KISS Philosophy

Recently, a long time friend of mine and high school baseball/basketball teammate was doing research on leading basketball scorers in IHSA prep boys' history. When my friend discovered that I coached Andy Kaufmann, the number #2 IHSA all-time scorer behind #1 Charlie 'Chico' Vaughn whom I played against in college, my friend mused, "Mel you were fortunate to be a part of a special history connection." I was indeed. However, I couldn't stop Chico's shot and I did not teach Andy to shoot.

Vaughn's shot was impossible to defend. He started his shot with the ball above and slightly behind his head and would fade-away from the basket. He was deadly. Kaufmann was 6'5" and weighed 218lbs. and he possessed guard ball handling, passing and dribbling skills. A defender his size often had difficulty due to these skills.  His size and strength was often a mismatch for defenders when he posted. He not only was an excellent shooter but his incredible knack for drawing fouls is evident by his all-time IHSA record for most career free throws with 912 points. Andy's total career points is 3,160.

Now for the blog title>>KISS That is an acronym for Keep It Simple Stupid, which most any coach would tell you that it's a reminder not to over coach your team. When a coach fails to keep things simple he runs a great risk of 'taking' players away from the games' 'natural flow' in which players can  best demonstrate and apply their skills and abilities. I will give Andy's father kudos at this point. I once asked Mr. Kaufmann if he ever gave Andy shooting advice. His answer: "I just remind Andy that if his defender is NOT closely guarding him then SHOOT THE BALL and if the defender is guarding him too close, dribble around him and SHOOT. Talk about KISSS PHILOSOPHY!

Andy took that same KISS philosophy to the University of Illinois and today ranks #11, on the Orange & Blue men's scoring leaders.