim when he jumped; had great touch from 17 feet in; could stop players much taller than he; had a scientific mind for the game; could almost score at will; and was always at his best when his best was needed. Who can forget the 1970 finals against Jacksonville, when Wicks blocked several of Artis Gilmore’s jump shots, a player taller by four inches, not to mention his reach?

That UCLA team, and the one the year before, will always be remembered as the team that shouldn’t have won an NCAA title, much less two. With the last of three Championship banners, won by Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and his crew, still fresh in the rafters of Pauley Pavilion, Wicks and company began their season with no “expert” predicting they would win it all. But they did. Led by Henry Bibby and Sidney Wicks, the Bruins brought back the full-court press, a ferocious fast break, and, with their quickness and basketball I.Q., wore opponents down, usually by half time.

Recruited out of Santa Monica Community College, Sidney Wicks joined the Bruins as a sophomore when Alcindor was a senior. It was no surprise to him, he wasn’t a part of the starting lineup at the beginning of the season; starting positions were given to the returning players. Wicks was slotted to play a supporting role, behind Lynn Shackelford, on Alcindor’s side of the floor. As it was, Shackelford (“Shack” as he was nicknamed) was doing a pretty good job there. Left-handed, a great outside shooter, and tall enough to pass the ball into the post, Lynn almost perfectly fit the job description for that position. As a result, in many games, the talented Wicks saw limited action. 

But there was another reason Coach Wooden benched Wicks. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, including Shackelford, the rest of the players, and the coaching staff, Wicks was the more talented of the two. If Coach Wooden would have started Sidney and ran the offense through him and Lew, each could have scored a ton of points. But, it was no accident Wooden won ten national championships in his last ten years of coaching. One reason was, he understood, when a team’s scoring success is off balance, somewhere down the road, you’re going to get beat. With Shackelford in the game, the offense ran through Alcindor and Shack got his shots when the defense retreated to double and triple team the post. That’s all he needed to do to make the UCLA offensive machine work to near perfection. Wicks, on the other hand, would try to do too much. And who could blame him? He could have gotten himself a good shot just about any time he wanted one.

Because of his competiveness (certainly not because of his understanding of team play), Wicks asked Coach Wooden for an appointment. Coach agreed and Wicks paid a visit to the head coach’s office. In there, Coach Wooden listened to Sidney plead his case for a starting spot. “Coach, you know I’m better than Shack.”

Coach Wooden replied, “Yes I do, Sidney. And it’s a shame you’re letting him beat you out.”

In the UCLA system, Coach Wooden didn’t need a Jack of All Trades. His system didn’t require a “Jack”; it required a “Will.” To win a championship, Coach needed someone that “will” be eager to sacrifice self glory for the benefit of the group. He wanted a player that “will” understand, if he tried to do many things well, he would never be able to perfect the few things he was needed to do flawlessly.  

Sidney Wicks got the message and became All America and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970. Could he have been All America his first year if Coach Wooden would have started him with Lew Alcindor and allowed him to be a Jack instead of a Will? There’s a very good chance of that, but there’s also a very good chance the Bruins would not have won two more NCAA championships.